Marine Corp Historic Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Fredericksburg, Virginia
United States
Marine Corp Marathon office
65F / 18C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 46m 34s
Overall Rank = 85/2682
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 9/461
Pre-race routine:

I got up at 4:15. It was a little hard to get out of bed today even though I was really excited about this race - too darn early!!! I took a quick shower and got dress. Then I took my vitamins, drank about 16 oz. of water and had an orange, steel cut oats w/2T of wheat germ, and a hard boiled egg. Then I loaded up the car and we headed to Fredericksburg at 5:00. I put on sunscreen in the car. We stopped at Sheetz near the convention center to get ready and to use the bathroom. I ate a small banana at about 6:20. Then I got outfitted with my number, visor, sunglasses, and new Spi Belt w/2 gels, cell phone, and $5 for massage tip later. I kissed Charles good-bye and I went to warm up while he went to meet Phil.
Event warmup:

I walked a bit and then broke off from the crowd to do a jog warm-up. I only had my Garmin so I could tell what time it was, but I could hear the announcements from the start line. I jogged until my HR leveled out. Then I did 2X accelerations (only about 30 strides or so each) with walk recoveries. Then I did a brief jog and walked the rest of the way to the corral. Next time, I might use my watch during warm-up to be sure that I jog long enough, but I felt okay just going off of feel. Once I got into a good spot at the start, I did some good stretching and spent a lot of time on my right hip and hamstring. I was paranoid about all the things that have been going on in that leg/hip, so I was hoping this would help a bit.
Run
  • 1h 46m 34s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 08s  min/mile
Comments:

I started out wondering how my right knee would feel since it was really aggravated on Thursday, but I really wanted to race this one to see what I could do. I planned to give it all that I had unless it was clear that I was injured. I would love a PR, but I was going to be happy with any finish time between 1:51:00 and 2:00:00, considering how the week went. I started out with a strong pace but a comfortable effort level, my HR in the low 150's, and my breathing easy. It took about a mile for the crowd to break up enough to have comfortable running room. This usually makes me impatient, but I tried to remind myself to let it help me keep from starting out too fast. Around 12 minutes, I realized I had not started my usual walk breaks. I didn't feel like I need to stop, but I remembered what Sam said about the hills at the end being a lot tougher than they looked. I decided to compromise w/ :30 walks every 10 min. or so, or whenever I hit the next hill after a 10 min. interval, and figured I could put it in the bank for the hills at the end. This definitely helped to refresh my legs and made me feel stronger when I restarted. I noticed that my pace was consistently under 8:00, so I hoped that I was not overdoing it in the first half, but we were going downhill a lot and my HR was much lower than what I thought I could sustain, so I figured I was okay. I hit a mat at around the 10K mark at about 0:50 and change. I also waited a bit longer than usual for my gel, but I had been sipping my sports drink. I took water at two water stations and used the gel somewhere after the halfway point. We were still going down hill up until about mile 8 so I figured we were really in for it coming home. I hit the 10 mile marker at 1:04 and change - very happy with that! Then we started up hill. There was an awesome rockin' band at the top so I motivated and thought - "Here we go. Now it's time to go to the bank!" Well, it turned out to be a warm-up hill, so I settled back into my cruise pace and took one more uphill walk break to prep for the final 5K. Then the real hills started - right at the hospital ER - how ironic!!! I started to power up and felt really strong. I was passing lots of people and chugging along pretty steadily. For the first time so far, I started to breathe hard. I kept reminding myself of the mountain in Roanoke, and in comparison, this was a fairly short climb. I figured I might need to walk at the top, but I felt great, and recovered to my easy breathing before I turned the next corner away from the hospital, so I kept going. After another pretty short cruise, we started another climb to the bridge over 95. I still felt like I had plenty, so I dug in and started passing people again. It gave me strength to hear another runner (must have been a super fast woman) who was cheering us on from the sidelines and saying "Last hill to go - almost there!" Once we got to the top and passed the 12 mile marker, that was it. I figured I had nothing left to lose, and could hold onto a hard effort to the finish line. I accelerated and passed a few more people. I started to think that it was possible to finish under 1:45. I kept looking for the next woman (not many around at that point) and trying to gain ground. I was pretty much dying in the stretch to the finish line, but I just kept my head up and fixed my eyes on the arches. I didn't quite make the 1:45 mark, but 1:46:34 was just fine! I was thrilled with how good I felt after the finish - not hurting and not exhausted.
What would you do differently?:

I just need to continue to build my strength and endurance with longer tempo runs and mile repeats. I was thrilled with my time here, but when I finish feeling so good, I always wonder if I had a little more that I could have left on the course
Post race
Warm down:

I walked a bit, got a bottle of water, ate half a bagel and half of a banana. Then I checked in with Charles, signed up for a massage, did some light stretching, and got a 10 min. massage - very nice! Then I met up with Charles and we walked to a parking area to meet Phil and go for some breakfast. All the walking that I did afterward was probably really good.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Only the strength of my legs. I felt like I had more cardio capacity than I used. I was very happy with my run cadence. My pacing and nutrition were right on target. I want to be able to place in my age group in one of these things some day.

Event comments:

I loved the location. The race was super organized. I never had to wait in line for packet pickup, shirt pickup, food at the end of the race or a massage. There were tons of volunteers and well supported water/fuel stations. There were tons of people cheering the whole way. The music groups playing along the course were AWESOME! Before the race started, there was lots of fanfare including a prayer, the National Anthem, and a "Town Cryer" to get the race off to a themed start - very cool! The medal was great, too. It was kind of a bummer that you had to pay extra to get a race shirt. Otherwise, I probably would have bought some other race gear, but I had already spent my race $ for this one. I also wish they offered a little more in the way of post-race food like peanut butter for the bagels or something hot like soup. Overall, though, this was an excellent race experience and I can't wait to do it again.




Last updated: 2010-05-08 12:00 AM
Running
01:46:34 | 13.1 miles | 08m 08s  min/mile
Age Group: 9/461
Overall: 85/2682
Performance: Good
Average HR - 152, Average cadence - 92; I forced myself to take a few walk-breaks in the beginning in order to refresh legs and be sure to save something for the climb at the end. On my Garmin data, it looks like I only walked four times, but I think I did a few more than that (probably six or so). I kept my walk-breaks to 30 seconds or less, and uphill only, because I felt really good and it was killing me to get passed. After mile 10, I did not stop to walk any more. (overall rank listed here is actual Female rank)
Course: Really great run from Central Park through Historic Downtown Fredericksburg and back to Central Park. There was A LOT of downhill running up until mile 8. Then you pay it all back in two hills at the end. The biggest one was around the hospital (how ironic!) and the next one was up to the bridge over 95. The significant climbing was all between miles 10 and 12, so it was possible to have a pretty fast last mile to home.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
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