The Road to the OUC Half Marathon (Orlando, FL - 12/4/10)

On December 4th, the City of Orlando will host the 35th running of the Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) Half Marathon and 5k. There's an expected 3,500 runners participating in the event this year, which is absolutely huge considering the popularity of other running events in the area. By comparison, the Lake Baldwin Half Marathon run just this past weekend (November 13, 2010) had only 267 finishers. Needless to say, there's going to be a fun turnout. This years OUC 13.1 will be produced by Track Shack, who has a long history in the Orlando area's running community and always make sure races go off without a hitch. If you're interested in signing up for the half marathon or the 5k you can do so at SignMeUp.

My Race History:

This will be my first time running this particular race and am absolutely looking forward to it. Training up to this race has been going very smoothly so far and I'm not forseeing too many issues involving the distance or the course. The wild card here is going to be the weather. As the good state of Florida tends to do in early December, it can either be a chilly and brisk race morning or it can be unseasonably warm and muggy, making for a sweatfest. Personally I'm hoping for my favorite raceday weather: cool, brisk, and cloudy.

Geography:

The course here is flat as expected and rolls through a many of the old-style neighborhoods that surround downtown Orlando. This will include brick roads, so staying aware of where your feet land will be a priority during the race. There will be a lot of shade on this course thankfully, especially in the later miles when the sun will be higher in the sky Looking at the course map, there's already a feature on this course that will cause me a little concern and that's the abundance of really long straightaways. We're talking straights that range between a mile and 2.5 miles it looks like. If it's a little hilly this usually isn't an issue. For me, looking straight down 2.5 miles of flat road feels psychologically difficult. The road that never ends! Feeling like there's going to be a lot of distracting myself through miles 4, 5, and 6 on this one.

Straightaways. For freaking miles.

PDF course map here.

Goal Setting:

This is by no means an A race. It's more of a distance test than anything. My PR for the half marathon is a little below 1:32 right now and I'm nowhere near that type of fitness currently. Holding a 7:30/mi pace for 13.1 mi seems to be a hard effort within my abilities and would put me at a 1:38:15 finishing time. I'll go ahead and range it out and say that a sub - 1:40:00 would make me happy at the end of the day.

Weapon of Choice:

Going to go with my new best friend, the Brooks Launch. These puppies haven't let me down yet and are more than enough shoe to get through a half mary.

I laugh at your straightaways.

Last Year's Swag: