Crystal Lake Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Crystal Lake, Illinois
United States
60F / 16C
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 38m 47s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Alarm went off and 4am, got up, walked the dog, grabbed some coffee, a bagel, made sure the bag was packed and CindyK and I were out the door by a little after 5am.
Event warmup:

Arrived at the race site by about 6:30/6:45 or so and registered. Lurked around the registration area until we met up with Lara, Hangloose and Schmize. We all just hung around talking until the start of the race. I slowly ate on HammerGel right before the start of the race.
Run
  • 1h 38m 47s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 32s  min/mile
Comments:

The plan was for Schmize, Hangloose and I to try to run together and push each other. At the start, we split to go around a group and I sped up to get away from the masses (the start of a run is kinda like the start to a mass swim, I don't like having so many people so close, to much of an opportunity to tangle feet). I thought they would be coming up the other side of the group so I kept my pace. I think we were all thinking of sub-8/min paces. I actually think I was out much faster than I had originally planned, but it was feeling really good and the legs had loosened up nicely while still in the park. Normally, I start slow and then speed up, today was just the opposite. By the time we were out of the park and into the residential area I had definetly slowed down some but still had a good pace going. I passed the two mile mark but didnt bother to look at my watch to see the pace. The next 2-3 miles were just trying to settle into a groove. I saw mile marker 4, looked at my watch and saw 26:40 and thought to myself, "there ain't no way that mile marker is in the right spot". I overheard a few other runners with similar comments so I knew I wasn't just blowing myself out so early. Between miles 4 and 5, I saw Hanglooses family and they recognized me and cheered me on. That was really nice of them and I really appreciated it! We had entered the hilly portion of the run just prior to mile 4 and I was slugging up a hill at that time, so their cheering was a big lift. A little bit later, I swear I could hear them cheer again so I knew the Hangloose and Schmize were not far behind. I wasnt sure how fast I was actually going because the mile markers being off a little (each one seemed to be a little short)kind of threw off the race pace. But, I was feeling comfortable and in a groove and figured they would be catching up. The course seemed to be a pretty steady set of climbs between miles 5 and 7 or so. Then it course flattened out and we looped through another residential area and then back out to the main road where we were able to run opposite the other runners. Abuot mile 8 or so I saw CindyK and Lara (StartingtoTri) and they both looked really good and strong. I took in another HammerGel at mile marker 8. Miles 8-10 were pretty uneventful, I had a couple of rabbits I was working with and wasnt having much luck making up ground on them. I saw Hanglooses family once again on the return leg and they were still out there cheering, even despite the drizzle that had been falling almost since the start of the run. At mile 10 I started trying to pick up the pace a little and was able to go through periods of be able to speed up and then backing off a little to regroup. I knew that I couldn't keep up in faster pace so I was happy with just shorter sprints. Mile marker 12 finally came into site and it was looking pretty good to me and we headed back into the park onto the trail. I have never been one who particularly likes to run in the rain and I hit "mind-failure" somewhere between 12-13 miles. I just wanted to be done, the shoes were feeling like lead weights from being so wet from the rain and I was starting to get chilled from the breeze despite wearing a long sleeve water-wicking shirt. Finally found the mile 13 marked and thought GREAT, .1 to go......wrong. I think from that sign it must have been somewhere around .3 - .5 before the finish line. I saw the time as I was approaching and was pretty happy with the time but, boy, was I glad to be done!
What would you do differently?:

Not sure, I wanted to challenge myself on this distance and am pretty happy with the time. I don't have any illusions about being able to ever run like this off the bike, but its still nice to have a good run once in a while!
Post race
Warm down:

I grabbed some water and went back towards the chute to cheer on everyone else. I got to see everyone else finish so I was pretty happy about that.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not too sure that I didn't actually go out too fast! I normally am a slow started and pick up the speed, but I had a lot of race adrenalin and then the issue about running in such a large pack prompted me to pick up the speed, maybe a little too much, and it may have had a negative impact on my ability to run a more consistent faster pace on the remainder of the run.

Event comments:

This was a nice race. I havent done many stand alone half's so I don't think it would be fair to assess a couple of the areas, however, they race was very well organized and staffed. There were plenty of volunteers and they were very enthusiastic.




Last updated: 2006-09-04 12:00 AM
Running
01:38:47 | 13.1 miles | 07m 32s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Course: Course started out as a cross country course and then proceeded out through multiple residential areas. The course was a little "hilly" then I had expected it to be. It was basically an out and back so you were able to see and encourage other runners while running. I like courses like that.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5]
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:
Race evaluation [1-5]