Body Atoms

Motive Bison Half Marathon - Race Report

This half marathon is not known for being one of the fastest. In fact, at mile 4.5 until getting to mile 5.5 is a 300 foot climb. Timing mats are placed at the start and finish and a race within a race is conducted. "King" and "Queen" of the Hill. Last year the hill kicked my booty and I walked a little and the hill affected my shins and calves the remainder of the race. This year, while I didn't make "King" I was able to climb the hill without stopping and it didn't affect the rest of the race.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. I woke up to 36 degrees but with no wind so it looked promising. And that's the way it stayed...no winds, no clouds with a gradual warm up making for 40+ degrees at race time. I raced in tights last year but went for running shorts and a long sleeved tech fabric shirt this year. With some gloves this was just the right thing to wear.

I had no real race strategy this time as I've been transitioning from base to strength training. I wanted to have a good time and enjoy the run. Having this as my goal seemed to work out the best and I should continue it in the future. I also hydrated a little too well the night before with Miller Lite watching UT fall to Kansas State. Eating burgers and sausage and downing suds was probably not the best pre-race food but I was lucky it didn't seem to affect me the next day.

I started out in the middle of the pack and took my time getting past people. In fact I didn't do my usual side-to-side-up-the-curb kind of thing. I just passed when laned became available. This caused the first mile to be a little slower at 9:55.06 but it also allowed my legs to get warmed up. I had shin issues last year and it may have been caused by going up and down the curbs zig zagging in between people. The second mile was relatively flat and the pace picked up to 8:33.33.

By the time we got to mile three we were getting into some rollers. Not big but enough to cause some slowdown or 9:28.84 for the mile. Between mile four and mile five was the big hill so mile four came in at 9:11.65 and mile five at 8:50.61. It took a couple of miles after that to get the legs settled again and try to get an even pace going. Mile six at 9:24.17 with some climbing and mile seven at 9:11.34. It was at this point I went back to a thought I had when I read about one coaches philosophy for the NY Marathon. He told his runners to act like they got dropped off at the wrong starting line for a 10K race and have to run effeciently, twenty miles and then start their 10K. I've always kept that in the back of my head but this is the first race I put it to work. I decided at mile seven to keep the even-paced miles going until mile 10 and then run a 5K.

Miles eight, nine and ten were pretty uneventful. Somewhat flat or with barely any climb I was able to increase the pace a tad to 8:51.00 for mile eight, 8:46.21 for mile nine, and 8:43.17 for mile ten. Once I hit the ten mile mark I started the 5K at an increased pace. From running a 7:40 pace at last week's 5K I wanted to see if I could do the same and also after running ten miles. Mile ten didn't reflect a quickened pace at 8:43.17 but mile 11 did at 7:51.45. Mile 12 came in at 7:46.12 and mile 13 at 7:38.24. Mile 12 was the roughest. Unlike last week where I didn't eat anything, this week I ate my usual yogurt, toast and Emergen-C. The stomach was fine for most of the race but mile 12 I seemed to loose a little energy in the legs. I hadn't stopped at any of the water/Gatorade stations and wondered if I was in need of some nutrition.

Mile 13 and the finish hurt a little as my legs felt spent, but it also felt like I had a kick. I was able to continue to pass people all the way to the finish line. I like how I felt during this race. It was almost four races in one or one with four phases. Start slow, find a good pace that can continue forever, then run a quick 5K and then finally kick for a 200 meters.

After the race there was plenty to eat and drink. Thanks go to Clif Bar, Sweet Leaf Tea, HEB Grocery, Jamba Juice and Accelerade for providing the refreshments.

Race Results
Time: 1:55:52.4 13 minutes faster than last year's time. 32 seconds slower than PR.
Position: 741 out of 1778 finishers
Age Group (male 45-49): 61 out of 110
Pace: 8:51/M last year it was 9:50/M

Labels: half marathon, motive, race report, running

Permanent Link: 11/15/2006 06:16:00 AM