Well… I’m a little embarrassed to write this report. I seem to have a knack for running the wrong route in races as this is my second one in the last year. I really don’t know where to start except to start making excuses: It was dark, the route wasn’t marked well, no one was as the turn to tell you that you were going the wrong way, I was running alone, I ran the route I had ridden my bike before and it looked familiar…. I guess I could go on and on but I think I’ll just stop and write the report! J
I was really expecting to knock down a really great half marathon time on this race going into it. My goal was to break a 7:00 pace for the race. I wasn’t expecting to run a PR as this course is really pretty tough and as I ran it I realized it was even tougher than I had remembered. I feel like I have been working hard and could achieve this goal but things just didn’t quite turn out the way I planned. I really think the biggest problem was the Temperature, Humidity and Dew Point. I had been watching the weather and was expecting it to be more like 48-50 degrees as it has been for the last two years but the cool front didn’t materialize and it turned out to be quite hot and humid so missing my goal pace by 6 seconds per mile isn’t a big surprise. I exerted the effort, as indicated by my HR, but the lactate build up just got me on the last couple of miles where I expected to pick up those extra seconds.
Again this race is a fun race with a great cause. It was extra special this year because Callie (my daughter) was finally able to run her first half marathon. She is the one who got me started about 3.5 years ago. Plagued with injuries and just business she has never been able to work up to a half marathon. I was very proud of her for her effort and dedication to work through the training and finally achieve that goal. She ran a respectable 6th in her age group with quite a few in that age bracket.
As usual I started out a little ways back in the corral as I always feel more comfortable chasing people rather than having them pass me later in the race. I had worked out a “perfect” pacing plan but…ha ha…forgot to bring it with me so I had to just run by memory which isn’t very good. I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to run the first mile and hurt myself a little running a 7:30 instead of the 7:17 on the plan. It was completely dark on the first few miles so it’s really had to judge the grade and distance of the hills. I was afraid to run faster at this point but in hind sight I know I should have pushed it a little more. Most all of my miles were a few seconds slower than my planned paces and in hind sight I really wish I would have remembered my pacing chart. I actually though I was running okay. I was trying to figure out where I needed to be and at the turn-around my garmin said an average pace of 7:03. I thought this was good but it actually needed to be 7:01 to be on my planned pace.
As I was approaching the turn-around I started counting runners who had already made the turn, 1,2,3,4,5…. I was 9th and at this point there were two runners just a few steps in front of me. I rounded the turn and decided to go ahead and overtake the two guys so that put me in 7th. I continued to try and keep an even pace through miles 7,8,9 as this is the flattest part of the course. When I got the mile 10 (the dreaded long uphill) I set my goal to pass a couple more runners. 7:49 doesn’t seem that fast for a mile but this uphill on mile 10 just kills a lot of runners. I passed one girl and said something like “this hill is a killer” and as I ran by she just stopped and started walking. I passed another guy close to the top and this now put me in 5th place. I could see all of the 5 runners in front of me, although the first and second guys were way out of reach I was thinking I might be able to catch the other two and come in 3rd overall. J
When I got to the next sharp turn on the course I had lost sight of the other runners, we were in the neighborhood where there are a couple of turns and small rolling hills. I couldn’t figure out how those two guys had gotten out of my sight. I was also confused at this point because my garmin was saying that I was running mile 12 and I knew I should be running mile 13! WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON? This is where I guess I just lost complete concentration, my last two miles were not what I planned them to be. When I got to the long straightaway near the finish my watch had already registered 13 mile and now I could see several runners in front of me….WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?
I was totally confused, my garmin said 13.4 miles, the race results showed me 12th overall with an avg. pace of 7:16 pace.
I guess I would be really upset if this were an important race but I was really just doing it as a training run anyway. Someway I’ve got to lean to run the right course and quit blazing my own trail…this is getting old!
Here’s the actual details:
|
Mile
|
Time
|
HR
|
HR %
|
|
1
|
7:30:00
|
148
|
78%
|
|
2
|
7:00:00
|
161
|
87%
|
|
3
|
7:18:00
|
162
|
87%
|
|
4
|
6:57:00
|
163
|
88%
|
|
5
|
6:48:00
|
164
|
89%
|
|
6
|
6:57:00
|
165
|
89%
|
|
7
|
7:08:00
|
167
|
91%
|
|
8
|
6:55:00
|
169
|
92%
|
|
9
|
7:02:00
|
169
|
92%
|
|
10
|
7:49:00
|
171
|
93%
|
|
11
|
7:01:00
|
173
|
95%
|
|
12
|
7:16:00
|
173
|
95%
|
|
13
|
6:56:00
|
174
|
95%
|
|
13.4
|
2:30:00
|
176
|
97%
|
|
Total
|
95:07:00
|
166
|
90%
|
|
Pace
|
7:05:54
|
|
|
“But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane [you aren't alone]
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley, [often go awry]
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promised joy.”
Here's a pictue of the Routed Route...
And a picture of my trophy...
THE END
| 