Mercedes Half-Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Birmingham, Alabama
United States
Birmingham Marathon, Inc.
30F / -1C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 1h 50m 54s
Overall Rank = 551/2457
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 68/165
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 4:45. Showered, ate and had a big cup of coffee. Out of my door @ 5:30 since I had an hour drive to the race. Drank a bottle of Infinit and water on the ride up.
Event warmup:

There was no warmup. It was damn cold. If I had it to do over again I would have stayed in my car until 5 minutes to go.
Run
  • 1h 50m 54s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 28s  min/mile
Comments:

It was just cold as hell standing around in the corral. Once I got moving and into the sun I warmed up pretty well. This was my 1st 1/2 marathon and I was worried about the monster hills up ahead so I went out a little slower than I thought I could comfortably finish the race. I had a goal of an 8:30 pace. Probably a good thing for me though as I have a tendency to blow up.
Threw away my throwaway free sock gloves around mile 4 since I was pretty well warmed up and my hands were starting to sweat. About there the road turned up for about 2 miles, but it was a nice gentle constant grade. Just tried to keep my HR in check and run an even pace up the hill. Walked the water station somewhere over the crest and tried to take a gel in but it was so cold the gel was like trying to swallow molasses. This reduced me to a standstill trying to take it down and get it washed down.

Other than that it was just mild rollers until 9.5 miles. 9.5-10 was a steep grade but honestly not as steep as what I run 2x a week. Just kept my pace and passed a decent number of people on this 1/2mi. section. After the crest it was just a controlled fall for about a mile. I had conserved most of the day and felt like I had a lot left in the tank. I really picked up speed and tried to maintain that for the last 5k. Probably went a little hard 11-12 and slowed in the last mile but only slightly.
What would you do differently?:

As always, train more, but this race is so early I really haven't done much speedwork.

Beat my goal time at my first 1/2 marathon.
Post race
Warm down:

Got my medal, shirt and water. Then realized my right thumb was numb. I guess I shouldn't have thrown the gloves away. Went inside and warmed up and had a pork sandwich.

Event comments:

Didn't stick around long since I had a sick wife at home and had to get back.




Last updated: 2006-11-15 12:00 AM
Running
01:50:54 | 13.1 miles | 08m 28s  min/mile
Age Group: 68/165
Overall: 551/2457
Performance: Good
1-8:46, 2-8:31, 3-8:30, 4-8:40, 5-8:47, 6-9:09, 7-9:04, 8-8:42, 9-8:35, 10-8:02, 11-7:30, 12-8:00, 13-8:08 HR AVG-173 Max-185
Course: Well laid out course. A lot of talk about the hills, but really not as bad as what I run on normally.
Keeping cool Good 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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5