OUC Half Marathon Race Report

OUC Half Marathon
December 2nd, 7:30 am
70 degrees F, 80% Humidity, light wind
Participation: 1910 runners (finishers)
Goal: 2 hrs 30 minutes

The weather was forecast to be warm, very humid, with a slight chance of a shower.

I wanted to hit 2.5 hours - as kind of a test to see if I had a shot at a 5 hour marathon in January. With that in mind, I set my iPod to a 170 bpm podrunner song and got ready to race. I felt good today - not as rested as I would have liked but excited to be racing. I also had my new toy (check out my left wrist). My new Garmin Forerunner 305 arrived in the mail on Friday - just in time to take it for a spin during today's race.

The Garmin was fun to have. I could see my pace at any particular time, although at times it didn't seem right - I was sure my pace was a little better than it told me at times. Especially when it would flash a 43 min mile while I was standing still! But it was close. Also, the mile markers on the course did not jive with what the Garmin said I had run, and in the end, my total distance on the Garmin was 13.47 miles instead of the 13.1 on the course. I also have a heart rate monitor, although I have to say, the display of my heart rate was very small (good thing I was wearing my progressive lenses)! For the most part, I was running in Zone 4 - mostly outside my aerobic zone. I could tell I was working hard. Anyway, I had to watch that I didn't let the Garmin distract me, and actually had to ignore it at times and listen to my body. Still, the graphs and downloads I got to play with later were fun!

In the end, my final time for the race was 2 hrs 36 min. I knew I was running slower than a 2:30 time pace, but there was no way I could speed up. It was too hot outside and I was feeling it. In addition to having the iPod set at 170 bpm, I tried to run 1 mile before taking a walking break. Toward the end I had to take a few more breaks per mile, but I ran the entire last 1.1 miles of the course.

I made 10 miles right at the 2 hour mark - so I knew that 2:30 wasn't going to happen. I was able to maintain my pace (just under 12 min mile). Technically this was a PR for me. My last Half Marathon race was last year's OUC which I ran in 2:54. However, my recorded time for the Phedippedations Half Marathon was 2:32. I ran that race in two parts, however (a 10K followed by 7 miles) and I think that made a difference in the time vs running the entire race all at once. So I consider today's time a PR.

Heel update: As with any run these days, my heel ached after the race. I iced it and it did just fine.

5 more weeks til Disney!!