Monday, November 16, 2009

Inland Trail Half Marathon - Race Report

A couple weeks ago I ran the Inland Trail Half Marathon. I did this on basically 1-2 easy days / week of running training, and my overall fitness (P90X in the summer and Yoga Booty Ballet in the fall).

Two years ago when I was running a little more, including 20 miles / week for 3-4 weeks leading up to the race, I ran 1:44. My goal was to match that time.

My nephew Keith came up and ran with me. He wore his fancy Garmin Forerunner that automatically dings off his mile splits. I had declared a plan to run "just under 8:00 / mile" and Keith agreed to run with me.

After a not-so-straight bus-ride to the start, we clicked off our first mile in 7:13. Fast but easy effort. We then settled into the 7:40's through 5 miles, before I slowed slightly more to the 7:50's for miles 6, 7, & 8.
  • 7:13
  • 7:43
  • 7:46
  • 7:46
  • 7:40
  • 7:55
  • 7:55
  • 7:59

Our pace at the 8 mile mark was 7:45, which put us on pace for a 1:41:30 finishing time. Unfortunately, I was starting to drag. We were passed, Keith kept pace with our new competitor while I fell back even more. Keith then left me in a blur.

I averaged 8:35 for my last 5.1 miles, I'm sure the 13th mile was my slowest. I did pick it up slightly again around 10 miles, but I don't know my splits as I don't have the fancy Forerunner.

I crossed the finish in 1:46:45, 50th overall and 4th in my age group.

Meanwhile, Keith averaged 6:35 for his last 5 miles. What a sandbagger! Just kidding, great job Keith!

Complete results courtesy of Runners High!

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