I was excited when the debut of this race was first announced, because it's only 4 miles from my house, then a little less so when realizing it was scheduled only 3 weeks after my intended goal marathon. In any case, I figured it was so close I had to do it, even if feeling only up to a jog.
My running has not been doing so great since the marathon. Putting up some miles, but mostly at slow recovery-ish pace, and feeling sluggish & achy. I figured this thing would end up as a fun run. On Thursday I decided to throw a bunch of strides in my run, and they felt pretty comfortable. Gave me a little hope.
I actually slept like crap last night, could not get to sleep till very late. And didn't feel so great in the AM. Weather was OK; 45 degrees at the start, expected to warm up to 50, although pretty windy. As I left the house it started to drizzle, but fortunately didn't last.
It felt pretty chilly when I got there. My bib was pinned to a short sleeve shirt, but I had an extra LS layer & disposable arm socks at the ready. I jogged very easy for just a mile to warm up, wearing a jacket. If nothing else it helped warm up my body temp, so I was OK starting the race in just the t-shirt. Although my arms & hands went kind of numb the first couple miles.
I decided to start out at my PR pace (~8:15), and see how it went. I figured once you start slow, you can never make up the time if you realize you are feeling good. And if I blew up in this race, no big deal. So here are the splits; it will go without saying I was feeling good:
1 - 8:21
2 - 8:11
3 - 8:17
4 - 8:09
5 - 8:14
6 - 8:17
7 - 8:04
8 - 8:06
9 - 7:52
10- 7:49
11- 7:37
12- 7:35
13- 7:13
Official net time 1:45:20 (PR by ~3 min)
OA rank 83/709
AG rank 7/35
There was an official split at 10 miles. For the first 10, my AG rank was 11; over the final 3.1, I was 3rd. If only they gave awards for sandbagging.
Things were starting to get uncomfortable at 11-12; the last mile was pretty brutal, much like the end of a marathon, and felt like I could easily puke if given the opportunity. But obviously I was pushing it pretty hard at that point.
So it was cool to have a big negative split like that. (Actually pretty similar to my last HM, except ~15 sec/mile faster throughout.) But not sure what it means in terms of what my pace should have been if I was running it right, to be able to use it to calculate training paces and/or goals for other races. I guess the only way to know for sure is to race again.
Next race is a 10k on Memorial Day. A first time for me; I have no idea how to run (or train for) one of those.
Some other comments:
Dave
Runs4Sanity
Those are awesome splits Dave, congrats on an awesome PR!
Edited: I was first to comment!
*Do It For Yourself, Do It Because They Said It Was Impossible, Do It Because They Said You Were Incapable*
PRs
5k - 24:15 (7:49 min/mile pace)
10k - 51:47 (8:16 min/mile pace)
15k -1:18:09 (8:24 min/mile pace)
13.1 - 1:53:12 (8:39 min/mile pace)
26:2 - 4:14:55 (9:44 min/mile)
Excellent!
A 1:45:20 evenly paced is an 8:02, but that you were able to go so deep in the 7:00's late in the race suggests you are probably faster than that. This race is a confidence builder though and you probably are sub-1:40 material (7:37) or better.
As for you and your boss after today's race I would say you went from this:
To this:
Former Bad Ass
I did tell you three weeks was enough to recover a d race strongly, no?
Congratulations!
Damaris
Well done. Told you that you were fit enough to pr.
Uffda
You crushed it Dave! Congrats on the PR. I think it was a wise strategy given the unknown of how you'd feel.
- Andrew
uʍop ǝpᴉsdn sǝʇᴉɹʍ ʇI
Very, very cool!. Either you really ran the hell out of it or you recovered way quicker than you thought. Probably both. Your 10k should be interesting as well because that is three weeks off and you should be feeling good by then. Those are great splits. I am bad at doing minutes and seconds in my head but that is obviously a HUGE negative split for you. I don't take any water or fuel in a HM, either. Tremendous race, Dave and good luck with your future career.
Congratulations on such a great race so soon after your marathon efforts. That's a nice negative split.
delicate flower
Dude...the last six miles were done in progression.
I HEREBY PROCLAIM DAVE'S HM PR IS "SOFT."
Heck of a race, Dave. Great job.
As far as your 10K goes, you should start off feeling slightly uncomfortable and get increasingly uncomfortable from there. With a half mile to go, you should be wondering if you're going to make it to the finish. Good luck! 10K's are a lot of fun.
<3
Great job, Dave! Congratulations on running a strong race and crushing your old PR! I agree with Rich, you've probably got a sub-1:40 HM in you.
Eric
elevenses
Congrats, DaveP!
Well done, Dave!
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
Nice PR and awesome negative split! Time to get after sub-1:45?
Wow Dave, look at them negative splits! Congrats on the big PR.
interesting what the cumulative effects of training can do when you don't expect it...great race and PR...congrats!
marathon pr - 3:16