Category Archives: 13mi

Jailbreak Run!

0, 13mi

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.

National Half Marathon 2008

0, 13mi, half marathon, race, statistics

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
12 09:45.3 1:50:05 0:09:10
13.1 10:11.9 2:00:17 0:09:11

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)

Miami

0, 06mi, 07mi, 13mi

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 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.

A Half Marathon… and 6.9 more miles added on for fun. Or something.

0, 13mi, 20mi, aidsmarathon, cramp, half marathon, race

World Wide Half Marathon Challenge
Start 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-Miler
Start 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…