Rock n Roll Half - RunHalf Marathon


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Dallas, Texas
United States
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 32m 28s
Overall Rank = 6261/9228
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 672/1003
Pre-race routine:

Breakfast: oatmeal with strawberries, banana, toast w/nutella, water. Lea and Kelly picked me up, waited in traffic forever, parked and took shuttle to starting area. Saw some TTT teamates (Kathey and Allene) chatted w/them for a bit, found our corral and chatted while we waited. Took some pictures, ate a couple of shotblocks, drank some water, just soaked in the atmosphere and energy. I love the beginning of races!
Event warmup:

Nothing, I had 13.1 miles to run, figured I would use the first few miles as a warm-up =P
Run
  • 2h 32m 28s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 38s  min/mile
Comments:

My run isn't fast or pretty but I am determined to work on it even though I am not a natural runner and I don't particularly like running to begin with. When I first started training for this race months ago I was literally starting from scractch. My first week of training I ran 3 times a week at 1.5 miles each. I remember thinking back then how the hell I was going to get through 13.1 miles.

This is my first half marathon, shoot....first run over 11 miles period. I didn't have any time goals, I really had no idea how slow I would run. When I signed up for the RnR, I put my estimated time as 2:45:52, (12:39 mm) My goals were to just run the whole darn thing and not walk. Game plan: Slow, steady and finish strong.

Started off VERY slowly, even for me and even the walkers were passing me up! I kept repeating to myself that I needed to warm up first and to take the first 2-3 miles slow to warm up my legs. I started off with friend and teamate Lea for the first 3 miles. After the first 3 miles, my legs felt warmed up so I decided to pick up the pace a little. I ended up leaving Lea (after she gave me her blessing) and was on my own from there on out. I was going completely by RPE, I used my ipod instead of iphone, and didn't look at my watch.

Miles 3-9 I felt great, nice easy pace, breathing controlled and even. Found my zone and just ran, took in the scenery, bands, and actually passed some people who were NOT walkers, ha! Took first gu around mile 6ish. Took second gu at the first aid station that offered it which I think was after mile 7. This is the one and only time I took a few walk steps. Lots of congestion at this station for the gu so I had to wait in line for a few seconds.

Miles 10-13.1 were brutal, not going to even lie. This is where I started to feel everything, the bottoms of my feet, my toes, ankles, calves, hips, lower back, side cramp....I was HURTING. The last 3 miles I wanted to walk so badly and I had to repeat every mantra/saying that I knew so I wouldn't stop and keep moving forward. I knew if I walked the probability of me starting back up with running would be slim to none. So, I ran with all that I had left the last entire 3.1 miles even when my body was screaming to stop.
What would you do differently?:

I would say, maybe hit the full 12 mile run that I had scheduled in my training plan 2 wks out from race, I only made 11 due to random issues. Oh, and smile at the finish line, I was hurting really badly crossing the finish, so I'm sure my pics are going to look horrible. Other than that, I'm really happy with my effort with my first half marathon. My half pace is only 19 seconds slower per mile than my 10k race I did in January.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked (shuffled) around, enjoyed post race food, stretched.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I'm just a sucky runner, but I'm a sucky runner that finished a half marathon! :)

Event comments:

Originally I balked at the price and I was a little nervous with this being the inaugraul race but it was worth it. Lots of water stations, tons of race support/volunteers plenty of post race food/drinks and nice goodie bag/freebies at expo. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed myself. I want to do this race again next year, PR of course :)


Profile Album


Last updated: 2009-12-04 12:00 AM
Running
02:32:28 | 13.1 miles | 11m 38s  min/mile
Age Group: 672/1003
Overall: 6261/9228
Performance: Good
Course: Started in downtown, through uptown, Turtle Creek, ending in Fair Park. Flat, fun, beautiful course. The day was absolutely gorgeous too!
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
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