A track for every step of the way for the Hartford Half Marathon

elwoodiciouselwoodicious
edited October 2012 in whirling dervish
This Saturday will be the culmination of 6 months of training to run a half marathon (13.1 miles or 20km). For me it is a particular feat of reversing some 12 years of poor health decisions (last year was the year of dropping 80lbs) and trying to build a base fitness level that will allow me to run that distance. So far I've hit that distance twice right around the 2 hour mark so I'm hoping I can just squeeze underneath 120 minutes. To help me do that I've put together the world's single most obvious playlist...
Up And Running - Vangelis
Running Family - Cale Parks
Midnight Runner - Cut Copy
Another Runaway - Ladyhawke
Run The Heart - Sleigh Bells
Run For Your Life - DJ Shadow
Run The Line (feat. Rasco and QBert) - Peanut Butter Wolf
Runnin' - Amerigo Gazaway of Gummy Soul
Summertime Running - Mos Dub
Run For Your Life - Jackie Paris & Ranking Trevor - Jackie Paris & Ranking Trevor
Road Runner - Sounds Unlimited - Sounds Unlimited
Run Them A Run - Willi Williams
Run Free - Dennis Ferrer feat K.T. Brooks - Dennis Ferrer feat K.T. Brooks
Cut And Run - Beat Service
Run, Go! - The Seldon Plan
Runaway Return - Fugazi
Let Them Run - Bibi Tanga & The Selenites
Take the Money and Run - McAlmont and Nyman
Long Distance Runaround - Wendy Lewis - The Bad Plus
Keep Running Away - Clifford Nyren
Long Distance Runner - Fugazi
Run Right Back - The Black Keys
Runaways - Plants and Animals
Turd On The Run - The Rolling Stones
Runaway Baby - Bruno Mars
Run - Vampire Weekend
Turn and Run - Alice Russell
Run Away - Joy & The Hit Kids
Jungle Run - The Cactus Channel
Running - Baby Huey
Run And Hide (Feat. Deborah Jordan) - Live Tropical Fish
You Better Run - Renegades Of Jazz
Muswell Hill Run - Polyversal Souls
Running Dry [Requiem For The Rockets] - Neil Young with Crazy Horse
Time Is Running Out Fast - James Brown

It clocks in at 2 hours 20 minutes and 45 seconds so I should have plenty of flex if my body decides it would rather trot than stride.
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Comments

  • greggreg
    Best wishes Elwoodicious - do let us know how you get on, and, maybe a photograph.
  • GermanprofGermanprof
    Consider this virtual cheering on from the sidelines!
  • elwoodiciouselwoodicious
    Thanks! Should be a good day if the forecast holds out....

    racedayweather.png
  • thomnottomthomnottom
    Good luck, you definitely need to let us know how it goes.

    Seeing you post about your running is slowly kicking my butt into the realization that I need to do something, too.
  • RudieRudie
    Have a great race and have fun!
  • BrighternowBrighternow
    I'm a Roadrunner, honey . . .
  • denverdenver
    edited October 2012
    To me, of course, the most obviously missing and necessary track would be Born To Run. Beyond that, some other ideas:

    Trouble Comes Running - Spoon
    Runaway - Del Shannon, or by the Traveling Wilburys
    Run On - Tom Jones (if you can overlook the gospel lyrics)
    Runnin' Down A Dream - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (preferably from the Live album)
    Run (I'm a Natural Disaster) - Gnarls Barkley (along with BtR the best of this bunch: lots & lots of energy) video
  • DoofyDoofy
    Respect the Doobie Bros, is all I'm saying!
  • amclark2amclark2
    Roadrunner, roadrunner, goin' faster miles an hour, wit the radio on! Good luck and have fun if that's possible!
  • elwoodiciouselwoodicious
    Hartford_Half_121013.png

    My iPhone crashed at mile 10.74 so I had to edit the map to reflect completion. Up until them I was maintaining a 7:45 minute mile but quite literally hit the wall at mile 11 and struggled to finish the race, surprisingly still faster than my last two attempts which clocked in at 2 hours and 2:03 respectively.

    Thank you to everyone here for all the support, encouragement, and music recommendations over the last 18 months. I would not have been able to drop all that weight and run today's race without all of you cheering me on. Thank you!
  • DoofyDoofy
    Awesome, congrats - always suprised how people are out there finishing these races before I've even finished my weekend pancakes!
  • elwoodiciouselwoodicious
    Hartford_Half_Official_Results_2012.png

    Did even better than I had thought!
  • GermanprofGermanprof
    Congratulations! Great time! Top quarter of the field is not at all bad either!
  • denverdenver
    Wow, great!
  • DoofyDoofy
    We'll be checking back later for those video clips, though
  • Bad ThoughtsBad Thoughts
    Excellent work! (I thought you lived in Windham?)
  • elwoodiciouselwoodicious
    I did live in Windham county decades ago...now I feel aged. THANKS! ;-)
  • Bad ThoughtsBad Thoughts
    ???

    You just ran a 1/2 marathon. How could you feel anything but young!
  • elwoodiciouselwoodicious
    My heart is feeling young but my body is feeling centuries old this morning. However, I am exceedingly excited to begin training for a full marathon in about a month.
  • greggreg
    Well done, what a great time - any photos? And best wishes for the full marathon...
  • elwoodiciouselwoodicious
    Just one short clip of me sprinting like a lunatic across the finish line. Bib 9177 if you want to try and spot me, I'm all clad head to toe in black spandex and running like a 5 year old playing Batman.
  • RudieRudie
    Fantastic! Well done and congratulations!
  • thomnottomthomnottom
    Congrats! That's really awesome. Good luck on the marathon and keep us posted.
  • elwoodiciouselwoodicious
    edited October 2012
    racedayfinishface.png
    Race Day Finish Face
  • RudieRudie
    Looks like you even had energy for a sprint at the end - impressive!
  • BrighternowBrighternow
    impressive indeed . . .

    This might be a stupid question but, does your shoes have toes ?
  • elwoodiciouselwoodicious
    Not a dumb question at all, I switched over to Vibram Five Fingers for running late last year after experiencing some hip pain with the Asics I had been using. It's basically like running barefoot but without the whole hookworm and "omfg broken glass" experience, though acorns and small stones are absolute caltrops. I've enjoyed them enough that I've pretty much given up on traditional shoes and am wearing my burned out pairs of Vibrams as daily footwear. Probably not for everyone, especially if you have a think about your toes, but I've managed to log 520 miles in them this year. We'll see what the coming months bring as I bring my weekly mileage up to 65-80 for marathon training. :-)
  • DoofyDoofy
    I have an exercise class where the instructor and one of the guys are "5-Fingers" fans. They discuss and admire new models with a passion once reserved for Mustangs and Camaros.
  • elwoodiciouselwoodicious
    Yeah, I'm admittedly a VFF junkie...

    vibrams.jpg
  • thomnottomthomnottom
    I like being barefoot and have considered picking up a pair of those if I ever get my act together to actually run in the morning (my attempt this year only lasted a week before work interfered).

    Of course I'd rather just go biking...
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