2009 Houston Half Marathon
This was my first race, ever, and it went great. I was worried about problems with my left knee but that held together pretty well. I had the alarm clock set to go off at 03:30 this morning but I actually woke up on my own 30 minutes before that. So I had plenty of time to feed the dogs, cats, parrots and myself (fed the fish when I got back), and get down to Allen Parkway about an hour before the race started.
The Kingwood Fit group had a tent very close to the starting area and were kind enough to have someone posted there so we could leave our drop-bags and not worry about them.
It took about 3 minutes from the time the starting gun sounded to when I got across the starting line. I had foolishly started my Garmin timer as soon as the gun went off instead of waiting until we got to the starting line. Oops! Also, I think in using the little foot pod I may have some setting mixed up because even after uploading my data I do not see the route. Not that it would be a very interesting one … just three laps along Allen Pkwy.
Anyway, I hope that when the chip times are posted I will find that I finished in a bit under 2 hours. That would please me immensely!
Here is Dewayne, Stephen, and myself all sprawled out after finishing the run:
And, for what it is worth, here are the splits from my Garmin. I’m not sure if the paces and speeds are accurate as the Garmin may have been taking them from the foot pod and not the GPS. I say this because I vaguely remember it asking me something about the pod, shortly after starting the timer. It was pretty dark and I couldn’t really read what it said. But I may have told it to use the data from the foot pod (which is not calibrated) instead of the GPS… live and learn!
| Split | Time | Distance | Elevation Gain | Elevation Loss | Avg Speed | Max Speed | Avg HR | Max HR | Avg Run Cadence | Max Run Cadence | Calories |
| 1 | 00:10:00 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 10:00 | 07:38 | 128 | 142 | 88 | 98 | 143 |
| 2 | 00:08:47 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 08:47 | 06:26 | 141 | 153 | 91 | 97 | 144 |
| 3 | 00:08:34 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 08:34 | 07:38 | 146 | 155 | 89 | 95 | 144 |
| 4 | 00:08:36 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 08:36 | 07:46 | 148 | 154 | 88 | 94 | 143 |
| 5 | 00:09:07 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 09:07 | 07:59 | 146 | 151 | 87 | 93 | 143 |
| 6 | 00:08:25 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 08:25 | 07:22 | 148 | 151 | 89 | 95 | 145 |
| 7 | 00:09:07 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 09:07 | 05:43 | 149 | 156 | 87 | 95 | 143 |
| 8 | 00:09:07 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 09:07 | 07:54 | 149 | 161 | 86 | 92 | 142 |
| 9 | 00:09:08 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 09:08 | 08:05 | 151 | 161 | 86 | 90 | 144 |
| 10 | 00:08:56 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 08:56 | 06:38 | 152 | 164 | 88 | 96 | 143 |
| 11 | 00:08:44 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 08:44 | 07:31 | 154 | 161 | 88 | 93 | 145 |
| 12 | 00:08:36 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 08:36 | 07:26 | 156 | 166 | 89 | 95 | 144 |
| 13 | 00:08:40 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 08:40 | 06:51 | 159 | 164 | 89 | 99 | 145 |
| 14 | 00:05:02 | 0.62 | 0 | 0 | 08:10 | 06:52 | 161 | 168 | 88 | 92 | 90 |
| Summary | 02:00:57 | 13.62 | 0 | 0 | 08:52 | 05:43 | 149 | 168 | 88 | 99 | 1,958 |
Update – I have the official times from the race web site:
| Overall Place |
Age Division Place |
Gun Time |
Chip Time |
First Half Time |
First Half Pace |
Second Half Time |
Second Half Pace |
| 894 / 2474 |
78 / 156 |
02:02:31 |
01:59:52 |
01:00:01 |
09:10 |
00:59:52 |
09:08 |
Triathlon Training – day 28
Cycling – Pedaling skills
Description
Ride in the HR 1-2 zones on a mostly flat course (or indoor trainer). Include pedaling drills such as: a) try to drive pedal straight forward from 9 to 3 o'clock, b) pedal with foot against the top inside of your shoe trying to avoid touching the insole, c) try to touch toes to end of your shoes at top of downstroke. Stay as relaxed as you can while doing these drills. No tension in feet, legs, hands, etc.
Details
Duration: 01:34
Distance: 22.74
Average Speed: 14.6 mi/hr
Energy: 1378 kcal
