Cox Rhode Races Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Providence, Rhode Island
United States
Cox Rhode Island
55F / 13C
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 57m 28s
Overall Rank = 502/1386
Age Group = F0139
Age Group Rank = 143/537
Pre-race routine:

We stayed with Steve's folks in North Stonington so we'd have a short drive into Providence. His dad was awesome and made us chocolate chip pancakes, which is my normal long workout day breakfast (don't judge me! it works!). Got to the parking area at 8:10, which left us 50 minutes to get the shuttle bus and get to race start. This was NOT enough time, because we had to stand there, in the rain, for 30 minutes until a bus came. I had to pee pretty badly, and at around 8:40 I gave up on the bus and went between a few cars in the parking lot. Of course, the bus came as soon as I made this decision. I think Steve was appalled, but this ended being a smart move, because after I checked our bag and downed a Gu, I ran to the start and was still about 100 feet away as the gun went off. I snuck in on the side and went over the timing mats. Just in time!
Event warmup:

See above.
Run
  • 1h 57m 28s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 58s  min/mile
Comments:

Because I was running TOWARDS the start when the gun went off, I actually managed to duck in pretty close to the front of the crowd. That was pretty much the most exciting thing to happen for the first few miles. This part of the course was shady, and we went by two strip clubs, all sorts of factories, and oodles of road construction. I have no idea who made up this course. Anyway, I was cruising along according to my plan, and it had stopped pouring rain, so life was good.

The water stops were distributed somewhat randomly along the course, and they were in terrible shape. There was a logjam at every one, and almost never enough cups to go around. At the second water stop, I reached out for some gatorade and the dude holding the cups turned around to talk to someone. I literally had to chase him down to get my drink. This made me pretty unhappy, because I lost about 20 seconds trying to get my refreshment! At the next stop there were no cups out at all, and a volunteer standing in front of the table doing nothing. Or maybe he was gaurding the Gatorade bottles, who knows. But I was sick of this water stop crap. So I spotted a half full bottle of Gatorade, and I snagged it. Hey, it's not like they were filling cups with it! After this I was set for the race.

My stomach was feeling pretty full, so I decided not to take my Gu at mile 7. I haven't been using them in training very often. This was probably not the best idea, because I really started to feel zapped going up the hill at mile 9. Since I am used to running hills, this was probably a fueling issue. Took my Gu and just tried to keep moving until mile 9.5, because I knew the course flattened out after this.

The last few miles of the race got tough for me, because I once again had the Stabbing Pains of Doom shooting through my head. If there is a medical term for this, somebody please let me know. It used to happen in training, but now it only seems to happen at half marathons (when I get my HR up in high zone 3 for a sustained period of time). It's not a hydration issue, that's all I know. Anyway, I had about 4-5 of these pains, but at this point I was getting pretty close so I just tried to keep my effort up. Looks like my HR did drop a little bit towards the end once this happened.
What would you do differently?:

Take my Gu! I was happy with where I was mentally with this race, but I still need to learn how to focus a little better.
Post race
Warm down:

Walking to find Steve at the finish, and about a .5 mile walk back to the car.

Event comments:

Here is the course map from my Garmin: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/map.asp?route...

Areas for improvement: They need to work out the timing for the shuttle buses. Also, the water stops need to be managed better. For a race of this size, there should either be more tables or tables on both sides of the road. And they need women's sizing t-shirts! I say this for almost every race, though.
Good points: Nice finisher medals, decent quality shirts, gear check-in was nice. Fair amount of spectators given the weather. I would do the half marathon again.




Last updated: 2008-05-04 12:00 AM
Running
01:57:28 | 13.1 miles | 08m 58s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/537
Overall: 0/1386
Performance: Average
M1: 8:41 177 M2: 8:45 184 M3: 8:45 185 M4: 8:54 185 M5: 8:45 182 M6: 9:08 183 M7: 8:53 182 M8: 8:42 179 M9: 9:41 178 M10: 8:37 177 M11: 9:00 176 M12: 9:05 174 M13: 8:25 178
Course: An interesting tour of Providence/Pawtucket. Terrain is rolling hills, with the biggest ones at miles 5-6, and mile 9. Course map from my Garmin is linked below.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 3