Double Creek Half (Read 586 times)

Hi! I live and run in Dover! I will be doing the 5k this Saturday. I will be very honest with you, it's a very tough course. I ran the 1/2 marathon course the beginning of May and I hurt myself. Now I have to admit that it's probably my fault that I got hurt. I had been running 12 mile long runs up to that point so I though that 13 would not be a problem. The issue was with the hills. There are 3 significant hills on the course. The first I think comes around 3 miles and is pretty long, the second is shorter, but steep (I think it came around mile 5). The last one is also long and comes around 9 or 10 miles. There are also a variety of shorter hills on the course. My issue was that I wasn't warmed up enough to handle the demands of this course. I also have not been running too many hilly courses in my spring training. I could feel my right hamstring pulling on me about 11 miles into the run. Sure enough, the next day I could tell I had strained it. Happy to say though that I'm pretty well healed and running stronger again. I have looked at your log and I would like to make a suggestion. Please don't get upset with me for suggesting this, but I think the 5k may be a good option for you this weekend. I've noticed that in the past month you've done only one real long run of 9 miles. Long runs will get you through this course, but you need to do a few more of them to build your strength and endurance. I've run for 24 years and have completed 3 marathons and a few 1/2 marathons. Believe me, the long runs really help when you get to the final stages of a long race. I think your goal of a 1/2 marathon is realistic, but I would work on building your endurance over this summer by slowly and carefully increasing your long run. If you are familiar with the York area racing scene, there is the York Rail Trail 10 miler on August 23rd. This course is nice, flat cinder trail that actually is slightly (very slightly) downhill. Good place for a first long race. Then in October there is a 1/2 marathon in Hanover. Pretty decent course I think and the weather will also be cooler. Good opportunity for a first 1/2 marathon attempt. I don't want to spoil your plans for the 1/2 marathon this weekend, but I also want to see you be successful. I've also wanted to run the Double Creek 1/2 marathon, but after I ran over the course I probably won't be doing it for awhile. It really is a demanding course (at least it seems so for me). Whatever you decide, I wish you luck and hope you have a good summer training and racing season! Chris

Hi again, If your plan is to just finish this race, you should be in good shape. I believe the 1/2 marathon starts around 8am so hopefully the weather will be much cooler than it has been. I would certainly walk on the more serious hills, especially the second more step one. It can be a killer for sore quads! Hope you have a great race. Chris

The race was in Dover, PA about 2 hours from home. Race start time was 7am and packet pick-up began at 6am so we decided to get a hotel the night before. So Friday night we get out there and just kind of hang out. I watched TV, went to bed way later than I should have, and slept crappily. So this morning I dragged us out of bed. It was too early for continental breakfast so we stopped at McD's. My stomach was already upset and after 2 bites I knew i had to stop. So that was all I had for breakfast. We got there at 6 and I was given my packet (my number, a shirt, and some sunscreen samples). I kept trying to go to the bathroom because I really didn't want to have to go in the woods or something. Thankfully with 20 minutes till start time it worked, but while I was in the stall 3 women were talking about how slow I (and the other person in the stall) were soo slow. Kind of made me mad, but I just told myself I wasn't here to make friends. So I got to the start and put myself in the very back of the race. My pre-race thoughts included: wow these people all look really fit and are talking like they are going to run really fast! I hope this isn't like that 5K last summer. and Do NOT eat the paste. So the announcer came on and said go. It didn't take long to cross the line (not that it mattered because it was NOT chip timed) so that was good. I just went nice and slow and it was very clear that I was the last person because a van just sort of loomed behind me for a while and the biker assigned to keep an eye on the last person rode with me and talked to me through mile 1. The first couple of miles went well and I slowly picked off 2 people who quickly turned to walking. There were water stops every 1.5/2 miles for the first 8 miles. The first 6 went really well, I did stop to pop-a-squat, but other than that no issues. I walked all water stops and up a really HUGE hill. The course itself didn't have many flat spots but the significant hills were clearly significant. Also the first half was mostly shaded. After 7 miles I hit cruise speed, and it took the next two miles to get me slowed back down. I knew I could not maintain cruise for the back half so I tried hard to slow back down. Somewhere during mile 8 I regretted never trying sports drinks or gel in training because just water wasn't quite cutting it I was running out of steam. Did I mention after the half the water stops were more like 2/2.5 miles apart. Oh I also passed another 2 people (I think) in this mile. During mile 9 I was offered a gel and I hesitantly took it. I used about 1/4 of it and downed some water. It helped A LOT! I'm really glad I didn't take the whole thing because it might have upset my stomach, but the little I had was enough to get some energy back. Around mile 10 the nice man on a bike who kept checking on me brought me a bottle of water at my request. After mile 8 the shade was gone and it was sunny and warm! Also around mile 10 walking breaks became more frequent. I told myself it was hillier but I think I was more tired. Thankfully there was this man ahead of me who I just slowly tried to catch. It worked! Between mile 11 and 13 I passed 4 more people! With half a mile left I picked up speed to pass the last 3 people I would catch and ran with what I left toward the finish. People were there to cheer and it was nice! As I crossed the finish line I got my bottle of water and headed to a place to rest my legs a minute. I felt awesome, but knew I was out of gas! I forgot to stop Garmin when I crossed the line so I only have up to 13 minutes accurately reflected. As I stood and looked over the lady's should we was writing times on the results board I say 2:46:05! Chris - I passed the 5Ker's while i was finishing. Did you see a sweaty girl in a bright purple shirt and Hot pink skirt??? Cause if you did that was me!

Hey, you're officially a HMer! How are you feeling tonite? Are you thinking about your next one, already? 'Cause now you have a PR to kill.

Way to go Shan! Now you know, no gels under 9 miles. Gel or sports drink for runs over 9 miles.

Chris, THANKS!!! You too!!! I was scanning the 5k racers that were passing me when I realized I didn't know who I was looking for!

Shannon - Great race report. I'm glad you stuck with your original plan and kept to your own criteria because you really accomplished something here! Great work!