Here's my race article that I've written for my club newsletter. 

                                               Dancing In The Streets or Who'll Stop The Rain

                                                                                                                        by Rick Hart  

  In early January I registered Linda and I for a return run at the Pittsburgh Half Marathon on May 2nd. I need the psychological  incentive of signing up early so I have the mind-set  to come up with a training plan.  The purpose of my plan is not to set any PR's but to simply give structure to my workouts.  Then I like to set a goal time that is both realistic and motivating.    Last year I finished with a 1:54:14, so of course I felt the need to improve, so I targeted a 1:52.   

  The Pittsburgh Marathon weekend had 80 bands on the agenda.  Several of the bands were for outside the Saturday expo but that left dozens for the race course and finish area.  The thought of all that music made me think of the song   Dancing In The Streets  rather than running. 

  The marathon/half marathon and marathon relay brought at least 17,000 runners to the starting line.   We were able to walk out of our hotel 20 minutes before the race and walk right into the 9:00 minute pace area.  This was easily the biggest race I had ever participated in and I did not like how crowded it seemed.   When the gun sounded it was about a minute before we moved then over another minute before we  jogged across the  starting mat.  The 1st mile we would slowly Twist our way through the crowd and make it to the mile marker in 9:48.  It was a 67 degree 90% humidity morning, not the best running conditions.   Just before the 2 mile mark  some misguided person or persons had successfully completed a Rain Dance because down it came. 

  The race plan was to get into a comfortably hard pace of about 8:50 for miles 2-5.  I got to the 5 mile mark right on schedule with 45:15 chip time.   I wanted to carry a 8:30 pace miles 5-10.  By mile 6  some of the puddles were big enough to attempt  The Swim.   The water stops were crazy crowded and  several times I had to make a move something  like an Irish Jig to avoid runners that cut me off or stopped in front of me without warning.  Miles 5-10 I started getting a little pain and stiffness in the right hip.  I backed off the plan of increasing the pace to 8:30 and decided on a much more comfortable 8:40 pace.    I was hoping that would enable me to be strong the last 5k and finish it in 25 minutes.  I was working hard attempting The Hustle  and although I was passing quite a few runners who were doing The Shuffle I only could manage a 26:40. My final results were 1:55:18 chip time and 1:57:57 clock time.  Even though this was 1:04 slower than last year my age grading was the same, 60.1% with a time of   1:40 :55.  Although I felt a little better prepared this year , race conditions were not the best and despite the slower time  I'm satisfied with my planning and effort.

   Linda was really frustrated by several injuries throughout the training but came in with a solid 2:10:02.  I think she has developed muscle memory for a 10:00 pace.   

  I'll try to take it easy a couple weeks then work on targeting a marathon or half marathon for this fall.  My best advice for all of you is a line from a song by Lee Ann Womack  "when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance" .   

You might have missed your exact time goals, but your dancing versatility is quite impressive. Next time include the Bump if the start is crowded and maybe the Electric Slide at the finish. Seriously, good plan for training and well done at the race for both of you. Congrats!

Dreamless, rnwalker and I had an awesome time at the event.  I really hope to run the half again next year.  Hopefully, I'll be healthy and we can all set a new PRs!

Great report and great run for the conditions!  Thanks for sharing it with all of us. Yay Pittsburgh, Forbes magazine's most livable city, for hosting a great event!  The race grew from 9,000 participants last year to almost 17,000 this year.  It may have had some growing pains but I still think the organizers did a great job.

Kristen

mta - anyone vaguely interested can read my goofy report in my log.  

Sarge well done! It is always tough dealing with a crowded run. When you add heat and humidity on top of that it is rarely a recipe for a PR. I like that you took what the day gave you and waltzed across the finish line. I also checked the marathon rule book, which clearly states, any race run with an IED (no matter how makeshift) near the finish line the runner may deduct one minute for each mile of the race.

 IED?

Sarge – well, if it had to rain, at least it was warm rain.....for all the reasons you gave here, those big, big races are not usually the ones to PR at (although some still do).  Those crowds and crowded water stops make for much lost time.  Given the givens, I think you and DW did marvelously!