ING Georgia Half-Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Atlanta, Georgia
United States
The ING Georgia Marathon & Half Marathon
42F / 6C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 48m 32s
Overall Rank = 1056/
Age Group = 40-49
Age Group Rank = 184/
Pre-race routine:

woke up very early for the drive into downtown. All of the rumours and additional grapevine information gave me some concern as to whether any garages and/or parking areas would be open as a result of the tornado. We packed up the three of us and headed in. We quickly established a base camp in the luxurious Centennial Garage and waited in the car. It was chilly! Eventually, the cell phones started to light up and we moved on to meet friends at the CNN Center. From there, we all headed over to the corrals. I ate a yogurt and a banana as my pre-race diet. Drank a bottle of water.
Event warmup:

None. This I believe was a mistake. At 46 I need to stretch or do something.
Run
  • 1h 48m 32s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 17s  min/mile
Comments:

At the start I was convinced it was cold and going to get colder. I saw all of these people around in shorts and thought, crazy. I was wearing tights, a long sleeve mid-weight winter running shirt and my Sugoi bike rain jacket (that breathes). The start was much better than last year and I felt appropriately dressed for about two miles. I ran with Aimster for about 1.5 mi. then we split up. I didn't want to suck her into a faster pace. I knew she was going to do well today. ATL_runner lit the candle from the gun so we never saw him again. Then I started to reconsider my clothing choices. The course is just freaking hilly and it seemed to almost go out of the way to capture hills. If it's trying to be NY then it's got that part right. It just doesn't have the NYC part right. About 8 miles in I was pretty warm and kept trying to make a decision on removing, rolling and tying the jacket around me. Being in Corral 2 was nice and the talent around me was strong. Lots of athletes really doing well. There's not much else to say other than the climb out of the park up 10th and over Juniper was a bear. My achilles started to bother me which is very unusual. Also, my hip flexors were tight. Not enough yoga I guess. I think Mile 11 seemed to be my hardest. For some reason I continue to pick races this year that finish dead into the wind. That's special. The finish sucked with the Disney Snakey Sidewalk attraction.
What would you do differently?:

Dress just a bit lighter. The tights were good. Jacket, not good. It actually got colder on the last couple of miles. I'll bet a lot of the full marathoners got a few brisk blasts. I was a bit sloppy all day with my form. Not sure what that means but I don't want to do that again.
Post race
Warm down:

Got my blanket, medal, water. Walked with a training friend for a bit and talked about the race.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Could use some additional weight loss. Maybe could've ramped up some speed or hill work again but had just come off of the Gasparilla and after recovery, etc., didn't fit it into the training schedule.

Event comments:

This was a PR for me! I must say that I scored my mental effort less than my physical effort because from the beginning I was not up for this race. I think the weather was the culprit. I believe that physically I really hustled. I continued to check in and see that while I never really felt good all day I had put myself in the position to PR if I wanted it. Obviously, I wanted it and am very happy with the outcome. Racewise though, I still don't care for this event. Lots to discuss there but that would muddy the accomplishment.




Last updated: 2008-02-14 12:00 AM
Running
01:48:32 | 13.1 miles | 08m 17s  min/mile
Age Group: 184/
Overall: 1056/
Performance: Good
Immediate data not available (will do so later). However, I was always below 9/mi.
Course: Hilly, and hilly, and, oh, there were hills. A couple of potholes. More hills.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 2