From: SwStudio (shhhh_secrets@hotmail.com)
Subject: Race Report - Rock & Roll Half Marathon, Burlington ON
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 14:14:29 -0400
Well, although I have had recent (and ongoing) frustrations with my
running, I had signed up long ago for this one, and felt obligated to at
least jog it to get my money's worth. You know how it is - the longer the
race the more expensive, so...).
The race was this morning (Sunday), and I hadn't ran_at_all_ since
Monday. That's the longest I've ever gone without running by far since
I started, just over two years ago. I knew it would be strange. I had
considered running as a pace rabbit, but noted that there were a lot
of them around already, as I got there. This race is associated with a
full marathon ond a 5k, and it grew tremendously from last year. From
what I was told, there were over 1200 entrants in the half marathon
alone. Last year it was about half that many. There was even a 1:20
pace rabbit for the half - which I found amusing. I guessed he would
finish in the top 10. More on him later.
The temperature was fairly windy at the 7:30 start, (not horrible, but
'there'), and gusted enough to be disconcerting often enough to be a
factor for the first 10km of the race. The temperature was great - about
6C (43F) at the start, and maybe 8 or 9C (45F) by the end. A little chilly
at the start; exactly what you want.
I had decided to run it as a tempo - my 'goal' was to try to run as close
to 4:00 per km as possible for the race. I figured I'd get a nice workout
out of the deal. After a week with no training I certainly knew that even
this may be tough.
My first 5k went by uneventfully in 19:44. It's by FAR the hilliest part
of the race. It's actually all part of the end stages of the ATB 30k
course. I enjoyed running it at my relatively slow, relaxed pace. Then
came the 6th kilometre. At that moment I lost any discipline I had and
stupidly started runing faster. It was because I was drafting off this guy
and he kept going faster. No one else was really around, and it was
windy enough to matter. We did the second 5k in 18:50 - I think I saw
Peter Skov during this part, going past the other way.
My windblock and I cruised through the 3rd 5k of the race in 18:50
again, so we were locked in a pace. We did the "middle 10k" (between
5k - 15k) in 37:40 - this was the flattest and straightest part of the race.
I lost him a couple km's later, as my lack of conditioning was starting
to show. A funny thing occured as I turned a corner at about 17k (a
twisty part of the course) - I saw the 1:20 rabbit suddenly, right in front
of me - I knew we a *little* shy of that proper pace, and thought he might
be in a little trouble. Three minutes later he answered my question, as
I saw him darting VERY quickly into a porta-john. I found out later that
he unfortunately had the trots come on all of a sudden. He still finished
in about 1:24, though, after the bathroom break!
I stopped right after the 18km water station for the first time, to grab a
gatorade and a 10 second walk break. This helped a lot, and I was able to
finish reasonably well, coming in with the first female (a Kenyan or maybe
Ethiopian woman). I wish I had ran the first 5k a bit faster, but perhaps it's
best the way it ended up. I'm not disappionted, considering my lack of
planning or training.
km# time: cumulative: 5k split:
1 3:56
2 3:57
3 3:53
4 3:58
5 3:58 19:44 19:44
6 3:46
7 3:48
8 3:46
9 3:45
10 3:46 38:35 18:50
11 3:43
12 3:47
13 3:48
14 3:44
15 3:46 57:26 18:50
16 3:53
17 3:51
18 3:55
19 4:16 (gatorade & 10 second walk break)
20 3:53 1:17:17 19:49
21 3:51
.1 :21 1:21:29
__________________________________________________
Finish Time - 1:21:29 (chip - actual time was 1:21:32, I think)
Overall - 15/1200+ (not sure yet)
Average Pace - 3:52/km
Age Group - 3rd
__________________________________________________
--
David (in Hamilton, Ont)
"I gotta go faster, keep up the pace, just to stay in the human race
I could go supersonic, the problem's chronic...
Tell me does life exist beyond it?"
bad religion
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