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Half at the Hamptons

When I signed up for this race, I had a sneaky feeling the weather would be better than my October marathon and my Disney half. While yesterday’s weather was *spectacular* for February, today was not shabby either. The clouds were blown away by mid-morning and we had sun from 11am on for the Half at the Hamptons race (after a few flurries in the morning).

I first want to give a shout out to the race organizers. From packet pickup to race sponsors to volunteers to the course itself, the race was impeccably organized. If you’re looking for a well-run race, I would definitely recommend the Loco events. Plus they have the “Will Run for Beer” series, and I know a few friends who might embrace this motivation. They also seem to have a sense of humor: check out this video of the start (we’re being “Rick Rolled” for those of you who get the pop culture reference). I also had my first experience running seeing Team Hoyt – didn’t realize they had run the Disney half!

I admit, up front, that I had a great race. It’s taken me all day to concede this fact. I am in better racing shape than I’ve been in a long time. My primary goal was to lower my race pace from being comfortable in the 9min range to sub-8:30s, and today’s 8:16 pace was right on target to where I wanted to be. Check out the race results site and search for “Woodmansee” to find me. I was in the top 20% for my age group, woot! I also had a small victory in fueling: I managed to get water at mile 4, gatorade at mile 6, gel at mile 8 and water shortly thereafter, all without inhaling the fluids. This was particularly good for plastic cups, but again I give credit to the volunteers who were careful to hand the cups/gel instead of dangle it, and clearly announced the plan for each aid stop as the racers entered.

Now for the self-flagellation. I had butterflies that required two bathroom stops before the race, including the particularly inconvenient “I need to go NOW” 10 mins before the start. I went out too fast. I didn’t properly fuel my muscles on Saturday. I was too optimistic about my pace, thinking I could knock out 8:10s and still finish with sub-8s for the last 3 miles. I knew at mile 7 I had gone out too fast, but there was nothing to be done at that point. I thought about not ever racing again. I know I can run smarter. Ok, now that’s done.

Here’s the rundown of splits. I didn’t actually get the first mile, but I know I came through Mile 2 at 16:10.

I didn’t exactly charge down the coast from miles 9-12 as I’d planned, and the tailwind ended up being a cross-wind and even a headwind in a few places as we wound down 1A. But I pulled out a fast last mile, and ended up just under 1:48, not shabby for February!

I have not signed up for any other races at this point. My goal is to get through this week at work, then evaluate the plan in March.

Comments

Pingback from Juddmansee.com » February Wrapup
Time: February 28, 2010, 8:21 pm

[…] race the next week. I did 6 miles with Brian at an easy 9min pace to loosen up my legs before the Half Marathon on Sunday. No yoga or strength training, and I didn’t get out on a workday at all. Best total […]

Pingback from Juddmansee.com » Hangover Classic 10K at Salisbury Beach
Time: January 3, 2011, 9:46 am

[…] resolution), and the usual crowd of local racers. We saw lots of familiar race shirts, including Half at the Hamptons, Reach the Beach, Pow Wow triathlon and even the McNaughton race. A volunteer working the […]

Pingback from Juddmansee.com » Half at the Hamptons 2011
Time: February 21, 2011, 9:32 pm

[…] year’s event was intentionally different than last year. First off, I ran half as many miles in the two months leading up to the event, in large part due […]

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