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Marathon of the Palm Beaches - RunHalf Marathon


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West Palm Beach, Florida
United States
55F / 13C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 40m 54s
Overall Rank = 201/2304
Age Group = M 30-34
Age Group Rank = 17/98
Pre-race routine:

Woke up arounf 4:45am and had Powerbar, banana, gel and sipped on gatorade endurance. Took a while to leave making sure I did not have to wait for porta potty lines. Dressed in layers so that I was half warm walking to starting area. Left hoem around 5:15am and got to race site arounf 5:45am.
Event warmup:

Found a parking garage a few blocks away and wanted to walk a bit anyway since I doubt I would have warm up time. They had a bag drop off and decided to shed the clothing and leave with the bag. When bare basics with shorts, tank top w/visor. After checkign bag, just walked down to the starting line for anthem etc. Was much warmer standing in the crowd that was blocking the wind! Stood around like 15 minutes while the wheel chair division took off and announcments made. I looked around for pace groups, but none for HM. There was a group for Marathon times and just thought that if the 3:30 marathon group passed me, I was in trouble. I seeded myself in between the 7 and 8 minute starting corals as I thought I would average somewhere in between. This was my first HM so much was left to interpretation after the start. I have done a # of HIM's, but not used to cold start on the run and actually having fresh legs.
Run
  • 1h 40m 54s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 42s  min/mile
Comments:

The gun went off and took a while for the mob to get going. The corals are clearly marked, but always suprised how many people simply ignore them. Let's just say that 50% of the people in the 7 and 6 minute corals in front of me were not making those times and if they did, decided to start with a 9-10 minute warm up 1st mile. That said, after about 1/4 mile there was room to pass on the outside and find a groove. My goal was to average around 8:00 a mile and take inventory after mile 6-8. Loved the fact they had digital clocks at each mile marker. Really never looked down at my own watch whole race. first mile read 8:15 whch was slow, but not sure if it counted the 30 or so seconds waiting to pass under the starting line. Decided to catch up and get back to 16:00 at mile 2. Went a little quick and saw 15:45. Mile 3 was back near start and I was @ 23:00. Ok, this was good and pace felt fine. Thought I would "bank" some time early to hit my 1:45:00 goal and have a few minutes just in case. Mile 4 was @ 30:30 and helped confidence that I was 1:30 ahead of goal pace. Kept adding a few more seconds each mile and hit mile 8 @ 1:02:00. At this point two guys decided to make their point about there dislike towards I-pods during races. Since they can't be worn in a tri, I have never raced with the music. The race program said nothing about not being able to wear them although I know they are looked down upon for safety reasons. Well, these two guys wouldn't drop it and they were about 10 feet behind me. I made a choice to act out of character and NOT turn around and share my own opinion. It was too great of a morning, I was in a real postive mindset and didn't need the bad karma.

Started to feel right hip tighten up where IT Band connects (frequent problem) as well as ITBS in left knee starting to come on around mile 9. I wasn't suprised with no warm up and never running at this pace in training. The energy was great on the course though and decided to just run through it. Hip was ok after I massaged it at a water stop and left knee seemed not to be getting worse. Around mile 11 I got passed by Bill Rogers. They announced earlier at the start he was racing, but I only knew him through magazine articles etc. I thought he had great personal story and that gave me some confidence. He turned it on and I couldn't keep up. He would finsh a good 1:30 ahead of me in fact. I wanted to say hello but felt he should be left at peace. Pointed him out to another runner, but they didn't know who he was.

Around mile 12 I knew I was going to finish ahead of goal and in fact, felt like I would have left a little in the tank as well so I increased pace. Last mile+ was in 7:00 and that got me under 1:41:00. I didn't have a great kick to speak of the last few hundred yards, but I felt I gave it a go.

Really happy with this time and PR (1st HM).
What would you do differently?:

Really not much. I got a little hot after mile 4 so took my shirt off and tucked behind my shorts. Maybe I can start without it next time as I generally never run in a shirt unless REALLY cold (cold for Florida that is). Also maybe warm-up a bit. I also took Friday/Saturday off from workouts and a light run in there would have been nice. What a difference it is in aid station planning etc during a HIM and a cool weather HM. Instead of stopping @ each aid station for ice, water, etc, I think I grabbed a water at 4-5 stations and maybe took a few sips even at that. I did take a gel @ mile 5 & 10, but that might have been more than needed.
Post race
Warm down:

Was handed a medal and bottle of water and waited a few minutes to catch my breath. Made my way to get my bag and put on a dry t-shirt I brought. After that, had a light breakfast and can of some drink they were handing out. Found a spot in the sun to sit down and enjoyed the scenery. Called my buddy who was doing the race to see if he was done, but he had to drop out after mile 6. Said hello to a few other people I knew and then packed it up and went home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Nothing here... Will have better idea next time regarding pace etc having this experience behind me.

Event comments:

Well organized race with plenty of volunteers. The aid stations were perfect and great to see support from the neighborhood communities. This race has been going on for about 7 years and normally comes right after my last HIM race of the season in mid Novemmber. But this year I ended in late October and had a few good weeks to rest and start back to run training. I will be sure to sign up again and only hope we have such great weather in future races.





Last updated: 2010-11-04 12:00 AM
Running
01:40:54 | 13.1 miles | 07m 42s  min/mile
Age Group: 17/98
Overall: 201/2304
Performance: Good
Course: Nice course that has you heading north on flagler for about 1.5 miles and then turning around back to start and then head down south along flagler which is adjacent to the intercoastal. Great view as you watch the sun come up on the horizon. Last 4-5 miles are on Olive as you make way back to downtown area.
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 Too easy
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2010-12-07 9:53 AM

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