Pittsburgh Half Marathon Recap

Well, I did it... my first half marathon is in the books.  And even though I've run a marathon before, I was a little nervous about the distance, particularly when two of my last four training weeks were spent nursing a toe injury that made wearing shoes excruciating.  Needless to say, I didn't get in the long runs I should have, but I did manage 10 miles before the injury and one 8 mile run after.  I was very unsure of my ability to run 13.1... particularly in Pittsburgh, with all those hills... but I was determined to at least give it my best effort.

During my training, I had it in my head that finishing under two hours would be a good goal for me.  I really wasn't sure what kind of time to expect, but my training runs were usually under a 9:00 pace, so it seemed doable.  When I came back after two weeks off, my times were much slower, but I opted not to change my goal, banking on the fact that I always race faster than I train.

So, here it is... the official results...

Net Time: 01:54:22

Overall Place: 2610

Pace: 8:44

Division Place: 172

Division Total: 1476

Gender Place: 961

Gender Total: 9025

 

Of course, while this was my official time, I feel the need to point out that my actual race time was 1:52:45 (almost 2 minutes faster)... I had to stop for a restroom break :)  So, even though my pace was officially 8:44, according to my watch it was 8:34 with the following splits...

 

9:24.8

8:53.4

8:56.6

8:25.8

8:18.0

8:17.6

8:19.9

8:00.1

8:07.9

8:21.9

8:34.4

9:14.6

8:12.8

1:36.9

 

I love that the first 6 miles were negative splits with the following 3 or 4 not too far off.  I was initially a little disappointed in mile 12, until I checked out my Garmin stats... check out the elevation change for mile 12... I think I'll cut myself a little slack for that one :)

 

Pittsburgh Half Marathon - Elevation Chart

 

I'm shocked to see I was able to bounce back with an 8:12 mile after that hill, but I'll give some credit to the awesome downhill at the end of the race :)

For the most part, the hills weren't nearly as bad as I anticipated... except for mile 12, of course.  That entire mile was uphill and pretty brutal, but I kept my head down and focused on the ground in front of me rather than staring up at the top of the hill.  The course included five bridges, which were more enjoyable than I thought they would be, and the crowd throughout the city was amazing.  We went through some neat neighborhoods and there were people and live music along the entire course. 
 

Race weekend was made extra special because my husband was there to enjoy it with me.  He's not really a fan of running, but earlier this year he decided to give it a try.  After lots of hard work and training, he was ready to run his first 5k, which he ran the day before the half marathon.  I seriously could not be more proud of him for his efforts.  And, while he didn't say he was excited to sign up for his next 5k, he also didn't say he would never do it again... I consider that a victory :)

 

All in all, I'm really happy with my race and look forward to coming up with a new goal for the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Cleveland this October.  Assuming I get in some good training and remain injury free, I'd like to shoot for a PR.  The trouble is figuring out what the goal should be.  With a flatter course, I'm thinking a PR shouldn't be much of a stretch, but I don't want to get crazy with an unobtainable goal.  I'll keep you posted on what I come up with :)

In the meantime, I'll enjoy my Pittsburgh bling... I'm incredibly proud to be a Runner of Steel!