Ridgefield 1/2 Marathon Race Report - 10/4/09

This past weekend, Jenny, Joey and I ran the Ridegfield Half Marathon. It turned out to be an awesome day for a race – warm and (eventually) sunny. It was a late start of 8:30am so we got to “sleep in”, eat some breakfast, relax and not rush the morning of. Cork was kind enough to come support us and she brought along 4-legged support crew, Reese. I think the two of them ended up doing a lot of running/walking as they moved from point to point throughout the race!

Going into the race I wanted to run my marathon pace of 8:20 to see what kind of shape I’m in. I’ve done several 20 mile runs the post consecutive weekends and my last I paced an 8:24 which I was very happy with. I felt good at race start. When the horn went off, I started fast – first mile in 7:40 – SLOW DOWN! I made a conscious effort to slow the pace down after that and ended up pacing about 8 min miles for the next 3 miles. My pace was still too fast for my liking and it hit me quick. At mile 6 or so, I started running each mile slower and slower. Saw Cork and Reese at mile 7 and gave a shout that I was TIRED but at that point, you’re more than halfway done and for some reason that thought works for me to keep me going.

The last 2 miles I slowed down considerably. Not sure of my pace but I would guess 9:30 min/mile. I finished at 1:50:56, good for an 8:27 min/mile pace. While I am happy with this finish, I am kind of bummed at the same time because this was an easy course. Maybe my body is just tired and I need to physically and mentally relax a bit before the marathon. Maybe my lack of nutrition during the race (took nothing but GU20) left me with no energy. Maybe some skipped run workouts due to working late are hurting me, not helping? I have to improve my pace by 7 secs for the big day – can I do it?

Joey headed in with a sub 2 hr time and Jen came in at just over 2 hrs. Great job to both of them – it’s always fun doing races with family! Thanks to Cork and Reese for making it out for us!

Now, it’s time to taper.