25^th Annual Huntsville Half Marathon

Nov 9, 2013

Huntsville, AL

Short;

Time - 1:56:05

Pace - 8:52

OA – 227/842

AG – 17/63

Longer;

The Huntsville Half(HH), was my debut half back in 2011. This is a fairly flat, fast, out and back course that runs through some neighborhoods, with an out and back section on a greenway (see pic below). I had been running for a few years, did a few 5ks, 10k’s, and a 15k, and thought I was ready to move up to the longer distances. I didn’t know much back then, and still don't, but found a runner’s forum and started reading. I was very intimidated at first, because everyone was running way more than I could phantom. At any rate, I did this race coming off a very weak training plan, along with some injuries, but still wanted a sub 2, and I finished in 2:08:20.

This Half was my 6^th race at this distance, and the 2^nd in 2 weeks time. The race from 2 weeks ago sucked, I had some foot/shoe/sock issues, PF nags, started way too fast, accompanied with some stomach cramps. My goal for today’s race, which was a loose one, was to do better than 2 weeks ago of 2:03:38, definitely beat my time from 2 years ago, complete 20 miles for the day if possible, but this all depended how my foot felt. I am also training for my first marathon in December, and today's plan called for 20 miles, hence the goal of 20. I really wanted to target about a 9:10-9:20 pace, which would be just a little faster than my MP of 9:33 m/m (more on this later). I did a 3.1 mile WU at a 9:45 pace, my foot felt well, so I knew that I would at least end up with 16 miles for the day.

I have a friend that was also running this race(and the Dec marathon), and his goals are fairly close to mine. We started the race together, and stayed together through 9.5 miles. The entire 9.5 miles we kept talking about how fast we started, and that we should slow it down, Well, you know how that goes! This is one discipline that I am trying very hard to work on. Here are my splits

Mile 1 – 8:40 (need to slow it down)

Mile 2 – 8:29  ( that’s faster, not slower!)

Mile 3 – 8:28 ( are you kidding?)

Mile 4 – 8:44 ( dat betta )

Mile 5 – 8:35

Mile 6 – 8:32 (what the hell, slow down)

Mile 7 – 8:44

Mile 8 – 8:51

Mile 9 – 8:57 (looky here, this is good)

Mile 10 – 9:07 (my friend faded here)

Mile 11 – 9:01

Mile 12 – 9:39 (feeling like I got control here, but slowed a little too much)

Mile 13 – 8:49 (might as well push to the finish)

Final .1 – 7:17 (passed a bunch of folks in the last ½ mile)

Epilogue

1. Once again, I started too fast. I’m glad the marathon will have pacers!
2. Any opinions on my marathon pace of 9:33 for a 4:10 finish are welcomed . McMillian has me anywhere between 3:55 using my 1:51 half PR, and 4:20 using my half time of 2:03 from 2 weeks ago.
3. I did another 3.1 miles after the race at a 12:39 pace. This was a bit slower because I walked some, when I made it to my turn around, there was a lady sitting down, so I went to check on her. She was feeling sick and dizzy, so I walked with her for a bit to make sure she was ok.
4.  I think I put too many races into this marathon cycle, I’m not sure if it helped or hurt, but there will be no more races, except for maybe a Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot. And this will be mostly to help my running club.
5.  First place winner had a time of 1:06:36 for some sort of state record, and the second place finisher was 1:14:59. Small gap, hehe!
6. Here’s a pic or 2

I am #901

Thanks for reading,

Mitch

Great job!

As to the GMP, I would be a bit more conservative than McMillan, as I think his paces are a bit too aggressive for the marathon.  Good luck!

Way to go, Mitch!  Great job getting some HM revenge!  I've got the same lack of discipline and tend to go out too fast in my HM's.  *shrug*

Nice swag.  You got a hat?  More events need to do this!

Nice job, Mitch!  Looking forward to the day we race together.

Glad your foot behaved itself, hope you can get it to behave for your marathon too.

Nice pics, that second pic makes the event look very 'rural", but scenic with the water alongside you.

Congrats on your half!

Just a word of caution regarding pacers; they can ruin months of training by the 10k point of your marathon, so be prepared to run your own race.

Hopefully you can give your hoof a little time off after such a hectic period of late, but things are looking good for you!

Mitch - You definitely blew your goal out of the water.  It sounds like your foot is more of a limiting factor than you fitness.  I know you schedule can be hectic, but make sure you take as much as your free time as possible and treat it.  I've been doing a full evaluation on my own feet and realized that my work boots are terrible.  I picked up some gel insoles, but may end up looking at a new pair.  Congrats on another great race, and some really cool swag.

Mitch, these are some great pictures you've included.  I'm so glad you learned from your last HM.  Congratulations on this awesome time.  You actually did a lot better with pacing this time.  I just know you're going to rock that marathon if you can get a handle on the pacing.  So nice of you to walk with that woman after the race.  Its wonderful how runners look out for each other.