Rock ‘n’ Roll Providence Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Providence, Rhode Island
United States
Competitor Group, Inc.
70F / 21C
Overcast
 		Total Time = 1h 40m 1s
Overall Rank = 249/3574
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 31/195
Pre-race routine:

Got a decent amount of sleep, and was out the door about when I wanted to be. Had the usual pre-race breakfast of a toasted croissant and an iced coffee. Got to the event with plenty of time to get ready and get sorted out. Good thing, too.
Event warmup:

Just a brief bit of jogging, with some dynamic stretching. The weather was utterly perfect, not cold and certainly not as hot as it might have been. A bonus: no downpours, which we enjoyed for much of the run last year.
Run
  • 1h 40m 1s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 38s  min/mile
Comments:

My goal time was 1:45, right at 8:00/mile. I started following a pace leader holding a 1:45 sign, but it was clear early on he was going at a faster clip than that. I'd planned to stay with him as long as I could, and than fall back to a genuine 1:45 pace. I was actually able to drop him at mile 11, and kept right on going. This got a little iffy at mile 12, and I could feel my legs tightening up a bit. Turning the last corner for the .1 mile uphill to the finish line sucked, and it was slow, but got through it. Whoop!
What would you do differently?:

Not much. It's pretty rare for everything to come together so nicely on race day: training beforehand, race-day prep, gorgeous weather, good pacing, and high energy. I'll probably be comparing races in the future to this one, trying to recreate the good mojo here.
Post race
Warm down:

Scored a banana, some water, chocolate milk, etc., and wolfed them all down while stretching everything out. Hung around by the finish, cheering on other finishers and waiting for my people.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

That was about as fast as I was going to be able to go. Faster than I thought I would, considering I did 10 miles last week at 7:55. At this point, I just need to keep running, although there's also the bike and the swim. We'll see.

Event comments:

I love Rock 'n' Roll events. I know some people don't like the not-pure-running stuff, but I think it adds a lot of energy. This is my second year doing Providence, and schedule permitting I plan to keep doing it.


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Last updated: 2012-08-01 12:00 AM
Running
01:40:01 | 13.1 miles | 07m 38s  min/mile
Age Group: 31/195
Overall: 249/3574
Performance: Good
Times were pretty consistently in the 7:30s, with heartrate also pretty consistent in the upper 160s.
Course: The course is a bit hilly, with a couple of actually uncomfortable descents for good measure. It's very pretty, though, going through college areas, nice neighborhoods, and along the water before finishing up downtown.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %1%
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5