Callaway Gardens Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Pine Mountain, Georgia
United States
42F / 6C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 35m 29s
Overall Rank = 21/277
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 4/27
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 4:30 AM and after a quick shower I was on the road to Pine Mountain (about a 2 hour drive). Stopped for a cup of bad coffee and a stale cinnamon bun at a RaceTrack gas station. Arrived at 7:00 and quickly registered so I could get in line for the bathroom.
Event warmup:

For a half marathon all I worry about is getting in 4-5 200 meter striders to wake up the legs. I stretched a little bit concentrating on the achilles.
Run
  • 1h 35m 29s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 17s  min/mile
Comments:

The purpose of this race was to assess where I stand in my training for the March 4 Sarasota Marathon. I hope to qualify for Boston and I used this race to calculate my marathon potential. The online calculators and publications that I have read tell me that in order to run a 3:20 marathon (my BQ time) than I should be able to run a 1:35-1:36 half marathon. I felt that I did not adequately taper for this half (in fact, I ran a hilly 15 miler 2 days before) so I figured that a 7:30 pace would get me a 1:38-1:39 half marathon time and it would give me a little more confidence that a BQ is possible in March.

I thought that a 7:30 pace was definitely attainable and, if I felt good, perhaps pick it up for the second half of the race. I met up with my friend Nick before the start of the race and a 7:30 pace sounded good to him as well. We started out quick but the first 2-3 miles were net downhill. Once I saw the first few splits I knew I had the potential to a) set a PR, and b) given the size of the race, place in my AG. Here are my splits:

7:07 / 7:17 / 7:36 / 7:12 / 7:07 / 7:40 / 7:41 / 7:23 / 7:27 / 6:41 / 7:03 / 7:18 / 7:56 (1.1 miles - 7:13 pace)

Miles 6-9 were net uphill and mile 10 was obviously pretty much all downhill so I felt like my effort was pretty consistent. I started to "feel it" somewhere during mile 11 but as you can see from the splits it did not slow me down.

After the first mile or so I was never passed by another runner yet I probably passed 10-12 folks. I saw a couple guys ahead of me at mile 12 and I was unsure if they were in my AG. I picked up my pace and managed to catch one guy. The other guy heard me coming at about the 13 mile marker and picked up his pace. I did not have the energy to catch him. I saw him inside and found out he was 33 - not even close. I must think I look a lot younger than I am because I am always concerned that these young guys are the same age as me.

I head into the circus tent and over to the results table. The little basket for your race card for 40-44 year olds is empty and for a moment I am shocked. I ask the lady if I am first and she says "sorry, I already removed 1st thru 3rd place". Oh well, this is the second race in the last 6 months where I finish one spot out of the hardware. It'll come, I just have to keep at it!

My time is a PR by almost 3 minutes and I now have renewed confidence that a BQ time in Sarasota is a possibility!
What would you do differently?:

If I was truly racing this as a PR race or an "A" race than I would have executed the proper taper. Other than that, I believe I executed a pretty smart race.
Post race
Warm down:

Stretched quite a bit - especially the Achilles. Bought a really bad $2 cup of coffee to warm up a little.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

A proper taper.

Event comments:

There were 3-4 spots that were poorly marked. Come to find out the fork in the road would often lead to the same place but you are not aware of that when you come to the fork. There was no post race activities and the food table was pretty bad - no bagels or coffee.




Last updated: 2007-01-29 12:00 AM
Running
01:35:29 | 13.1 miles | 07m 17s  min/mile
Age Group: 4/27
Overall: 21/277
Performance: Good
Course: Rolling hills - there were criticisms in years past for not adequately marking the course and there is still room for improvement.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Bad
Race evaluation [1-5] 3