My next HM is coming up this Sunday.  I was really hoping for a PR.  My HM time from this spring was 1:40:24 and my PR is technically a 1:39:25.  Though there was a year or two that I was doing 10 milers in 1:08-1:09 and I think I would have been closer to 1:30 HM time if I had run one during those time periods.  But I digress.

My left hip has been bothering me a lot this week, which sucks coming up on race day.  I am supposed to be doing some speed work tomorrow - just 4-6 400s at 5K pace and I'm on the fence as to whether I should do them or not.  Part of me thinks I should just do an easy 5-6 miles instead, but part of me thinks that doing the shorter speed work may work out the kinks in my hip, but if it doesn't it could make it worse.  It will more than likely be a decision I make last minute tomorrow morning - maybe I'll try to do like 2 of them and see how it feels.

Aside from that it will be a lot of stretching, ibuprofen and foam rolling to try to get the knots and kinks out so hopefully my legs will be fresh for Sunday morning.  The week before race day always stresses me out.

Take the easy run and skip the speedwork. You are late in the process and better to be rested going into the race than risk making it worse.

MT, this year, my first half of the year was my PW (extreme cold) and my last half of the year was my second worst (running at someone else's pace). Run this one coming up and finish. Sometimes that all you can do. A PW worst won't kill you. It might bruise the ego a bit, but you'll survive. Even if it's a PW for you, I bet it'll still be way faster than my PR.

Thanks guys - took your advice and did an easy run this morning of just under 5 miles.  It was a bit hillier than I had wanted to do, but hip felt okay.  Stretched after and will stretch again later today.

Just a mile tomorrow and then maybe 2 or so on Saturday to keep the legs loose.  Then race day!!!  We'll see what happens.

Thanks again - MT, best of luck on Saturday to you.

So the race went okay.  I didnt quite get a PR - came in at 1:39:47 so I missed it by 22 seconds.  But it was a beautiful day for a race.

I got to the venue (Cambridgeside Galleria) and it was a little chilly - around 34 degrees.  But the good thing was it was hosted by the mall so everyone could stay warm inside while they waited for the start - bad part was this mall only seemed to have one bathroom so the line was pretty long.  But I dumped my bag with a friends running group and did my warm up run - everything felt pretty good and loose - a few strides and I hit the start line.  It was a bit warmer and there were a lot of people so I had on some throwaway gloves and hat but didnt wear the long sleeves.

First three miles were packed in really tight, and there were a few sections where you would all be in the street and then it would bottleneck a little as you all had to stay on a sidewalk or transferred onto a bike path, so these miles were a little slower than I'd hoped

Mile 2 (I mised the first mile marker) - 15:35, so about 7:45mpm

Mile 3 - 7:42

Then it started to open up a little and there was a bit more space between runners and the next 5 miles went pretty well and I felt good.

Mile 4 - 7:30

Mile 5 - 7:19

MIle 6 - 7:20

Mile 7 - 7:37 - not sure what happened here where my pace dipped a bit.  I think that was a time we hit narrow stretch of road and I got boxed in behind a wall of people for about a 1/4 mile

Mile 8 - 7:22

And then the sciatica pain started to hit pretty hard.  It's not too bad and I do find that if I just back the pace off a bit it subsides to something tolerable but I dont try to push harder when it hits because that can set me back weeks in the aftermath of the race.  So my pace slipped for the rest of the race.

Mile 9 - 7:42

Mile 10 - 7:40

MIle 11 - 7:41

Mile 12 - 7:47

MIle 13 - 7:38

Mile 13.1  -  0:47 - I did push a bit when I saw the finish line because I thought I might be close to a PR but didnt look at my watch.   But man, that last road seemed like it was way longer than 0.1 miles.

Overall I'm pretty happy - even wehn the sciatica hit, I just backed off a bit and my paces were slower but still pretty consistent.  And coming within 22 seconds of a PR from 11 years ago isn't too bad.  Also, if I do the math, my middle 7 miles were faster than my Falmouth Road Race 7 mile time from this summer - even my last 7 miles were faster than that time so there seems to be some increase in fitness there at least.  And I was faster than my HM in March

Next HM will be in March.  going to go to PT to see if they can help the pain issues and I'll get the PR then.

Congrats on the race!

 

My brother ran that, his time was very, very close to yours (1 minute behind you). Sounded cold, and sounded like the turns were not a lot of fun.

Yes, there were a LOT of turns - also another time that we got jammed up.