Half Marathon Trainers

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New Milford 8 mile road race (Read 383 times)

    New Milford 8 Mile Road Race…very glad I finally ran this. One of the area’s iconic races (44th running and CT’s 3rd oldest race), and I’ve wanted to run it since we moved here 5 years ago. Has to be an old race, because no one who wanted to build a returning customer base for this thing would design it the way it is today – with a ridiculous hill at the end (check my log for the elevation profile, it’s nasty).

     

    Anyway, this was a good wakeup call in my half-marathon training for how not to pace and how not to hydrate. In the end, my time was okay, but I could have run a much smarter (and probably faster) race.

     

    My workout Wed was supposed to be to dial in race pace, so ran a fartlek with what were supposed to be 3 half mile 6:20’s. I ran them all way too fast (2:45 or so). Very hard for me to get the feel of the in-between pace. I can run a 5:50 and I can run a 6:50, but nailing in-between is an issue.

     

    Anyway, was feeling great in the first mile, pretty comfortable…and then the girl giving splits at mile one said “5:38”…and I felt panic. Holy crap. That’s not good. And was unsettled from there on out. Looking back at the splits now, they kind of make sense, given the course.

    1. 5:38
    2. 11:50
    3. 18:24
    4. 24:45
    5. 31:30
    6. 37:30 (I think)
    7. 45:30 (I think)
    8. 51:37

    That slow mile up to 7 is the crazy hill.

     

    The other big lesson from today was my hydration management. It sucked. Yes, it was warm today, but there were 8 water stations on a 8 mile course, plenty of opportunity to fill up. And I tried, I just wasn’t very good at drinking from the cup at that pace. Something I need to practice. Both calves seized up right after mile 6 (actually right when Beat – another RA guy – passed me). So the last 2 miles were an unnecessarily painful struggle.

     

    So, encouraging for my HM goal in 9 weeks, but plenty to learn from. Great day. Lots of fun. They have a guy playing a fiddle as you slog up the big hill and a big fat smiley face painted on the road at the top.

     

    Onward.

    Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
    We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes

      Great Race h2bubbles - you beat your goal time right? Smile

       

      That hill looks mean, 250ft up in about 3/4 mile.

       

      As you say; lessons learned & onwards!

      2017 Goals
      1) Run more than 231 miles
      2) Be ready for  HM in the spring


      Petco Run/Walk/Wag 5k

        H2: great job on the race. that hill looks like a killer! not sure I could have walked it let alone ran it...

        bob e v
        2014 goals: keep on running! Is there anything more than that?

        Complete the last 3 races in the Austin Distance Challenge, Rogue 30k, 3M Half, Austin Full

        Break the 1000 mi barrier!

        History: blessed heart attack 3/15/2008; c25k july 2008 first 5k 10/26/2008 on 62nd birthday.

          Thanks Bob. I was definitely looking for the non-existant chair lift about halfway up...only good part was you go down just as steep the other side.

          Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
          We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes