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Thursday, November 23, 2006

13.1 in 2:18 ...

Today's Run: 13.1 (Atlanta Half Marathon)
Run Time: 2:18:32
Total Miles to Date: 128.1

Thoughts on the Run:

Altanta Half Marathon Elevation

Altanta Half Marathon Pace Chart


Today was the half marathon. My goal was to finish (done) and do less than 2 hours (not done). I came close to a goal of 10-minute miles, but fell short ... but am not disappointed.

At 4:00am my alarm went off. I jumped out of bed, brewed a cup of coffee and toasted some whole grain waffles for breakfast. I got dressed: shorts, long running pants, a long-sleeved running shirt with cotton shirt on top, bandana to keep my head warm. I put lotion on my lifes to avoid chafing and powder in my shoes to keep my feet dry. The running pants have zippered pockets perfect for my license, my MARTA cards, and the car key.

I was out the door at 4:45 and it took 45 minutes to reach the MARTA station. There, I met "Tithers" who I know from an online running forum. She had run this before and was a very great guide for getting to and back from the race. We hopped on the train and rode down one exit to the start line.

It was pitch black and we were some of the first people to arrive at the start line. We walked down a long hill to the section where they were serving water and sports drinks and had the porta-potties, but then found that the bag drop (I had clean shoes, socks, and a shirt) was actually back up the hill where we came from. So, we headed back up so I could check my bag. Then back down to the start. Tithers was freezing so I let her borrow the $2 gloves I got at the expo. We waited a bit and then it was close to start time. She was going to the 11-minute group and I wanted to start with the 9-minute group so we parted ways (and I got my gloves back).

Soon they counted down and we were off. It was a sharp hook and then over the timing mat and I started my watch.

I settled into what felt like a nice, even pace. The course started out level and I completed the first mile in 9:15.

I decided that I was going to just take water for most of the race, but that I would drink at every aid station, so I stopped and grabbed some water and and drank it as I ran. The course dipped downhill. My strategy was to bank as much time as I could on the downhill in the front, so I picked up the pace and finished the second mile in 8:52.

The third and fourth miles were uneventful. I felt like I was running a perfect pace and kept running through the water stations. Mile 3 was 9:07 and mile 4 was 9:34. So far, so good for my goals - I was actually on target for a sub-2 hour finish.

The fifth mile started crawling uphill. I got a little dizzy so I pulled to the side and walk for a bit and then decided I would slow the pace down. I finished that mile in 10:11, still solid.

The sixth mile was 9:37.

The seventh mile, still no problem - 9:33.

The eight mile was where the fun started. Mile 8 started a steep climb and I had to slow my pace to drive up the hill. At 10:52, it was not a bad mile, but then mile 9 came and things fell part.

Miles 9 - 11 were agonzing for me. Suddenly my stomach started churning and I had severe stomach cramps. It felt like diarrheah. I would move to the side and just squat down, the only position I could get into to make the nausea pass, and then wait. Eventually the cramps would subside and I'd venture back out. A few episodes of this and I resolved to walk for a bit to settle it down. I even approached a port-a-pottie but the line was too long. It was as I was walking towards this that I happened to glance down and realized I made a mistake by not taping my nipples - there were two big red spots on my shirt from the bleeding. Fortunately I could not feel a thing.

Mile 9 was 11:51. Mile 10 was 11:58. Mile 11, when I stopped the longest and toyed with the idea of making a "pit stop" was 13:27.

In the middle of mile 11, I stopped by the station and decided I would go ahead and try some PowerAde. I chugged a cup of that in addition to a cup of water, and got back on the path.

While the last several miles were mostly uphill, suddenly my cramping was completely gone. While my legs felt stiff and sore, I was able to move into a steady jog and make my way up the hills. I finished mile 12 in 10:41 and then mile 13 in 10:52. Mile 13 had the most hills so I was happy with the pace considering the uphill nature.

The end of the race was cruel. There was a very steep uphill, a gentle down-sloping grade, then another uphill before a short (2-10ths of a mile) downhill to the finish line. I was going to blast through but just didn't have the legs or energy and finished steadily. I crossed by 2:18 on my watch. Official race time was 2:21 but it took 2 minutes to reach the mat so my official "net" time is probably 2:19.

All-in-all I am happy with all of my splits because there wasn't much I could do during the slow miles. I handled the distance better than my last half marathon. It was beautiful scenery - the sun was rising just as we started and in full brilliance at the finish. I grabbed a water, drank it, then went to the baggage tent and changed into dry clothes and stretched. Then I grabbed our goodie bag (cheese crackers and a Milky Way) with a Coke. I bumped into Tithers again, and we then bumped into a gentleman who goes by "North Georgia" online and we were all heading back on MARTA, so we headed back. As we headed to the station, my cramping came back and it was a very miserable walk.

On the train, I felt like I was going to pass out. Unfortunately, I hadn't stopped at any of the bathrooms at the finish, and there were none in the MARTA stations. I was pretty sure my nausea was due to my cramping so I just held on as we rode back to the station. We arrived and everyone said goodbye (I was really excited to meet everyone in person, and Tithers was a great guide and helped me find everything at the race). I drove home. Relief came quickly with access to facilities, and I decided perhaps my waffles weren't a good choice (I had eaten french toast before a training run prior with no problems). Judging by the swelling in my hands I also figured I sweated out a lot of electrolytes so that may have been the cause. I am going to have to resolve what is going on there before going to marathon distance so I'll be doing more experimenting in the upcoming runs.

After a nice soak in the tub, I was feeling back to normal (as normal as can be, my calfs, knees, and thighs ache) ... we sat down and had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with my parents and then I felt 100%. Now I'm sipping wine and unwinding and looking forward to enjoying an evening of relaxation.

So, missed a few goals but still accomplished 13.1 miles. Definitely feel ready to take on the marathon as I feel the only fault in this race was "gut management" which is an ongoing learning process.

I need to remember to tape my chest as well ... it stings!

Everyone, have a happy, blessed Thanksgiving Day.

Warmly,

Jeremy Likness

posted by Jeremy Likness | 4:26 PM


1 Comments:

Blogger Heather said...

It's hard to always predict what will happen on race day
Congrats on finishing!

1:23 AM  

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