New Years Double 2015/2016 (Read 81 times)

SHORT VERSION:

New Years Double, Allen, TX – Half-marathons

12/31/2015 – 1:41:17 – 2^nd AG, 22^nd overall

1/1/2016 – 1:44:24 – 2^nd AG, 22^nd overall

LONG VERSION:

Two things stand out to me from this year’s races: (1) how great a job the Active Joe does in organizing these events, and (2) how surprised I was in doing so well, considering the lack of proper training.

If you ever get the chance to race one of the Active Joe events in the Dallas area, be sure to do so.  Libby does a wonderful job – and she has a great way of rolling with the punches, no matter what gets thrown at her.  In addition, the bling is simply awesome…these medals are among the best I’ve seen.  (If the pic comes through, the medal on the right is the challenge plate & 2 medals from the 5K, the one on the left is the challenge plate & 2 medals from the half.  The two glasses are my AG awards.)

As for me, I wasn’t able to get the race-specific training I wanted.  Due to some other running events that got pushed back (primarily a 50K that needed to get done), I wasn’t able to do the amount of speed-work that I normally would have wanted to get in prior to half-marathons.  With that in mind, I figured I’d try going out strong & just seeing how well I could hang on to things.

As it turned out, I hung on just fine!  The weather was absolutely perfect the 1^st day: 37* at the start, partly cloudy, little wind…couldn’t have asked for better.  I went out with the lead pack, and they shot out of the gate much faster than I anticipated.  Once I saw we hit a 6:36 pace & they were still accelerating, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep it up. I backed it off, getting 7:05 for my 1^st mile, but settling in around a 7:20 pace for the next few miles.  By mile 5, I was going between 7:30-7:45 for pretty much the remainder of the race, and aside from a bit of temporary tightness in my left hamstring around mile 10, I felt really good.  Keeping in mind that I hadn’t averaged those paces for any significant distance during the past few months, I was pretty thrilled just to keep in safely under 8:00.  As it turned out, it was good enough for 2^nd in my AG, which was a bit of a surprise to me.  Official splits: Mile 3.6 = 27:28, 6.55 = 49:49, 10.15 = 1:18:54, 13.1 = 1:41:17. 2^nd out of 35 in my division, 22/596 overall.

By the way…the full marathon winner that day set a course record: 2:39:52.  The guy was flying!

The next day, my hamstrings and quads were (understandably) sore, so I really wasn’t sure what I’d be able to do.  The ambient temperature was around 39*, but we had a 10-12mph wind from the north which made things really cold.  I knew I wasn’t going to be able to start out as fast as I did the day before, which was quickly evident from my 7:24 pace.  I was able to get it to around 7:15 for a while, but by mile 6 I was starting to struggle to keep it around 7:50.  Between the fatigue & wind, I had dropped to 8:17 by mile 12, and I was figuring any AG placement was out of reach.  Quite to my surprise, it wasn’t.  I placed exactly the same as I had the previous day…I guess everyone was as tired as I was. :-)  Official splits: Mile 3.6 = 27:42, 6.55 = 50:13, 10.15 = 1:19:55, 13.1 = 1:44:24.  2^nd out of 29 in my division, 22/477 overall.

The winner of the half that day ran a really fast 1:09:50, and the winner of the full was the same guy as the day before, this time in 2:52:01.  I’m quite amazed that he could run 2 sub-3 marathons back-to-back!

What a great race event…it’s become an annual tradition for my family as my dear bride runs the 5K & I do the half.  It’s something we always look forward to.

Well done, Tim, congrats! What a cool way to end the old and start the new year! And the medals are really nice.

I know...it's like RA didn't get the message.    Thanks so much!

Since we won't be on the same team after being together 3 years, I guess I HAVE to do NYD so I can say hi!  

Congrats on the races. Great times both days!  Saw the winner times on the fb page...truly unbelievable.