Showing posts with label half marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label half marathon. Show all posts

Saturday, September 11, 2010

The PR that wasn't

Well, the Dick Beardsley half marathon just started a few minutes ago. It is an absolutely perfect day for a race - 53 degrees and beautiful blue skies. I have been training all summer and am in better conditioning than ever before. I was hoping to run a new PR today in Detroit Lakes. But here I am sitting at home sulking because of my damn foot. It still hurts. It hurts to walk. I know I can't run on it, though I was so tempted to go anyway. I think I will go crazy if I have to lay off the running for long. *sigh*

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Dick Beardsley Half Marathon

Ok, I am pretty happy with my performance considering. I had several goals:

Finish the race without destroying my foot. CHECK
Finish the race in under two hours. CHECK
Have fun. CHECK

Here's the numbers according to my garmin . . . pretty consistent until the end.

06-Sep-08 at 08:37:16AM 13.27 01:56:46
Lap 1 at 08:46:05AM 1.00 8:48
Lap 2 at 08:55:05AM 1.00 9:00
Lap 3 at 09:03:54AM 1.00 8:49
Lap 4 at 09:12:33AM 1.00 8:39
Lap 5 at 09:21:11AM 1.00 8:38
Lap 6 at 09:29:45AM 1.00 8:34
Lap 7 at 09:38:23AM 1.00 8:38
Lap 8 at 09:47:06AM 1.00 8:43
Lap 9 at 09:55:42AM 1.00 8:36
Lap 10 at 10:04:38AM 1.00 8:56
Lap 11 at 10:13:38AM 1.00 9:00
Lap 12 at 10:22:57AM 1.00 9:19
Lap 13 at 10:31:54AM 1.00 8:57
Finish at 10:34:02AM 0.26 2:08

I almost missed the start of the race. Packet pickup was crowded - I think they had record participation this year. I went off in search of an out of the way bathroom before the race. I was quite a ways away from the start when I saw all the runners take off. I sprinted to the start and crossed the starting mats in the middle of spectators following behind the runners. I think I was one of the last to start. Of course that made me try to sprint at the start of the race. But after about half a mile of catching up with the pack I began to hold back a little bit.

My heel was feeling pretty good. Only a vague dull pain, not the sharp biting pain I had been feeling the last couple weeks. I was passing everyone at the back of the pack for most of the race. My goal was to beat the two hour clock and I was doing well. My pace didn't start to slip until after mile 10. I wish I could blame it all on my foot but the reality is my foot was not that bad. I was babying it a little bit but the slowdown in miles 11 and 12 was because I was feeling tired. I knew my training was not up to snuff and that was obvious in miles 11 and 12. I did drop down to walk some at the water stations. Fortunately I was ahead of my goal pace so I didn't let it worry me. Better to save my feet and my body for the upcoming marathon.

Overall I am real happy.

From onlineraceresults.com:

Dick Beardsley Half Marathon
Half Marathon

September 6, 2008 - Detroit Lakes, MN
Summary
number of finishers: 832
number of females: 385
number of males: 441
average time: 2:01:00

Gregory Cook
bib number: 117
age: 42
gender: M
location: Fargo, MN
overall place: 371 out of 832
division place: 39 out of 65
gender place: 268 out of 441
time: 1:56:45
pace: 8:55
guntime: 1:58:33
half split : 57:04

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Here I go

I'm about to head on over to Detroit Lakes for the Dick Beardsley Half Marathon. It's a fun race on a very pleasant course around the lake. My foot feels pretty good. I've popped a couple of ibuprofen. Should be a gorgeous day - 50 degrees and sunshine. This will probably be my slowest half marathon to date but I will enjoy it. Wish me luck.