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| Start time: 3/21/09, 7:00am Location: Washington, DC Distance: 13.1 miles Average pace: 9:00min/mile Total Miles For March: 55 miles Total Miles For 2009: 172 miles ( This was already in my regular journal, no need to double-spam everyone )2006: 133/156 (85th percentile) (30-39M) 2007: 117/212 (55th percentile) (30-34M) 2008: 154/226 (68th percentile) (35-39M) 2009: 214/337 (63rd percentile) (35-39M) | |
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| Start Time: 10/26/08, 8:30am
Location: Marine Corps Marathon... well, miles 2-15
Distance: 13 miles
Average Pace: 10:43min/mile
Total Miles For October: 73 miles
Sarah was running her first marathon today and I had a great idea on how to pick up some mileage; I'd jump into the race with her at mile 2 and then run a dozen or so miles with her. Perfect, right?
Well, actually... yes! We run different paces so for me it was an easy, calm run and I must say that I had a lovely time doing so. I had no problem hopping into the race, and I got to see a stretch of course that didn't exist as part of the route when I ran the marathon my four times (2002-2005), up Canal Road and back down MacArthur Blvd.
It did feel very strange to have the Hains Point portion before the National Mall, but I can understand not wanting to have it right next to the desolation of the 14th Street Bridge any more. It's a nice change, overall. (But the lack of the statue of the Awakening still saddens me.) It was great to run with Sarah and her brother Mark; she was still going strong when I bailed out at mile marker 15 and I can't wait to hear how she did for the rest! It was definitely a good time, just enjoying the race and not worrying about a finishing time. - Tags:13mi
- Music:NPR: 10-19-2008 Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
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| The National Half Marathon
Start time: 3/29/08, 7:00am
Location: Washington DC
Distance: 13.1 miles
Finishing time: 2:00:17
Average pace: 9:11min/mile
Miles for March: 57
Just realized I'd never gotten around to posting this. So, the disappointment that was the National Half Marathon this year.
A year earlier I ran the race, had an extra quarter mile tacked on by accident, and finished with a 1:58:17. This year? Two minutes slower, but without the added distance. So what happened? A few things. I hadn't trained as well, something I knew going into the day. My longest run beforehand was a 10-miler, and looking back to the previous year (as well as this year's splits) having a 12-miler under my belt really had helped. (I felt soon after hitting marker 10 like I'd run out of gas.) A mistake I won't make again. In general, though, I just wasn't feeling as excited about the race, and that can be a bad thing.
It's also worth noting that this year's course was much steeper than last year's for the half-marathon. That climb up through mile 8? It wiped me out, and then once I hit new distance (as you'll see below) everything just sort of crashed and burned. There was also some self-sabotage going on with what I can best term "bad math." I remember finishing mile 11, seeing the split, and thinking it was impossible to stay under 2 hours. Well, that wasn't really the case at that point, but it certainly seemed like it. And I am sure that given a mental defeat, my body followed along rather stupidly.
(I'm also kicking myself for needing a minute long bathroom break during mile 3. Had I just peed in the parking lot right beforehand like I'd contemplated, at least being sub-2:00 probably would've been in the bag. Oh well.)
Live and learn, live and learn. And hey, it wasn't a personal best, but I did finish and it was faster than my 2006 time. I'm really glad I ran it.
| Mileage |
Mile Times |
Total Time |
Overall Pace |
Elevation |
| 1 |
09:27.7 |
0:09:28 |
0:09:28 |
 |
| 2 |
08:47.1 |
0:18:15 |
0:09:07 |
 |
| 3 |
09:38.9 |
0:27:54 |
0:09:18 |
 |
| 4 |
08:30.2 |
0:36:24 |
0:09:06 |
 |
| 5 |
09:00.3 |
0:45:24 |
0:09:05 |
 |
| 6 |
09:18.7 |
0:54:43 |
0:09:07 |
 |
| 7 |
09:25.4 |
1:04:08 |
0:09:10 |
 |
| 8 |
08:57.7 |
1:13:06 |
0:09:08 |
 |
| 9 |
08:58.5 |
1:22:04 |
0:09:07 |
 |
| 10 |
08:55.3 |
1:31:00 |
0:09:06 |
 |
| 11 |
09:20.4 |
1:40:20 |
0:09:07 |
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| 12 |
09:45.3 |
1:50:05 |
0:09:10 |
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| 13.1 |
10:11.9 |
2:00:17 |
0:09:11 |
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Bleah on the percentile drop this year, though. THAT is humiliating, considering I shifted into a new age group. *sigh*
2006: 133/156 (85th percentile) (30-39M)
2007: 117/212 (55th percentile) (30-34M)
2008: 154/226 (68th percentile) (35-39M) | |
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| The National Half Marathon
Start time: 3/24/07, 7:00am
Location: Washington DC
Distance: 13.1 miles
Finishing time: 1:58:17
Average pace: 8:52min/mile
( This part is all in my regular journal as well. )
And now, because I am a total geek... a mile by mile breakdown of times, plus the elevation for that area. (I missed three of the markers; I don't think two of them existed, and the third apparently fell over which is why I didn't see it.) So, close enough.
And now that the official results are in... statistics!
2006: 133/156 (85th percentile) (30-39M)
2007: 117/212 (55th percentile) (30-34M)
This is a huge adjustment off of last year's but I'm also going to be a realist here: they changed the qualification times to run the race, so it makes sense that my percentile will change dramatically as a result. Still, not too bad! Who knows, one of these days I'll finally legitimatly break the 50th percentile. (The one time I did, walkers in the Race for Hope were also given chips. That doesn't really count.)
* -- EDITED TO ADD: From an e-mail sent by the race director, "We wanted to make you aware that due to a cone placement error this course was inadvertently .24 miles longer than the 13.1 official distance which race officials had mapped and USATF had certified. While your Official Time remains the same for the event, we are providing an amended section to the posted results." On the bright side, it does explain why my original statistics said I had a huge drop-off in time even though I didn't feel like I did one bit. | |
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| Start time: 1/6/07, 8:00am Location: Downtown Washington DC Distance: 7 miles & 6.4 miles Run:Walk ratio: 5:1 & 7:1 Average pace: 11:33min/mile & 9:37min/mile Today I decided to run with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mai_neh in his final training run for the Miami Half Marathon, a 14-miler. The first half of our run was with his two pace group members, who were training the full marathon so they were at a slower training pace. They were supposed to be running an 11:30min/mile, so we hit that really well. On the way back, with about mile and a quarter left to go I was starting to feel beat and I could tell that mai_neh was raring to go. Since I'm not training for a race and he was, when we hit 4th Street I told him to keep going, and hooked a right-hand turn to go directly back to home base. It lopped off just six-tenths of a mile, but it was nice to get back a little quicker and to be done. Since he finished up his last two miles at an 8:30min/mile average, I'd say I made the right decision to cut him free of my anchorness! :) We saw Chris S. on the trail heading out as we were zooming back, which was fun, and it was nice to see all the other staff members as well. Good times, good times. - Tags:06mi, 07mi, 13mi
- Mood:tired
 - Music:Patty Larkin - The Cranes
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| World Wide Half Marathon ChallengeStart time: 10/07/06, 8:00am Location: Downtown Washington DC Distance: 13.1 miles Run:Walk ratio: 5:1 Finishing time: 2:10:41 Average pace: 9:59min/mile 20-MilerStart time: 10/07/06, 8:00am Location: Downtown Washington DC Distance: 20 miles Run:Walk ratio: 5:1 Average pace: 10:00min/mile What a morning. Today was my scheduled 20-mile training run for the Florence Marathon at the end of November... but it's also the weekend of the World Wide Half Marathon Challenge, in which over 500 people around the world registered to run a "virtual" half marathon either today or tomorrow. No prizes, but we've all got race numbers, a results board, even a (PDF) goodie bag. Now, I wasn't planning on try to beat my PR for a half marathon today (2:06:08) but I figured it was a fun thing to throw in there. After all, I'd be running the distance anyway. ( The next bit is also in my regular journal, for those who read both and want to skip it... )Tragically, we still had 6.9 more miles to go, but we stuck together strong (aside from dropping off Emma with about 2.75 miles to go; she's running the Chicago Marathon in two weeks so 17 miles is all she really wanted/needed under her belt) and had a good finish. Well, aside from the blister on the bottom of my foot from when it was raining and I couldn't see the massive puddle in front of me, which was deep enough that it went up to my ankle. Nothing like getting all that water and dirt and grit in-between your sock and foot. Oh well. Still, a really strong day, and huge props go out to the rest of my pace group who really kept me going and strong. Now I better just not catch a cold! (Oh, a tiny bit of a cramp in the left calf about a mile from the end. I think it was due to being tired and cold and wet more than anything else, but as always I'm logging it just in case.) Half: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=44845120-miler: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=448439 | |
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| Start time: 03/25/06, 7:00am Location: Washington DC Distance: 13.1 miles Run:Walk ratio: 6:1 Finishing time: 2:06:08 Average pace: 9:38min/mile ( For those who read my main blog, you can skip the race description if you wish... )Ok, here's the mile by mile breakdown for the National Half Marathon... with some annotations along the way. Mile 1: 10:02 Miles 2-3: 19:09 (avg 9:34min/mile) Mile 4: 9:28 Mile 5: 9:17 Mile 6: 9:51 Mile 7: 9:40 Mile 8: 9:46 Mile 9: 9:34 Mile 10: 9:35 Mile 11: 9:57 Mile 12: 10:09 Mile 13.1: 9:34 (avg 8:42min/mile) Mile 1 was one of my slowest miles, which makes sense because that loop-and-a-half around RFK Stadium was awfully congested. What's funny is that because of the congestion I skipped my walk break, and yet it was still the second-slowest mile. I never did see a Mile 2 marker and I don't think there was one; there was bizarrely a Mile 2.5 marker which struck me as very strange but in hindsight it may've had to do with for whatever reason there not being a mile 2 sign. If I'd been smart I'd have hit my watch button there, but I just waited until mile 3 and punched it then. I have no idea what happened for mile 5, but I certainly paid for it the next time through! (Maybe it was seeing Coach Christa on the sidewalk cheering? Or seeing Dennis start to head back after a loop-around?) Miles 11 and 12 don't surprise me at all. By that point I was in Anacostia's hills, and in distance territory I hadn't visited since the marathon back in October. My finish-line-in-sight adrenaline burst didn't really hit until probably 12.8 or so, so I'm pretty amazed that the final mile dropped by so much. Maybe I was just happy to be out of the hills! ( Come on, folks, release the official results! We're now two hours past what your qualifying time is, surely everyone is done... Ok, they're finally up. Final official time was actually 2:06:08 (one second off!) and I placed 133/156 in my age group (30-39), for an 85th percentile. Considering you were supposed to qualify with a certain time to get in, I'm pleased with that placing. Overall finishing was 710/958, or 74th percentile. One of these days, above 50th, one of these days...) | |
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