Valpo Mini Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Valparaiso, Indiana
United States
Human Race Sports
40F / 4C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 1h 46m 17s
Overall Rank = 117/517
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 5/43
Pre-race routine:

Smart Start cereal with soy milk for breakfast, then an hour and a half drive to Valpo (ate a banana on the way) with Derrick and Griz.
Event warmup:

Jogged around for about five minutes. We didn't get there early enough to have a very good warmup.
Run
  • 1h 46m 17s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 07s  min/mile
Comments:

I haven't run a half mary since last July and my marathon in February was okay, but not my best. I didn't really have a sense of what pace I might run so I started out at a pace that felt okay, but I was a little worried it might have been too fast. I focused on keeping a strong cadence, especially on the inclines, and was able to maintain a fairly steady pace. Right knee started hurting pretty bad around mile 9 and kept getting worse. It really hurt on the declines and I think it might be an IT band issue. I kept telling myself that I need the hills to get stronger and I need to spend time training and racing on them. Given I'm coming out of three weeks of tough training and had a two hour + ride with hills yesterday, I'm happy with the results.

Overdressed a little. The cold at the start had me worried.
What would you do differently?:

Roll out my IT bands in advance to prevent the knee pain. Be more prepared for the hills.
Post race
Warm down:

About five minutes of stretching and then driving home so Griz and Derrick could get home to their families.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

My knee, no taper, need more work on hills.

Event comments:

Course is a little hillier than the website would have you believe, but overall a nice course and well organized.




Last updated: 2007-03-14 12:00 AM
Running
01:46:17 | 13.1 miles | 08m 07s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/43
Overall: 0/517
Performance: Good
Forgot the HRM strap so I only have lap times. It also took me until mile 3 to realize they had no pace clocks, just little signs stuck in the side of the rode that listed the mile. Miles 1-3=24:18 Mile 4=8:06 Mile 5=8:02 Mile 6=8:18 Mile 7=8:11 Mile 8=8:04 Mile 9=7:59 Mile 10=8:07 Mile 11=8:02 Mile 12=8:10 Mile 13=8:00
Course: The website said the course was flat and fast, but it was actually a little hilly. The hills were not huge, but rather low grade inclines that would last for a half mile or so. You get 100-400m of flat and then another incline. There were one or two downhills, but they were quite short and steep and over with way too soon. Also a nice hill within a quarter mile of the finish.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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] 3