From: dp@removethis.fc.hp.com
Subject: Tucson Half Marathon
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 23:47:30 GMT


I ran the Tucson Half Marathon.  This was my first race longer than 10K.
I had run up to 12.5 miles in training, so I wasn't concerned about the
distance.  My goal was to finish in under two hours, and hoped that I
might break 1:50.

I arrived at CDO High School at about 4:50am.  I sat in the car until
5am, then got on the first bus.  I was probably the fifth or sixth
person on the bus.

The guy that sat next to me said he had done a training run, and warned
me about the final hill.  I figured it wasn't much of a hill -- I had
looked at the elevation graph on the website and hadn't seen a hill.  I
turned out to be wrong.

We arrived at the starting area about 5:20.  Everyone started to get
off.  Weren't we going to be able to stay on the bus until the start of
the race as I had read on rec.running?  I delayed getting off as long as
possible so I was the last one off the bus.  The bus driver confirmed we
couldn't stay on the bus.  Shucks, I only had a long sleeve and short
sleeve tshirt and I knew I would get cold.

I headed straight for the portajohns, then for the heaters.  I should
have held it and gone to the heaters first -- I couldn't get close to
the heaters, there were too many people crowded around them.  I wished I
had stayed in my warm car and taken the last bus out.

We waited and waited and waited.  I didn't want to run to keep warm, and
it was difficult to talk with the loud music, so it was a long, boring
wait.  I kept hydrated and had a small snack.

Finally they sent us off to the starting line.  I took a spot which I
thought was maybe about 1/3 of the way back.  The race started, I never
heard an announcement or a gun -- somebody next to me told me the race
had started.  When I got to the starting line, I couldn't run, it was
too crowded.  Even after a couple of hundred yards, it was difficult to
run.  It seemed there were lots of people around me walking.  Gee, I
wish the walkers had started further back.  I passed lots of runners in
the first mile, now I really knew I should have started further up in
the pack.  It was difficult to pass, because the course was on the
shoulder of the road with a set of rumble strips in the middle of the
shoulder.  I could zigzag to pass, but I kept having to dodge the rumble
strips.

The first mile marker shows up, I look at my watch.  3 and some odd
seconds, I guess the mile markers are all wrong.  I decide to ignore
them.

The race went really well.  I gobbled up the miles and it seemed
effortless.  I finally starting clicking my watch at the end of a mile
7.  The splits I recorded were:

    57:38       Miles 1-7, 8:14 pace
    8:14        Mile 8
    8:19        Mile 9
    8:19        Mile 10
    17:59       Mile 11-12, 9:00 pace
    10:16       Mile 13 plus 0.1 miles, 9:20 pace

I really slowed down at the end, this also is my trend with 5K and 10K
races. The hill I thought was not there at the end of this course really
slowed me down.

I did have the energy after the last turn to be able to kick, and passed
four or five people in the last 100 yards.

My final time was 1:50:45.  After mile 10, I thought I might break 1:50,
so not breaking 1:50 was a disappointment.  Oh well, that leaves me a
goal to shoot for next time.

Running a half really put the desire in me to do a full, I'm hooked on
long distance running.  I'm not setting any goals yet, but I see a full
marathon on the horizon...

David Pinedo