3M Half Marathon Race Report
For those of you who read this blog for some of the insane statistical numbers that are produced, the 13th annual 3M Half Marathon in Austin was race #205 for me and it was my 31st half marathon ever (to go with 12 marathons.)
So how did I do? Good, but I feel like I can be better. How's that for a loaded response?
Gun time was 2:15:50 and chip time was 2:12:28.9.
Last year, I set a new PR! at this race with a time of 2:12:06.5! (And I bettered it about six weeks later with a 2:09:58 in The Dalles, Oregon.)
So it was the third best half marathon I've ever run, but I didn't run it all like I did in Oregon.
I even walked during the first two miles after trying to take the first uphill mile too fast - 9:29.26 (compared to last year in 10:05.45). The elites took this at about a 5:20 per mile pace whereas they ran some of the downhills in 4-thirty and change.
So here is the mile-by-mile breakdown:
Mile 1 -- 9:29.26 (9:29.26 ... 10:05.45)
Mile 2/3 -- 19:57.91 (29:27.17 ... 29:55.98)
Mile 4 -- 9:52.77 (39:19.94 ... 40:04.55)
Mile 5 -- 9:32.91 (48:52.85 ... 49:49.64)
Mile 6 -- 10:04.03 (58:56.88 ... 59:25.70)
Mile 7 -- 10:14.44 (1:09:11.32 ... 1:08.24.20* short a year ago)
Mile 8 -- 10:03.92 (1:19:15.24 ... 1:18:37.85* long a year ago)
Mile 9 -- 10:21.87 (1:29:37.11 ... 1:28:36.36)
Mile 10 -- 10:32.95 (1:40:10.06 ... 1:38:58.51)
Mile 11 -- 10:30.51 (1:50:40.57 ... 1:49:58.16)
Mile 12 -- 10:13.81 (2:00:54.38 ... 2:00:28.20)
Mile 13 -- 10:37.39 (2:11:31.77 ... 2:11:17.08)
Last .1 -- 57.21 (2:12:28.98 ... 2:12:10.30)
Actually, the year-to-year comparisons aren't completely fair because the course was changed quite a bit.
For example, we had a little bit of a loop in mile 6 that we didn't have before.
As I've stated before, if you run events in Austin enough, many of the same roads are used for multiple events (basically like our Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive.)
It seemed like miles 9-13 where basically mile 17-21 from last year's Freescale Austin Marathon. Miles 9-11 were basically long uphills while mile 12 was a downhill (last year it was a downhill going into mile 20 by DKR-Memorial Stadium.)
Two weeks removed from a marathon, I ran a 10:10 pace over 12 miles last Sunday in New Braunfels and then a 10:06 pace over 13.1 miles this Sunday ... I guess I can't really complain that much.
I just know though that while the weather was certainly to my liking, I wasn't as mentally strong as I've been in other events and that disappointed me.
This course is advertised as a "net downhill", but with that comes some inclines. You really have to what I call "make hay" in a four-and-a-half-mile stretch between mile 3.5 and mile 8 and then in mile 12.
Kim Hager of The Woodlands was there and it was fun to see her line up towards the front. (There was an incredibly talented field there, including the World Ironman runnerup Desiree Ficker of Austin, who finished third and with a personal record, and a couple of former Houston Marathon winners - David Cheriuyot and Albina Gallyamova.)
Russell Meyer of Houston won the Clydesdale division after finishing second a year ago.
So how did I do? Good, but I feel like I can be better. How's that for a loaded response?
Gun time was 2:15:50 and chip time was 2:12:28.9.
Last year, I set a new PR! at this race with a time of 2:12:06.5! (And I bettered it about six weeks later with a 2:09:58 in The Dalles, Oregon.)
So it was the third best half marathon I've ever run, but I didn't run it all like I did in Oregon.
I even walked during the first two miles after trying to take the first uphill mile too fast - 9:29.26 (compared to last year in 10:05.45). The elites took this at about a 5:20 per mile pace whereas they ran some of the downhills in 4-thirty and change.
So here is the mile-by-mile breakdown:
Mile 1 -- 9:29.26 (9:29.26 ... 10:05.45)
Mile 2/3 -- 19:57.91 (29:27.17 ... 29:55.98)
Mile 4 -- 9:52.77 (39:19.94 ... 40:04.55)
Mile 5 -- 9:32.91 (48:52.85 ... 49:49.64)
Mile 6 -- 10:04.03 (58:56.88 ... 59:25.70)
Mile 7 -- 10:14.44 (1:09:11.32 ... 1:08.24.20* short a year ago)
Mile 8 -- 10:03.92 (1:19:15.24 ... 1:18:37.85* long a year ago)
Mile 9 -- 10:21.87 (1:29:37.11 ... 1:28:36.36)
Mile 10 -- 10:32.95 (1:40:10.06 ... 1:38:58.51)
Mile 11 -- 10:30.51 (1:50:40.57 ... 1:49:58.16)
Mile 12 -- 10:13.81 (2:00:54.38 ... 2:00:28.20)
Mile 13 -- 10:37.39 (2:11:31.77 ... 2:11:17.08)
Last .1 -- 57.21 (2:12:28.98 ... 2:12:10.30)
Actually, the year-to-year comparisons aren't completely fair because the course was changed quite a bit.
For example, we had a little bit of a loop in mile 6 that we didn't have before.
As I've stated before, if you run events in Austin enough, many of the same roads are used for multiple events (basically like our Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive.)
It seemed like miles 9-13 where basically mile 17-21 from last year's Freescale Austin Marathon. Miles 9-11 were basically long uphills while mile 12 was a downhill (last year it was a downhill going into mile 20 by DKR-Memorial Stadium.)
Two weeks removed from a marathon, I ran a 10:10 pace over 12 miles last Sunday in New Braunfels and then a 10:06 pace over 13.1 miles this Sunday ... I guess I can't really complain that much.
I just know though that while the weather was certainly to my liking, I wasn't as mentally strong as I've been in other events and that disappointed me.
This course is advertised as a "net downhill", but with that comes some inclines. You really have to what I call "make hay" in a four-and-a-half-mile stretch between mile 3.5 and mile 8 and then in mile 12.
Kim Hager of The Woodlands was there and it was fun to see her line up towards the front. (There was an incredibly talented field there, including the World Ironman runnerup Desiree Ficker of Austin, who finished third and with a personal record, and a couple of former Houston Marathon winners - David Cheriuyot and Albina Gallyamova.)
Russell Meyer of Houston won the Clydesdale division after finishing second a year ago.
posted by WalkSports.com | 12:39 PM
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