Half marathon #71
January 14, 2017
Gina and I headed up to Jacksonville Friday afternoon. They
drive took longer than I thought it would. We arrived at packet pickup 5
minutes before they closed! We then
headed to dinner and then to our hotel. The next morning, we made our way to
the race start, which was at a waterfront park next to the Jacksonville Jaguars
football stadium. Lots of parking available as well as real bathrooms! We
watched the 10K and 5K runners start, then got lined up for our half marathon
start. The was in the low 60s, with fog in the air. Not the best conditions. I
stood near the 2 hour pacer, hoping to stay in front for the entire race. Since
I was not in the best training shape, I knew the chances of a PR were not good.
After the national anthem was sung, we were off! We had a
wide 4 lane road to run on for about half a mile, which was awesome. Soon, I
was smelling the most wonderful scent. Coffee! The Maxwell House coffee plant
was on the course! Just after mile one, we encountered our first hill. It was
an overpass bridge. It wasn’t long, but it was kind of steep! During the rest
of the course, there were some small up hills, but nothing as bad as the first
one. We passed through some great old neighborhoods and some cute shopping
districts. I ran a couple of miles with a guy with a half fanatics tank on. We
chatted about our races and training. He had been racing almost every weekend
and was still pushing the pace faster than I could hold for long! He pulled
ahead around mile 5. The course is pretty much an out and back. A couple of
minutes after getting to the turnaround, I saw Gina. She wasn’t far behind!
Miles 1 through 7: 8:10, 8:25, 8:28, 8:33, 8:46, 8:47, 8:47
I started to slow down on the way back. I struggled to keep
my pace around 9 min miles. I walked through a couple of the water stops and
when I hit the last up hill pathway, I walked it! I figured I could run the
down hill and make up some time. But, the down hill was a square ramp, so I
would get two steps in and take a sharp right turn. This was hard on my right
knee. So, I didn’t push the speed on the down hill like I wanted. Once I passed
the Maxwell House building, I knew I was getting close to the finish. I tried
to pick up the pace a bit. We made a right turn off of the main road, to run
over grass and finish in the middle of the park. So happy to be done and so
happy to have finished under 2 hours! Miles 8 through 13.2 (course was a bit
long)- 9:11, 9:06, 9:10, 9:18, 9:59, 9:01, 1:39
Finish: 1:57:39
4th in age group
4th in age group
 |
| A mile or so from the finish! |
Gina finished just under 2 hours! Hooray! We got a couple of
beers, then stood in line for the free massage. The massage was totally worth
the long wait. We then got some food and then headed out as a light run started
to fall. I enjoyed this course, but probably wouldn’t make the trip back up to
Jacksonville for the race. It was just a really far drive. But, we made a fun
weekend out of it. Headed to Epcot after getting cleaned up. J
No comments:
Post a Comment