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Whidbey Island Half Marathon (Read 475 times)

ohanapecosh


    I just returned home from running the Whidbey island Half. I'd been training for it for about 4 months (from a start of basically no recent running), and my goal going in was to beat my previous half marathon time of 1:51Tight lippedx. Anyway, on the Friday before the race, a colleague at work used a Google Maps derivative to plot an elevation map (not provided on the website). I'd known it was hilly, but not THIS hilly. There were two 350 foot hills and many smaller hills. I started thinking that perhaps my time goal was not realistic. We drove out to the island (via a bridge) yesterday. It turns out that an island with only one way on and off, good weather, and a half marathon are a formula for some really nasty traffic. It took a REALLY long time to get to the area where the race was to be held. Once we got there, I picked up my race packet, which included the Tshirt. The shirt was a little disappointing - *organic* cotton and bamboo, but looks and feels about like regular cotton to me, versus tech T given out in past years. All else was well. Then, we drove the course. Turns out all those hills looked even bigger than I'd imagined in person! For dinner, we microwaved pasta in our hotel room for dinner, and I attempted to sleep. I was incredibly nervous and managed about 5 hours, I think. The next morning, I was really freaking out and swearing never to do a half marathon again. I'm not really sure how to deal with the nervousness. I've been running for well over a decade now, and it never seems to go away. Anyway, when I finally got to the starting line, I started feeling better. It was cold and windy - better than hot and sunny as it had been the day before. I'd decided to revise my time goal based on the course hilliness and general nervousness, so I was shooting for sub 2 hours. I decided to take it slow and easy through the end of the second of the two major hills and then pick it up from there. Tentatively, I was hoping for 9 minute pace on average. Well, I started back in the pack. There was organization at the start, so there were walkers mixed in runners of all speeds. There was a moderate hill right at the beginning, but I took my time and it felt easy. I hit mile one in about 9:15, feeling good. Mile two was downhill and went by fast - under 9 minutes. In mile 3, we hit Major Hill #1. I could hear other people in the pack who obviously hadn't driven the course wondering whether we were really going to have to run up it, or if we'd turn before the hill. I was glad that I'd known in advance. Anyway, I took it easy up the hill, and it felt really easy. Mile 3 was probably 9:30 or so. Mile 4 was flat and felt good. I picked it up a bit to balance out the last mile, and ended up at the end of mile 4 on exactly 9 minute pace. Mile 5 was fine, some downhills. At the end of the 5th mile, we hit Major Hill #2. At this point, I'm feeling more fatigued, but still good. I paced myself, and a lot of people passed me on the hill. The hill lasted about 1.25 miles, to the end of the mile 7. Mile 6 went by in about 9:30. The good news was, thanks to going out slow, I felt great at the 7 mile mark, and both hills were done. At this point, I started picking up the pace. Mile 7 was a gradual uphill for the first half, and then we hit a steep downhill. I ran Miles 7 and 8 in about 8:30 apiece, maybe faster. I was passing a lot of people. Normally, I take races out fast, so I'm used to the opposite happening. It felt great to be fresh. Maybe there's something to the negative split thing. At the 9 mile mark, I realized that I'd have to run the last 4 miles in 28 minutes to meet 1:51, so that wasn't going to happen. I'd definitely be under 2 hours, though. I tried to push the last 4 miles. They became progressively more painful, and I stopped looking at the my watch. I really started pushing with 1.5 miles to go. The first half of the last mile was uphill, and that was definitely the worst hill of the race, though it wasn't the longest or the steepest. Finally, we got up that hill, and ran into the stadium where the race finished. I was not pleased to realize we had to complete a lap of the track before finishing. I sprinted it in, and I think squeaked in with a chip time under 1:53. They haven't released the results yet, so we'll have to see. Despite not reaching my original goal, I was very pleased due to the hilly nature of the course. Overall, I enjoyed the race once it started (not the nerves beforehand), but I'm looking forward to not running a race that long again any time in the near future.


    Half Fanatic #846

      Great job on your HM, despite those hills! I enjoyed reading your race report - sounds like you handled the challenge very well. Cool I completed my first 2 HMs this year and am looking for more (I've got a long way to go to get near your pace!). Bill

      "I don't always roll a joint, but when I do, it's usually my ankle" - unk.         "Frankly autocorrect, I'm getting a bit tired of your shirt".                  I ran half my last race on my left foot!                                  


      My Hero

        It felt great to be fresh. Maybe there's something to the negative split thing.
        It is amazing that when running a half marathon, or even more so with a full marathon, the difference of just going out and running the first 4-6 miles of the race just as little as 10 sec. per mile too fast will do to your finish time. I think you ran the best race you could have by holding in the reigns. My guess is... had this course been flat with no wind, you could have easily busted 1:51. Great race!
          Congrats pinwheel! I ran that HM last year and loved the course (other than the hills). It is a beautiful island, but my knees paid for those damn hills.

          ~Sara
          It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great. ~ Jimmy Dugan

            Thanks for sharing and congratulations on a great time! I'm so jealous - I really wanted to run this this year as it looks like a beautiful course! It didn't work out for me this year - but next year I'll be there to tackle the hills Big grin kat
            "A man must love a thing very much if he not only practices it without any hope of fame and money, but even practices it without any hope of doing it well." - G. K. Chesterton
              SmileAny race in WA state is a good race. I miss it! Bloomsday is in a few weeks-will you run? That's a bit hilly too. Great job and thanks for the post. Kathy
                posted: 4/14/2008 at 7:36 AM Congrats pinwheel! I ran that HM last year and loved the course (other than the hills). It is a beautiful island, but my knees paid for those damn hills This years half marathon (and most of the marathon too) was a totally different course than last years but I think the hills were worse this year. I tried to sign up for it during expo but they were out of timing chips and shirts so I passed on it-will have to sign up early next year.