General Discussion Race Reports! » IMT Des Moines Half-Marathon Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply

IMT Des Moines Half-Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Des Moines, Iowa
United States
IMT Des Moines Marathon
57F / 14C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 46m 38s
Overall Rank = 3228/3917
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 164/172
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 5:30 and had an english muffin with peanut butter and a cup of tea. Headed out to Nollen Plaza at around 6:30, parked and walked to the start area. It was chilly. I hung out inside Captal Square until about 15 minutes before start time and waited for Kiley to come and get her bike pump and water bottle. Kiley was late and I never did hook up with her.
Went out and put my spare clothes in my bag and checked them with the volunteers and then found my spot in the way overcrowded street.
Event warmup:

I did some stretching while I was waiting and some active muscle work to get ready. My adrenaline was already pumping so hard that my heart rate was elevated. By the time the sun came out it got warm enough to not worry about cold muscles.
Run
  • 2h 46m 38s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 12m 43s  min/mile
Comments:

My goal for this race was between 2:20 and 2:30. I started too fast. I should have known it as I was passing lots of people in the first 2 miles. I got to the 5k mark and was at 30:13, or 9:45s. Too fast for a race I was planning for 10:40s to 11:25s.
I decided to slow down to the 10:45 pace and just take the first 3 miloes as a bonus to my final time.
Had to take a pee break just after mile 4 and by mile 5 I was starting to slow down, got bored with the scenery and basically lost my mental focus. I lost a good amount of ground to time by the 10k mark and dropped to 1:11:15, or 11:28 pace. I was disappointed in the time because I felt like I was going to need some time at the end for fading possibilities. Went through the mile 7 water station and started talking to a couple of guys that were just out having a good time. They weren't even registered runners, they were just running the 5 miles in the Water Works area trying to help people get through it. I told them I could use a sense of humor and they started to run with me.
Those guys really picked me up for the next two miles and I was feeling pretty good at mile 9.
In between mile 9 and 10 I hear a siren and I look over my shoulder to see a motorcycle with the lead marathoner behind him. He came by me at about 9.25 and he looked like he wasn't even working.
I got to the 15k mark at 1:51:36 (11:16) and felt pretty positive about it. I was looking at another 5k in under 40 minutes to get under 2:30.
Just after the 10.5 mark I started to get really tight in my lower back. I kind of changed the way I was running to relieve it but I was much less efficient and a bit slower. I just kept plugging though, and trying to find someone that wanted to chat.
The change in running gait started to cause another problem and I started to feel it in my hip abductors and inner thighs. It was so bad that I had to change back to my regular gait, but that caused some real pain in my back. Overall it took me almost 50 minutes to run the last 3.2 (16:10). That was very disappointing to me, but I was severely hurting when I crossed the line. Total time of 2:46:38 or 16 minutes and change longer than I wanted. Pace was 12:44.
What would you do differently?:

I guess I need to work on my core strength and back strength a little more (or a lot more). I feel like if my back would have held out I could have made the goal time.
I might have also taken an ipod with me. I don't usually run with music and I have never raced with music, but this course has a lot of area where you are really "on your own" and much of that is where you really need it. The trip through Water Works Park and the lap around Gray's Lake had very few spectators and it covered some 7 miles of the course and most of it in the middle area where you really need to keep your motivation up.
I was told that there were bands all around the course, but that was not true for most of these 7 miles.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around, panted, ate, repeat.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

More miles. I need to run more miles. I need to run more miles for more years to get faster. It's not rocket surgery.

Event comments:

It's a well run race that had a record number of participants. They include the section in Water Works park to eliminate hills, but I would rather run hills than the flood barren area of that park.




Last updated: 2010-09-11 12:00 AM
Running
02:46:38 | 13.1 miles | 12m 43s  min/mile
Age Group: 164/172
Overall: 172/3917
Performance: Below average
5k @ 30:13 10k @ 1:11:15 15k @ 1:51:36
Course: This is a pretty flat course with only small hills. It's nice. From mile 4 to mile 9 is in Water Works Park. It is incredibly boring. Nothing to look at, flat as can be and the environment looks the same all the way around.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %3
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Ok
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

{postbutton}
2010-10-19 3:01 PM

User image

Champion
5868
50005001001001002525
Urbandale, IA
Subject: IMT Des Moines Half-Marathon


2010-10-19 9:28 PM
in reply to: #3160868

User image

Champion
10742
5000500050010010025
Ames, IA
Subject: RE: IMT Des Moines Half-Marathon
Nice job, John.  There are definitely some sparse areas out on that course that are tough to get through.  Way to stick with it!
2010-10-24 10:32 AM
in reply to: #3160868

User image

Champion
7495
50002000100100100100252525
Schwamalamadingdong!
Subject: RE: IMT Des Moines Half-Marathon
Congrats, John! This was your first half marathon, yes? You'll get better at pacing yourself when you've run a few more... or so i've heard!
2010-10-27 11:26 AM
in reply to: #3160868

Iron Donkey
38643
50005000500050005000500050002000100050010025
, Wisconsin
Subject: RE: IMT Des Moines Half-Marathon

Hopefully, you'll start to feel more at ease and comfortable with your training and carrying that over to these types of races.  Half-marathons are hard to gauge sometimes.

General Discussion-> Race Reports!
{postbutton}
General Discussion Race Reports! » IMT Des Moines Half-Marathon Rss Feed