Beginners and Beyond

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Illinois HM - Race Report (Read 52 times)

cjones1


    Summary:

    1:42:25 – 17:27 PR. 349/4936 OA, 270/2092 Male, 31/257 M35-39

    1st Half – 51:33

    2nd Half – 50:52

     

    Background:

    I started running in March 2011 at 32 years old when somebody from my church got a C25K group going. I ran a few 5ks that year, but never really ran more then 10-15 MPW. Quit over the winter, and started again when it warmed up in 2012, and managed to drop 2 minutes (24 to 22) off of my 5k pr on basically the same mileage. I ran the Illinois Half Marathon in April 2013 on 15-20 MPW. I managed to meet my goal of sub-2, but barely, and boy did the last few miles hurt. Starting in April 2014, I slowly increased my mileage from 15 mpw to where I peaked at 40 in training for the HM this year.

     

    Race Weekend:

    The race was held on the campus of the University of Illinois and finishes at the 50 yard line of Memorial Stadium, which is pretty cool. My in-laws live within the race course, so we had a convenient place to stay for the weekend. We live about 3 hours south of Champaign, and we headed up on Friday afternoon. The expo and packet pickup is very well organized. This is the only bigger race I’ve done, so I don’t have anything to compare to, but we didn’t have any problems. We got my packet, went back to the house, had some dinner, and I got to bed around 10pm.

     

    The forecast was calling for a 90% chance of rain and 20mph winds with gusts of 25-30 mph. Great. I was up at 4am for a 7am start. I had a huge cup of coffee, and a cinnamon bagel, which has become my go-to breakfast for race day. I took care of the other morning “requirements,” got dressed, and my father in law dropped me at the start line. It was a little later than I wanted, so I only had time for a 5 minute warmup jog, hit the port o potties and get ready to go.

     

    Mile 1-3: 7:59, 7:52, 7:50

    My original goal for this race was sub-1:45, and I was confident I had the fitness for that, and maybe for another couple of minutes if everything lined up. My plan was to start out right out at goal pace, and see what happened. The rain held off for the start, and the first 3 miles ticked off without anything noteworthy. I did make note to myself that I felt a little too comfortable, so I decided to kick up the effort a bit.

     

    Mile 4-6: 7:49, 7:44, 7:57

    The rain and wind had picked up just a bit at this point, but I was still feeling good, and was continuing to speed up through miles 4-5. Around the mile 6 marker, we hit an open area with no buildings or trees to shield us from the wind, so I could really feel it. It was also at this point that the rain decided to open up. It poured for the next 3 miles or so. I had bought a $3 baseball cap at Walmart the day before. BEST.DECISION.EVER. It kept me from wasting energy constantly wiping water out of my face. The wind slowed me down in mile 6, but I wasn’t worried about it too much. I was still feeling really good, and I felt I had the 1:44Tight lippedx in the bag barring injury, so I decided to pick it up a bit more.

     

    Mile 7-9: 7:54, 7:40, 7:39

    Mile 7 overall wasn’t much faster, but I think I walked through a water stop which cost me a few seconds. Miles 8-9 go through a local park and the only place to run is on a 6 foot wide walking path. The first time I ran this race, it was shoulder to shoulder all the way through. Luckily, since I was quite a bit faster, crowding was not an issue this time through the park. These were my two fastest miles to this point, and I was still surprised at how good I felt. The only thing that caught me by surprise during mile 9 was that my calves started to hurt. I had made the decision to run the race in my zero drop Virratas rather than my much more cushioned daily trainers. I had run as far as 9 miles in the Virratas with no issues. No coincidence that my calves started hurting during mile 9.

     

    Mile 10-12: 7:52, 7:41, 7:41

    I can only attribute my slowdown in mile 10 to my mental adjustment to the pain that was now searing through my calves with every step. I struggled with it for a mile, and then around the mile 10 marker, I decided that they were going to hurt whether I was running fast or slow, so I might as well pick it up as I head for home. I was still feeling good (other than my calves) and I was passing several runners in the last 5k, which is always a good mental boost.

     

    Mile 13-13.1: 7:28, 7:03 pace

    The last mile was my fastest mile of the race, and as I was in the middle of it, I was wondering how much time I left out there by being conservative at the beginning. Although, I’m pretty sure my form was suffering, and I was cursing my shoe decision, but I just kept telling myself, DON’T. SLOW. DOWN. The thing I hate about this last mile, and any race that does this, is that there is a 180 degree turnaround before you enter the stadium. It was hard to lose that momentum during the final kick. As I entered the stadium with the rain pouring down, I took off my baseball cap and spread my arms a la Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption when he climbs out of the sewer. I crossed the line, and the clock was at 1:44Tight lippedx. I was in the second wave, but I didn’t know how many minutes it took me to get to the start line. I was too delirious to realize that I could just look down at my watch to see my time. I got my medal, and mylar blanket, and of course I was immediately freezing.

     

    Post Race: Deserted Island

    Have you ever been in a huge group of people, but felt completely alone. I scanned the bleachers in the runner reunion area for my wife, kids, and father in law. I didn’t see them, which didn’t surprise me at this point since it was pouring. Not worried at this point, so I shuffled my way up the stadium stairs and grabbed a piece of pizza, a couple Hawaiian rolls, and a water. My calves and hip/groin areas had pretty much immediately rebelled after I stopped running. Every step was a struggle, and I just wanted to find my family and get back to the house for a hot shower. I slowly shuffled through the bleachers looking for my family, who were nowhere to be found. Did I mention that I didn’t have a phone? After 20 minutes of painful walking around looking for them, I managed to ask a random person if I could borrow their phone to call. I finally reached my wife, who unfortunately had been stuck in traffic, and never made it to the stadium. We made arrangements, and I finally found them just outside of the stadium. I collapsed into the car, shivering and exhausted. She asked me if this was worth it. I thought for a second, and said absolutely. Eventually, this pain will go away. I grabbed her phone to check the race tracking texts, and saw my finish time of 1:42:25, which is over a 17 minute PR!

     

    As for now, I am slowly recovering. It will probably be a few days before I get back at it. There is a 10k on Memorial Day that I will probably run, and probably a few 5ks sprinkled throughout the rest of the year. After I am fully recovered, I will decide if I want to run a fall half or if/when, I want to take the plunge to 26.2. Overall, I am stoked at my performance in this race, and it was immensely satisfying to see a solid training cycle show itself on race day.

     

    I would like to say a thanks to the folks here in the B&B that provided encouragement, advice, and well wishes in the dailies. I haven’t been here too long, but everybody makes you feel welcome immediately, and there were a couple times during tough moments in the race, where my thoughts drifted to being able to share this experience with everybody here, and it kept me pushing forward.

    God bless you if you made it through this entire rambling mess. Smile

    PRs:

    5k - 20:51 - 9/5/15

    10k - 47:00 - 5/25/15

    15k - 1:10:19 - 11/21/15

    13.1 - 1:42:25- 4/25/15

    26.2 - TBD (someday)

    onemile


      I've been following your training on the dailies. It paid off. Congrats on the huge PR and negative split!

      B-Plus


        That it just awesome! Way to finish strong!


        From the Internet.

          Lol love the Andy Dufresne imagery at the end. Congrats on a great race, you killed it this training cycle and it paid off for sure! Smile

          workinprogress11


            I've run this race 4 times myself and hate that turnaround too.

             

            You did great to get such a large PR on such a nasty day. I bet next up is sub 1:40. It's amazing what hard training and extra miles can do. Congratulations!

            Ric-G


              very cool stuff...congrats!...sounds like faster times ahead...

              marathon pr - 3:16

                Outstanding job, under miserable conditions! Think of how much faster you could be in better weather (and maybe better shoes?)

                A lot of people here have run this race & said good things about it. That is actually my alma mater, so would be cool.

                Moral to the story: mileage is king! I had a similar experience - my first HM on ~20mpw was 2:01; my 2nd, 10 months later on ~40mpw was 1:48 (with a big negative split, because I had no idea how much faster I had gotten). I did not even add any speedwork, just the mileage.

                 

                Keep up the great work!

                Dave

                Half Crazy K 2.0


                  Great job, especially given the conditions.

                  cjones1


                    onemile, B-Plus - thanks!

                     

                    Lauren - I am reluctantly linking my pictures below.  At least I didn't strip my clothes off like ol' Andy Smile

                     

                    wip11 - I knew it was coming up, but there really is no good way to do it.  I toyed with going for the sub-1:40.  I think I may have left some time on the course, but it didn't feel like 2.5 minutes. Smile

                     

                    Ric-G - thanks, I hope so!

                     

                    Dave - I remember talking with you about going to UofI.  The race, IMO, is top notch all the way around.  Very organized and awesome volunteers.  I ran a lot of HMP miles, but nothing much faster than that.  I can't wait to race the 10k next month.

                     

                    HCK - thanks, I didn't mind the rain until I was done. Smile

                     

                    http://www.marathonfoto.com/Proofs?PIN=8B9U70&LastName=JONES

                    PRs:

                    5k - 20:51 - 9/5/15

                    10k - 47:00 - 5/25/15

                    15k - 1:10:19 - 11/21/15

                    13.1 - 1:42:25- 4/25/15

                    26.2 - TBD (someday)

                    LRB


                      As I entered the stadium with the rain pouring down, I took off my baseball cap and spread my arms a la Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption when he climbs out of the sewer.

                       

                      Okay, we are definitely going to need pics of that! 

                      LRB


                        God bless you if you made it through this entire rambling mess FFS. Smile

                        cjones1


                           

                          Okay, we are definitely going to need pics of that! 

                           

                          Link is posted.  I'm halfway hoping it won't work for you guys. Smile

                           

                          But, if it does, the first picture is titled "delirious finish face." Smile

                          PRs:

                          5k - 20:51 - 9/5/15

                          10k - 47:00 - 5/25/15

                          15k - 1:10:19 - 11/21/15

                          13.1 - 1:42:25- 4/25/15

                          26.2 - TBD (someday)

                          Docket_Rocket


                            Congrats on the PR!

                            Damaris

                             

                            As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

                            Fundraising Page

                            LRB


                              Nice job on the race report. I think my first one way back when was like 17 pages long and mentioned individual members of the forum. lol

                               

                              So it turns out you were well below the 1:45 after all, I am glad you took a shot at it. With a proper warmup you may have toyed with a 1:40 but no sense in lamenting it right now as you are clearly headed in that direction.

                               

                              This performance should have you stoked about what you are capable of on the middle distance circuit. I for one am looking forward to it!

                              GinnyinPA


                                Congratulations on the huge PR, especially given the weather.  I know what you mean about being exhausted and sore, but still absolutely sure it was worth it.

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