Notes
39-52 deg., 95-79%
This race has become a perennial favorite of mine. It boasts one of the most scenic half marathon courses (even though for a majority of the race, I’m in no mental state to enjoy the scenery). However, its no easy course with about 400 ft in total elevation gain and loss; certain not a course conducive to running a PR. My training since Reach the Beach has really kicked up a notch and with 3 weeks to go until New York, this was truly a fitness test. Ideally, I would have liked to have scheduled a half with 4 weeks to go, but with my previous history with this race, I couldn’t miss it.
I’m very unsure of my fitness level this fall. Although I’ve been racing well and nailing my long runs, my mileage just has not been up to the level that I’ve wanted. As a result, my time goal was to try run something similar to last year’s time of 1:22 and not kill myself with marathon day 3 weeks away. Last year (link), I made the mistake of going out too hard and then doing a gradual fade over the 2nd half of the race. My heart rate was touching 175 for most of the first six mile, so this year I vowed to not to let it go to high into the 170s.
Temps were similar to last year, in the low 40s as I began my warm-up, but it was noticeably humid, bathing the emerald necklace in a soft mist. There have been quite a few October mornings this fall that have been cool but very humid. After my warm-up, I made a play for the port-a-potties but realized that with 5 minutes to go, it wasn’t happening. I ditched my duffel bag and found my BAA teammates at the start area. A teammate of mine, Peter, is also training for NYC and like me is training through the half. He was shooting for a similar time, so I thought it might work well if I ran with him at the beginning.
The first mile was an exercise in restraint. I kept the pace really comfortable, focusing on turning my legs over but relaxing overall. I was happy to a see a split of 6:13 with very little input in effort. Despite the cool weather, I was already sweating. I was trying to keep a couple other teammates (John Barrett and Lara Johnson) in sight, but far enough back that I wasn’t pressing. The 2nd mile was a little quick (6:09), but by the time we hit Jamaica Pond and the 3rd mile (6:26), I had settled into a comfortable groove and my average heart rate was 167-168… perfect! Mile 4 (6:08) took us by the Arboretum and over the Forest Hills flyover. At this point, you get an unobstructed view of the Boston skyline, but its tempered by the knowledge that you’ll have to run back up the flyover at mile 8. And then, we were in Franklin Park and staring up the one big climb of the course towards the zoo. Mile 5 served as my first surprised of the day. I was focusing on maintaining an even effort level but keeping my leg turnover quick. I was surprised by a 6:37 split, about 15 seconds faster than last year. (Dana Farber guy) At this point, I was keying off one my teammates and just trying to keep her in sight. The section through the zoo seemed longer than I remember, so when I hit mile 6 (6:01), I was again pleasantly surprised because I hadn’t upped the effort level much.
Last year, things began to unravel as I came out of the zoo. My legs felt tired and I was putting in extra effort to maintain my stride. This year, I felt really good and had something left for the 2nd half of the race. I was now in a group with a guy running for Dana Farber who seemed to know everyone as we passed the incoming runners. I was awed by how he was able to whoop and yell for almost two miles. Mile 7 (6:05) was predictably fast coming out of Franklin Park and now I was prepping for the flyover and the headwind. My friend was still yammering away, so it at least kept my mind off the climb. I was still keeping pace by mile 8 (6:09) and thoughts of a PR started stirring in my head. However, the stretch from mile 8-11 gave me a lot of trouble last year and it was no different this year. For some reason the sight of Jamaica Pond lulls me to sleep, so I zone out and slow down. I was keying off a couple guys in front just to try to keep my pace up. Mile 9 (6:16) wasn’t as bad as last year, and mile 10 (6:16) was a downhill, which limited the damage. I still felt like I had something left in the tank, but I also didn’t want to hammer the last 3 miles and shred my legs in the process. So I made the decision to just cruise in and see what kind of time I would end up with. Mile 11 was another slow one (6:23), but the hills were now behind me. Then penultimate mile was faster than I expected (6:06) and a PR was well within reach, and maybe even a 1:20. I picked it up a little after crossing the river and saw Josh just before the 13 mile marker urging me to get tough and pass the next runner. As the finish line came into view, I was pleased to see the third surprise of the day. The clock had just passed 1:21 and I was in store for a 20 second PR!
Overall a very satisfying race. I came in with really low expectations and despite cruising the last three miles, I still ran a PR.