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Dahgren Trail Half Marathon

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Location:

Tallahassee,FL,United States

Member Since:

Jun 24, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

PRs:

Mile- 5:27 Breakfast on the Track, August '09
5k- 18:59 (6:07)  Tails and Trails, May '09 (And two more times! GRR!)

8k- 33:08 (6:39) Sweetheart 8k, Feb '11

10k- 41:38 (6:42) TRBC, March '09

15k- 1:02:46 (6:44) Lake Caroline 15k, Nov '08

Half Marathon- 1:36:58 (7:24) Hoover Dam Half, Oct '09

Marathon- 3:37:16 (8:17) Mississippi Coast Marathon, Nov '08

Short-Term Running Goals:

Help my knees help me.

Long-Term Running Goals:


Personal:

Moving to Knoxville this summer. Hooray for being in a place with a running community! 

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
New Balance 903 (Orange) Lifetime Miles: 63.00
Red Flats Lifetime Miles: 44.88
Brooks Salmon Lifetime Miles: 304.65
Brooks Black Lifetime Miles: 131.30
Brooks Baby Blue Lifetime Miles: 116.25
Newtons Lifetime Miles: 0.00
Race: Dahgren Trail Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:37:51, Place overall: 3
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.5013.1013.60

This was a pretty disappointing race. I was certain I would PR and pretty sure I could run under 1:35 fairly "easily." My goal was to go out around 7 minute pace and try to hold it as long as possible. It ended up not being too long. But, it was a rather small race so I did get third overall and 50 bucks... so not too shabby for a bad day!

There are several excuses for my poor racing, some of which are pretty good ones and taught me some good lessons. 

1) Nutrition- I had stomach issues that slowed me down considerably for three or four miles. I don't know what I did wrong but I will not repeat last night's dinner before another long run/race.  I also don't have any gu so had nothing to give myself during the race when I was bonking (although I don't know if my stomach could have handled it). 

2) Loose gravel = no PR. It killed me. I will never race hard on a surface described this way again. I am lucky I didn't get hurt and was extremely frustrated as I was sliding around. I would do this race again for fun, but slow up considerably on the gravel miles (mainly 4-9).

3) Flat out & back feels more like uphill both ways. I don't race well on flat surfaces (I underperformed my last marathon for the same reasons). I need to keep this in mind when planning my race schedule and making race expectations.

4) I really need to get some miles in leading up to my marathon. My fitness is not at all where it should be. As long as my knee recovers well from the race I will be ready for some higher mileage weeks to finish up my training. 

Other things that could have played a role would have been the drive to get there (2.5 hours starting at 4am), but since I don't have many choices I will probably try it again some time and hope for better results. 

All-in-all I learned a few things to help me out in the future, although I worry the stomach issues are something that may not be preventable. I am thankful for the ability to run a race like this on a bad day, and just hope to see less of these bad days in the future :) 

Brooks Salmon Miles: 13.60
Comments
From Kam on Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 18:25:04 from 68.66.163.179

It's surprising how much the footing matters, isn't it? I think I lose 30 sec/mile on a dirt road or grass compared to pavement. Way to gut things out even when your gut was uncooperative.

From TexasLindsey on Tue, Mar 01, 2011 at 13:52:21 from 70.253.143.203

Good race report! If you figure out what causes stomach issues, let me know!

From Kelsey on Tue, Mar 01, 2011 at 14:02:52 from 159.230.97.199

Thanks guys, I figured if I learned a lot and got a good workout (which I did because I am still sore!) then it's not a wasted day.

Although the stomach thing seems to not have a cure :(

Kam- I second that. The footing difference was shocking to me! 30 seconds a mile slower seems to fit this race as well.

From seeaprilrun on Wed, Mar 02, 2011 at 18:44:54 from 72.205.227.203

Well congrats on third and some money! clearly the terrain was a big factor. Loose gravel is a pain to run on for sure!

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