Monday, January 11, 2010 - Ryan

This post is dedicated to a Mississippi Blues Marathon update.

1) Weather: It was 17 degrees when the gun went off (wind chill of 9). The sun came out for part of the race, but then went back behind the clouds for most of it. The only place where I felt any wind was on Ridgewood Road.

2) Course: This was by far the most difficult run I've ever done. Not only were the hills brutal, but the placement of the hills made the course that much harder.

Miles 1-4 (downtown Jackson): flat w/ some small hills
Miles 5-9 (through Belhaven): full of rolling hills
Miles 10-14 (Lakeland): pancake flat (big fan of this part)
Miles 15-21 (through northeast Jackson): flat w/ some rolling hills
Miles 22-26 (up Meadowbrook, Old Canton, and State Street): massive rolling hills

3) Plan: I'd planned to run the first half at around 6:10 pace and then hopefully 6:30's for the 2nd half to come in at 2:46ish.

4) Execution: My "plan" was going swimmingly through the first half (6:12 pace), but I absolutely fell apart the 2nd half, mainly miles 21-26. I ran the 2nd half at a 6:50 pace.

My problem was I ran the first half at the same pace as I did the first half in Chicago, however, there weren't any hills in Chicago whereas miles 5-9 were quite hilly in Jackson. I used way too much energy running my 6:12's in Jackson on the first half and then had nothing in the tank for the last 4-5 miles (7:23 pace). My hamstrings started to tighten up around mile 21, but I was able to lope my way to a 2:52 finish.

5) Race Organization: I thought it was great; friendly volunteers, plenty of water stations, good post-race food, and a "challenging course". Hats off to Blue Cross Blue Shield and everyone involved in putting the race on.

Congrats to Dale on running a PR 2:49 and being the first Mississippian to finish. It was great seeing all the local guys that I usually run with out there for the marathon (Jerry, Rob, Dale, etc.).

I want to especially thank my mom, Leanna and David for cheering me on throughout the race. It definitely helped. I will post some pictures when I get them uploaded.

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for RNR NOLA 34 (MS Blues Marathon)

Daily mileage: 0.0
Weekly mileage: 31.2.0
Miles on Lunartrainers: 243.0
Miles on Lunaracers: 98.8