Santa Barbara half marathon: sweet revenge RR (Read 465 times)

Last year I was disappointed in my time in this race. I had run 1:29:07 in May and my training had gone reasonably well. My plan was just to PR on a tougher course, ideally to get close to 1:28. Unfortunately I think I underestimated how much the hills on the course would affect me. The course is not exactly tough but has about 400’ of hills, about 250’ in the first few miles and then another 150’ between miles 8 and 10. Last year I was on target up until that second set of hills. The hills themselves were okay but I just couldn’t pick my pace back up for the last, flat, three miles to the finish. These were at 7.10 pace (instead of my goal 6:40) and I finished in 1:29:59. Not bad, but frustrating to see no improvement after 6 months of training. This year I was looking for revenge. Unfortunately I wasn’t going to be satisfied with 1:28 this year and was looking for sub-1:27 and, all going well, 1.26. (6.35 pace is 1:26:15) The weather was ideal for running, cool after some overnight rain. The start was very prompt at 8am and I had no difficulty lining up in about the third row. The race is the largest local race with about 1200 people so is either a small large race or a large small race depending which way you look at it. The vast majority of the participants are locals and there’s a pretty nice community vibe about it I went out a little too fast as usual but overall I was pleased with the first three miles which take you up the first hill and then up and down through a neighborhood. (6.13, 6.35, 6.42). You then head back down that same hill and past the start heading in the other direction so miles four and five were fast (6.06, 6.14). I was pleased that I could gain this time on the downhill without it feeling too tough. I hoped I wouldn’t regret it later. The course now runs along the Santa Barbara waterfront for about three flat miles. (6.43, 6.33, 6.36). I like long straight stretches like this because you can get into a good groove. Miles nine and ten are up a hill, down a hill, a short flat stretch, around a cone and then back the same way, up the hill and down the hill. I got to see everyone in front of me and counted off about 30. I missed the 9 mile split but my 10 mile split worked out at 6.54 pace for both these miles. Not bad, but the big question was that after two tough miles (not to mention the eight before them), would I be able to pick the pace back up to something around 6.35 for the long, but flat, 3 miles back to the finish? In contrast to last year where I saw my goal slipping away on these miles, this year I got to see my goal becoming more and more realistic. Mile 11 was 6.40, and, more importantly, I wasn’t dead on my feet yet. Mile 12 was 6.31, even better. It looked like I might sneak under 1:26 if I could keep up this pace for the final mile. Coming into the finishing chute I could see the clock ticking up to the minute but managed to just get under, in 1:25:55 – so the final 1.1 was at 6.34 pace, which, coincidentally, was also my average pace for the whole race. Not a PR, since I did a very flat half just 4 weeks ago in 1:25:41, but since I was only 14 seconds shy of that time I was very pleased. It’s amazing what 12 months and 2,400 miles will do for your performance.... Finishing stats: 31 out of 1277 9 out of 88 in the M40-44 category (that’s a tough category in this town) 36 out of 1277 age graded, 1:19:53 or 74.15% John

Nice job, John. Training's coming through for you. Keep up the good work.

I would be over the moon with your "disappointing" effort, so needless to say I'm impressed with your return to the course. 2400 miles in 12 months? Way to work!!!!! That's a GREAT effort and result John, congrats!