Race Report: Denver Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon

I was really looking forward to seeing how hard my training has paid off and I was expecting big things from this race.  My first two half marathons were 1:45 and 1:47, pretty respectable times considering I did not train very hard for either of them.  Actually for the second one, I don't really remember training for it at all.  I have been running consistently since June, so I was secretly thinking I was going to come in at least under 8 minute pace, hopefully around 1:40.

Reality hit when we got to Fort Collins.  We arrived on Thursday, so we had over 3 days to acclimate to the increase in elevation.  I was really worried about my breathing, but I did not really notice the change in oxygen.  When you are on vacation, it is hard to concentrate on being prepared for a race.  We were in Colorado... of course I wanted to go walk around everywhere.  So we did.  On Saturday before the race, we walked ALL over Denver, probably at least 8 miles.  Not the best way to relax and rest before a race, and my feet and legs were sore from walking in flip flops all day.  Well at least I will go to bed early and get a good nights sleep, right?  WRONG!  When I went to bed, the hotel next door was having some kind of party, literally outside our door, with some obnoxious boombastic rap music.  Well it was only 9:30... I bet they will be done by 10.  Well the rap music was technically done at 10... because that is when the live mariachi band started playing.  After two phone calls and some choice words to the hotel employees, who assured us there was nothing they could do because the party had paid a lot of money for the room, we finally called the cops at 11:15.  I was so pissed I could not fall asleep.

 

The course was a 2 mile walk from our hotel, and the race was not providing any shuttles.  Which was not the worst thing in the world, since we missed the start of the San Antonio race by 45 minutes because of the shuttle bus.  The start line seemed a bit disorganized, nobody knew where the bag check was, and people were hopping the fences because they could not get to their corral.  I thought that we had left plenty of time in the morning, but we barely made it in time.

I thought that the course was pretty hard, a bit hillier than I expected and as usual, I started off too fast.  I felt good, so I trusted my body that I was going a good pace.  I was so obsessed with trying to best my 1/2 marathon time from 2007 that I was trying to stay under 8 minute pace, rather than just run a smart race, controlled race. When we entered the city park, around 7-9 miles, it was pretty clear that this was not going to be my best race.  I fell way off pace, and miles 10 and 11 were just plain awful.  I also noticed pretty early on that the course was measuring long, and I was pretty annoyed by that. I was having some nagging knee issues, but I was able to pull it together for the last 2+ miles and finish pretty strong.

According to my new fancy pantsy Garmin watch, the course ended up measuring over .2 miles longer than a normal 1/2 marathon.  I don't know if it was because I was running zig zags the entire time, but my recorded time for the race was 1:48:49, but I have chosen to disregard the extra 1:33 that it took to get to the finish line after my "measured" half marathon was complete, so my pretend finish time was 1:47:17.

Eric ran a great race, finishing 52nd overall with a time of 1:25:26 (6:32 pace).  I always get so annoyed when he runs races with me, because at a certain point in the race (this time was around mile 11), I know that he is finished running and I become EXTREMELY jealous!  But aside from the fact that my very smart husband ran the race in racing flats and was having some ankle issues afterward, he did a great job and I was very proud of him.  Sadly, the Broncos were not as victorious later that afternoon.