Mercedes Half Marathon

Well, today was the big day. My first 1/2 Marathon. My first race of the 2007 season which I've decided will be my breakout year. The morning started off with a 4:00 am wake up call for breakfast. Two packets of Oatmeal and a Snickers (Half) Marathon bar. Because of careful planning the night before, I was able to jump back in bed and sleep for another hour. My stuff was all ready to go so why stay awake?

Lauren and I arrived at the race site about 45 minutes prior to the start. It was 28 degrees out. For all the northerners out there, that's pretty cold to us Southerners. So don't start. I wore shorts, a long sleeve shirt, a visor, and my biking skull cap (which I lost along the course!). There were approximately 3000 racers of which 800 were slated for the full marathon. The Mercedes is known for it's hills. Here's an elevation chart so you can see what I was facing:

As the race started, I couldn't get over the joy I had of running with a pack of people. They were my kind of people. I felt at home. Maybe it's because I've been running alone for most of my training, but it was a really odd (but enjoyable) feeling.

To find my pace, I started looking for the first mile marker around 7 minutes. Didn't see it. 8 minutes. No where in sight. What the hell? So I sped up. I couldn't start off this slow. At about 9:30 I figured out why I didn't see it. I was running too fast and ran past it without noticing. After 2 miles I clocked in at a total time of 13:10. Wow, too fast. I was planning on staying around a 7:30-7:40 pace so I was a little taken back. I slowed the pace a little, but I kept seeing times well below my expectation. Mile 3 - 7:07, mile 4 - 7:14, mile 5 - 7:15. Still feeling really good. I kept telling myself to not over do it. Don't peak too soon. Ahead was the dreaded Greensprings Ave. It's mile 5-6 on the elevation chart. Over a mile it gains over 200 feet in elevation. It's like the hill that never ends. It got my attention, and I put in a slower 7:45 for mile 6. Mile 7 - 7:24, followed by another two miles of elevation changes where I put in two 7:45 miles. It was down hill (elevation-wise anyway) from there. I hammered down a bit and put in miles of 7:35, 7:34, 7:21, and 7:20. This left one mile to go. Still feeling good and my times were still dropping so I hit the gas. The course didn't mark mile thirteen so I didn't catch my last split, but I crossed the finish line at 1 hour and 36 minutes. Unofficially though. I was really pleased with my time. It turned out to be around a 7:19 pace and for me, that was well above my expectations.

Overall, it was a great experience and a great start to the year. I really needed this race to get started off on the right foot. There's a lot of vindication in doing well after working hard. So needless to say, I'm really looking forward to this year's season.

And I have to say thank you thank you thank you to my lovely wife who stuck it out in the cold and waited for me. If you knew how much she hates the cold, you'd know how big that is.