3M Half Marathon 2012

Well, obviously I haven’t been good about updating my blog on a regular basis, but this morning was the 3M Half Marathon and I always like to do a race report on here.

Race morning was cold (in the 30s) but we got lucky and did not have the 20mph winds that we had yesterday. I debated about what to wear as usually when the temps are in the 40s I wear shorts and a long sleeved tech top over a sports tank so I can shed the long sleeve later if I get warm. With feel-like temps in the low 30s at the start and barely getting to 40 by the time I expected to finish I was wishy washy. I dressed in shorts to begin with but took the tights with me.

I got to the race site in plenty of time and sat in the car for a while to stay warm. I did start to get a little cold with the car turned off and decided in the end to put the tights on. I didn’t think I’d hit a PR today anyway, so I figured if I got a little warm toward the end of the race that would be ok.

The race start was at 6:45am so at 6:15 I left the car to drop my clothes bag for after the race and to get in line for the port-a-potty. What I didn’t expect was a 20 minute wait just to drop my bag off. People were waiting until they got to the front of the line to ditch their warm clothes and they didn’t even have the tag on their bag. Come on people. Finally they got some more help back there, I dropped my bag and found the shortest line I could find for the port-a-potty. It took a little time to get to the front, but I got in and out and to the start line with just a few minutes to spare.

I was glad to finally be moving. I was shivering before the start. It didn’t take long to feel comfortable though. The first few miles were actually kind of a blur. I think I was just glad to be moving. At mile one I went to hit the split button and apparently hit the stop button. Luckily I noted the time and then a short time later looked at the watch again and realized what I had done. I hit start again and kept moving.

Mile1: 9:40
Mile2: who knows?

I hit the split button again at mile 2 and was back on track.

Mile 3: 9:03
Mile 4: 9:16

At this point I’m comfortable temperature wise and kind of wish I had just stuck with the shorts. I started looking around at people and noticed a lot of people had ditched their jackets at this point. I also notice a male with a tramp stamp. Yep, that’s right. Kind of scary, but whatever floats your boat. I also notice a lady running in full makeup. Her checks were bright pink and I promise it was not from the cold or from the effort. She had full eye shadow and mascara on as well. Wow. Should have noticed her number so I could look up her time. I wear make-up every day, but not for races. I sweat too much. People watching in a race is very interesting.

Mile 5: 9:15
Mile 6: 9:17

At this point we are approaching the relay exchange point and for a brief moment I wish I had found someone to do the relay with me and I’d be done. But I’m actually feeling pretty good and wonder how I will end up. Of course, I won’t know at the end if a PR is close or not because of the mess up with the watch earlier so I just don’t worry about it.

Mile 7: 9:11
Mile 8: 9:17

I knew from a facebook post that a friend of mine from high school would be around mile 8 or 9 so I started looking for him during this time and actually found him. I gave him a wave and kept going.

Mile 9: 9:18

The course is relatively flat with a negative elevation gain overall, but there was a gradual incline at this point and it slowed me down just a bit. I have exercise induced asthma that is unfortunately triggered by cold, humidity, or hills. Going up the incline I could feel it a little bit. Oh well.

Mile 10: 9:33
Mile 11: 9:32

Ok, it’s back to flat or downhill now and I know I’m close to the end.

Mile 12: 9:18
Mile 13: 9:50

I guess I got a little tired that last mile and of course any race that ends in downtown has some kind of hill at the end. It wasn’t a big one, but it must of got me. I turned the corner and headed to the finish line.

Last .1: 1:07.

I crossed the finish line, got my medal and went looking for the bag claim so I could put on my sweatshirt. I was already getting cold because of the sweat. I didn’t find the bag claim right away, but I found the line for the breakfast tacos, so I got in line. I’m not passing that up! Once I had my taco I went to find the info tent and ask where the clothes were. Finally found it and no one was monitoring the area. Anyone could have walked away with anyone’s bag. I put an old pair of sweats in my bag so it wasn’t a big deal for me, but I wasn’t impressed with how that was handled. I ran into some old Team in Training teammates and then headed for the shuttle bus to get back to the start. I was freezing again and just wanted to get warm.

Overall, it was a good race. I’m pretty sure I could have gone faster on the level of training I’m at right now, but I’m happy with my 2:02:46 finish. I think somewhere around 6,000 folks registered and I was 2326 overall. My 10K time was 57:39 so I definitely slowed down a little the last half, but overall I ran a fairly consistent race.