Mornington Festival Run Half Marathon

Mornington Festival Run Half Marathon 

Sunday 7th September 2014

http://www.morningtonrunningfestival.com/home.html

COURSE
The course will be held along the esplanade from Mornington to Mt Martha and will be a partially closed road, with the course heading southbound along the esplanade. We will have half of the road closed being the beachside to all traffic, whilst maintaining traffic flow on the other side of road at speed of 40km per hour. The 21km event will be a 2 lap course.

Pre-race - 
There's not much to say about pre-race this time. I decided the day before that I'd run the Mornington Half Marathon. The week of the race, I ran 20km on the Wednesday and 20km on the Friday. Sundays have been building for Melbourne Marathon, which is only a few weeks away. So this race was not in the schedule. I just decided to give it a crack. My official PB for a Half Marathon was 1:42 and I felt confident I could break 1:40 but it was time to walk-the-walk (or run-the-run as the case may be!)
The night before was a typical Saturday night at home. I felt like a glass of red so I had one and I can't remember what I had for dinner. My motivation was a little low because I've been working three jobs and I'm tired. I thought entering a race might be a good way to motivate myself!

Race day -
On the day, Serena from Running Matters (who I've been lucky enough to train with) picked me up and drove us to the start line. The morning was fresh, about six degrees so I had my usual long skins, long sleeve top and gloves on. I remembered to take asthma drugs because Spring can cause havoc with my breathing. We arrived a little early so I had time to register. It wasn't a big run so registration didn't take long at all. However the start was delayed for about twenty minutes. We stayed warm by jogging up and down the main road. By the time I started, I ditched the long sleeve top but kept the gloves (of course). The course was an out and back course. (Below is an unofficial map)

There were about 140 people in the Half marathon event, as well as others in the 10km and 5km. It was Father's Day, so it was good to see families out and about. I started towards the front because I could, and the road was wide enough for everyone. My first kilometre was a sub 4:30 pace, a little faster than planned. Not that I had any kind of plan. The extent of my plan really was, "I'll have a crack!" I pulled back a little and decided to aim for a consistent 4:40 kilometre pace. After about 7km, I started chatting with the guy next to me. We ended up running majority of the race together because we both said we were aiming for a sub 1:40. He was a friendly guy and although our chatting at times might have slowed us down, we seemed to pace each other well. He told me to slow down on the hills and for some reason I did (even though I now believe some of my strength is on hills).

For a few kilometres we had another male participant running with us. And there was also a female participant just ahead of me, and I had my eye on her. I hadn't really paid much attention to how many females were in front of me, but I knew it was only a handful. I've never cared about podium spots in the past because I've never been close. I've always run for myself and I'm not highly competitive with other people. I generally like being the underdog and respond better when I'm aiming to keep up with someone, instead of leading. Over the past year, my pace has improved and podium spots in small events are becoming possible... it gets me thinking... catch the girl in front because you never know where you might end up placing.
After 14km, I could see some people starting to fade but I was feeling more comfortable and mentally empowered. I could relax and take in the ocean views. I love the Mornington Peninsula. With about a kilometre to go, my new friend encouraged me to go ahead. I increased my pace (nearly took a wrong turn... as usual!) and came home with an official time of 1:37:36 (4:37 pace). I could see the girl in front of me (beat me by exactly ten seconds!) But I was really happy with my time.

Post race -
As usual, I had a bit left in the tank. I ran hard and I'm really happy with my time but I don't have much experience racing and I'm always worried I'm going to blow up, so I hold back just a little. At most, I might have taken off a minute if I ran to my full capacity, so I'm not losing sleep over it. It means my next goal for a half marathon is now 1:35.
The course was relatively flat with a couple of small climbs. The weather was perfect and the scenery divine. I ran in my New Balance 890s which were great. The event ran smoothly and people were friendly. It was great to race with Serena... Serena finished 3rd in her category and 5th female. I finished 5th in my category and 7th female (out of 51).
Later that day we went out for Father's Day and spent some extended time in the car. My quads were a bit sore but nothing major and I was fine to run again two days later.

Lessons -
1. Not really a lesson, however I would advise myself to enter a race earlier than on the day, for two reasons; it's much cheaper to pre-enter and it allows me time to taper which gives me the best chance to run to my potential.
2. A lesson I'm still trying to learn; run harder and trust in my abilities. Keep entering races and gain experience.

Race feedback and will there be a next time -
The only negative was the start was twenty minutes late (obviously there were reasons). The course was lovely. I wasn't keen on the out and back, two times for the Half Marathon. However it didn't seem that bad. I'd still prefer not to double up, but that's just a personal preference. The views were awesome, the course was spacious and the atmosphere was relaxed but encouraging. Being a local run for me and having achieved a PB, I'll definitely be back! Overall, I scored this run 8.5/10.