The Jenks Aquarium Half Marathon has now officially come and gone. I am both happy and slightly disappointed. My goal was to run this in under 1:30:00. My chip time came in at 1:30:17. 17 seconds is all I missed it by. The course was a nice flat out and back. I knew I should have no trouble making my time, but I didn't count on the South wind for the entire 'back' 6.5 miles throwing a wrench in the works. Miles 1-5: 6:32, 6:33, 6:33, 6:36, 6:40 I felt really good for the first five miles. I initially planned on going out in 6:49's and then gradually picking it up depending on how I felt. When I realized that the wind was blowing from the South I knew I would need to bank as many miles as I could in under 6:49. That way if I couldn't hack it running in to the wind I would have some breathing room. Miles 6-10: 6:44, 6:41, 6:50, 6:56, 6:59 All of these miles were run into the wind, but fortunately there were lots of trees that helped to damper it. Half way through mile 9 the course veered to the right and headed directly into the south wind. Miles nine and ten completely through me off my game and I never fully recovered. Miles: 11-13.2: 7:07, 7:17, 7:10, 1:42 We finally got a little break from the wind just over halfway through mile 11 as the course changed direction several times from this point until the finish. There was a hard right turn that went under a bridge at mile 12. I was running with two other guys and we all ran along the street instead to the sidewalk. A course marshal directed us back onto the sidewalk, which meant chugging up a grassy hill. I wonder now that I'm thinking back on this if that isn't what cost me my 17 seconds. If we had not gotten slightly off course I would not have had to kill my self going up the hill. Or if I had just stayed on the street until it met back up with the sidewalk I probably also would have had an easier time keeping my pace. It was not a short cut, just an eventual turn that meant you needed to be on the sidewalk to get to. I talked to others after the race that got caught off guard by this same point in the course. Conclusion: My watch says that I ran 13.25 miles in 1:30:26 at an AP of 6:49. 6:49 would have been fast enough to make it in under 1:30. If I had only run a few less tangents I think I would have made it. I am thrilled with my time overall. I took 9:02 off of my previous half marathon time. That was two years ago so I should have improved quite a bit, but I'm still feeling good. I will not go in to Oklahoma City lightly. I will run smart through the taper and hope there is not too much wind to deal with.
| 