Shamrock Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Virginia Beach, Virginia
United States
Shamrock Sportsfest
36F / 2C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 1h 24m 46s
Overall Rank = 89/5996
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 10/356
Pre-race routine:

Got up - decided what to wear - overdressed a bit - tights were fine but long sleeve + light UA jacket were a bit much for the race. Had 2 cliff bars and some gatorade.
Event warmup:

Ally and I ran 1/2 a mile or so warm-up together and then she went into corral 2 as I headed to 1.
Run
  • 1h 24m 46s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 06m 28s  min/mile
Comments:

Going into this race I really did not know what to expect as I had not run more than 8 miles at one time in 5 weeks due to a calf injury and this was my first open 1/2 marathon and my longest open race to date. Thought if everything went well I could be under 1:25.

Goal was to start at 6:30 and see how the race went. Started off easy and felt pretty comfortable right away running at 6:30. Ended up running with another guy and he and I traded places over the first few miles as we would the rest of the race. The course was very scenic.

Everything was going pretty smoothly - I took either water or gatorade at every chance I got and felt pretty solid. Went through mile 10 in a 2 minute PR so I knew I was having a good race. Just after mile 10 I felt my first few twinges in my legs but by stretching out my stride or kicking my legs up higher I was able to stretch them out. Mile 11 is where stuff started to hurt a bit - just random things - both shoulders at once and then my big toe (blister). Still I was able to keep my pace and form.

Around mile 11.5 a girl came by me and she was yelling at someone - turns out she was a coach and was trying to get one of her athletes to finish top 10 female. She was really encouraging and I decided to latch on to them. I asked the coach and girl and they both said they would love the company so the 3 of us took off and finished up together - without them I am not sure I would have been able to break 1:25. :)

Paced this race just about perfect:

Mile/Pace/HR
1 6:25 161
2 6:30 170
3 6:29 173
4 6:30 173
5 6:26 174
6 6:23 175
7 6:23 176
8 6:29 176
9 6:29 176
10 6:27 178
11 6:29 178
12 6:25 178
13 6:28 182
.11 :46 183
What would you do differently?:

Overdressed a bit and was overheating some but other than that the race really went perfect - best of all the people I was down there with had great races - we had a group of twenty or so doing either the 8K, 1/2 or full. Three of the guys were trying to BQ and all three made it - I was so so happy for them.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around - saw Ally finish (She did great!) and then we had beer and stew. The stew was fantastic!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Overdressed a bit.

Event comments:

Great volunteers and great food - only thing that was wrong was 1 of the aid stations had to be shut down bc the water and gatorade froze.




Last updated: 2009-03-09 12:00 AM
Running
01:24:46 | 13.1 miles | 06m 28s  min/mile
Age Group: 10/356
Overall: 89/5996
Performance: Good
Mile/Pace/HR 1 6:25 161 2 6:30 170 3 6:29 173 4 6:30 173 5 6:26 174 6 6:23 175 7 6:23 176 8 6:29 176 9 6:29 176 10 6:27 178 11 6:29 178 12 6:25 178 13 6:28 182 .11 :46 183
Course: VA Beach so flat. Almost no wind and sunny - nice race temperature.
Keeping cool Below 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? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5