26th Annual SKUNK CABBAGE CLASSIC - RunHalf Marathon


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Ithaca, NY, New York
United States
Finger Lakes Running Club
55F / 13C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 31m 59s
Overall Rank = 44/200
Age Group = 40-49
Age Group Rank = 11/40
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 6am and had a bowl of oatmeal and 2 cups of coffee. Used the throne twice before leaving the house. Made sure I had everything for the race and headed on up around 7:30 or so. Stopped at a convenience store and used the bathroom and had a PowerBar around 8:30 then drank some water and Gatorade Endurance.
Event warmup:

Ran about 5 miles at an easy pace, 3 miles around the track to calibrate my Polar, then used the bathroom AGAIN and 2 miles with some other triathletes I met up with. Stretched a bit and headed to the start line. I tried to use the bathroom one last time but was tapped. :)
Run
  • 1h 31m 59s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 01s  min/mile
Comments:

Overall I had a great run! Nutritionally I was stocked with 20 OX of Gatorade Endurance, 5 gels diluted to 10 oz and 10 oz of water. The plan was to take a hit of gels every 15 minutes, sip the Gatorade between gels and take water at every station. The first few miles were uphill and into the wind so I tucked behind a fellow triathlete and used him as a wind breaker, thank heavens he was a break winder!! (If Bob Moore is reading this, thanks for the wind screen!) First 4 miles were 7:17, 7:08, 7:04 and 7:32. I was glad to have the uphill portion done and over with. That 7:32 kinda hurt!! I lost my windscreen after the 3rd mile and tried to use anyone I came up behind until mile 7 when the wind was at our backs. The roads were a bit rough and I twisted my ankle 3 or 4 times before I started running in the middle of the road until cars came. Nutrition was spot on with gels going down every 15 minutes and Gatorade between gels, I timed the water stops to be right after the gel shots to wash them down. The next 4 miles were rolling hills, splits for them were 6:48, 7:13, 6:49 and 7:10. Can you tell where the downhills were? :) Still feeling good at this point, there is a pretty steep hill at the 9.75 mile mark and I definitely struggled a bit to get up that one. Splits for these 2 miles were 6:47 and 7:14. I was really looking forward to the last 5K. Slight downhill with the wind to the back, yessssss!!!! Last 3 miles were 7:06, 6:29 and 6:35. I passed 3 people in the last 3 miles who had passed me earlier and had a strong finish to the matt as I saw 1:32:00 coming fast. I managed to sprint to a 1:31:59! PR by over 3 minutes!!
What would you do differently?:

LOSE WEIGHT!!! Other than that ........ NADA!!
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around a bit with some triathletes, washed the salt off my head with water and went up to the track and ran 2 miles at a very easy pace. Went down to the check-in, had some bagels, bananas and apples and enjoyed a spectacular post race massage!!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Nothing really.

Event comments:

This is a great race, especially with the weather we had today. Weather can kill the mood of this race as it can be fridgid with blowing snow one year and sunny and 65 the next. There could have been a few more water stations, they were spread out every 3 miles or so. Overall I love this race and will keep coming back for more!!




Last updated: 2008-02-24 12:00 AM
Running
01:31:59 | 13.1 miles | 07m 01s  min/mile
Age Group: 11/40
Overall: 44/200
Performance: Good
AHR 167, MHR 176. HR was a little higher than I would like to see but it always seems to be high in races for me. At the start line it was 84! I asked a friend next to me at the start what his HR was and it was 41!! WTF!! I'm already working twice as hard as he is and we haven't started yet!!
Course: Course was nice, rolling hills with the first 4 miles into a nice headwind and uphill. The last 3 miles were with a tailwind and downhill. 600' of climbing! Not the fastest course to post a great time.
Keeping cool Average 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? No
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4