Intro: I started my running journey back in winter 2008, finished the C25K program in January 2009, and started running more consistently in the fall of 2009 in training for my first race, a half marathon in Victoria, B.C., which I ran with a friend at a time of 2:33. Fast forward to 2013. I have since completed 2 full marathons, about a dozen half marathons, a 5k (only 1?!?), and a few 10k's. In 2011, I ran my first sub-2:00 half (Calgary half marathon, May 2011, 1:59). In 2012, I ran the same race with a 1:57:17.

On May 26^th, 2013, I ran the 49^th annual Calgary Half Marathon for the 4^th year in a row. I followed Ryan Hall's 10 week half training plan. (Averaged 32 mpw, 2 days/week speed, including one "cruise" intervals, and one tempo run per week.)  I used this plan last year, where I achieved my PR of 1:57, and I enjoyed the training, so I decided to do the same this time around. I had a slightly larger base over this past winter, so I thought between throwing in some extra miles here and there, and upping my speed paces some, it would serve me well. The reality? I missed a full week of training in March due to vacation/illness, so my average mpw turned out to be pretty much identical to last year. My speed/training paces were basically the same as last year. I slacked on my cross training and diet, and went into this race 6-7 pounds heavier than last year. So by the time race day rolled around, I was a little worried that any fitness gains from my consistent training would be cancelled out.

The weather was absolutely perfect for this race. It was about 6C at the 7 a.m. race start, and I think around 12C at 9 a.m. I wore shorts and a tank, and definitely never got too warm. I might have been more comfortable in capris and a tee, but I was afraid it would be too warm by the end of the race. Turns out, that wasn't a factor.  I would have been much happier with my professional race photos had I worn capris.  Noted.

My husband and I drove downtown to the race together. He ran the 10k that day. We got to the start line with an hour to spare, unlike last year, where I missed the starting gun while in line for the port-a-potty. I didn't want to make that error again, with 11,000 total runners participating in all the events.

The course is a flat course, that starts and ends at Stampede Park, runs through parts of downtown Calgary, and parts along the Bow River.  The half and full runners start together and branch off partway through.  Lining up at the start line, my goal for this race was to beat last year's time. I thought a 1:55 might be a reasonable goal time. I did very little warmup before the race. I jogged for a couple minutes, and did 2 or 3 strides. I planned to ease into my race pace over the first couple of miles, so I aimed for about 30 sec off pace 1^st mile, 15 sec off 2^nd mile, then hoped to hold 8:4x over the rest of the race.

My result:

1:56:46 chip time

1034/3059 overall

362/1769F

42/215 AG

I followed my strategy to a tee during most of the race, and I felt great up through mile 11. Slowed through 1 or 2 water stops early on, then again around mile 7 to wash down a gel. I pushed the pace a bit starting around mile 8 because I still felt really good. I think maybe I should have just maintained my pace, because it turns out, I paid for it during that last mile. And don't tell anyone, but I actually ran last year's race 2 sec/mile faster. I just ran the tangents better this time!

Splits:

9:08

8:58

8:50

8:47

8:43

8:51

8:44

8:49

8:37

8:38

8:42

8:51

9:13

8:47

(8:50 avg pace)

Here is a pic my friend took about the halfway point, and you can see I'm still feeling great.  I was excited to see her - she made a sign that said "Pass 'em all Paula" - too cute!!

We never got a finish pic at the race.  i meant to, but after finishing, we grabbed some food and water, and were just making our way back to the finish area just as 10 people crossed the finish line in 2:55 - tied together!! - to break the world record.  Then we stayed to cheer on a couple friends who were coming in after running the full (husband and wife ran together, 3:40x, first time marathoners, 25 mpw training!)

So no finish line pic, but here I am at home celebrating with my older daughter:

Conclusion: I'm happy to say I ran a PR, however slight.  I don't think it's reasonable to toe the line of the same race with the same training and expect a much different result.  I was hoping my consistent training over the past year would have brought me further, but the other factors I mentioned surely played a role.  I'm hoping everything will line up perfectly for next year.  And I may even put in more miles in my training, who knows.  (It's tough to get more miles in on weekends due to family obligations, but I'm considering more weekday miles next time around.)

Slight or not, a PR is always a PR. Thanks for sharing a brief history on your running, that was cool. Also, those are some nice splits, very consistent!

Great job on the race and congrats on the PR.  I agree with LRB.  I think you did great considering all the osbtacles you had during the training and the slight weight gain.

Great job running even though you missed a week of training! I've been looking at the Ryan Hall training and I have to say that I'd be interested in using it for my next HM training.

Nice results Paula, looks like you handled a difficult course, seeing as your paces went down but then up as you tired.

Might I suggest that in your next cycle you try to push your training paces a bit.  Perhaps you were too comfortable this time on similar mileage and similar paces, thus stunting your improvement?  Maybe pick up paces off of a goal time from McMillan, starting out at the slower end of the range and then hopefully getting quicker as you get to your goal race.  Either that or head to Vancouver to run with B-Plus, he will make you run faster, lol.

Luke, I agree.  8's do look so much better than 9's!

Jack Klompus - I didn't find the 2 days a week speedwork all that challenging, personally.  I used the long program, so my interval paces were not truly hard efforts, only HMGP, typically.  I found the tempo runs to be more challenging (obviously?), since it was basically the same pace just held for the entire run.  What pace did you use for the interval days?

Fouroutta5 -thanks for the advice.  I agree.  I think I was too conservative this round, and definitely could have pushed the pace, either on the interval days, or the easy days, or both.

Congrats Paula! I'm a big fan of the RH plan too. Sometimes I couldn't do all 3 of the workouts during a week, but sometimes I could. If your base will support it, maybe try to get all 3 of the workouts in. My last cycle netted a 9+ min PR. Like Jack, I used somewhere between 5k and 10k pace for most of the intervals, but I sometimes was able to drop the paces into the 3k pace range. Nice pic of you and your daughter.

George, thanks, you're right.  I'm totally pleased to be in the top 25% (top 20%, even better!).  Not to mention, 12 women in my age group crossed the finish line in the minute before me.  Oh, if only the "reel 'em in" mantra in my head had allowed me to push that last mile...

Zen - with next year's race being the 50th, I'm considering training through our crappy winter just so I can experience running the full marathon in 2014.

hog4life - a 9 min PR is great.  I will definitely take a closer look at my speed work next time around.