Illinois Half Marathon 4/28/12 (01:50:25 PR)

Wow. Just wow. Things couldnt have gone better for this half- my fastest to date. Official finish time is a personal best at 01:50:25 (old 01:53:21 Chicago RockNroll '09). I credit my CES training through winter and spring for learning to pace properly and to push it where it counts. An average pace of 8:19 and negative splits in the second half with times in the 8:15 and 7:32 range were difficult for me just a year ago, but felt like a breeze this day. The rain stopped about 15 minutes before start, but it continued to be quite blustery and chilly. The cool weather definitely helped to pick up the pace.

I developed a slight kink in my left calf that felt like it was about to cramp up around mile 6, but the cramping never materialized. The IT band on the right side that had been nagging me earlier in the year gave me no issues- what a relief.

On the heart rate monitor: Wearing the HRM on this day really opened my eyes to what exactly was going on with the ticker during the run- especially during the faster paces. I'd only worn it a couple of times before, but this is the first time I had it on during an extended run. To actually see that I could push it without getting tired too fast made a big difference. I still have a lot to learn about running with it, but it was really, really interesting to see.

Overall, the Illinois half was a great race, and really enjoyed the enthusiastic crowds! Props to the Best Western Riverside in Danville for putting out breakfast for the runners an hour before they normally do- It was a relief to get a good meal in before the festivities.

Taking a week off before re-starting Ragnar training!

See more stats on my MotoActv page here

Splits:
1 1.00 mi 8:27 min/mi 141 bpm
2 1.00 mi 8:29 min/mi 152 bpm
3 1.00 mi 8:26 min/mi 156 bpm
4 1.00 mi 8:38 min/mi 157 bpm
5 1.00 mi 8:32 min/mi 157 bpm
6 1.00 mi 8:34 min/mi 158 bpm
7 1.00 mi 8:26 min/mi 158 bpm
8 1.00 mi 8:22 min/mi 160 bpm
9 1.00 mi 8:28 min/mi 159 bpm
10 1.00 mi 8:17 min/mi 162 bpm
11 1.00 mi 8:14 min/mi 162 bpm
12 1.00 mi 8:03 min/mi 164 bpm
13 1.00 mi 7:32 min/mi 166 bpm
14 0.20 mi 6:56 min/mi 169 bpm http://bit.ly/IjqeEC