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Long Beach Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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long beach, California
United States
65F / 18C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 24m 37s
Overall Rank = 47/9802
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 4/567
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at hotel at 5:00. Banana, coffee & Clif Bar. Had a couple of Shot Bloks before heading down to the lobby. Took a bottle of Powerade Zero for the morning. Stopped at a porta-potty on the way to the start and then stood in line again as soon as we got there. Had just enough time to check our bags and get into the starting corral.
Event warmup:

Not much. Jogged from gear check to the front of the corral. Did a few pickups out in front of the starting line and then got ready to run.
Run
  • 1h 24m 37s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 06m 28s  min/mile
Comments:

Felt good at the start. Was able to hit the splits I wanted - maybe a little fast for a few of them. Goal was sub-1:25, so was shooting for an even 6:20-6:25 (after a 6:30 first mile). By the time I came back around to the starting area to head out on the out-and-back, I started laboring and I was having trouble keeping 6:30s. After the turn to head back, just after mile 9, I started to feel better, but it was still tough. With 2 miles to go, I could see the aquarium off in the distance, but I was slowing down and it hurt. Passing through the 10 mile in just over 1:04, I knew that if I could run something close to a 20 minute 5k to close, I would go under 1:25. 20 minutes of suffering - just trying to focus on keeping the cadence up and leaning forward. I opened up the stride with a mile to go and got it back to the 6:20ish range. It felt good - maybe something I should try more often? I looked back a few times in the last two miles, but there was no one behind me. Down the home stretch, there were two runners in sight and I was making up ground, but when they heard me running, they both picked it up and beat me in by a couple of seconds. As always, I was glad to be finished!
What would you do differently?:

Not sure. Maybe carry a bottle (or a few Bloks). The aid stations were a bit of a pain. I only took in water and maybe that's why I started to fall off a bit at the end. Or maybe I went out a bit too fast. I have to be happy with the effort as it's about a 4 minute PR for the half - although the 1:28 was on a much tougher course.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked through the chute and then hung out and waited for Conrad to finish. Saw Mike (Triheado) from BT and we chatted for a bit. Walked back to the hotel, changed and headed out to the marathon course to cheer.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I was a little sick last week and my training runs were terrible. I can't complain though as I raced ok. More track / interval work would help and probably less racing and more specific run training? But where's the fun in that? Might have wanted to take in some Bloks or carry a bottle w/Carbo-Pro. First half marathon with only water and maybe I could have kept the pace with a bit of a lift along the way?

Event comments:

I wasn't absolutely crazy about the course, but I've definitely run worse. The first 5 miles, looping through the streets and freeways was weird and the out-and-back stretch was pretty barren. It's a fast track with only a couple of moderate bridges. If you can deal with the 6 or so miles of concrete, you can run a good time.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2010-09-15 12:00 AM
Running
01:24:37 | 13.1 miles | 06m 28s  min/mile
Age Group: 4/567
Overall: 47/9802
Performance:
5k: 19:42, 10k: 39:42, 10 mi: 1:04:20, last 5k: 20:17. Mile splits: 6:21, 6:22, 6:14, 6:27, 6:14, 6:29, 6:32, 6:31, 6:26, 6:25, 6:41, 6:36, 6:16.
Course: 5 miles of roads, ramps and highways around the harbor and then one long out and back.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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] 4

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2010-10-17 10:43 PM

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Extreme Veteran
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San Diego
Subject: Long Beach Half Marathon


2010-10-17 11:17 PM
in reply to: #3157143

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Veteran
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SoCal
Subject: RE: Long Beach Half Marathon
5 in ag..you're a beast man..great job today...it was good finally running into you man..train hard for clearwater..
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