A lot of my tri friends were out doing the PlayTri Stonebridge race this morning but since I'm training for December's White Rock Marathon, I need to get my running miles in.So this morning, I ran in the Heels & Hills & Him Half-Marathon in Las Colinas (Irving, TX). The mostly out-and-back course showcased the City of Irving's Campion Trail system. I know these trails fairly well - having done training runs with Derek, Jarrod, and Matt in the past (but not in at least 18 months) and rollerblading on them as well ~10 years ago when I lived closer to the area.
Today's stats:
My heart rate was fairly high due to the pushing of the pace (thanks, Kim!) and the warm weather. After the fifth mile, my average went down only when I walked at the water stops. Speaking of the water stops, we probably could have used one or two more (that would have been hit twice on the out-and-back). There were a couple of water fountains on the trails, but those are not very convenient when on the go.
Despite being a warm day, I ran a pretty good race and completed the half-marathon in 1:54:09. I must have started my watch about 20 seconds early because I had the time at 1:54:31. I ran with Kim ("recovering" after running 40 miles yesterday - training for the Palo Duro Trail 50 Miler) for the first 3 or 4 miles and she noted the discrepancy in our Mile 1 split.
My official pace was 8:43/mi. However, even with the aforementioned "early start", I only recorded the course at 12.99 miles. So using the GPS distance and the official finish time, my pace was 8:47/mi. This is a little faster than last week's Tour Des Fleurs 20K for an extra half-mile distance and in warmer weather. So that is pretty encouraging. Some things working in my favor today were a flat course and quite a bit of shade from the trees on the trails.
I finished 57th out of 580 half-marathon finishers and 6th out of 24 in my age group. I completed the first 6.5 miles in about 56 minutes and the remaining 6.5 in about 58, so my pace slowed down by a little in the second half of the race - mostly because I walked more (e.g., almost 2 minutes at the final water stop around Mile 11.5). I had done 2 1/2 hours of spin classes on Saturday, so my legs got tired and I was definitely running out of gas by the end.
As I said earlier, the course was nice, shaded and flat and there were some cute signs every few miles encouraging us on. A couple that I remember: "I like to run, it makes me smile, I think I'll run another mile" and "Running is a mental sport ... we are all insane".
Today's stats:
My heart rate was fairly high due to the pushing of the pace (thanks, Kim!) and the warm weather. After the fifth mile, my average went down only when I walked at the water stops. Speaking of the water stops, we probably could have used one or two more (that would have been hit twice on the out-and-back). There were a couple of water fountains on the trails, but those are not very convenient when on the go.
I was able to catch up to Kim again around Mile 7.5 and we ran together for another 1/2 mile or so before I had to drop the pace. There was an extra loop (around a playground in the La Villita community) and an out-and-back (near the Irving Police Station) on the return trip. I think that it would have been better for me mentally to have done those "side excursions" on the way out, but I guess the runners would have been too bunched up earlier in the race.
Overall, I had a great run today and enjoyed the chance to race at my old training route. It was very nice to see that the Campion Trails (PDF, 13.8 MB) now extend into Sam Houston Trail Park and Valley Ranch. I'll have to come back some time to do more running/riding/rollerblading on them!
Race results: http://heelsandhills.com/Events/Race_Results.html
Garmin Connect map & info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/14500476
No comments:
Post a Comment