I ran the New Orleans Half Marathon in 1:30:32. This is my second best time ever in the half marathon. It was a beautiful day for running a distance race. I woke up at 4:15 am to eat my usual breakfast (a coffee, a banana, and a bagel) and to shower. The race started at 7 am so I had to get ready as soon as possible and leave to the start. The organization at the start was good, it was very easy to find my corral (corral 1) so I had plenty of time to warm up. The temperature was in the high 40’s when the race started… beautiful, beautiful!
I ran a very consistent race, but the lack of racing in the past few months certainly affected my performance. I didn’t really know how fast I could go. The first miles were fast but I then slowed down a little. I ran by myself almost the whole race and that also had an effect on my pace and ultimately on my time. Yet I am satisfied with the result, I ran 45 seconds slower than my half-marathon PR with only 5 weeks of serious training. I had good speed but lacked stamina and endurance in the final miles. It’s normal, I am far from my peak and am sure my stamina and endurance will be very good in a few weeks. I am happy because my legs hurt after the race, which suggests that I had a great workout.
So here is the good, the bad, and the ugly of the NOLA Half:
The Good:
1. Racing again after 4 months
2. The consistency, I ran almost even splits the whole race
3. The weather
4. My uniform
The Bad:
1. I was only 45 secs off my PR
2. The roads are in terrible shape!!!
3. I ran by myself almost the whole way
4. It was a very expensive race
The Ugly:
1. My legs and left arm hurt after the race and still hurt a bit
2. It has been a painful and long (3 days) recovery
My splits were: 6:45, 49, 47, 50, 51, 49, 53, 53, 55, 58, 54, 55, 50. I can run faster than this. I have done three recovery sessions this week. My legs are feeling better and I am going to try an interval session tomorrow. 12 weeks til I come back to run a full marathon… I will be strong!
No comments:
Post a Comment