DxA2 Race Review

Race: Dexter Ann Arbor Run, Half Marathon
Official Time: 2:01:44, 9:18 pace
Overall Place: 1434 / 3145
Division Place: 84 / 252
Sex Place: 435 / 1459

This race has been on my radar for a long time.  I spent 4 years attending college in Ann Arbor and Josh lived in Pinckney (just north of Dexter) for a few years after graduation, so I've run in the area in the past.  This was my second half marathon this spring, and admittedly I was less trained than I would have liked to have been for both.  I still PR'd the May half in 1:58:14, and I sorta kinda hoped this race would be even better since I kept up my mileage leading up to this half.  Before the race even started, I resigned to myself that it might not happen with the warm temperatures.

We stayed at my parents the night before, and decided to bring Lucy with us to the race.  These decisions are always up to Josh, since he is the one that has to drag her around while he chases me through the course.  I set my alarm for 5:15, and we were out of the house by 5:45.  I munched on a banana and bagel with peanut butter during the drive, washing it down with some G2.  We arrived in AA about 6:45, running into very little traffic along the way.  Josh hung out in a random corner lot while I went and registered and used a porta potty.   Registration was a breeze at this time, no lines or any issues.  I went back to the car, grabbed my gear and the rest of my food, and got a good luck slobber from Lucy before heading over to the bus lines.  These were fairly short as well, I was on a bus within 5-10 minutes or so. 

I finished eating as the bus took us out to the start, we arrived at the school around 7:30, for an 8:30 start.  I walked around a bit, and decided to get in the line for the indoor restrooms (they also had porta potties in the parking lot).  I then grabbed a small cup of water (they had water and Gatorade available at the start), stretched, did a warm-up jog and waited for the race to start.  I downed a packet of Gu then, and had one more saved for mile 6 or so.

At this point, I was realizing that the temperature would be an issue.  It wasn't going to be so incredibly hot that we couldn't race, it was just going to make a PR rather difficult.  Temps were just over 70 degrees at the start, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  Plus, this is probably the most difficult course I have ever run because of the hills.  I decided I would still try to pace to come in around 2 hours, and see what happened. 

By the way... this was a first race (first real run actually) with my new Garmin.  It rocks.  We purchased the Garmin Forerunner 305 off Amazon for $128... but used $100 in giftcards we earned through Swagbucks.  More on SB in another post.

So, just a hair after 8:30, off we go.  There was quite a bit of congestion out of the start, I struggled to keep my pace up for a bit, then I found a little more room to run and made up for some lost time.  As we were rounding the first corner, surprise!  There is my puppy!  Josh surprised me by heading out for the start of the race, when the plan was for him to see me at Mile 8 and the finish :)  He is such a great cheerleader, and picture-taker!

yes, that is a huge bruise on my leg, and I have NO idea where it came from

As Josh ran ahead to snap a picture, Lucy ran right along side him.  A lady commented on the cute puppy, and how she looked like she wanted to run too; I told her that was my running partner!  We chatted a minute or two about running with our dogs, which brought a huge smile to my face.

The next few miles were uneventful as we got through Dexter and out onto Huron River Drive.  My pace was looking good, and when I saw Josh again around mile 8, I was actually on pace for a PR.  But then the temp started getting to me.  I was HOT.  I was carrying fluids (G2) for this race, and started drinking in between the water stations.  Around mile 10, I started making deals with myself: run until you get to that shade, and then you can walk for a few seconds.  Run up the first part of that hill, then you can walk up the rest.  This continued pretty much until the end of the race, I ended up taking quite a few walking breaks - I think more than I did in my marathon. 

somewhere around mile 8

Then, I got to Main Street.  Ugh.  This half-marathon ends with a decent uphill!!!?!?!?  I see an arch of balloons in the distance and start running towards it as hard as I could.  As I'm getting closer, I realize - that's not the finish line, I still have another .2 or so to go.  Ugh again!  But now I see the real finish line, and use whatever I have left to get there.  No PR, not under 2:00, but I finished.  And I'm proud of myself because it was a tough course and tough conditions. 

My Garmin measured 13.24, which is pretty long, but running around trying to stay in what little shade the course offered kept me off the tangents, I'm sure.

I collected my medal, downed a bottle of water, walked through a spray tent to try and cool off, and then proceeded to wait in line for my goodies.  Some more Gatorade and a plate of cookies, orange slices and pizza later, I was off to find hubby and puppy.  This was an ordeal.  We missed each other at the finish, so Josh wasn't sure I was done or not.  Then it turns out, we were waiting for each other on different street corners.  I ended up starting to walk around, and saw Lucy in the distance.  I chased them down, gave Josh a nice sweaty hug, and had Lucy start licking all the salty sweat off my face :) 

fourth half-marathon.  check!

 

Overall, I thought the race was great.  It seemed well organized, the course was well marked, and the aid stations seemed adequate.  I do wish they had an electrolyte drink at all the stations, particularly the one at Mile 12, but they did communicate what they were going to have ahead of time.  There aren't a lot of spectators on the course (just a few areas with some), but they cheered loudly and the volunteers were awesome.  I do think they need to consider a wave start to alleviate some of the congestion in the first mile, and also maybe moving the start time up, even just 30 minutes would help.  Oh, and it would be nice if they just offered tech shirts to everyone, instead of charging an extra $12(?) for them.  They could probably use more porta potties at the start, but can't you say that about almost every race?  Generally though, this is a race that I want to run again when I get the chance.  The fee was reasonable (even for last-minute entry), and I enjoyed the course.  I will say though, that the weather can be a little touchy this time of year, and with a later start, perfect running conditions are not likely.

After the race, we headed back to the car so I could get cleaned up (i.e. towel off, change out of my smelly clothes, run a brush through my hair, put on a touch of make-up).  Lucy layed down to cool off for a bit, and had a good bit of water.  Then we all headed back down to Main Street for Taste of Ann Arbor.  Many of the restaurants in town set up tents along the side of the road and served some great food.  We paid for a page of tickets, then traded tickets for samples.  Our favorites were the fish taco from Black Pearl, watermelon gazpacho (Yumm!) from Melange, and the mini cupcakes from the Cupcake Station.  It was crowded and hot, and Lucy was sort of done, so we left after about an hour and drove over to campus.  We hung out on the Diag for a while, reminiscing about our college days, before packing up and heading home.

It was a GREAT day spent with the love of my life and my favorite puppy in the world.