I ran my first half-marathon today-the Gar Williams Half Marathon in Alexandria (A DCRRC race.) I ran 1:29.01 according to my watch, but the official race time was 1:28.43. I think that was off.
In any event, I achieved my primary goal of breaking 1:30 but I was hoping to run in the 1:25 range. Having never raced anything longer than a 10K, I found it to be a challenge to consistently stay focused for each and every mile. I didn't really blow up, but there were a couple of miles where I got complacent for a while. (I split 6:23, 6:46, 6:56, 6:40, 6:46, 6:48, 6:49, 6:35, 6:52, 7:01, 6:55, 6:42, and 6:44.)
I do feel pretty sore right now, especially in the thighs (The family Turkey Bowl did not help matters-I stopped feeling sore from that on Friday, and then ran 13.1 on Saturday.) Any thoughts as to recovery would be appreciated. I've done some stretching and will continue to do so.
I finished 12th out of 225 or so, although there were a couple of "unofficial" runners who would have beaten me if they had registered for the race. Like Allen. One of these days I will actually get into the top ten at one of these local races.
One other positive out of the the half is that Matt no longer can bug me because I have never done a long race, although I am sure that he will be starting in on me to do a marathon soon enough. :)
Let me be the first (of hopeful many) to wish you wonderful congratulations!
ReplyDeleteJon - good stuff. It doesn't look like you blew up much. It's winter, crappy weather and that time is a fine one. You will see that the more you race these longer distances the more time you will cleave off. I think you're capable of a 1:25 for sure. If I were you, In would sign up for Natl Half Marathon.
ReplyDeleteAs for "recovery" I would try and soak your beat legs in some ice water for about 10 minutes. Buy two 10lb backs of ice and dump them in your tub. Bite a popsicle stick and then wiggle in. It'll suck for the first 9 minutes.
Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your sub 1:30, thats the way you want to come out of the box for your first half marathon. As for the implication that I was bugging you...I'm hurt. Now on to the marathon....
Nice work, Jon! Completing your first hm is a big accomplishment and you should be proud.
ReplyDeleteCongrats also to Mike Cotterell who runs with the Chevy Chase group. He finished in 1:22:46. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that that's a PR for him by almost 4 minutes! Nicely done!
Thanks, guys for the congrats. The legs are feeling better. I took yesterday off and aim to get back running today if I can spare some time from my grad school papers.
ReplyDeleteI have two due tomorrow so I might not make the Wednesday run. :(.