Austin Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Austin, Texas
United States
The Austin Marathon Foundation, Inc.
40F / 4C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 1h 58m 10s
Overall Rank = 1586/6034
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 164/396
Pre-race routine:

Drove to Austin with Fitz, Omar, and Buehler on Saturday and had burgers with Offield on Saturday night. Checked into the Courtyard by Marriott and was in bed watching the NBA 3 point and Dunk Contest by 8:30 but didn't fall asleep until around 11 or 11:30. Woke up at 4:40 and went downstairs with the boys at 5 for breakfast which was a bowl of Oatmeal, a bowl of fruit, and an iced tea. We went back up to our rooms and I took a long hot shower to loosen up. We all met downstairs at 6:40 and walked the two blocks to the starting line and got in the 4:30 pacing group.
Event warmup:

Stretched for about 7 minutes or so in the room before heading out to the starting line.
Run
  • 1h 58m 10s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 01s  min/mile
Comments:

This was a very fair yet challenging course through 11.5. The hill at 11.5 is one of the hardest things I have ever climbed and at least 1/3 of the people I passed were walking. If you do this race in '09....WORK ON SOME STEEP HILLS to prep for this! Omar and I ran the entire race together and this REALLY helped! He wore his iPod (which so did thousands of others, FYI) but I didn't.
What would you do differently?:

Not much...I beat my goal by about 12 minutes. Keep working on some hill repeats and tempo runs but I am VERY pleased about my run today!
Post race
Warm down:

Got our medals and silly little finisher's t-shirt (that is really all we get for $80???) a banana and some water. Waited for Buehler and Fitz to finish and walked around for another 30 minutes so as not to cramp up.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of experience and training. I am still new at this stuff!

Event comments:

Great race...well organized, contrary to what I read about last year's race. Fair race until Mile 11.5...that hill is brutal for that late in the race, in my humble opinion. The finisher's t-shirt is crap, just like last year...sad.

Overall I would give this race an 8 out of 10 and will do it next year!




Last updated: 2007-12-09 12:00 AM
Running
01:58:10 | 13.1 miles | 09m 01s  min/mile
Age Group: 164/396
Overall: 1586/6034
Performance: Good
Course: Start was at 2nd and Congress and was slightly downhill heading to the south across Town Lake for the first 1/4 mile. ~Miles 1 - 3 were all gradually uphill south on Congress ~Miles 3 - 6 were back north towards downtown on 1st and all downhill ~Miles 6 - 9 were mostly flat heading west along Town Lake w- a pretty solid little hill at 8.5 ~Miles 9 - 12.5 were where this course reared it's ugly head. Big hill immediately on Mile 9, with a few downhill rests followed by more climbs, directly into the sun. Mile 11.5 was one of the hardest hills I have ever climbed. Probably 80 - 100 feet in a 1/4 mile or so....BRUTAL! ~Miles 12.5 - 13.1 were mostly downhill through Downtown to the finish which was at 8th and Congress. Great finish area!
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4