Monday, August 14, 2006
Race report: Chicago Distance Classic
The weather was great for the half-marathon with temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s. LH and I got to the site about a half-hour ahead of time, leaving us plenty of time to park, potty, and get to the race start. I jumped into the 9:00 pace group while LH continued back to the 11:00 pace group. I debated jumping out of line to potty again, but decided that I'd hit a porta potty during the run. And we were off.
My race plan was to run at a max heart rate of 150 for the first half and possibly up to 10 miles. My main goal was to come in under 2:00. I missed the first mile marker but was doing well on HR. I came through the second mile marker at 17:35, which meant that 1) I was on pace to finish faster than 2:00 and 2) that I picked the right starting group. At the water stops I had gatorade and water. The gatorade kept me from needing to use either of the energy gels I had carried with me. I had a bit of trouble keeping myself from pushing it too far, but I kept consulting my watch and backing off a step when my HR crept up. About mile 6, I had to relax my vigilance a bit and I let it creep up to 154. A couple miles later it was a solid 160. About mile 11, I pulled off into an outhouse for my first potty break of the run. When I got out I saw a 2:00 pace group leader ahead of me. As I hurried to catch up, I kept reviewing my mental math. I was still ahead of pace. I should be able to break 2:00. This pace group had to be 4-5 minutes ahead of where they should be. Still I hurried to catch up. The last mile or so I felt the effects of my hurrying and had to slow down. Finally I saw the finish line ahead and surged on through. I finished in 1:57:15, a personal best.
The thing that I liked about the race is that both on a per mile and a per 5K basis, my times were consistent throughout the race. It just tells me that with renewed effort and dedication, that I should be able to run these times on race day.
After the run, I got some food and gatorade and waited for LH to come through the finish area. I kept thinking that I should be running back along the course, but instead I just stood there. (FYI - Bad idea) LH finished in a time of 2:22:21. We went over to the food area, had some food, and relaxed a bit. Reebok was giving out personalized postcards, so we each got one. On mine, they misspelled my name (Grrrr...). Then we went home to clean up.
Race Results
My race plan was to run at a max heart rate of 150 for the first half and possibly up to 10 miles. My main goal was to come in under 2:00. I missed the first mile marker but was doing well on HR. I came through the second mile marker at 17:35, which meant that 1) I was on pace to finish faster than 2:00 and 2) that I picked the right starting group. At the water stops I had gatorade and water. The gatorade kept me from needing to use either of the energy gels I had carried with me. I had a bit of trouble keeping myself from pushing it too far, but I kept consulting my watch and backing off a step when my HR crept up. About mile 6, I had to relax my vigilance a bit and I let it creep up to 154. A couple miles later it was a solid 160. About mile 11, I pulled off into an outhouse for my first potty break of the run. When I got out I saw a 2:00 pace group leader ahead of me. As I hurried to catch up, I kept reviewing my mental math. I was still ahead of pace. I should be able to break 2:00. This pace group had to be 4-5 minutes ahead of where they should be. Still I hurried to catch up. The last mile or so I felt the effects of my hurrying and had to slow down. Finally I saw the finish line ahead and surged on through. I finished in 1:57:15, a personal best.
| Mile | Split | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | - | - |
| 2 | 17:18 | 17:18 |
| 3 | 8:48 | 26:06 |
| 4 | 8:53 | 35:00 |
| 5 | 8:59 | 43:49 |
| 6 | 8:54 | 52:54 |
| 7 | 9:01 | 1:01:55 |
| 8 | 8:59 | 1:10:55 |
| 9 | 8:48 | 1:19:43 |
| 10 | 9:47 | 1:29:30 |
| 11 | 8:45 | 1:38:10 |
| 12 | 9:27 | 1:47:22 |
| 13 | 9:01 | 1:56:23 |
| Finish | :45 | 1:57:15 |
The thing that I liked about the race is that both on a per mile and a per 5K basis, my times were consistent throughout the race. It just tells me that with renewed effort and dedication, that I should be able to run these times on race day.
After the run, I got some food and gatorade and waited for LH to come through the finish area. I kept thinking that I should be running back along the course, but instead I just stood there. (FYI - Bad idea) LH finished in a time of 2:22:21. We went over to the food area, had some food, and relaxed a bit. Reebok was giving out personalized postcards, so we each got one. On mine, they misspelled my name (Grrrr...). Then we went home to clean up.
Race Results
# posted by mypetrock : 6:21 AM
