PF Chang’s Half Marathon 2013 – more analysis

The pictures are not here yet, but here are my projected versus actual times:

      Projected               Actual
Mile       Pace    Time           Pace     Time
==================================
1 0:08:15 0:08:15 0:07:57 0:07:57
2   0:08:00 0:16:15   0:07:49 0:15:46
3   0:07:30 0:23:45   0:07:24 0:23:10
4   0:07:35 0:31:20   0:07:30 0:30:40
5   0:07:40 0:39:00   0:07:35 0:38:15
6   0:07:30 0:46:30   0:07:21 0:45:36
7   0:07:35 0:54:05   0:07:21 0:52:57
8   0:07:40 1:01:45   0:07:28 1:00:25
9   0:07:40 1:09:25   0:07:30 1:07:55
10 0:07:25 1:16:50   0:07:11 1:15:06
11   0:07:15 1:24:05   0:06:57 1:22:03
12   0:07:20 1:31:25   0:07:09 1:29:12
13   0:07:05 1:38:30   0:07:09 1:36:21
13.11 0:06:45 1:39:14   0:06:27 1:37:03
==================================

The only thing that bothered me during the race was my heartrate belt. Not only was my heartrate inaccurate for the first fifteen minutes, the stupid belt is just uncomfortable and inconvenient. Technology has evolved so we can wear the smallest of microchips to monitor the slightest movements, but heartrate monitoring technology remains in the dark ages. Note to Garmin and Polar and whoever else is listening: just because it is called a “heartrate monitor” doesn’t mean you have to get it from the heart. All you are monitoring is the pulse; you can get it from the wrist or the neck. Please fix this and millions of people will be happy.

Back to the race: as you can see from the above table, I did pretty much every mile a few seconds faster than expected. Overall, my time was just a bit more than 2 minutes faster, but more importantly, I felt great throughout the race. The weather was perfect, the start was perfect, I hardly had to weave through traffic and I was able to take the shortest route possible (other than slight variations in passing people). I was able to handle uphills at a smooth pace and downhills at an accelerated pace.

Results are up and here are my official stats:
Overall: 488 out of 13,344
Division (M 45-49): 41 out of 686
Gender (M): 388 out of 5,500
5k split: 23:52
10k split: 47:07
Finish: 1:37:03
Pace: 7:25 / mile
As for the workout today, I swam at Lifetime Fitness for about 30 minutes to loosen my legs, and then sit in the hottub for a few minutes.

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