2011 America's Finest City Half Marathon
I can't really ask for much more from a race than I had from this morning. My goal was 2:10 - a 10:00/mi pace and while I didn't quite meet my goal, I was pretty close and it was still a PR by two and a half minutes so I'm happy. I gave every last bit I had; I stuck to my race plan and had a good day.
Everything went very smoothly in the morning. The race started at 7 AM, but we had to be in line for the shuttle buses up to the start line (the race is a point to point with no parking at the start) no later than 5:30 AM. I woke up at 3:30 AM, left the house at 4 AM and headed to meet up with a friend from Texas Iron for a carpool. Mark grew up here and had come out for the race, too. I arrived at his house and we left around 4:45 and got to the race site around 5:15. We parked easily, hopped on the bus and headed for the start.
The start point at Cabrillo National Monument was at the top of a hill and was quite beautiful. We hopped into the port a potty line (in the largest bank of port a potties I have ever seen). With that quickly out of the way, we made our way towards the start line which wasn't open yet (and we actually weren't sure where it was).
We waited around and I ate my Honey Stinger gel at around 6:30. It was nice to have someone to talk to and kill time with. At about 10 minutes to 7, they opened the gate to the start area and we realized we were really really close to the front. I didn't really mean to be that close to the front of a group of 8,000 people, but I guess it meant I didn't have to run around a bunch of slower people.
At 7 the race started for the pros and then we were started a minute or so later. It took me less than a minute to cross the start mat, which was crazy. And we were off. For the first few miles, the plan was to run easy and warm up and get my legs under me. After that I was going to pick it up to my goal pace of 10:00/mi and then at 10 miles, pick it up if I had anything left.
Everything went according to plan. Miles one through three were a bit rolling and I just relaxed and took the little hills easily. Mile four was a huge downhill and I just relaxed and let the hill carry me. I didn't push, but I didn't try to brake either. Then we were on flat roads so I just relaxed and settled into my pace.
The miles just ticked by from there. It was flat and the scenery was enjoyable. Miles 5 through 10 were just about perfectly paced. I've never done a race that felt so effortless, where the miles just flew by in a blur. Every time I hit a mile marker, I was surprised I had already come another mile. I ate Honey Stingers at miles 4.5 and 9.5. I had to force them down, but I did it.
When I passed the 10k split, I came across in 1:01:58 which is awesome considering the last 10k I ran (last October) was only a minute faster. I've got a 10k coming up again this October so it makes me hopeful that I can have an even better time than last year.
A little after mile 10 I remembered I could start picking it up a bit but that's when things started getting pretty hard and I was beginning to feel a little worn out. I knew I had a big hill in front of me and so I decided just to try to stick to my pace so I would have enough for the hill. Around mile 11, I saw Emmaline with my mom and step-father which was a big boost I was needing right about then.
Almost immediately after I saw them, the uphill began. Over 200 feet of climbing from just after mile 11 up to around 12.5 miles. It was unrelenting. I knew it was coming and I knew it would be hard, but it felt never-ending. However, I have to say, I'm really proud of myself. I really pushed through and I never walked and I just kept running hard. I knew the last bit was flat and slightly downhill so if I could just get up the hill, I could get through the last mile of flat/downhill. That uphill mile set me off my pace but I have to say, it could have been worse. I'm definitely stronger on hills than I used to be.
Finally, we were at Balboa park and I gave every last little bit I had for that 3/4 mile. Even though I was strong on the hill, I realized I wasn't going to make it in 2:10 but I still figured I could do 2:12 to 2:13ish.
Overall, I had a good strong race, even if it was a couple minutes off where I would have liked to have been. I paced it out quite well and hung in for a solid effort. It was an enjoyable race and I'm satisfied with the result.
Final Time - 2:12:37 - 10:07/mi
Everything went very smoothly in the morning. The race started at 7 AM, but we had to be in line for the shuttle buses up to the start line (the race is a point to point with no parking at the start) no later than 5:30 AM. I woke up at 3:30 AM, left the house at 4 AM and headed to meet up with a friend from Texas Iron for a carpool. Mark grew up here and had come out for the race, too. I arrived at his house and we left around 4:45 and got to the race site around 5:15. We parked easily, hopped on the bus and headed for the start.
The start point at Cabrillo National Monument was at the top of a hill and was quite beautiful. We hopped into the port a potty line (in the largest bank of port a potties I have ever seen). With that quickly out of the way, we made our way towards the start line which wasn't open yet (and we actually weren't sure where it was).
We waited around and I ate my Honey Stinger gel at around 6:30. It was nice to have someone to talk to and kill time with. At about 10 minutes to 7, they opened the gate to the start area and we realized we were really really close to the front. I didn't really mean to be that close to the front of a group of 8,000 people, but I guess it meant I didn't have to run around a bunch of slower people.
At 7 the race started for the pros and then we were started a minute or so later. It took me less than a minute to cross the start mat, which was crazy. And we were off. For the first few miles, the plan was to run easy and warm up and get my legs under me. After that I was going to pick it up to my goal pace of 10:00/mi and then at 10 miles, pick it up if I had anything left.
Everything went according to plan. Miles one through three were a bit rolling and I just relaxed and took the little hills easily. Mile four was a huge downhill and I just relaxed and let the hill carry me. I didn't push, but I didn't try to brake either. Then we were on flat roads so I just relaxed and settled into my pace.
The miles just ticked by from there. It was flat and the scenery was enjoyable. Miles 5 through 10 were just about perfectly paced. I've never done a race that felt so effortless, where the miles just flew by in a blur. Every time I hit a mile marker, I was surprised I had already come another mile. I ate Honey Stingers at miles 4.5 and 9.5. I had to force them down, but I did it.
When I passed the 10k split, I came across in 1:01:58 which is awesome considering the last 10k I ran (last October) was only a minute faster. I've got a 10k coming up again this October so it makes me hopeful that I can have an even better time than last year.
A little after mile 10 I remembered I could start picking it up a bit but that's when things started getting pretty hard and I was beginning to feel a little worn out. I knew I had a big hill in front of me and so I decided just to try to stick to my pace so I would have enough for the hill. Around mile 11, I saw Emmaline with my mom and step-father which was a big boost I was needing right about then.
Almost immediately after I saw them, the uphill began. Over 200 feet of climbing from just after mile 11 up to around 12.5 miles. It was unrelenting. I knew it was coming and I knew it would be hard, but it felt never-ending. However, I have to say, I'm really proud of myself. I really pushed through and I never walked and I just kept running hard. I knew the last bit was flat and slightly downhill so if I could just get up the hill, I could get through the last mile of flat/downhill. That uphill mile set me off my pace but I have to say, it could have been worse. I'm definitely stronger on hills than I used to be.
Finally, we were at Balboa park and I gave every last little bit I had for that 3/4 mile. Even though I was strong on the hill, I realized I wasn't going to make it in 2:10 but I still figured I could do 2:12 to 2:13ish.
Overall, I had a good strong race, even if it was a couple minutes off where I would have liked to have been. I paced it out quite well and hung in for a solid effort. It was an enjoyable race and I'm satisfied with the result.
Final Time - 2:12:37 - 10:07/mi
Comments
Post a Comment