Koala/Lukes Locker Half Marathon/Relay

This race, back in 2006 was my first ever half marathon.  At the time, not knowing any better, I didnt realize what (the old route) could do to a person.  Between that first 1/2 marathon and a few other races that used the same (old) course, I quickly grew to feel the same way as others about this section of our roadways so popular for races...We hate/loathe it to our very core. 

So in 2007, 2008 and 2009 I avoided this points race.  Running it several times a year for either the marathon or other races was enough for me.  AND to run 3 loops of it for the half?  Um.  No.

This year we FINALLY get our wish!  A newly certified course!  Which still involves this road way, but instead of 3 loops its a one loop course!  And for relay'ers the handout/exchange is in the same place!  At the finish?  Whaaat?  Say it isnt so!  Fanfreakintastic I tell ya!

So knowing that this half was exactly 2 weeks after Chicago, I shouldnt do the 13.1.  But I wanted the points (to go towards bypassing the 2012 marathon lottery), and the medal.  I can honestly say this is the FIRST time I have ever done a race simply for that.  I am not a blingwhore at all, but I like to do races to better my times from race to race if and when possible.  Therefore I recruited someone to run the relay with me.  6.55 miles each.  A new 'distance' for me, so on top of the points and the medal?  I get an automatic PR!  Score!

Really big medal with a neato cutout, AND the finisher singlet is cool; one that I will actually wear!

 And of course...the weather was HOT.  As in 74deg 90% humidity hot.  At 6am.  On October 24th.  For a brief moment I felt bad for those doing the 13.1, but hey I did my time 2 weeks ago in Chicago.  At twice the distance.   This is a race that I would NEVER sign up for in advance.  I did this time simply because I knew I was doing only the relay.  How bad could it be at 6.55miles no matter the temp?  ummmmmmmmmmm...

It can be bad enough thats for sure.  While having to do only one loop with the AP 'hills' it sucks for the relayers because they come at you with a 1-2 punch, then a very small break and you have to then go up a very long slow incline only to be 1-2 punched again...thankfully I was running the 1st leg so I didnt have to deal with the sun beating down on me like the 13.1'ers and the 2nd leg relay runners.   Don't think I didnt plan my being 1st runner.. I did ... I am not as dumb as some think I might be ;o)

I still alright considering the marathon just a couple of weeks back, the heat, the course, and a 'situation' that popped up on the 2mile run over to the Start that I wasnt prepared for...which meant I had 2 dashes into porta pottys during the 6.55m route (Garmin showed my leg as 6.7 and I ran the tangents to what I would call just about perfect)  (Good read:  In GPS We Trust).  With it being a new course, there might have been some distance off..who knows (again read In GPS We Trust)? I know a lot of folks said it was 'off' as a whole.  A lot because of the fact that after crossing the first timing mat, the 2nd half of the 13.1 course seemed long which would explain some of the much higher times on the 2nd half...for just about every single person, its hard to believe it was due to everyone slowing that much down due to heat/sun...I dont know...

Splits
Mile 1:  9:03  (oops)
Mile 2:  9:37  (not slow enough JB)
Mile 3:  10:06    (more like what I wanted to do the first 3 miles)
Mile 4: 10:16
Mile 5: 10:56 (walked for water, stopped for porta potty, and the back side of the 'hills')
Mile 6: 10:53 (just trying to survive, and the ankle/achilles started really hurting with every step on the right foot)
.7      :  10:23 pace

Average pace:  10:12

I really wanted to run around 10's to 10:15 the first few miles so that I could have something left for the 'hills', get my negative split and come in around 1:05 instead of 1:08...  Obviously that didnt work out, but glad I got what I did.  Mildly disappointed.  One of the things that also did me in was that I got the start time wrong and had to bust a move to get to the start, throwing my bag under BCRR tent without grabbing my gel.  I didnt eat before leaving the house because I was going to take the gel right before the gun went off...so my tank was as empty as it could be.

I had parked 2 miles away so that I would be forced to do the 2 miles back giving me my 10 miles for the day.  While this worked fine on the way there, it was tougher on the way back due mostly to the fact that there was SO MUCH AWESOME FREE SWAG from the vendors that my backsack was heavy (Muscle Milk and Honey Milk being what added most of the weight).  But 10 miles for the day was done so I was happy about that.

All in all glad I did it for the reasons stated above, plus its always full of friends doing the race, the post race is one of the best around these parts.  Next year will definitely be a week of decision to do it again in 2011.  No more signing up early for these types of races that dont sell out.  No reason to do so for fear of being left out.  There wont be a Fall marathon next year so to do the entire 13.1 on the new course is something I would definitely be interested in doing.

Should Mother Nature cooperate more in our favor.  Rested and rehydrated for about 5 hours and headed off to 90 min of hot yoga at the studio.  Felt awesome!

Today I am taking an unscheduled rest day.  This morning when I woke up the ankle and achilles was very sore and ouchy.  Gotta be smart.  Back to high mileage run this coming weekend.  At least the weather forecast is for 50deg or so...muuuuuuuuuuch better...

No more racing until the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day.

Neeraj and I at the Finish where I was taking photos of friends.  He's a fast one that Neeraj!