Race Report -- 1/2 marathon in Richmond; goal setting.

Hello and welcome back to the Rundown! Its been a couple of months off of blogging for me, reflecting my general easing off of the training after IMW. A big picture update, first:

The Rundown got a big boost in October when B was hit by a car while in Hawai'i, just days before the race. Tough guy that he is, he actually started the race, but, unable to run a step, DNF'd at mile 16.5, having walked that far on what turned out to be a broken hip. B is taking this philosophically, taking the opportunity to work on his swimming, keeping the legs fit by running in the pool 5x a week.

After taking four weeks pretty much off, I began running 20 mins a day in October, getting geared up for a 1/2 marathon November 14th. An inauspicious timing, it turns out, as I had lost most of my IM fitness without having built up a new base for racing, but I figured I could leverage my endurance and gut out a better performance - I was feeling FAST. I was regularly running 7:20s on the short days, and occasionally faster. I decided that this would be a race where I could really test myself, try to go out and run 7 minute miles and see how long I could hold on.

Getting to Richmond to pick up my packet was a pain in the Arse. I don't recommend trying to get to Richmond from DC at 5 pm on a rainy friday. It sucked, the expo closed at 9 pm, and if I didn't get there, I wouldn't be able to race. It should only be a 2 hour trip -- I got there at 8:30!

The rain was mostly gone in the AM, just very very humid and occasionally misty, but 50 degrees or so, just the right temp for me to run in. I wasn't feeling great, but I took off at the start near the front of the pack of 5000, and ran my first mile in 7 flat. So far so good!

Or, not so much. I was allready breathing hard! I just couldn't find it in me to cowboy up, bear down and hold the 7s. Mile 2, 7:15, Mile 3, 7:26, and there I stayed for most of the race, slowly giving ground, finishing in 1:38:02. Average pace, 7:29.

I ended up 27th out of 376 in my age group; 229th out of 4,578 finishers overall.

It wasn't the race I wanted to run, but I can't be too dissapointed with the results. In the spring I ran 1:40 in a 1/2 marathon, so this is a good sign that the general level of fitness is improving. I'll plan on doing a few more footraces in the spring, gearing up for a marathon in March or so.

In the meantime, I've gotten back in the pool, and set an impressive mark -- 34 seconds for 50 yards. That's not too shabby for a non-swimmmer -- pity that the shortest race I am likely to do is 8x that distance!

Some goals for Year 2 of the Rundown:

1/2 Ironman in June, Swim sub-30 minutes, Bike 2:30; Run 1:35.

Get the average speed of my 50 mile rides to 21 mph.

Run a 3:30 marathon.

Other than that, building a good base for year three, when I am going to try for a 10 hour IM. Long-term goal -- 9:15 IM in 2013, qualifying for Kona before I turn 45!