Chilly Half Marathon - JasonR's Race Report (Read 653 times)

Sunday March 2nd I set a PR at the Half Marathon Distance. It was my first half so that wasn't as great an accomplishment as just finishing the darn thing. A good friend of mine was running the race too and he lives closer to the race site so he and his wife graciously hosted my wife and me the night before the race. They provided a great pasta dinner and all the water and Gatorade I cared to drink, I even enjoyed a Guinness. Race day.... I was very excited when I woke up at 6:25 am. I got to bed at 10:30pm so it was bang on for a solid 8 hours. I fired on a pot of coffee first thing. David was in the kitchen mere seconds after me and he went to work on a breakfast...... porridge with blueberries, banana, and almonds. A fine, fine breakfast. We collected another runner at her house and her husband and daughter dropped us off at the start line, the 5K was just finishing and the race walkers were just getting underway. We lined up at the portapottie then made our way to the start line. A short warm up and we got in queue for the start, they are much faster than me so I ducked in towards the back of the pack and they made their way up a little further. Didn't hear the gun go off but it was obvious that the race had started because everyone started moving. I think it took just shy of a minute before I made it to the start line. I was off. The crowds were not too bad; I think I started in a great location..... not too many people passing me and I wasn't passing many people. The course was marked in kilometres only so that kind of threw me off but I had my Garmin set to auto lap at every mile so that was my guide. I was surprised that I didn't pay much attention to distance; I had a look at my heart rate and my pace. My plan was to start at about 9:30 miles and run a negative split and hopefully finish in less than 2 hours. I started a little faster than I planned but felt pretty good so decided to roll with it....... Saw Kelly's husband Tom and daughter Holly at the 9K mark....... 10K mark I see a guy ahead of me talking on his cell phone... weird. I ran 2 aid stations..... where I had water..... I walked 2 other stations where I had Gatorade. The 2 hour pace bunny must have been doing 10 and 1's... because he kept passing me and then I would catch him as he was walking. Everything was uneventful until 11 miles when I felt my right hamstring felt tight..... mile 12 it was in my left hamstring too.... I would have killed for a salt lick. I was too close to slow down so I decided to HTFU and run through it.... I felt as though I had nothing left in the tank at that 13 mile mark but my buddy David who had already finished saw me and yelled my name and told me to go for it...... that totally pumped me up and I ran that last few meters in my top gear.... didn't see my wife as I finished but she saw me and snapped a picture. It was so emotional when I finished.... so tired..... so proud.... so excited.... so much pain.... so pumped up...... it was AWESOME! Splits from my Garmin 1 - 9:16 2 - 9:10 3 - 9:06 4 - 9:08 5 - 9:01 6 - 9:12 7 - 9:01 8 - 9:02 9 - 9:04 10 - 9:03 11 - 8:58 12 - 9:07 13 - 9:04 13.1 - 1:06 Total - 1:59:25 Jason MTA: fixed some bad spelling and grammar.....I know there are still major grammar issues.

Nice run Jason, What a great job of pacing you did--not just for a first-time halfer but for anyone! I enjoyed reading your report and loved the enthusiasm. Well done!

I was hoping you'd post, Jason! Awesome times! What a great report. I am feeling so very proud of you, and I haven't even met you. I guess having our races on the same day made me feel kindred. I'm still absorbing - so much happened, so many surprises, so much energy, all for the good! I'll post soon. Thanks for sharing your amazing day! Congratulations!

Way to go, Jason! Nice first half marathon race. Congratulations!

Nice run - nice even miles too, and you broke the 2 hour mark like you wanted. All in all I would call it a very successful run for you. Great job!

Thanks everyone. It was a great race.... weather was perfect and I didn't die. Dave (Daddyo): next race I'm signed up for is Harry's Spring Run off... in April.

What do you mean "you didn't die?" You did great! We need to do more advertising about the Half Marathon Trainers Group--we're putting out some darn fast runners! Way to go, Jason! Beautiful pacing! Karina