Okay...The first thing you're going to wonder is why I entered 15.1 miles when the race was only a Half Marathon...Well after lunch Callie (my daughter) wanted to go and run 2 miles on the track so I went with her and ran (not quite with her) to make the extra 2 miles. My pace was somewhere around 8:15...?
Now about the race! Some runner might say it was a perfect day, 38 degrees at the start, low humidity with a light wind about halfway into the race. I was actually cold through about half of the race with my toes numb until then. I really signed up for this race because I first heard it was a flat course and I wanted some advantage to try and beat my Half Marathon PR set two weeks ago at the Austin Livestrong Half. Well, after I signed up people started telling me that it is not that easy of a course. I decided to drive the course to find out what I was up against and decide a game plan on Friday before the race. I found that is was pretty challenging with several long steep hills. I'm not really sure how it compares to Austin because I only saw Austin one step at a time...if you know what I mean. I didn't drive that course and maybe that was a good thing...:) My game plan at this race was: first, not to be at the back of the pack when I started. At Austin I placed myself at the very back of the "chute" and because of that spent the first three miles weaving through people trying to get a pace established. As you can see from my chart below the first three this time were a lot faster but you can also see a little dip in my performance around mile 3. This always seems to happen when I run longer distances, I feel somewhat drained about mile 3 or 4 then a mile or so further I seem to get my pace and a second wind. At mile 5 I was feeling pretty good and decided to shoot for a 6:?? mile. I knew I had run one in the Austin race so I wanted to repeat that goal too. Well...I continued to feel good so I just kept running mile 6 at that pace. I knew at this point in the race that my heart rate was running higher than it was in the Austin race but I really wanted to check my stamina and see how I would hold up for a few more miles. Come to find out, after the race was over, my heart rate was lower overall than at Austin! Yeah!! At about mile 9 or 10 is where I feel I made a mistake in the race. I came up on a runner who looked about my age. As we ran along together I asked him about his running. He said he was 51 (my age) and had just come from Florida where he had run a Marathon. Being the cocky young old runner I am I proceeded to tell him of my goal to qualify for Boston on my first Marathon (In OK City) in a couple of months. He then told me, "Yeah, I've run it (Boston) several times but didn't have any interest in running it again"...basically he said "been there...done that". So again the smarty pants I am I said "how long did it take you to qualify for Boston". He said..."uh 20 years" so I proceeded to leave him behind in the race. Sounds good to this point doesn't it...Ha...but to my surprise about mile 12 he caught me, passed me and somewhat left me licking my smarty pants wounds and thinking I had completely run out of gas. Well...I guess I learned my lesson...RUN YOUR OWN RACE...and don't worry about the "other guy"! This guy ended up beating me by 30 seconds or so...But, the good news is, he did have to come from Minnesota to do it..:-} I was a little disappointed in my 13 mile as I think I had siked myself out and thought to myself "I am really tired". When I got about .25 miles from the finish I kicked and passed a few other runners just to make me feel in control again (actually my last .1 mile was 10 seconds faster than Austin...YES!!!...I really did have some more gas...
I was really surprised how many runners were from out of state, many of them from way up north and some from Canada. The turnout was good with about 500 racers.
All in all I am very happy with my performance. I was shooting to beat 1:40:00 and simply blew that goal away!
Oh...I should mention some of the breakdown of my run. My pace was 27 seconds faster than Austin and my HR was slightly lower. My fastest mile was faster (actually 2) and I ran every mile faster than the comparative mile in Austin except for one. Now, if I can just drop my pace this much over the next three races I'll be running with the Elites...:-)
Now for OK Marathon preparation....Any and all suggestions are welcome....!!!!!
| Moe's Better Half Marathon - San Marcos |
| 3/6/2011 |
| Mile |
Time |
Heart Rate |
|
| 1 |
7:16:00 |
149 |
33 Out of 500 Runners
2th In Age Group out of 25 |
| 2 |
7:14:00 |
160 |
| 3 |
7:41:00 |
163 |
| 4 |
7:13:00 |
163 |
| 5 |
6:58:00 |
162 |
| 6 |
6:53:00 |
164 |
| 7 |
7:33:00 |
166 |
| 8 |
7:19:00 |
166 |
| 9 |
7:22:00 |
167 |
| 10 |
7:27:00 |
166 |
| 11 |
7:11:00 |
168 |
| 12 |
7:31:00 |
168 |
| 13 |
7:41:00 |
170 |
| 13.1 |
0:57:23 |
169 |
| Total |
96:16:23 |
164 |
|
| Pace |
7:20:57 |
38 Deg. |
|
John 15:5
âI am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
| 