Carmel Half Marathon Race Report

I ran the Carmel HM this morning.  It’s the 3^rd year for this race.  I ran the full last year and PRed.  I had planned on running the full again this year but had to bump down after having PF in my left foot in December.  Lots of PT healed my foot but my base miles suffered.  I only was able to average 21 mpw in the last 11 week with a peak week of 38.  I ran a 15k two weeks ago as a test run and felt good until the last 2 miles and missed my goal of 1:20 by 14 seconds.  I was pretty depressed about that as I’ve been wanting to attempt a PR at the Indy Mini in May.  After talking with my DH and a wise forumite named Damaris, I decided to treat this half as training run – using the first 2 miles as a w/u, run the next 9 at HM pace and c/d for the last 2 miles.

I went to the expo on Friday evening and had a little FE with Jenny and Jane (Jenny is on my current 2013 in 2013 team and Jane was on my team last year!).   Both are very fast runners and sweet ladies, I was very happy to meet them.  The expo wasn’t large but better than last year.  They were giving away Run for Boston bracelets and ribbons.  I wasn’t carb-loading for this race but I did eat a very yummy pasta dinner at Panera on my way home.

This race is about 30 mins from my house so I left about 6:15, after eating a bagel and drinking my coffee.  The drive took a little longer than I thought and I got nervous about parking as I thought the only parking garage I knew in the area would be filled by the time I got there.  So I decided to park at the rec center that the expo was at, about 2 miles from the start but on a trail that lead straight to the starting line.  The weather was chilly, 32*.  I wore blue capris, a yellow s/s top and arm warmers.  And I pinned a yellow and blue ribbon on my bib as well.  I jogged the 2 miles to the starting area which got me nice and toasty in my throw away clothes.  I was supposed to have a FE with some people but arrived too late so I dropped my gear bag and hit the porto-potty.   I got into the corrals as a trumpeter played the national anthem while people around me sang softly.  I noticed plenty of blue and yellow shirts, for Boston.

Miles 1-2, 9:06, 8:41.  The race started on time at 7:30 and I took off around the 2:10 group.  I wanted to w/u with 9:10’s or so then drop it to 8:30’s for the next 9 miles and then c/d.  The race seemed very crowded, more so than I remember from last year.  I ignored my Garmin, just ran an easy pace and tried to maneuver around the crowd.

Mile 3-6, 8:28, 8:32, 8:33, 8:43.  At mile 3 I knew I needed to speed up so I got to the side and found a faster pace.   I only checked my Garmin occasionally.  The half split with the full at mile 4 so the crowd lessened up some then.  The weather was just ideal, sunny (forgot my sun glasses) and warm enough that I pulled my arm warmers down during this time.  I passed the 2:00 pacer during this time and figured I would see him again during my last 2 miles as that was my planned cool down.   My half way split was 56:57.   I got water at mile 6 and took my Gu.

Mile 7-10, 8:46, 8:20, 8:16, 8:51.   I’m not sure why my mile 7 was so slow, I didn’t have a water stop there.  But whatever.  I saw the 1:55 pacer in the distance around mile 8 and before I knew it, I caught up with her.  I figured that I would stick around her but found myself easily passing her group.  This is when I decided that I would finish this race at full effort instead of c/d in the last 2 miles.  After all, I was feeling really good, the weather was perfect and I was passing people with no effort.  So why not?  Water stop at mile 10.

Mile 11-13.1, 8:36, 8:13, 8:18, 1:58 (8:01 pace).  So once I hit the 11 mile mark at 1:40 and was still feeling really good, I decided to bump up the effort to see what I had left.  I knew I couldn’t PR, which would be 1:49:50 but I could break 1:55, which I haven’t done since the Illinois half two years ago this weekend.  The last mile was through the little upscale downtown area where there were some supporters cheering us on.   The last ½ mile has a hill to climb and I passed several people who were walking it.  I felt great and as I turned the corner for the finish, I just put all my effort into it.   I was very happy to cross the finish line at 1:53:25!!

Got my medal and went through the chute.  I was really impressed to see that they improved the goodies at the finish.  Last year I got a bag of chips, water and banana after the full.  This time I got Oreos, banana, small slice of pizza, a full size jar of something called Biscotti spread and a beer.  There was no line for the massage tent so I took advantage of that too.  I hung out and watched the female marathoner win (3:03 or something) as well as the first relay team finish too.  Then I hit the trail to walk back to my car, which seemed like a longer walk then it was earlier.  But I got to cheer some of the marathoners on as the course shared this trail for about ¼ of a mile.  Drove home, took a shower and a long nap!

To wrap it, I would recommend this race to anyone.  It’s a nice course, pretty flat and well supported.  The crowd is slim but that may have been due to the cold.  The medal was nicer this year than last as was the shirt so they seem to be trying to improve each year.  I’ll be back next year for the full!

Official stats:  Overall place 364, Division place 26/144, Sex place 119/791, half split 56:57, 2^nd half split 56:28 (negative!!), Overall rank at half was 430, over all rank at finish was 199 – I passed 231 people in the last half – SWEET!!!

Thanks for reading!

AmiK, that is onemile.

Congrats!  What a difference in how you felt during the 15k!!!  Maybe your nutrition was a bit better for this one?

Love the performance.  Keep it up!

Congrats, Mary!  Nice photos, nice post-race goodies, and very nice medal!

Congrats in the race. Crap, where's the nearest craft store? I should make one of those ribbons for tomorrow's race.

Nicely done, Mary.  Congrats on the negative split and great race!

Love the RR, the results even more.  What a great race, the kind that keeps you comming back for more.  I was wondering about your races seeing your lower miles from the miles game (note to self: friend mary).  Isn't it fun when you start out with low expectations and then it just gets better and better!  I bet you got more horses in your barn than you think with low 8:00's at the end.  Glad to hear that your back on form.  Tell your DH I said hi.

BTW, don't they card such young runners like yourself before the beer?  Was it lite beer?  Why does it seem you are always running and drinking (hehe - disney)!

On a second reading my respnse is still the same as it was on RW:

Wow! Great read and strong finish!

Great job! Thanks for the RR!