Temp 48º When I left my house, about 68º at race time with bright clear skies and a lot of sun and about 75º by the time I finished.

I missed my target goal of 1:42:30 running a 1:43:00, which is a minute and 26 seconds better than last year. 

So what went wrong? 

Well to begin with, although I had pre-registered, it took me over 20 minutes to pick up my race package as it was poorly organized. They had package pick up for the 5K, 10K and HM all together with no order, so when some one got to the front of the lines, the person would have to go to the other end of the table to the HM box to look for the number etc. 

At Package pick-up, they only gave you your bib and timing chip.  You then had to go stand in line for the rest of your package and “T” shirt.  This line consisted of both pre-registered and those registering that morning (over a thousand people).  This chewed up another 20+ minutes (I almost said screw the f***ing shirt). 

By the time I finished that, I decided that I had better hit the porta potty line because I was not going to have time to make it back before the race.  This wasn’t too bad, probably 10-15 minutes. 

Then I hiked back to my truck to get rid of my warm-ups and junk and headed down to the start line with about 10 minutes to go and stood in the crowd.  It’s a good thing I had done some warm-up ahead of registration, but now I was mentally distracted and had to try and get focused on the task at hand.

But all of that was nothing compared to the big issue of the day.  The race starts on a 2 lane road with a small grass median between the lanes.  Previous years, they used both lanes to start the HM.  This year they added a 5K to the event and gave them one lane and then squeezed 775 HMs into a single lane.  I was fortunate enough to squeeze in up near the front and only took 30 seconds to hit the start line, but it was so crowded, that it was the Half mile mark before it thinned enough to be able to run comfortably.

Now the next problem, they again screwed up the mile markers.  My recorded times for the first 4 miles were: M1 8:51, M2  7:08, M3 8:09,  M4 7:12.  If you average them out  and subtract the 30 secs start time, it was about a 7:43, which I would say was a fair assessment, there was no way I ran 7;08 and a 7:12, I’d know if I was giving it that type of effort.  Numerous people commented on the same thing.  In mile 12, it said I ran a 6:44 mile, but a minute down the road, there was a freshly painted line in the road saying 12 miles, making it a 7:47M, much more reasonable.  Other than that, the rest of the markers seemed fairly plausible and reasonable.

Through 10 miles I was right on my mark (7:50 pace), averaging a 7:49 pace, but I fell apart in mile 11 in a stretch that is just long and flat, but for some reason I hate it.  I lost my momentum and lacked the mental toughness (too much going through my head with all of the morning stuff) that I slowed down to a 8:18 mile, I was able to hit the rolling hills and do a 7:47 mile 12, but only managed a 8:06 mile 13.  I had a little sprint left down the finish line doing the last .1 in 40 seconds (about a 6:40 pace). 

I felt fine after finishing, no aches or pains, no real exhaustion.  They had mineral water or vitamin juice right in the chute (but you couldn’t have both).  Then there was regular water at the end. 

If you wanted your Medallion for finishing, you had to go back to the pavilion to pick it up (last year they handed them out in the chute). 

The volunteers were wonderful and supportive and lots of well manned water stations.  I lost track of how many places there were bands playing, it was like 4 or 5.  Although the roads were not completely closed to traffic, I think I only saw one car on the road.  They had police and volunteers at each main intersection and turn. 

Over all, it was a great event, but for being affiliated with the Hartford Marathon Association, it was a poorly planned and conducted race.  It made absolutely no sense to have the 5K and HM starting at the same time and only using one lane for the HM.  They start the 10K 15 minutes earlier and from a different start point, it would be very simple to do the same with the 5K or even start them 15 minutes after the HM. 

On the positive side, I was 6 out of 29 in my age division (20%) and 154 out of 775 (20%) and 116 out of 380 (30%) for my gender and as I said, I knocked a minute and 26 Seconds off of last years time.  So I have to take the positive with the negative and quit crying over a race that’s over. 

Here is the summary of my miles:

        Actual    Total    Pace

M1     8:51 

M2     7:08    15:59       8:00

M3     8:09    24:08       8:03

M4     7:12    31:19       7:50

M5     7:37    38:56       7:48

M6     7:56    46:52       7:49

M7     7:42    54:35       7:48

M8     7:45    1:02:19    7:48

M9     7:56    1:10:16    7:49

M10   7:50    1:18:06    7:49

M11   8:18    1:26:24    7:52

M12   7:47     1:34:12   7:51

M13   8:06     1:42:17   7:53

M13.1  :40     1:43:00   7:52

There's always the next time!

Larry

Great job, by the way!

At this point the improvements are starting to come in very small increments because you are experienced enough that you are not making big errors in pacing or in your training, its down to refining the details.

Anyway, good run, well done!

Simon.

Good job, Larry!  What a strange start for the race, though!  I've been in only one race (a 5K in Austin) where there was live music.  You were only off your goal by 30 seconds - that's very close!

 

It sure is relative.  I did a total of 1.3 miles of speedwork at a HS track with a local coach yesterday.  My overall pace, including sprinting and recovery, was 8:12/mile.  I've never gone that fast in my life! 

 Thanks Teresa, so tell us what he has you doing for speedwork?