UNITE Half Marathon Race Report

The past two weeks or so have not been ideal when it comes to preparing for a race, whether it be a 5K, half marathon, triathlon, etc.  I had two stretches where I didn't have a running work out for fiver or six days straight, only supplementing my relative inactivity with some swimming.  Add to that the fact that I somehow committed to picking up a rather large swing set (or swing fortress) for my daughter on Saturday afternoon...and well, yeah I am not the brightest of the bright.  The UNITE Half Marathon was going to be an interesting race.

Race Day Eve
I awoke Saturday morning feeling great.  The two visits to my sports doc on Wednesday and Friday seemed to have done the trick.  My back was good to go and I was anxious to start the day....and a busy day at that.  First up was my daughters soccer game (I am the coach or her team) and it was a tough one.  Plain and simple, the girls just aren't all that good right now; we have four or five girls that have never played before and it is tough to explain to them what to do (7 year olds are like that).  They played hard and had fun and by the end of the game we actually were playing a lot better.  I was very proud of them and I think they are improving. 

Immediately following the game it was back home for a quick lunch, then off (with my father) to disassemble the GIANT swing set and transport it back to our house (only about a mile away).  It tooks us about four hours of hard work before it was resting in pieces in my backyard.  Both my father and I were exhausted.  I don't know how I would have done it without his help (THANK YOU DAD!!!).  Honestly I would probably still be over there doing it if it wasn't for him.  Me, my wife and daughters then ran out to pick up a few things for the swing set (additional wood, sand paper, etc.) and grab dinner (ugh...Wendy's, definitely not the best pre-race meal).  Once home I was up until around 8:30PM working on the swing set.  I think got to bed around 11:00PM that night, again not early enough but it ended up being OK.

Race Morning
My alarm went off at 5:45AM and I crawled out of bed.  Got in my car and made it to the College Avenue Gym parking lot by 7:00AM where I waited from my friend Chris to arrive....he overslept and showed up around 7:40AM (pretty typical for him).  While waiting I downed one and half packages of strawberry Pop-Tarts and around 20 oz. of G2.  The trip to the race start was only a short bus trip, very well organized.  After a 20 minute wait for a port-a-pottie, Chris and I did a brief warm-up run and then made our way to the start line.

The Race
The gun went off and I felt good. Chris and I ran the first three miles together and I felt pretty solid, but then either he started to speed up or I started to slow down (I suspect a little of both).  The next six miles were all at a bit slower pace than the first three, right at 7:30 pace, slower than I wanted to be but I felt like I could hold that pace for the duration.  One thing that I did notice some where before mile nine was that my left hamstring wasn't completely "right".  It didn't hurt, it just felt a bit tight.  I tried not to think about it too much though, much easier said than done.  

I made my way over a bridge to Johnson Park and right around the middle of mile nine that I could tell the wheels were about to fall off.  My left hamstring was considerably tighter and I was doing everything feasible to keep it from cramping up.  I hit the ten mile mark in 1:14:30 (7:27/mile average pace) and I knew that the last 5K was going to be a struggle.  As I approached the Landing Lane bridge over the Raritan River I stopped for only a second or two to stretch out my hamstring, which did absolutely nothing.  I continued to run.  Once over the bridge and about mile 10.5 it happened, my hamstring cramped up on me and I had to stop for about 20 seconds to stretch it out.  I was pissed!  As I was stretching, a girl ran by me and gave me a few words of encouragement, which me being uber-competitive somehow turned it into a challenge and thus got me really pissed off.  I started to run again and up the hill into the Buccleuch Park...I was never so happy to have an uphill (this seemed to help my ailing hamstring).  Mile 11 was a rough 8:05 and Mile 12 was an equally sad 8:00, both the result of my trying to get my crap back together. 

I had 1.1 miles left and I was determined to finish strong, so I put my head down and did my best to tough out that last stretch .  I made it without any more leg cramps, finishing in 1:38:38 (see mile splits below). 

1 - 7:26 - 0:07:26 - A little crowded but not bad
2 - 7:17 - 0:14:43 - Feeling good
3 - 7:02 - 0:21:46 - Downhill, it's all good
4 - 7:30 - 0:29:16 - Back to reality for next six miles
5 - 7:33 - 0:36:50
6 - 7:30 - 0:44:20
7 - 7:33 - 0:51:53
8 - 7:29 - 0:59:23
9 - 7:27 - 1:06:51
10 - 7:38 - 1:14:30 - hamstring starting to bother me
11 - 8:05 - 1:22:35 - Ouch!  Leg cramp
12 - 8:00 - 1:30:35 - Recovering from cramp, uphill
13 - 7:17 - 1:37:52 - Trying to finish strong
13.10 - 0:45 - 1:38:38


Post Race
Chris was waiting for me at the finish line, having run it in 1:32:50 (awesome race for him).  We hobbled back to our cars to get some money for a post-race meal, along the way I saw Yasi coming down the home stretch with a smile on her face and gave her a shout.  Chris and I finished the day by getting some cheese steaks with egg from the grease trucks....oh so good!

Post Race Analysis
Overall I am happy with my race, especially considering the events that led up to it, e.g. back spasms, swing set, etc.  I felt good early on and I think I would have run it a minimum of two minutes faster had I not lost all of those training days.  I don't know that I could have kept up with Chris, but I think a sub-1:35 was doable.  Next up is the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia on May 2nd, a fast 10 miler that I think I can get close to 1:10 (7:00/mile)...well, maybe 1:12:30 (7:15/mile).

Work time!