2004 Motive Half Marathon
This is my 3rd Motive half marathon. Each year I dread the hills and they usually kick my butt. After struggling at NYC two weeks ago, I decided that I was going to treat this race as just another training run so my mind wouldn't get in my way. I had pizza for dinner like I usually do before training runs and drank a lot of water and gatorade.
I got to the course around 6AM to meet Gilbert and the gazelles at 6:30. I mixed two packets of Gilbert's mojo with 16 oz. of water and drank that on the way down. I also ate a Clif bar. I chilled in my jeep to the music of the Carpenters...of all groups. Jay came by around 6:15 and we headed to the finish line to meet the group. We did a 20 minute warmup and then did some drills. I found a tree, put on my race singlet and hung out with Jay until it was time to go.
I told myself to start out slow and actually did a good job of it. The run down Jolleyville is a bit downhill and a great place to get into a rhythm. My plan was to start at around an 8:00 pace for the miles before the hills, maybe in the 8:30 range for the hills and then in kick it in the last 5-6 miles.
1 - 7:51
2 - 7:38
3 - 8:11
4 - 8:08
The hills begin at about mile 4.5 after the big downhill. The past two years the downhill has caused an injury to my left lower shin. I found out from Gilbert that I have been going down the hills wrong and used his technique this year. I was able to keep a decent pace without hurting my leg again. I hit the start of the big uphill and felt really good. The next part was the hardest piece of the race. I used the "high knee" that Gilbert taught us and had no problems climbing this hill. At Pervasive I quit...at this race I kicked its ass as well as the other remaining hills!
5 - 8:08
6 - 8:29
7 - 8:18
The hills are now over and it's time to head out of the neighborhood and across 183 on Oak Knoll and back into the west side of the Motive campus. This part was mostly flat with some downhill parts. You don't get another uphill until mile 12 and that one is only a slight uphill. The bad part is that you don't want to see it at that point in the race. It's the part of the course that curves around the apartments behind the Motive campus. I was very happy with the back half of my race. I did a negative split by two minutes and was pretty consistent with my splits...even on the last uphill mile.
8 - 7:56
9 - 7:44
10 - 7:42
11 - 7:36
12 - 7:39
13 - 7:49
0.1 - 00:47
I finished the race in 1:43:56 which is a 6 minute improvement over last year. It is a course PR, but 6 minutes slower than my half marathon PR (3M 2004). I felt awesome this race and never walked. I didn't feel tired until about the last uphill mile, but my times didn't waver. I tried the Envertin instead of the gel packs and that worked really well for me.
Race day night - Gilbert's Bday party
This was a very nice event hosted at Pete Rauch's house. Pete and his wife were expecting 30 folks when he volunteered his house, but there were at least double that. There were old and new Gazelles and many folks brought their kids. I hung out with Henry, Jay, Amy, Sean, Alex, and Jan. Everyone looked totally different outside of their running clothes. It was a fun event!
I got to the course around 6AM to meet Gilbert and the gazelles at 6:30. I mixed two packets of Gilbert's mojo with 16 oz. of water and drank that on the way down. I also ate a Clif bar. I chilled in my jeep to the music of the Carpenters...of all groups. Jay came by around 6:15 and we headed to the finish line to meet the group. We did a 20 minute warmup and then did some drills. I found a tree, put on my race singlet and hung out with Jay until it was time to go.
I told myself to start out slow and actually did a good job of it. The run down Jolleyville is a bit downhill and a great place to get into a rhythm. My plan was to start at around an 8:00 pace for the miles before the hills, maybe in the 8:30 range for the hills and then in kick it in the last 5-6 miles.
1 - 7:51
2 - 7:38
3 - 8:11
4 - 8:08
The hills begin at about mile 4.5 after the big downhill. The past two years the downhill has caused an injury to my left lower shin. I found out from Gilbert that I have been going down the hills wrong and used his technique this year. I was able to keep a decent pace without hurting my leg again. I hit the start of the big uphill and felt really good. The next part was the hardest piece of the race. I used the "high knee" that Gilbert taught us and had no problems climbing this hill. At Pervasive I quit...at this race I kicked its ass as well as the other remaining hills!
5 - 8:08
6 - 8:29
7 - 8:18
The hills are now over and it's time to head out of the neighborhood and across 183 on Oak Knoll and back into the west side of the Motive campus. This part was mostly flat with some downhill parts. You don't get another uphill until mile 12 and that one is only a slight uphill. The bad part is that you don't want to see it at that point in the race. It's the part of the course that curves around the apartments behind the Motive campus. I was very happy with the back half of my race. I did a negative split by two minutes and was pretty consistent with my splits...even on the last uphill mile.
8 - 7:56
9 - 7:44
10 - 7:42
11 - 7:36
12 - 7:39
13 - 7:49
0.1 - 00:47
I finished the race in 1:43:56 which is a 6 minute improvement over last year. It is a course PR, but 6 minutes slower than my half marathon PR (3M 2004). I felt awesome this race and never walked. I didn't feel tired until about the last uphill mile, but my times didn't waver. I tried the Envertin instead of the gel packs and that worked really well for me.
Race day night - Gilbert's Bday party
This was a very nice event hosted at Pete Rauch's house. Pete and his wife were expecting 30 folks when he volunteered his house, but there were at least double that. There were old and new Gazelles and many folks brought their kids. I hung out with Henry, Jay, Amy, Sean, Alex, and Jan. Everyone looked totally different outside of their running clothes. It was a fun event!
posted by Paco at 10:00 PM
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