Detroit Half Marathon Race Report

Sunday was a blast. I had a great time running the Detroit Half Marathon and I am really happy with my time. I finished in 2:02 (avg 9:23/mile) and didn't have to walk any portion of the race.

I started in a slower wave because I didn't want to take it out too fast. I have been running and swimming all summer, but the last 3 weeks have been very busy with work, so in the 13 days leading up to the race I haven't done anything other than swim. I did have one of my best swim workouts (2,250 yds in 30 mins, 1:20/100 yds) the Tuesday before the race, so that helped my confidence, but I was still feeling unprepared. In all honesty, I was unprepared. I wanted to run anyway to set a benchmark for future races.

The first three miles were pretty slow. I felt tired immediately and it took about 10 minutes for that feeling to go away. By mile 3 I was on the Ambassador Bridge. They had half of the bridge closed, but only 1 lane open for runners. It was a very crowded mile, and distracted a bit from my favorite part of the race. I didn't get to spend as much time looking at the city and the Detroit River because I was weaving in and out of the crowd.

My goal was to kick it into gear for miles 3-10 and then see what happens. I had a string of miles sub 9:00 and was feeling really good. I kept the tempo through the "underwater mile" and finished in 8:59 for mile 8 through the tunnel. The hill out of the tunnel and around Cobo Hall really took a lot of energy out of me.

I decided to eat some M&Ms and drink some Gatorade at mile 10. I'm not sure if it helped, but it was a welcome distraction for the long miles between 10-12. Mile 13 was almost entirely a straight shot back downtown from right around the old Tigers Stadium. That was pretty cool, and I was feeling good about finishing strong. The last quarter mile was tough because I was getting passed by a lot of people, but that will be good motivation as I start training again.

One thing I was surprised about was my avg HR of 178. Seemed super high. My max for the race was 198. I only spent 39 mins of the 122 I was out there with a HR under 170. I need to get in shape before I try this again. It doesn't help that I carried 205 lbs around instead of my target weight of 185.

All in all, it was a great day. Melissa and Amy ran the 5k and were there at the finish to cheer for me. I also saw Jessica near the finish, which was nice and unexpected. The race didn't take too much of a toll. The difference between a half and a full marathon is huge.