Geist Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Indianapolis, Indiana
United States
65F / 18C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 33m 20s
Overall Rank = 64/2655
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 6/200
Pre-race routine:

Ate the normal breakfast of granola, yogurt and fruit with some coffee. I also added a pop tart for extra measure. I planned a stop at Starbucks but I missed the exit on the way down.
Event warmup:

I was in kind of a rush because I parked so far away from the packet pick up and I felt like I had to rush more than I needed.
I ran to the start, which was about a mile away. this turned out to be a major plus for the race I think. I usually don't get a real good WU before the races but this provided ample time and distance to do a proper WU. I got to the start with about 10 minutes to spare and was able to stretch and stay warm and loose.
Run
  • 1h 33m 20s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 07s  min/mile
Comments:

I was as a well prepared for this race as I have been for any other race I have ran. All the extra miles I have run all winter and all the additional miles since I started to pick up the distances leading toward another marathon have payed off well.
I had a goal to start the race with a 7:20 pace for the first mile and then start the harder miles from there. The first mile ended up faster than planned (7:11) but wasn't hard nor did it become a problem to the rest of my race strategy later in the race. The rest of the miles seem a little like I wasn't pacing well, but I am not sure that was really what happened. I think the hills that were throughout the course caused me to have to slow down more than a more flat course would have required.
The key that seemed to work with these hills was th advice given by JeffY to keep the effort going up these hills steady, NOT the pace. I believe this worked well and I will use this for any other races that have hills.
I took some Gatorade Prime about 20 minutes befoe the start and I decided I would take my gels at mile 4 and 7 t maintain the energy level I began the race. This also seemed to work very well today. There was never a time when I started to feel drained of energy.
At mile 8 I decided it was time to really try to focus on making sure I hit the race in my target finish range. I turned up the speed a little and tried to keep everything under control with my pacing. I had even splits for mile 9 and 10 and then started to turn it up still a little more.
The last 3 miles were beginning to be a bout pain management but it was the final mile that I had to really gut out. I wanted to get that mile under 6:45 for a hardcore target and I finished at 6:39. By the end of this mile I was smashed! My HR spiked to 175 during this mile and then immediately after finishing it jumped to 180. I guess the last .25 miles I was as close to sprinting as I could come up with and I finished as strong as I had in me.
What would you do differently?:

I would try to pace a little better and maybe run a little harder. I don't think I finished leaving everything on the course. I might have been able to get just under 1:33:00 if I had banged another couple miles in the middle. (I did spend a few minutes talking to another Marine about his, and others, commitment to the country and that caused me to drop my pace a little.) I left everything I had left in the last mile and especially the last.25 but I think I could have run harder over the whole distance.
Post race
Warm down:

I was to exhausted from the last mile to think about doing anything other than stretching. And the area was JAM packed with 5ker's and spectators.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

My mental state is the only thing I think limited me. I worried to much about if I was going to run to fast for my fitness and not finish strong or throughout.

Event comments:

the only thing I didn't like was the lack of signage to the packet picck up area. I had to walk almost completely around the school to get there. I came out a different exit and was at my car in half the time it took me to find the expo.
There were many volunteers and they did a very good job. The bus drivers and buses were well organized to get people to and from the race start and finish areas in a timely manner.




Last updated: 2011-02-25 12:00 AM
Running
01:33:20 | 13.1 miles | 07m 07s  min/mile
Age Group: 6/200
Overall: 64/2655
Performance: Good
My avg HR was 165 with the final 3 laps at 168, 170 and 171 respectively. I also had a peak HR for the day at 180. This most certainly would have been on the final lap in the final .25 miles when I was pouring whatever was left out. My lap paces were a little all over the place but the course provided that type of pacing.
Course: The course was a little more hilly than I was expecting. There were a couple of hills that were kind of large for what I am used to running on. There were a lot of bigger rollers too, scattered throughout the course. There was on large hill just short of mile 7 that was definitely a pace breaker and caused me to slow more than I would have liked.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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] 4