Denver Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Denver, Colorado
United States
58F / 14C
Sunny
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = 3000/3877
Age Group = F 40-44
Age Group Rank = 213/305
Pre-race routine:

I got up, ate a Bagelful, tried on different shoes to see which were going to work best. I still had some minor edema so I went with the size 8 Gel Nimbus 9s. Wrapped my achilles with some stretchy tape stuff. When I got to the race I used the porta potty twice before the start.
Event warmup:

Jogged, stretched, and jogged some more.
Run
  • 2h 26m 43s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 12s  min/mile
Comments:

Goal #1: Finish, #2: Finish without further injuring achilles, #3: Run the entire distance without further injuring achilles #4: A personal best time (<2:29:00) without injury.

Other than having to walk up 2 small hills as my achilles felt too tight to deal with them, I accomplished all of my goals!
What would you do differently?:

Train more, or train less? Hard to say because I've had a painful achilles tendon so training less may have let it heal more thoroughly, but training more may have prevented it from acting up in the first place.

I would have pushed alot harder prior to 17th Street. There we suddenly only had half the street and I got boxed in with people running 11:30 paces (about what I had been running up until that point) and my joints had just gotten loosened up so I wanted to go faster, but couldn't.

I would have picked somebody other than Elvis to pace behind, then beat. I usually pick someone--usually in wings, feathers, etc.--that I absolutely MUST beat. Today it was Elvis. I think I passed him at a water station, then didn't focus on anyone else.
Post race
Warm down:

Walking through lines to get food, down stairs, etc. I sat and iced my achilles while I ate and did some stretching.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Achilles--not only did I have to walk up the hills mentioned above, but it kept me from training as much as I should have as well.

Event comments:

It seemed like people were waiting in huge lines for the end porta potties before the race, when the central ones had only 2-3 people waiting. I mentioned this to a few people waiting in the long lines, but they just kept waiting in the long lines, so I gave up. I think if a volunteer, or anyone more official than myself, could have let them know they didn't have to stand in those lines, everyone could have gotten through more quickly.

Getting into the start corral was a problem also...there were very few openings and people everywhere...spectators and racers. I tried to go over the gate, like some skinnier girls ahead of me had, but the gate didn't quite seem sturdy enough for me to climb over:) There was basically nowhere to go until the race started. I crossed the start line about 5 minutes after the actual start.

Overall a fun race and I would do it again.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2008-08-18 12:00 AM
Running
02:26:43 | 13.1 miles | 11m 12s  min/mile
Age Group: 213/305
Overall: 3000/3877
Performance: Good
I did not wear HRM as I thought it would just be asking for some chaffing. Lap/Pace 1/11:10 2/10:57 3/10:47 4/10:43 5/11:10 6/10:24 7/10:24 8/10:35 9/10:59 10/11:37 11/11:32 12/10:50 13/11:55 14/11:14
Course: Only a few small hills, otherwise pretty flat. Scenic parks, felt like I was window shopping in downtown Denver for a bit. Found some restaurants I might like to eat at someday...just don't spend enough time down there. I'm more of a Bouler girl...ANYWAY, the half marathon split off from the full at mile 12. I really liked this course.
Keeping cool Good 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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5