This is my second time doing this race and the second time for the race even thou it had a new name last year it was the Concord Half Marathon. I woke up to the sound of thunder and heavy race sure wasn't what you will expect for a June race but none the less that seems to be what we are getting.
This is my first race of the season due to the death of my father and subsequent trip home to Nigeria to bury him, my training has been minimal with low mileage and I was 10 pounds heavier than I was at this time last year, so there was really no goal for this race it was just a way for me to gauge where I was, I had made some significant training gain last year but realized that with the time of from November to Feb to let my injury heal and the low mileage the rest of the year I had lost so much.
I got up at 6am after limited sleep due to process problem at work, got dress and ate a slice of multi-grain bread with almond butter, was out the door by 6:30am to pick up my neighbor who was running her first half, the weather didn't look promising, it was winding with a light drizzle.
The race start for delay for about 30mins due to flooding on the course and also replacememnt of the mile marker that were blown off by the wind and rain. I think by the time the race started everyone was so anxious, I had already use the porta-porty twice and ate an octane gu 30 mins which was suppose to be 15mins before start.
Something was said that we couldn't hear and off we went, I had the usual first mile aches and pains but felt fine, I was wearing my Adidas Response CS16, I love the way the shoe hug my heel and the extra cushion it also provides since that is my problem area.
We loop around the shopping center for the first mile then head off to a near by development, at about mile 1.5 I picked up another runner that was running about my pace and we stayed together till about mile 3.5 when she had to stop to pee. From then on, I basically ran alone and I had also decided to run without music since the road wasn't close and there was really no shoulder.
I felt fine not fast but fine, my right heel was doing fine, so I decided to try for 2:15, I know I did not have the endurance for a 2 hr run at least not on this course, miles 1-5 is easy, 5-8 nasty rolling hills, 8-10 very nasty downhill and an equally uphill 1 mile climb, 10-12 minimal rolling hills and the rest flat. Since I was already pass the easy phase it was a matter of holding on till the end.
I got a kick from listening to conversation between most runners, my favorite was between miles 5-8 every time a runner gets to a nasty hilly portion and then ask is this the nasty hill and most people answer you are not there yet. This course is beautiful, not that much for crowd support and there was the wonderful family at the top of the hill that setup a complete water station since they know we were going to need it.
I came off the hill feeling fine so decided to see if I can hammer back down to a respectable pace, so off I went actually pass 3 people between miles 12 and 13 that were very mad at me especially the guy but he had nothing left in him to chase me down. Prelim result is 2:15:23, I forgot to turn off my Garmin when I cross the finish line.
Walk back on the course to find my neighbor since I know she will be running by herself and to see how she was doing, found her about 12.5 and ran with her back in, she was fine but having some problem with her calf. Okay, I wanted her to finish strong, and that was so easy to do since she had a 50+ speed walker ahead of her, all I had to say was wow she is even walking faster than you at her age, well off she went and she passes her by mile 13 to finish in about 2:36, I was so proud of her.
I know I can break 2 hrs on this course, I guess I will be running it again next year to find out. it is really a well organize race, food was plentiful at the end, I know people said they ran out of gel at the first stop that is probably due to a lot more last min registration am sure and the volunteers were great. Love teh medal and shirt this year.
Couldn't get a massage since they were done, so had some banana, bread and myoplex shake and left as the rain was starting.
Got back home, had an ice bath, put my feet up and spend 2 hours talking to my brother in London.
Race map and stats below.
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