Race: Country Music Half Marathon
Location: Nashville, TN
Date: 4/28/2012
Time/Temp: 7:00 am / 61° 91%rh at the start, 74° 66%rh at the end
Distance: 13.1m
Official Time: 2:19:44 *New PR (Does the first half of a full marathon count for this?)
Pace: 10:40/mi
Since this is a chip timed half-marathon. A little bit of extra info.
5k Split: 32:30
10k Split: 1:05:48
Place info
Overall: 8486 out of 22277
Age Group: 711 out of 1281
Gender: 4305 out of 8088
Although I have been training in sort of a maintenance type mode, I was not in great shape for this race. I got a little burnt out on running after my Full Marathon in December and haven’t been working as hard as I need to.
That coupled with a pretty darn hot day made for a tough race. I knew it would be tough and had pretty low expectations. I knew there was pretty much no way I’d be able to match what I did in the first half of the St. Jude Marathon, and really only hoped to better my time from Last year. Officially this is only the second half marathon I’ve done.
I wore my GPS watch, but I also hit the manual lap timer ever 2 miles. So I have splits from 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12, as well as the last 1.1 miles as well. Here are those splits:
LAP TIME AVG. PACE
1 20:34 9'59"/mi
2 21:29 10'40"/mi
3 21:29 10'40"/mi
4 21:27 10'43"/mi
5 20:57 10'23"/mi
6 21:24 10'43"/mi
7 12:37 10'47"/mi
My friends and I were all going for different goals that day, so we decided not to run together, We all started together, but I was going to be running a lot slower than the times they were going for, so after about .5 of a mile, I didn’t any of them ever again, so I ran the whole way alone.
So I went out of the gate on tempo pace, but backed it off to some more moderate miles toward the middle of the race. Nashville has a lot of hills, it was hot, and like I said, I didn’t think I was in all that good a shape, I wanted to leave myself with some energy for a good kick at the end, and I didn’t think I could go at 10:00 miles the whole way.
My double secret plan was to get to Mile 10 at that pace, then start picking back up to 10:00 or slightly faster miles for the last 5k to the finish line. That wasn’t going to be the case at all, I slightly sped up a bit at around mile 9 trying to make up some time and get ready for the last 5k kick, (which you can see in split 5) but the energy just wasn’t there, and I quickly fell back into my regular shuffle pace. At mile 11, I was struggling to stay on that pace. The heat and the hills were starting to get to me at that point pretty hard. My last mile would have been a lot worse, but when I saw the Mile 13 sign I started sprinting hard to the finish line, with all I had left. I ended up running the last .2 or so at like an 8:00 pace. It might not have gotten me much, but maybe it shaved a few seconds off or so, it might have been the difference in breaking 2:20 and not though, as I did come in at 2:19:44.
This is a new PR for the half marathon. I ran the first half of the St. Jude Memphis Marathon in 2:14:15, but I don’t know if those count for half PR’s. I don’t think that you are supposed to do that. I’d like to try a half on a different course, (less hilly, and maybe cooler weather).
This is also the first time I’ve went a distance of more than 4 mi in a race not carrying my own water. I used the course water the whole way, usually taking a couple sips at each water stop, I think I might have skipped one and regretted it. I didn’t use any Gatorade or GU, but I did carry a pack of Sport Beans with me, which I ate throughout the race, I finished I think with four left in the pouch. I don’t think, it’s worth carrying water anymore for a race, as it was fine, maybe I will still carry a bottle if I run another full.
All in all, like I said, I’m alright with it. I knew it wasn’t going to be great, but I had an awesome time, and I think I’m refocused on running again. This is the first race I’ve had since my marathon. I like races, they are so much fun. Nashville, is such a pretty city, and since last year I was so focused on the race, I didn’t pay any attention to others or the course, this time I let my mind wander, and soak up the surroundings a little bit.
Some other stats for you:
Barefoot runners I passed: 2
Barefoot runners that passed me: 1
Vibram 5 fingers runners passed: 1
Vibram 5 fingers runners that passed me: 0
Guys in three piece suits passed: 2
Group of about 5 people carrying a Chinese Dragon (WTF!) passed: 1
Team Gomer Shirts seen: 1 (Pre race)
I need a 10k soon. Gumtree 10k is soon. I had a great Gumtree last year, I don’t think I could match that at this time, but it might be fun trying.
I’ll add some pictures to the album later if I find any. I didn’t take any myself, and I doubt I’ll buy any from the official photographers, but maybe I can find one or two somewhere online.
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