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race reports: half marathon and 5-miler
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ell I'd do a race report for Edinburgh, so here it is, better late than never.
Short version: Fantastic trip! Not my best race ever, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat, if it weren't so blasted expensive to fly over.
I got into Edinburgh on Friday, May 29, after the longest trip ever (7-hour layover in Baltimore, never again!) Matt and I dropped our bags at Waverley's left luggage while we got lunch, then we grabbed them and got checked into our apartment, which was... well, not awful, but not terrific. It had a functional bed, at least, and it was a quarter-mile from packet pick-up, which we then did.
Met up withell, temve, franzi, and linaelyn for dinner. I've met Ell and Tem several times before, but this was my first time meeting Franzi (whom I've known online for ages) and Linaelyn (whom I haven't), so that was great. *smooches you all* The weather for the race was predicted to be cool and rainy, which is weather that I usually go to a lot of trouble to avoid running in, so I was afraid I hadn't brought a warm enough top. We talked about that a bit, and the next morning I went back to race HQ to pick up a thicker long-sleeved shirt, and that turned out to be a good decision. It will be great for winter running, too, and it was on sale.
The half started at 8am on Sunday. It was cool, but not as rainy as expected. I'd picked up a semi-cheap poncho (yes, I did resort to one of the cheesy shops on the Royal Mile), but I could have done without, really. I was wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt over the new heavier long-sleeved shirt and a t-shirt, thinking that way I could adjust as needed during the race, which worked out well.
I'd been training using my iPhone for GPS and heart rate, but I was afraid if I did that for the race it would eat through my international data plan, so I brought my Garmin as well. Spoiler: Not a good idea. I started it well before the race, but it utterly refused to find satellites; I have no idea why.
There were two starting areas for the half--I was in the second one, on Regent Road. They started London Road at 8, and we were supposed to go at 8:05, but they held us back an extra five minutes because the water was slowing everyone down. We finally got moving, and I crossed the start line around 8:15, I think. My Garmin wasn't tracking distance or pace, only time and heart rate, which was better than nothing, but just barely.
My goal for the race was pretty much just finishing--it was my first half, and I didn't want to get too ambitious--but I was hoping to finish under 2:30, which meant averaging 11:25 miles. For the record, my usual long run pace is around 12:30, and I try to keep my HR around 130 on those. But I'd had that foot issue back in April, and I hadn't gotten in nearly as many miles as I'd hoped in the six weeks before the race.
A mile in I was warm enough to take off the top shirt, so I did, and tied it around my waist. I missed the first three mile markers, so I really didn't know how fast I was running, but my HR settled in around 140, which I thought was fine. But I hit mile 4 at 43:50, slightly better than 11-minute miles, and I knew I needed to slow down, or I'd be paying for it later.
Unfortunately, the slowing down didn't work so well. I missed the 5th mile marker, but I saw mile 6 at 1:03:something, so at that point I was averaging 10:30 miles. Yikes. That's when I knew I was in trouble.
I did manage to slow down after that--did miles 7 and 8 at about 11:30, and they felt good. We were running right along the Firth of Forth at this point, which was really cool. I'd been getting a little warm, but the wind picked up, and I left the heavier shirt on for the rest of the race. Mile 9 was tougher--there was a water station just before there, and I was happy for an excuse to walk for a few seconds.
Just after mile 9 we hit a T intersection that was pretty close to the finish line. We would then turn left for about two miles, then do a u-turn and run the two miles to the finish. The first bit of that wasn't too bad--I'd slowed down to about 12-minute miles, but I was hanging in there OK. We turned around just after the 11-mile mark, and the wind totally smacked us in the face, and I knew the last bit was going to be miserable. I wasn't wrong.
The good part about being slow, though, was we got to see the elite men marathoners running past. The clock said they'd been going about 46 minutes, and they would have been just past mile 9. They had a whole other loop to do before coming back to finish at the same place we did, and I believe they did catch up to the last few half runners.
Anyway, the last two miles were a slog. I told myself I was going to keep running the whole time, but it didn't work--I ended up alternating walking and running. Finally I saw the 26-mile sign, which meant there was 0.2 mile to go, and I picked it up and ran the last stretch--nothing left for a sprint, though. I ended up finishing in 2:26:42.
So, not a bad race, but my pacing totally sucked. There's something to improve on next time. And I really should have known not to change tech at the last minute--I should have just bit the bullet and paid for extra data if it was needed. The race was well organized, and the course was great, and I'd love to do it again if it works out.
We finished out in Musselburgh, and there were shuttles to bring us back to the city centre. Unfortunately, the shuttles were about 1.5 miles from the finish, which I really thought was adding insult to injury. My foot was a little achy at this point, but mostly I was just chilly and sweaty and ready for lunch. Then the shuttle took over an hour to get back, because traffic in the city was so bad. If I did this race again I'd definitely look at city bus options instead of the shuttles.
The shuttles dropped us off just below the Royal Mile, near a restaurant called the Whiski Rooms, so we grabbed lunch there, me in my running clothes and all. They sat us right next to a radiator, yay, and I ordered soup and tea, which helped *so* much. After lunch my worldview had improved immensely, so we walked back to the apartment so I could take a long, hot shower and zone out a bit. We met up with the rest of the group for dinner, and I heard all about the marathon relay.
So it was a great time, and it was really nice to meet everyone. We should think about doing the same thing in the US sometime!
Last weekend I did a 5-mile race here in town. I have a lot less to say about it--it's always a fun race, and it's tiny, by Chicago standards, with only about 450 runners. Last year my time was 53:13, and I wanted rather badly to beat that, but I'd only got in one run the rest of the time we were in Scotland, so I really hadn't been training. Plus, the Wednesday before I'd had a tooth pulled, and I was taking antibiotics that made my stomach queasy, so it was going to be interesting.
The weather was terrific, although it did get a bit warm, and I managed to finish in... drum roll... 53:12! Beat last year's time by one whole second! So that was a bit disappointing, but not as much as if I'd gotten worse, and it was so fun that I'm not complaining.
My goal for July and August is to work up to about 25 miles/week, which should be doable. The Hokas seem to agree with my feet, thank heavens, and I've got some shoe suggestions from Runners World that I want to have a look at. I'm hoping to do another half in November--hopefully the one in New Orleans on November 21. So if anyone is looking for a road trip....
ell I'd do a race report for Edinburgh, so here it is, better late than never.Short version: Fantastic trip! Not my best race ever, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat, if it weren't so blasted expensive to fly over.
I got into Edinburgh on Friday, May 29, after the longest trip ever (7-hour layover in Baltimore, never again!) Matt and I dropped our bags at Waverley's left luggage while we got lunch, then we grabbed them and got checked into our apartment, which was... well, not awful, but not terrific. It had a functional bed, at least, and it was a quarter-mile from packet pick-up, which we then did.
Met up with
ell, temve, franzi, and linaelyn for dinner. I've met Ell and Tem several times before, but this was my first time meeting Franzi (whom I've known online for ages) and Linaelyn (whom I haven't), so that was great. *smooches you all* The weather for the race was predicted to be cool and rainy, which is weather that I usually go to a lot of trouble to avoid running in, so I was afraid I hadn't brought a warm enough top. We talked about that a bit, and the next morning I went back to race HQ to pick up a thicker long-sleeved shirt, and that turned out to be a good decision. It will be great for winter running, too, and it was on sale.The half started at 8am on Sunday. It was cool, but not as rainy as expected. I'd picked up a semi-cheap poncho (yes, I did resort to one of the cheesy shops on the Royal Mile), but I could have done without, really. I was wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt over the new heavier long-sleeved shirt and a t-shirt, thinking that way I could adjust as needed during the race, which worked out well.
I'd been training using my iPhone for GPS and heart rate, but I was afraid if I did that for the race it would eat through my international data plan, so I brought my Garmin as well. Spoiler: Not a good idea. I started it well before the race, but it utterly refused to find satellites; I have no idea why.
There were two starting areas for the half--I was in the second one, on Regent Road. They started London Road at 8, and we were supposed to go at 8:05, but they held us back an extra five minutes because the water was slowing everyone down. We finally got moving, and I crossed the start line around 8:15, I think. My Garmin wasn't tracking distance or pace, only time and heart rate, which was better than nothing, but just barely.
My goal for the race was pretty much just finishing--it was my first half, and I didn't want to get too ambitious--but I was hoping to finish under 2:30, which meant averaging 11:25 miles. For the record, my usual long run pace is around 12:30, and I try to keep my HR around 130 on those. But I'd had that foot issue back in April, and I hadn't gotten in nearly as many miles as I'd hoped in the six weeks before the race.
A mile in I was warm enough to take off the top shirt, so I did, and tied it around my waist. I missed the first three mile markers, so I really didn't know how fast I was running, but my HR settled in around 140, which I thought was fine. But I hit mile 4 at 43:50, slightly better than 11-minute miles, and I knew I needed to slow down, or I'd be paying for it later.
Unfortunately, the slowing down didn't work so well. I missed the 5th mile marker, but I saw mile 6 at 1:03:something, so at that point I was averaging 10:30 miles. Yikes. That's when I knew I was in trouble.
I did manage to slow down after that--did miles 7 and 8 at about 11:30, and they felt good. We were running right along the Firth of Forth at this point, which was really cool. I'd been getting a little warm, but the wind picked up, and I left the heavier shirt on for the rest of the race. Mile 9 was tougher--there was a water station just before there, and I was happy for an excuse to walk for a few seconds.
Just after mile 9 we hit a T intersection that was pretty close to the finish line. We would then turn left for about two miles, then do a u-turn and run the two miles to the finish. The first bit of that wasn't too bad--I'd slowed down to about 12-minute miles, but I was hanging in there OK. We turned around just after the 11-mile mark, and the wind totally smacked us in the face, and I knew the last bit was going to be miserable. I wasn't wrong.
The good part about being slow, though, was we got to see the elite men marathoners running past. The clock said they'd been going about 46 minutes, and they would have been just past mile 9. They had a whole other loop to do before coming back to finish at the same place we did, and I believe they did catch up to the last few half runners.
Anyway, the last two miles were a slog. I told myself I was going to keep running the whole time, but it didn't work--I ended up alternating walking and running. Finally I saw the 26-mile sign, which meant there was 0.2 mile to go, and I picked it up and ran the last stretch--nothing left for a sprint, though. I ended up finishing in 2:26:42.
So, not a bad race, but my pacing totally sucked. There's something to improve on next time. And I really should have known not to change tech at the last minute--I should have just bit the bullet and paid for extra data if it was needed. The race was well organized, and the course was great, and I'd love to do it again if it works out.
We finished out in Musselburgh, and there were shuttles to bring us back to the city centre. Unfortunately, the shuttles were about 1.5 miles from the finish, which I really thought was adding insult to injury. My foot was a little achy at this point, but mostly I was just chilly and sweaty and ready for lunch. Then the shuttle took over an hour to get back, because traffic in the city was so bad. If I did this race again I'd definitely look at city bus options instead of the shuttles.
The shuttles dropped us off just below the Royal Mile, near a restaurant called the Whiski Rooms, so we grabbed lunch there, me in my running clothes and all. They sat us right next to a radiator, yay, and I ordered soup and tea, which helped *so* much. After lunch my worldview had improved immensely, so we walked back to the apartment so I could take a long, hot shower and zone out a bit. We met up with the rest of the group for dinner, and I heard all about the marathon relay.
So it was a great time, and it was really nice to meet everyone. We should think about doing the same thing in the US sometime!
Last weekend I did a 5-mile race here in town. I have a lot less to say about it--it's always a fun race, and it's tiny, by Chicago standards, with only about 450 runners. Last year my time was 53:13, and I wanted rather badly to beat that, but I'd only got in one run the rest of the time we were in Scotland, so I really hadn't been training. Plus, the Wednesday before I'd had a tooth pulled, and I was taking antibiotics that made my stomach queasy, so it was going to be interesting.
The weather was terrific, although it did get a bit warm, and I managed to finish in... drum roll... 53:12! Beat last year's time by one whole second! So that was a bit disappointing, but not as much as if I'd gotten worse, and it was so fun that I'm not complaining.
My goal for July and August is to work up to about 25 miles/week, which should be doable. The Hokas seem to agree with my feet, thank heavens, and I've got some shoe suggestions from Runners World that I want to have a look at. I'm hoping to do another half in November--hopefully the one in New Orleans on November 21. So if anyone is looking for a road trip....
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That's my only complaint, though. Everything else was very well organized, and it was a lot of fun.