Race Recap: City of Peoria Half Marathon

On Sunday, 3/9, I ran a half marathon put on by the City of Peoria (an entity to which we pay taxes AND trash/sewer bills…as well as race registrations, apparently).  This run was one in the city’s Runners’ Series; I’ve done a few of these runs in the past few months at differing lengths, and they generally are well organized.  The City has points associated with the runs in the series (participation points plus extra points for placing in your age group, etc), and if you end up in the top 100 point “owners” at the end of the series, you are entered to win a trip to a national half marathon race, as well as travel and lodging stipends.  Not too shabby!

Getting ready to run!

Added to these benefits was the fact that the race started and ended at Rio Vista Park, which is only 4.5 miles away from our house, and the course ran along our normal bike/run route, the New River Trail.  I have to admit that of all the reasons I love the area where we live, this trail is close to the top of the list.  It’s a paved trail (with the exception of about .3 miles behind our neighborhood, which is trail) open only to pedestrians, bikers, and the like – no motor vehicles.  It also runs right by the wash that houses the New River (when the river is actually flowing), so there’s generally a good opportunity for wildlife viewing; I’ve seen tons of quail, several coyotes, a roadrunner or two, and Chris even spotted some javelina one day.

OH MY GOD!  RUNNERS!

The day dawned lovely, with a temp around 57 at the start (8am).  The first 4 miles of the run headed out toward Grand Avenue, then circled back around to start back toward the park on the opposite side of the wash.  This part of the run normally derails my plans for an effective finish on a longer route, as the 4 mile section features a set of rolling hills (down into the wash, then back up out of the wash), upon which I inevitably go out far too fast.  During this run, however, I kept my cool and just enjoyed coasting along, not worrying about placement or a specific time.*

After the 4 mile loop, the course headed north along the trail, crossing under major intersections at Bell Road, Union Hills, and Beardsley (the on-ramp for the 101).  The trail is mostly flat during this part, and since I was feeling well, I pushed it a bit harder, hoping to stay around 9:00 miles until the turn around point.  Chris met me at the turn around to offer water/gu and to take a few pictures; the turnaround is only .1 miles away from our house, so it was rather convenient.**

Here I come!

"Can you take these home with you?"

After dropping a few of my empty Fuel Belt canisters with him, I headed south for the remaining 4.5 miles back to the park.  Since I came off the 4 mile loop, I’d been gradually working to pass other runners in the field, while still making sure to not push myself too hard.  Although I didn’t have plans to place in my age group or overall (the City rankings also give you points for being in the top ten overall finishers in your gender), I still wanted to see whom I could pick off as I went.  This served not only to help stave off the boredom that can come from a run but also to keep challenging myself to work hard.  From miles 9-10.5 or so, I tried to pass one woman in a white tank top, but I just couldn’t catch her, and I noticed myself starting to flag a bit.  As I passed the marker for mile 11, I looked at my watch and saw 1:40 and change.  

Knowing that my previous half marathon PR was around 1:59***, I realized that if I was able to keep up my 9:00 miles or even a bit faster, I could set a new PR!  This came as quite a shock, as I hadn’t really had any plans of the sort when I was planning for the race.

I ramped up my pace again and was able to cross the line with a new record!

Hooray!  A PR by 30 seconds is still a PR!

Overall, things went well, and I enjoyed the race.  The weather was lovely (it ended up around 68 at the time of my finish), the course was good (and relatively flat, overall), the organization and volunteers were solid (they had a small issue with the chip timers on some race bibs, but they were aware of it and worked to correct it), and my nutrition plan went well.  I ended up filling all four of my 6 oz. Fuel Belt canisters with OSMO on Friday night. I froze two of them and kept the other two in the fridge, popping them into the freezer for an hour on Sunday morning before the run.  By the time I was ready for the frozen two, they were thawed out and filled with ice-cold, refreshing hydration!  Sweet!  I took a Powerbar gel 15 minutes before gun time, one at mile 5 and another at mile 10.  Thankfully, no GI distress was encountered during the run – major hooray!

Later!

Amy

PS - As always, a big thanks goes to Coach Luis, who was probably training me even when I didn't know it.  Check out his website!

*  This frame of mind was helped along by a recent back issue and my lack of wanting to stress it too much.  I really have no idea what I did to the back, but about two weeks ago, I was driving home from dinner, and my lower back just started to hurt like crazy.  I stayed off my feet for a few days but was finally able to incorporate some fitness back in.  Just in time for a half marathon.  Hooray.

** That’s a nice thing about races using this course.  The problem with it, however, is that if you’re feeling crappy (like I was in the accompanying City of Peoria Half Marathon last October), you’re only .1 miles away from home.  It’s REALLY hard to keep going another 4.5 miles when you’re so close to a hot shower and clean clothes.

*** Why bother to handily beat the 2 hour mark when you can just skate underneath it?