Monday, June 6, 2011

Tybee Island Half Marathon 2011 Race Report

1:57:27
413/1220 overall
60/97 division

My lovely wife ran the 5K, which started before the half marathon. She pushed the kids in the jogging stroller whilst rain was coming down steadily. The start of my race was pretty soggy, but dried up by the end. I was pretty bummed last year when I didn't finish this race due to shin splints, which literally stopped me in my tracks. Getting past the 4 mile mark was a big confidence boost, as this is where things went downhill last year. I ran without socks on a last minute decision on account of the rain and my feet held up pretty well. I was on pace up to beat my 2005 half time, then about the last 4 miles of the race, I was reminded that endurance racing is much different than quick, shorter runs. My form started falling apart and I was just pushing to keep going. I started cramping quite a bit the last mile or so and I think this would have turned ugly in a longer race. Finishing felt great-I had my family cheering me on the last part of the race and waiting for me at the finish. I ran it in Vibrams, which I don't plan on doing again for any race longer than a 10K.

The road to Boston is looking pretty long right now. I made a large mental accomplishment getting through this half marathon, though. The next step is to build my endurance for the full marathon in November, while juggling church, family, and pharmacy residency responsibilities. I won't be wearing "minimalist footwear" for this race, unless we consider the Nike Free Run+ 2 "minimalist." I like the free movement of these shoes, they feel like slippers instead of rigid running shoes, but have some cushioning, which I hope will keep the shin splints at bay, since the race and much of my training will be on pavement. Still planning on doing a good chunk of my training off road in Vibrams to maintain form that won't annihilate my knees.

Note: In an effort to post more frequently, I will be doing less reveiwing for grammar, flow, etc. In other words this will be a low quality, high(er) quantity blog-a recipe for readership expansion. The End


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