Rock ‘n’ Roll Raleigh Half Marathon - Run


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Raleigh, North Carolina
United States
Competitor Group, Inc.
65F / 18C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 1h 41m 7s
Overall Rank = 222/8593
Age Group = M 35-39
Age Group Rank = 35/410
Pre-race routine:

There wasn't much of one. I hung out with friends and family in the hotel lobby to stay warm and use the bathroom. Then we all made our way to the Start line. Things were pretty packed; it was nice starting in Corral 1.
Event warmup:

I didn't warm up for this race. I figured the first mile would serve as a good warm-up, which turned out to be true, I think.
Run
  • 1h 41m 7s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 43s  min/mile
Comments:

The beginning of the race started out nicely; it was actually mostly downhill for a good ways. Then, after a couple miles, the hills started. None of them seemed incredibly steep or long, but they just kept coming. I was moving along at a nice clip, didn't seem like I was working too hard.
At about mile 8, it seems like the hills got serious. Some were long, and all of them felt steep. It definitely took all I had to get up some of them without losing too much time, so I just tried to keep my head down and my feet moving.
It felt great to make the turn for the finish line, especially seeing my parents cheering me on.
Coming up to the last quarter mile of the race, a guy ran up and just passed me. Well, that was when it was on. I sped up to catch up with him, and then so did he. We definitely knew the other person was there: we both kicked hard for the last quarter mile, and I managed to beat him, which felt really good.
What would you do differently?:

Looking at my pace, it looks like I started out too fast, but I couldn't have anticipated how tough some of those hills were, so I'm actually glad that I held a good pace at the beginning, to make up for the hills later. I'm happy with my time.
Post race
Warm down:

Ate and drank a lot! I knew I'd burned a lot of calories and needed to hydrate, so I drank Gatorade and ate pizza. I felt good.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

not much

Event comments:

People are going to freak out about the hills, but they're just hills. If they're too tough, just slow down and walk them. Just like the sign I saw read, "If it were easy, it would be called your mom."




Last updated: 2014-03-05 12:00 AM
Running
01:41:07 | 13.1 miles | 07m 43s  min/mile
Age Group: 35/410
Overall: 222/8593
Performance: Good
Course: Rolling hills, some were pretty steep
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4