Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon: Race Report

Well, that pretty much sums up my race today. End of report! Oh, I’m just kidding. One of the great things about runners as a group is that we all like to talk about running, and talk, and talk. Let the blabbing begin.

The logistics for this race were a cinch. The start is 10 minutes from my house and there was plenty of parking very close to the start line. They had a corral start that went very smoothly. It was chip timed and they had a bag drop which was great since this was a point to point race. After a bit of a wait for the facilities, I lined up just in front of the 2:15 pacer just a few minutes before the start.

 The course was beautiful, first winding west along the northern edge of Lake Minnetonka, and then cutting south through the bays until the end in Excelsior. There were so many beautiful views of the lake and homes along the route. Quite a few of the residents came out to cheer. The course had many rolling hills that made me glad that I’ve been training on hilly terrain.

I got a little boost right at the beginning of the race when I got to see my 15 year old son who was volunteering at the first water stop. The first few miles flew by since I was looking forward to seeing him. I slowly crept up on the 2:10 pacer and purposely tried to stay behind him. I ran the Frozen Half in January with a time of 2:10:55 and ran the Las Vegas Half in December in 2:09:45. This course was much tougher than both of them, so I knew I need to plan on a finish over 2:10. I’m sure the pacer knew the course and that he would pace for the hills. Better to stay back and not burn out early.

Because I was now behind the pacer, I was in a big pack. The whole race. This was not good. One the upside, everyone seemed to line up appropriately and we didn’t pass a single person who looked like they had lined up incorrectly. The downside was that there was constant manuevering in the pack, especially on the few sections where the road was not closed and we had to squeeze onto the shoulder. Everyone had excellent running manners and I  didn’t have to do a lot of weaving, but I felt like I had to mentally be aware of my immediate surroundings the whole race. The group did keep me going, though, and I felt like I was running the right pace for me. The effort was difficult but not out of control.

By mile 12, I felt like I had some gas left in the tank. We had turned onto a dirt and gravel path that was flat as a pancake. I decided to drop the pacer and see what I had left. I took off and for the first half mile it seemed like a brilliant plan. Then, I got a bit of a side cramp and we turned off the path and encountered another hill. Whoops! With just a little over a half mile to go, I just put my head down and ran it out. We crested a pretty big hill and then it was less than a quarter mile down hill to the finish.

I finished in 2:09:39, just a tad faster than my last two half marathon times. The course was tough but the weather was perfect and the course was beautiful. Not only that, the t-shirt is adorable! They had different cuts for men and women, so my women’s cut technical shirt with it’s tasteful design is a winner. Normally, we would have to take a bus back to the start, but my friend came to watch us finish and gave us a much more expeditious and comfortable ride back to our car. We don’t have any extended family here in Minnesota, so to have a friendly face along with with Mike rooting for me at the finish is a special treat. It was a nice way to end a very nice race.

So I’m happy. The race was great and when I finished I felt like I physically took it pretty well. I ran the whole race without a single ache or pain which is a cause for celebration in itself for me. After a shower, a trip to a burger joint and a nap, I feel pretty good sitting here in my adorable race t-shirt. Now on to the next race!