21st American Bank Half Marathon Race Report

This was one of those races that Bill Dwyer would like -- and run!

It was put on by the Corpus Christi Road Runners, whose biggest endeavor every year is the incredibly popular Beach to Bay Marathon Relay. And it was very simply done, which isn't a bad thing at all.

The race starts in front of the corporate headquarters of American Bank and basically goes 6.55 miles down Shoreline Boulevard to the north and back. As simple as it gets. You either run on sidewalks or on the wide asphalt shoulder of Shoreline. For those of you who have done Beach To Bay, it is parts of legs 5 and 6.

The finish of Beach To Bay is at Cole Park, which sits in between mile 11 and 12.

My only complaint about this race is that the first two water stations could have been between mile markers 2 and 11 and 4 and 9. On the way back, as I was trying to target 10:30 per mile, I bypassed the water stop before mile 9 to be able to post a decent split.

I know that water stops are setup to where they are the most convenient for volunteers, but that is my only gripe. And for a $25 entry fee for a half marathon ($20 if you did it early), you can NOT beat this at all. But, Huntsville comes very, very close. :)

How did I handicap myself today? Well, I ran an hour on the treadmill Friday afternoon from 4:45 to 5:45 p.m. after not doing anything all week - to spend a little time with Waverly before vanishing out of town for the weekend - and then, of course, there was the four hour drive last evening and not getting to sleep until 1 a.m. or so. Start time was 7 a.m.

Weather conditions were high 60's and humid with a cool breeze when we started. The humidity stayed as did the breeze through most of the first 9 miles, but the sun didn't come out until after we finished. The truck theromometer read 78 when I put in a post-race call to Bill.

Here are the splits:

Mile 1 -- 10:11.91
Mile 2 -- 10:37.32 (20:49.23)

Unfortunately, the negative thinking started to kick in, "This is going to be a long day."

Mile 3 -- 10:41.04 (31:30.27 - included taking on water)
Mile 4 -- 10:41.11 (42:11.38)
Mile 5 -- 10:52.64 (53:04.02 - included taking on water)
Mile 6 -- 10:14.28 (1:03:18.30)

Not sure where the last mile came from because I'm assuming that the course was laid out by veteran measurer Clent Mericle.

Halfway -- 6:21.28 (1:09:39.58)
Mile 7 -- 5:00.76 (11:22.04 - 1:14:40.34)

Before I started the race, Bill tried to give me a mental target of 2:17. The weather conditions - nor my training (what training?!) - weren't set up for a 2:17 today. I was more thinking along the lines that the 6 yesterday afternoon and the half today might be more like Rocky 50 training.

Nonetheless, I did the math based on 10:30 miles. At 7 miles, it would be 1:13:30 - therefore, I was 70 seconds over.

Mile 8 -- 10:39.62 (1:25:19.96 - 79 seconds over)
Mile 9 -- 10:31.54 (1:35:51.50 - 81 seconds over)
Mile 10 -- 10:53.04 (1:46:44.54 - 104 seconds over)

Well, given that I could hold it at mile 10, I knew that 2:17-anything wasn't going to be in the cards.

Mile 11 -- 11:19.67 (1:58:04.21)

I'm thinking to myself, "Ok, maybe I should have stopped to taken the fluid replacement."

Mile 12 -- 11:19.25 (2:09:23.46 - took on water here)
Mile 13 -- 10:54.07 (2:20:17.53)
Last .1 -- 48.83 (2:21:06.36)

I think the better effort came in mile 13 instead of the last tenth of a mile. For a half, I rarely drop anything less than 54 seconds in the last tenth of a mile.

1:09:39.58 on the front half. 1:11:26.78 on the back half. Not too shabby there.

There you have it. Career half marathon no. 55 is in the books!

Oh, I ran the first marathon in Texas in 2008 and the last half marathon in Texas in 2008. There has to be a prize for that right? Wait, maybe I - and now you - are the only ones that know those two events go together that way. :)

Notes -- My last four half marathons in order -- 2:20:13 (SD, Sep.); 2:19:18 (LA, Nov.); 2:19:29 (TX, Dec.); 2:21:06 (TX, Dec.) It was my 18th best out of 55. And it was my 11th half this year to go with six marathon finishes and a 50-Miler. Not a bad year and I will NOT be able to squeeze another one in in 2008.