Saturday, March 17, 2007

So, how was the run on the new LM?

The run in St. Louis was a blast. Over 9000 people in the race. How were things in Springfield?

Thanks to Barry, Scott, and Pam for organizing the water today!

22 comments:

Barry House said...

Good crowd and a lot of enthusiasm. The new course was pretty entertaining and offered more to look at than the old course, but the hills knocked me out.

We had at least one person today who had never run longer than 7 miles, which made me wonder why we all train so hard. LOL!

Mary L. Rogers said...

OMIGOSH - I loved this course and yes the hills were tough. I was kinda sceered after hearing everyone who drove or biked it. It was great to see everyone and I was only going to go 9 or so, but I got to talking (imagine that) and ended up doing the whole thing. Great job everyone and thanks for the water stops (Pam - your kids are adorable! They ran out of cups and used bowls!)

I had to go sit at a soccer game afterwards - froze my you know what off!

Great job to those of you tackling the distance for the first time - you should be very proud of yourself - that's not an easy course or distance.

If you want something to do for fun - Decatur has a 5K PEnguin in the Park run next Saturday!

Jen said...

Very near the end, a few of us (Barry, Susan) were talking about time goals for the race. I was telling about my inability to reach any of my personal goals lately and Susan, in her infinate wisdom, said "You just need to change your goals". That's what I've been doing wrong! (forehead slap).

Yeah, I do believe I need to re-evaluate my finish time here. LOVE the course for a new challenge to conquer, but man-O-man! I never thought I'd be so glad to see Dodge St! I used to be intimidated by Abe's....There's a new champion in town...The New and Improved Lincoln Memorial Half-Marathon!

Kudos to all who finished! So cool to see you all out there! Shamrock socks, you rock!

(Debi M, you are my hero. What kind of vitamin are you taking? Waiter, I'll have what she's having....)

Mary F. said...

It was great!! I was pretty intimadated after driving the course and looking at those hills. But it wasn't so bad running it. I broke it down into segments, downtown, Washington Park, Hollywood, Oak Ridge, Lincoln Park, etc., and it made it much easier for me to handle the hills. I kept it at a very easy pace and I just enjoyed the run and the weather.
I learned from last year's Indy run, that the course and number of people in the race makes the difference and you have to adjust your goals accordingly. I'm not expecting to finish at the same time as last years LM with the hills in this course. I'll be proud to say I survived it and had a great time!!

Anonymous said...

Today was my first exposure to the new course. I love halfs, so was looking forward to today. As with any course, there are highpoints and low. Overall I believe this one to be significantly more of a test than the old course-even when the old one had a 10 mph prevailing wind. For me, the new course breaks into 6 segments:

I. Miles 0-3. Very enjoyable start-able to settle in pace early with highlights of sight of Capitol and transition of scenery entering Williams Blvd.

II. Miles 3-6.5. Nice to break Wash Park into 2 experience. Park & Wiggins are nice, allowing one to push the pace some and mentally gear up for return to Wash Park.

III. Miles 6.5-7.5. Only one mile, but an important one for me cuz it offered a chance to get back to solid rhythm and push the pace a bit.

IV. Miles 7.5-9. I now know why people commented about this. The rise up Lincoln and Yates were not too severe. I found it hard to foucus in this section

V. Miles 9-12. This is the test. The entrance to Oak Ridge is inspiring, but the circle takes some out of the tank. Obviously the 1st street hill eats on ya, but Lincoln Park lets you stride out nicely-until that exit hill!!

VI. Miles 12-end. 3rd street is a nice return to settling in, but I found the Dodge, Union, Miller experience unfavorable for a typical "push to the line" type of finish. The view of the hospital skyway is a nice lift.

So overall-I do like the course, but think developing a very strategic race plan is essential. Failing to follow one would result in several minutes lost in one's performance.

So, that's my 2 cents. Sorry for the long post. Great to see everyone today. Good to run with ya Carl!

Anonymous said...

(Kim N)

I think this course is much better than last year. That was my first half last year and said it would be my last if it stayed in the country. BOOOORing! I really enjoyed the variety of neighborhoods and did anyone notice the awesome stone houses toward the 2/3 of the course?? Not sure of the neighborhood.

Thanks Tim so much for all the work to get it switched! The only suggestion for the practice run today: We should have had green beer waiting at the finish. Our faults! We dropped the ball.

PS.

Thanks also to Steve who helped stop us from running in front of traffic. With all the folks, it was easy to forget it was not a race with blocked streets.

Anonymous said...

I think there were fewer hills than the old course but I think they're steeper!

I also think the relatively flat first 3 miles of the course are going to tempt some people to go out too fast thereby resulting in people flaming out in the hills the last half of the race.

The last two miles seem to be relatively flat but with all the winding and doubling back it is going to be hard to stride out and get into a rhythm.

I think the course is interesting and I am glad I ran it this weekend so I could enjoy the scenery (the parks, Lincoln's Tomb, Lincoln's House, the cool stone houses heading towards N. Grand) because I think I'm going to be in too much pain on race day to even notice.

A.S.

Anonymous said...

WOW.... this new course is sooo much better than what LM has been in the past...
Loved the scenery, challenging hills, and (on race day) all the spectators that will surely be there!
The kids with the bowls for drinking water out of were too cute!! Thanks for helping out....
And thanks to all who made this new course possible!
ps. Mary R, we really weren't talking about YOUR assests needing work as we headed up the hill on Lincoln!! We meant ours!! hahaha
Kari F.

Emily K said...

Okay Steve... I am a little jealous that you got to run with Kim and my coach!!!! :)

Any hoo, this coming weekend is our last long run for Kim and I. Along with Carl, we need you and Tim Mu. there too! You three started us... now you got to end it with us... :) Are you two in as well? Just a walk in the park for you guys! :)

Great job to all for running last Saturday!!!!!!!!! A challenge, no more... Now you're ready!!! :):):)

Anonymous said...

(steve)
Em, I'm hoping your feeling better. Sounds like it. Actually, didn't run with Kim at all, but we did speak at the beginning. Carl, Ollie and I hung together thru 4, then Carl and I pushed it out thru 7 together. After that it was everybody for themself! Sounds like you and Carl got a nice taste of the course earlier in the week.
I'd be happy to run with you, da coach, Kim and Tim again.

Anonymous said...

Hey Em,

Thanks for the compliment to think I could run with the big dogs! I know better to start out with them. You'd have to peel me off the street. I'm sure they ran fast. Like Steve said: every'man' for themself. We have to save some for our 26.2!!

Looking forward to your last run. I hope you feel better by then.

Kim N

Mary L. Rogers said...

Hey Kari F. - it just gave me more motivation to push my sorry asset right up those hills! You'd think after a year or so of running my asset off, I wouldn't have a whole lot left, but noooooo!

Think we flustered Paul a bit? Thanks for giving me something to smile at - it was pretty funny! Great job out there and it was great to run with you!

Emily K said...

Kim you ARE a big dog. I honor you! Anyone that can run a 20 on a Saturday then turn around and do another 20, 4 days later is considered a big dog!

PS you mean "our" last long run. Right? :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary, you're so funny! BTW, where's Pam in this blog? Pamela? Are you still out there?

Anonymous said...

Our little Pam was drinking Rum Runners in Naples!! Pretty rough life huh. We were going to run Mon. but she was stranded at the airport. I'll let her tell you the ordeal. I am running tonight at Washington Park. And that was a typo, I meant 'our' last run.

Kim

Anonymous said...

Emily, Carl and I and anyone else that is interested are running a 5K in Decatur on Saturday morning. I am supposed to meet Carl at Kmart at 7 AM. Tim MU

Emily K said...

Yes, Carl said tonight he was meeting you Saturday. So Kim, Carl and I switched our long run for Friday, 3:30 at Wash Park. Steve and Tim Mu can you join us then? :)
~~~~~~~~~~~

Mary R is this 5K Decatur run the same penguin run you were talking about? Sounds fun!

OH and Pam, I think being on vacation, drinking rum runners made you faster tonight... I am so jealous! :):):) Do you think that would be a good remedy for SLM?

Mary L. Rogers said...

Same race! It was a lot of fun last year and they served Chili afterwards (strangely weird, but yummy!) Lot of us penguins decided it would be a great way to honor being back of the packers!

Anonymous said...

Hi guys! Great run on Saturday!
Sorry about running out of cups. Wow I did not expect such a big crowd! My kids had fun with the water stop! They can't wait to do it again.
As for me I came out of the run ok and now seem to be laid up with a swollen ankle. I really wanted to make Tuesdays run, but I can't walk too well let alone run. Hopefully this heals by race day! Great to hear everyone is meeting their goals!!!!

Pam B.

Anonymous said...

(steve)
Em: Friday-it depends, how far are we going? Actually, if ya could wait till 3:40 it would help alot.
Let me know the distance, ok?
p.s. you good with rain?

Anonymous said...

Steve, looks like 18 to 20. Rain is like sweat... ya get wet right? :) I'll just tell Carl to not wear any mascara on Friday! :) Carl and I will wait for you!!! If anything happens, my cell is 652-2614. Hope to see ya! :)
-Em

Anonymous said...

Sorry Em I can't be there to run the last long with you guys. Hopefully next week we can hook up for an easy one.

Kim N.

Anonymous said...

Washington Park at 3;30 Fri. sounds like a plan. 18 to 20 miles will make 5K on Sat. seem easy(I hope). Tim Mu