Las Vegas Half Marathon
I finished walking the Las Vegas Half Marathon in 3:04:06. It was a PR for me as far as walking a half marathon goes, beating my old PR of 3:08. The pace average was 14:03, faster than I had walked any of my practice walks.
I actually had multiple goals that I was shooting for. My first goal was to finish in under 3:15 (the time Brad needed to qualify for Boston). My second goal was to beat Brad, whatever his time. My third goal was to beat 3:08 (which is the fastest I have ever walked a half marathon), and my highest goal was to finish in under 3 hours.
I hit all but the last goal. When I replay the half marathon in my mind, I just don’t see how I could have saved those four minutes. I did take a bio-pit stop at mile four, but I don’t think I would have wanted to go two more hours without stopping. The rest of the time, I was going as fast as I could. Oh well, it would have been nice, but I know I gave it my all.
For those of you that don’t know, my Las Vegas Half Marathon started as a bet. Brad, who is trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon, was going to run the Las Vegas marathon. He needs a time of 3:15 to qualify for Boston. I think I mentioned something about having walked a half marathon once in 3:08, and Brad was skeptical - first about my having actually walked a half that fast, then about whether or not I could do it again since I was “younger” and “lighter” back then. I don’t remember exactly how the conversation got started, but I do remember the result. The bet was on!!!
The bet was simple. Brad bet me I couldn’t walk a half marathon faster than he could run the marathon. And I couldn’t run any of it.
I was really worried about the new fangled chip technology they used - throw away chips. There were about 18,000 participants, and I started near the back. It took me 17 minutes to get to the start line. I envisioned in my head the chip not working, and me telling Brad I actually finished 17 minutes faster than the clock time - to no avail! But the chip worked great, and my time was logged.
Brad also set a PR for this run, but missed the time needed for Boston. My preference would have been for Brad to qualify for Boston and still lose to me - then I would have really rubbed it in. But Brad gave his all and came up a little short. It was still a great effort on his part, and I’m sure he will qualify for Boston in time.
Thanks to all of you who have been cheering me on the last few months. It was a fun challenge, and I am definitely in walking shape now. Now if there was only something constructive I could do with good walking shape…
Workout:
- Type: Walk
- Date: 12/02/2007
- Time: 06:00:00
- Total Time: 3:04:06.00
- Average Heart rate: 150
- Calories: 2468
- Distance: 13.1 miles
- Average Pace: 14:03.09/mile
Filed under: 2007 Resolutions, Goals, Half Marathon, Las Vegas Half Marathon, Uncategorized, Walking, Workout, fitness, fitness over 40, fitness over forty, male over forty, over forty
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