My Virginia Beach 1/2 Marathon Race Report

The 1/2 marathon was so much fun and I finished in 2:40:39. I had expected to take 3 hours, so I was happy with my result! Correcting my form using the ChiRunning method allowed me to cut 2 minutes off my per mile pace in just 2 months time! The photo at right was taken at about mile 12.

Note: Because of training errors, I had only gotten my long run up to 7 miles before this race. I had intended on walking half of the race, but I ended up running the whole thing. Read on…

I came in the bottom 35% of my division (F 42-45), and bottom 38% of all Females. That is an improvement over my last (triathlon) race, where I came in the bottom 20%. My goal is to move to the 50th percentile next race season.

😛 I paid $12 to buy this video: (I’m such a nerd!)

Watch me cross the finish line in this video! (633k)

Longer version of video, showing how fun this race is! (6.75M)

Here’s how the race went: (for the shorter version, just read the blue text)
My husband dropped me near the race start at 6am. They had closed some roads, so he couldn’t drop me off right there. The race started at 7am. I had brought a bag with my gear in it, and also my beach wear for hanging out on the beach after the race. They offered a free gear check, which I thought was really cool.

Once I got to the race site, I put my gear bag down by a bench and did my Chi Running exercises. I also put some sunscreen on, put my sunglasses in my zippered pocket, put my race number belt on, and strapped my visor to it (it wasn’t yet sunny). I also tucked a cloth hanky in my pocket, as I always seem to need one when I run. As I was walking toward the gear check station, I noticed a lot of people had mp3 players. I didn’t think they were allowed, but had mine in my bag. I decided to put mine on, too, since I love listening to music while I run. But, my batteries were dead (i must have left my player on last time I used it!). I did one last check to make sure I had everything, and then handed in my gear bag.

They had water stations, so I grabbed a couple bottles of water and headed for the porta potty line. I was in line for 30 minutes. I did some strethces. While waiting in line, they started out the race and were calling off each wave of runners (denoted by a corral number). Some people got out of line to get in their corral. There was a guy next to me that was having a cow about how his corral had already been called, and would people please let him cut ahead. People pretty much ignored him. There were two women in line behind me saying how it didn’t really matter which corral you actually got in. I decided not to worry about it, and stayed in line. By the time I was out of the porta potty, they were starting off corral 12.

I was assigned to corral 22, based on my expected finish time of 3 hours. My bib number was 22536, which corresponded to corral 22. I was standing near the start line waiting to jump into my corral when it came up, as I didn’t feel like walking down to where my corral was. I saw lots of people with higher bib numbers who had jumped into an earlier corral. Nobody seemd to notice or care. So, I saw corral 18 come up, I jumped in because I saw a pace leader with a sign that said 2:30 (a pace leader is a guy that carries a sign showing the time in which he expects to finish the race). I started the race out following that guy. I didn’t really expect to be able to keep up with him, but he didn’t seem to be going too fast, so thought I’d just see how long I could follow him. For a while the 2:45 pace leader was in the same spot, and everybody was asking what’s up with that. He said said that he slows down by 30 seconds per mile at each mile marker.

When I crossed the finish line I was so sore I could hardly walk. I handed in my timing chip, then I limped to the medical hut and picked up some ice bags. I put one down my shorts on my sore hip. I carried the other one around until I got a chance to sit down and take my shoe off and ice my foot. There were a ton of runners in the finish area, so that took a while! Today (1 day after) my thighs and hamstrings feel incredibly sore, as if someone beat me up. I’ve never had this degree of muscle soreness before…I’ve only had joint pain after previous hard workouts/races.

During the entire run, I did the Chi Running body focusing. (Update July 29, 2006: I have recently changed my mind about ChiRunning, and now follow the Pose Method of running. Click here to read why.) In retrospect, it was a good thing my mp3 player was out of batteries, because I do a better job focusing on the chi running form when I am not listening to music. I really think the body focusing helped me keep proper running form to prevent injury (or maybe I should say minimize injury, because even wtih Chi Running, you are supposed to stick to the 10% rule and not overdo it, and I definitely overdid it!!!). Even though I was in pain after the race, and am very sore today, I don’t think I have a major injury. My foot and hip feel sore today, but not horrible. I will take it easy this week to recover!

The race was so fun, with bands, cheerleading groups, fire departments, local citizens all along the route cheering us on. We even ran through Camp Pendelton, and there were some soldiers with a megaphone barking at us to run faster. They had plenty of water and amino vital along the route, and also porta potties. They even gave out power gel and power bars. Plus, I got a really cool medal at the end 😀 :D! It was extremely well run, and I have already signed up to do this race again next year!

Alot happened in the post-race area (it’s all still a blur in my mind). I did get a 2nd round of ice bags to put on my sore joints. I drank a couple of water bottles and a couple of amino vital bottles, and ate the power bar (all that was free)! I did not wait in line for the free bagels, fruit, or beer, as it was too long. I had packed a bagel and yogurt raisins in my bag, so ate those. About an hour after the race, I met my family. We hung out and swam in the ocean for a few hours. The cool ocean water felt sooooo good on my sore muscles. I was hoping the smell of sweat didn’t attract sharks 😉

Here are my split times:

😛