Crystal Lake Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Crystal Lake, Illinois
United States
60F / 16C
Precipitation
 		Total Time = 2h 01m 30s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

up at 4:30, out the dooor by 5:15 with coffee in hand. bagel w/ pb&j and a Dannon Strawberry Banana yogurt in thevan at 6 am.
Event warmup:

stood around with MarkK, Schmize, Hangloose, and StartingtoTri in an increasingly heavy drizzle.
Run
  • 2h 01m 30s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 16s  min/mile
Comments:

At first StartingtoTri and I were going to start out together at a slow pace. I guess I had too much adrenaline because I took off fast (for me). I do tend to start off faster then settle into a pace, but I felt bad leaving her behind when I'd just told her I was going to start slow. I told her she'd catch me, and I was right. I felt my pace slowing around mile 4 and gladly had gel. By mile 7 I was dragging again and wanted my other gel but I didn't want to have it too early or too close to the first one. Also my leg started to hurt. Somewhere around mile 9 Laura passed me...I guess I looked bad because she came up behind me and said "hurting, huh?" She told me later I was visibly favoring my left leg. Funny thing is, right after she passed me the pain eased up. I'm hoping she'll come to Chicago with me :) I was still dragging and had no energy. Anyway, at mile 10 I had another gel and felt some energy come back. It started to really rain... Tried to pick up my pace and think I did a little but I was still being passed a lot. Hard to tell about the pace because the markers were way off. At the mile 12 marker my watch said 1:48 and I was ecstatic-a sub 2 hour finish within my grasp!!!!! WAsn't to be though...mile markers were wrong :( StartingtoTri had a Garmin and she said the overall course was 13 but EVERY marker was wrong. Still, very happy with my pace.
What would you do differently?:

Eat more the day before the race...I didn't feel like eating much on Saturday and I think that contributed GREATLY to my lack of energy.

Start more slowly.
Post race
Warm down:

DRY CLOTHES :) Then a quick "BTers" snapshot and we hit the road...we were chilly and in desperate need of coffee.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I'm slow???

Seriously, not enough food...sciatica...went out too fast. Soaking wet shoes didn't help.

Event comments:

Course marking notwithstanding, this was a very nice race especially for as low priced as it is. Drink stations every 2 miles was ok but wouldn't have been enough if the weather had been warmer.I think they had planned post race stuff, but no one hung around because of the weather.




Last updated: 2006-09-04 12:00 AM
Running
02:01:30 | 13.1 miles | 09m 16s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Course: started on crushed gravel through the woods for maybe 3/4 mile? Then paved. Hills between miles 4 and 7, then again miles 8-11 was hilly again. Mile markers were inaccurate...short at the beginning (I know I never got under an 8 min mile, haha!) and too long at the end. The 13 mile marker was way off...I probably ran a good 3 or 4 minutes after I passed it, and I should have run for less than one. Still, the area was pretty, the hills were great! Challenging but not deadly. A really nice course. Lots of police and volunteers directing traffic and generally being helpful and supportive-a tough job in what became a pouring rain.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
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? No
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4