OUC Half Marathon: Full Report

Race: OUC Half Marathon
Location: Downtown Orlando, Florida
Weather: Sunny, about 63 deg F at start, 72 deg F at finish
Final chip time: 2:20:42 / 10:51 min/mile
Overall Place: 1538 / 2049
Age (45-49): 58 / 97
Gender: 611 / 933


With a race start of 7:30 am, I wanted to be there about an hour before the race - just to secure good parking and to take my time getting to the starting area. Maddy and I were set to meet in front of Panera's near the finish area. I drank a Gatorade AM on the way in to downtown as my prerace nutrition.

I found Maddy and her friend Sheryl as I was heading over to check my bag of stuff. we used a regular restroom in the park before the race. I had a feeling I had not completely "processed" all of that Gatorade (but more on that later). Then we stood around and chatted while we waited for the race to begin. Sheryl was running the 5K so we said our good byes to here and lined up. Before we even knew it, the race was started! Maddy and I ran together for almost a mile until I let her move on ahead of me - I would try to find her at the finish. She was a faster runner and was not a walk break taker like I am.

Distance / Time note: I am going to go through my times via Garmin distance vs the markers on the race. My Garmin tends to hit the miles a little before the course does. By the end of the race the Garmin had me at a total distance of 13.4 miles. It took me about a minute and a half to cross the starting line.

I settled into a quick pace and hit the 1st mile in 10:04 (Garmin mile time). A little quicker than I wanted to be - but it felt comfortable. By the 2nd mile I had settled into a comfortable clip (10:19). I took 30 sec walking breaks at each mile and walked through the water stops. I opted to bring a few Clif Shots and drink the race water / gatorade offerings.

At about mile 3, the calf muscle that was hurting me on Thursday evening started to ache again. I focused on staying relaxed and keeping my stride short so as not to push it. I figured I could run through it so I kept going. Mile 3 came at 30:48 (3rd mile was in 10:25). At this point, I also felt the need to use a restroom (remember that Gatorade). In fact, I kind of felt the need to go at the start but, oh well. I figured I could bank the quick start to hit a restroom later. But since the need was not urgent, and there were lines at the port-a-johns, I kept going.

Mile 4 was a little slower at 10:58. Somewhere between Mile 3 and 4 I did my first Clif Shot. Mile 5 was in 10:40. On the course clock and the course 5 mile marker, I hit mile 5 at about 53 minutes.

The next few miles:
Mile 6: 10:26
Mile 7: 10:36
Mile 8: 10:52 (another Clif Shot around this time)
Mile 9: 11:01

By now I was starting to feel the run - my heart rate was climbing a bit and I was starting to look forward to the end. One group set up some signs - one which said "Aren't you glad it isn't 26.2?"

Another interesting observation: At one point, a motorist that was anxious to get around the race was driving on the sidewalk in the direction opposite our flow. So the car was on the sidewalk while the runners were in the street - how odd is that?

Mile 10: 10:33 (just a 5 K left)
Mile 11: 10:45
Mile 12: 10:37

Now in the last mile or so, I was feeling tired but determined to run. I took one last walking break at about 12.4 miles, then ran the rest. I thought alot about Susan running her marathon and Elijah and what a "marathoner" he has been through his recent treatments.

Mile 13: 9:59 (my fastest mile)
Mile 13.42: 3:33

Final on Garmin: 13.42 miles in 2:20:48
Average pace: 10:30 min/mi
AHR: 164 bpm
MHR: 186 bpm

As I sprinted in the last .1 miles, I didn't see Maddy - figured that she was going to look for me in another 5 minutes since I was ahead of when I thought I would be. My Garmin was tweeting madly at me for exceeding 180 bpm. I finished with 2:22 on the race clock and a final chip time of 2:20:42 - nearly 9 minutes better than my best half marathon distance (which was at MCM).

After the race, I looked around for Maddy and finally found her. I will let her tell you the story of her race. :-) I even helped myself to the free beer afterwards.



Maddy, Sheryl and I after the race in front of Lake Eola.



Maddy and I showing our Pray for Elijah bands (no we are not punching each other:-)

We hit the public restroom one more time (I never did use that port-a-john but waited until this time to go, then headed home. What a great morning!