SLC half marathon 2010

I was SO excited to get to do a 1/2 marathon again :)! Have not gone 13.1 since October at the Nike Women's Marathon. Plus, despite the fact that this race is generally somewhat poorly-organized, I like the course a lot, and I love being out in the great spring weather.

The weather was PERFECT this morning. 50F (10C) and sunny, and a gentle breeze. By the finish it might have been 60F, but I wasn't too hot. It was very, very nice. Loving it after the winter and the snow.

I met Leah and took the train from 21st South to downtown, but we had a bit of a snafu getting to the start as the first train that came by downtown (we had to switch to the University line) was full. The 2nd train was almost full. We got on and pretty soon it was totally PACKED. It was a long 15-min ride to the U! Got off and dropped my gear bag, and then it was race time - yeah, that was cutting it pretty close. Next time we'll take the train from the Gateway.

The start was crowded but since the race is chip-timed I didn't care. Took about 6 min to cross the starting line. This race is nice because it is a very easy course - lots of downhill in the first 6 miles. Then mostly flat until mile 11, which has a long hill to mile 12, and then downhill/flat to the finish. With all the adrenaline and everyone around having so much fun, I got off to a fast start even though I thought I was taking it easy. First mile was 9:46 (sorry, no km splits because they didn't have km signs in the race). Oops, kinda fast, but considering the downhill, not bad. The 2nd mile is flatter and I did that in 10:31. I think I'll list the rest of the splits below. Basically, through mile 6 I was faster than planned because of the downhill, and then I was pretty much on pace (had planned on 6:50/k or 11:00/mile) for the rest of the race. Remember, I was not trying to actually race this - was taking it easy since I have not trained to race this distance since injuring my foot.

I felt awesome through about mile 8, and then my legs were a bit tired. Lungs were good, though, and it was quite enjoyable to do this race without pushing the pace at all. I enjoyed catching tidbits of the runners' conversations, looking at the spring flowers which were bursting out everywhere, hearing the cheers of the many spectators, and seeing a few people I knew. Pete from church waved and said "Go Tammy!" about mile 9, and my swimming coach (who finished the race WAY before me - she is a pro triathlete) cheered me on about mile 11.5 as I was going up the hill on State St.

I did push the pace just a little - instead of taking it totally "easy", I probably did easy-moderate. But it felt SO comfortable compared to how I've raced this one in the past. Much more enjoyable (in some ways) to take it slower, though of course I enjoy racing hard too :).

A few gripes - less-organized than usual (scary!) - the aid station at mile 6 had NO WATER (and I really wanted some) and many of the others were behind on pouring it or handing it to you. The gear check pick-up was horribly horribly disorganized with a LONG line. I was lucky to find my bag in a pile instead of waiting for it (this was a small miracle). I like this course a lot, but the race management is obviously not that great.

I got lots of fun comments from runners today. I usually do, but today they were funnier than usual.

"Wow, she'd be really good at Zumba!"
From a runner I passed, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, "I'm mad at you!"
"Look at those hips!"

And the usual comments,
"Awesome!"
"Wow, you are fast!"
"She's walking faster than I'm running!"

Even got one "Good form!" from a spectator. Not sure if they actually knew anything about RW, but it was nice anyway.

Here are my splits, ave pace/km, and HR for each. I didn't get a split every mile (somehow missed some of the mile markers). Remember that there were significant downhills on miles 1, 3-4, and 6.

Mile 1 9:46, 6:19/km, 153 (I think my heart rate monitor wasn't quite sweaty enough yet, because I know I was not pushing that hard - it was registering cadence, or interference or something)
Mile 2 10:31, 6:33/km, 143
Miles 3-4 20:22, 6:21/km, 143
Mile 5 11:04, 6:47/km, 142
Miles 6-7 21:23, 6:37/km, 142
Miles 7-8 22:11, 6:54/km, 140
Mile 9 11:07, 6:52/km, 145
Mile 10 11:03, 6:50/km, 144
Mile 11 11:28, 7:12/km, 145 (big hill)
Mile 12-13.1 11:37, 6:22/km, 149 (downhill, and I accelerated a bit to the finish)

Final time: 2:20:27, 8 seconds faster than my first 1/2 marathon in 2007. Guess I've improved a bit since then...taking it easy, I was faster :).

My foot feels pretty good. It's slightly achy and a little warm, so I'm icing it. But I think it's going to be 100% fine. I plan to swim tomorrow to give it a little rest. I'm really glad that it held up so well :). Things are definitely looking up! Now to get that eating under control and lose the 7 lb I have put on since the Portland Marathon. But that's another story.

There are lots of pictures from the race here. I took more pictures this time than usual, since I wasn't racing hard. Not bad shots considering that I was RW at the time, and it's a teeny little camera.