Saturday, April 17, 2010

Albuquerque Half Marathon Race Report

Official Time - 2:21:31. Half-Marathon PR!
Age group placing pending, but I think I was 18th of however many W45-49

Woke up in the middle of the night to let the dogs out. It was raining, but not too hard. I figured that I could run in that if it didn't let up in the morning.

However, when the alarm went off, all I heard was rain coming off the roof. It was wet out there, but the rain had stopped.

Checked the weather and it was about 47 deg with temps expected to be about 53 in late morning. I decided to wear capris and a long sleeve shirt. Had it not been for the threat of more rain, I would have gone with a short sleeve shirt.

Arrived at the parking area and had a good 3/4 mile hike along a muddy ditch bank to the race start location. Husband & I commented about how much it would suck to have to run on that. Ha! If I only knew...

Got our chips and found the others from the run group. Two were running the 10K. Three of us were running the half. A few were spectating. Wished everyone well and waited for the race to start.

While lined up for the start, the RD announced that we would be running down the road, to the foot bridge and across, then around a field on that same muddy ditch bank that we walked up from the parking area.

You have got to be kidding me! First off, the foot bridge is only wide enough for two people at a time. Secondly, the ditch was a slippery muddy mess.

But alas, he was not kidding. And roughly 2 minutes and 30 seconds after the gun went off, I found myself in a dead stop, waiting my turn to get across the narrow foot bridge. Sigh.

I took a picture of the foot bridge afterwards to show that I'm not exagerating about how narrow it was:


Once we cleared the bridge, we had roughly 2 miles of mud running before we finally got to the street. So yeah, the first 2 miles basically sucked. On the bright side, I definately didn't go out too fast. Ha!

After that, we finally made it out onto the road, where we stayed for the remainder of the race.

I won't bore you with a mile by mile replay, here are some highlights:

  • My kids showed up at roughly the halfway point to cheer us on. I really appreciated that.
  • On the asphalt, I settled into a pace that was basically the same as in training, ~10:45.
  • The only walk break that I (purposely) took was at the final aid station.
  • I believe I would have finished close to 2:20:00 if it wasn't for that stupid foot bridge at the beginning.
  • I ran solid throughout. I wasn't able to turn it up at the end, but I didn't slow down either. I am happy with that.
  • My knee started to bother me a little at mile 11. Not horribly, but enough to make me take notice.
  • The run group did great overall. Both 10K racers won their age groups. Two of us had half-marathon PRs

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, folks. As for me, I'm ready for a nap!

Edited to add: I failed to mention it earlier, but I fully met my primary goal of finishing strong and feeling good. I'm VERY happy. :-)

34 comments:

  1. Great job at your muddy half! What a great way to start your weekend. Congrats on the PR!

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  2. Great job on the race! Way to run a nice steady race after a difficult start.

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  3. Still, with the foot bridge debacle you did awesome. Congratulations on the PR! I hope you're celebrating!

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  4. Look who is a rock star now! Great job!

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  5. Nice job on the PR! I grew up in ABQ and thought about coming out for the race. The mud and the bridge, though -- wow!

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  6. Congrats on the PR despite the bridge and the mud! You did great!

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  7. Who routes a 1/2 marathon over a foot bridge? That's nutty...

    Still, you rocked it. I'm so thrilled for you. I agree, 2:20 is well within your reach!

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  8. Congrats on a great race! And YAY for a PR!!!! So fantastic!

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  9. Atta girl! Great job on the PR. Woohooooooo. ;)

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  10. Hi Lisa,
    Congrats to you!! I am so glad that you were able to PR:) Just think, the next one you run will even be better without the little foot bridge to slow things down. Nice work girl...I am proud of you:)

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  11. Lisa HUGE congrats to you on your PR!!! So happy for you! Is it accurate to say (maybe assume) that you met your goal of finishing strong and feeling good? Can't wait to read about what's next for you . . .

    PS My friend Mickey ran the 5k of that race yesterday -- his first run race. He did well and is really psyched to do more!!!

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  12. Way to go Lisa!! Congratulations on your PR!! You have worked hard and you deserve it :)

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  13. Great job Lisa and Mark! Sounds like you ran a smart race and just how you wanted. Too bad about that stupid bridge. I've had those moments before and you have to wonder if they do that intentionally to be mean!

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  14. Congratulations on finishing strong AND happy AND the PR :-) That mud was probably just what you needed to accomplish your goals!

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  15. NICE!!!!! Great job, Congrats on the PR!!!!!

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  16. congrats on an awesome race and your PR!!! You met your number one goal which is awesome and I bet you could smash your current PR at a race that didn't require you to use a foot bridge!

    Ice that knee and let us know what's next!

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  17. You should be SUPER happy!!! Awesome, awesome job!!! Woo hoo for a PR!

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  18. F.A.B ULOUS!

    Lisa.. .YOU ACED IT!

    Many many congratulations... PR and stong and feeling GREAT... YOU DID GOOD!

    Whooooooop!

    Now... could you come over and pick up my run leg of my Barcelona Half ironman in 4 weeks?!

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  19. Wow! Congratulations on your PR. I think that you would have done under 2:20 if it had been all on roads. GREAT job!!

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  20. I see...so the key to a PR is plenty of obstacles to keep me slow in the first few miles, I'll put this on my race check list

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  21. Congrats Lisa! You felt good AND PR'd.... definitely success! I can't believe they had you crossing that narrow bridge and running in mud! eeek!

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  22. Great job on the race! That is one narrow bridge. The Grand Rapids Marathon has a bridge like that, but it is at the 21 mile mark or so and the pack is pretty thinned out by the time everyone has to cross it. I can't imagine having to stop and wait in the middle of a race.

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  23. WHOOHOO!!!! Congrats on another HM, and a PR! Awesome!!

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  24. Congrats!! Mud is hell to run through, well done!

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  25. well.... at least it enforced a slow start?? obviously it worked -- you pr'd!! :) congrats!

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  26. PR BABY!!!!!

    AWESOME!! So cool when the training pays off and you are able to enjoy yourself and stay healthy through it all. It does not get better than that.

    ROCK STAR STATUS!!

    We still need to run together sometime. I think we would have a blast! :)

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  27. Congratulations on your PR!!!

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  28. Wow, I can't believe you PR'd even with that muddy section and narrow bridge at the start!

    Super congrats on your race. I am ecstatic to hear you also met your goals of finishing strong and feeling good. I know how important that is.

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