I completed my third half marathon today finishing with a time of 1:29:11.
This became my spring goal race the morning of the Detroit Free Press Marathon, where I was at home eating a big fat juicy DNS loaded with sauerkraut, arsenic sauce on rye toast with Limburger cheese.
My training for this race was essentially an offshoot of my 5k training save for two runs, one on February 25, and the other on March 4. The 10 week plan was a plan I wrote myself but is based on Daniels principles.
I suppose it would be considered conservative by all accounts and probably rightfully so, I am okay with that though as I feel focusing on speed development and maintenance is better for me at this point than high mileage or super long runs.
That being said I was always fresh for my quality workouts and fatigue was not a factor once during this cycle.
Strategically placed in the plan were two races; a 5k four weeks out and a 10k two weeks out that were to make today's pace seem not so bad. Unfortunately due to the shit weather we all have had both races were unremarkable with the 10k being a complete abomination.
No matter, I woke up 5 hours before the race this morning feeling confident and positive. I immediately ate a light breakfast then took the 50 minute drive over arriving an hour and forty-five minutes prior to the gun and just chilled out.
The main parking lot was to close at 6:45 (race start was at 8:15) and I did not want to be bothered with shuttles so I went early. Better safe and there than sorry and running late.
At about T-minus 45, I hopped out of the cozy confines of my truck and into the cold morning breeze (27, wind chill of 18, winds steady at 12 MPH) and began my dynamic stretching routine, a routine that was born out of my last stint on the bench. I then took a 3 mile warmup trot, ditched my long pants and jacket and headed to the start line.
The race began about five minutes later than advertised but that was not really an issue. I lined up front dressed in shorts, arm sleeves, light gloves and a singlet. I got some weird looks and comments on the way there but there were about a dozen of us dressed that way and besides, I dress for how it is going to feel at mile 6, not 1.
Half marathon pace is not a Daniels training pace so I did not run it once during my training. I did run a shit load of faster miles though and never really thought anything of it.
My goals today were A: 1:28:30, B: 1:28, and my pie in the sky C goal was a sub-1:28.
A 1:28:30 is a 6:45 pace so my plan was to go no faster than that under any circumstances the first 3 miles then assess how I felt. The race began on a slight down slope, something I noticed during my warmup so I took extra care to basically jog the first 400 meters.
Something else I noticed during my warmup was we would be running directly into the wind for at least the first 2 or 3 miles, but it turns out that we were never really not running into it, save for a mile or 2 here and there.
As it is I was able to pretty much stay within a 5 second window of my goal pace for the early portion of the race. At some point late in mile 5 two runners dropped back to me, one a heavy breather and another a foot slapper. Both were annoying as hell but they did not keep slowing, instead they kind of righted themselves and we ran in a bunch for about a half mile before I had enough of listening to all of that crap.
I surged to a 6:39 pace for about a half mile to pass them and wouldn't you know it them fucks sped right up and caught me again! So in my head I am like why the fuck don't you keep on going, shit!
But alas, the gentleman did pull away and it turns out the young lady was running the first leg of the relay and her destination I believe was mile 7.5. I regained my pace and briefly wondered if the surge would affect me before ultimately concluding that I was trained for that.
Mile 8 was on a slight hill and I made a business decision to maintain my pace as I climbed it but was unable to sustain it without a drastic increase in effort. Indeed, when the split ticked off at 6:47 I saw that I was running at a 6:21 pace, oops! Unlike events passed though I did not panic and just kind of eased down.
That was now two surges in the last 2 miles running into the wind however, a fact that was not lost on me.
Mile 10 also was on a slight uptick though you could not really see it, this is where the struggle began and where my A goal began to slip away from me.
The last 2 miles were run directly into a strong headwind which finally took its toll on me. Mentally it was disheartening to see my pace drop after such a strong race, and after seeing my mile 11 split, I did not look at my Garmin again until I crossed the finish line. I just put my head down, leaned forward, and gave it all that I had for 2 miles, which at that point was not much.
My splits according to Garmin:
01 - 6:48
02 - 6:49
03 - 6:45
04 - 6:44
05 - 6:45
06 - 6:45
07 - 6:44
08 - 6:47
09 - 6:48
10 - 6:51
11 - 6:51
12 - 6:59
13 - 6:59
It turns out though that the wind affected everyone similarly as that was all anyone was talking about post race.
I did well enough though to score 3rd in my age group which is something I am really proud of with such a large field. I am unsure of the final tally but there were 2000 participants for the half marathon, half marathon relay and 5k.
In the end I would say it all came together, my training, nutrition, and the 12 fuckin weeks I abstained from my beloved Cabernet Sauvignon while training for this race so overall I am happy with the result.
I am still peeved about my late race fade but I am unsure if I should be or not. Was it the wind that did me in or those two surges? Or perhaps the lack of mileage or long runs? I am open to critique.
Keeping the big picture in mind however this race was not necessarily the Superbowl for me. The purpose of it was to establish a half marathon time based on my current fitness, using what Daniels considered my actual race pace as my goal. To that I will say mission accomplished. Coming in only 41 seconds short of my A goal is not too shabby either.
I will now use today's performance as my guide to train for a 1:25:00 half marathon and hopefully someday punch my ticket to the NYC marathon.
Whether that is attainable or not remains to be seen, for now though it is back to the lab to digest what I have learned from racing my first half marathon since November 2011.
Some side notes:
Thanks for your time!
Damn, LRB. Awesome job!
Damaris
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Great race! That makes your 2nd consecutive AG award! (And the 2nd straight race where I have bailed on you. )
I would not worry so much about the finish. My experience with fatigue is that you can be in shape to just barely hang on to your pace under reasonable conditions, but when hit with any kind of obstacle like a headwind or hills, it will just kill you.
They should've run that thing at noon, it's beautiful out now! Someday we will get some decent race conditions around here....
Dave
Congrats on your sub-1:30 finish and AG award, not to shabby and very close to your goal!
It doesn't seem like the end was a total meltdown, either. It was enough to put you behind your goals, but still a strong finish with the wind. To me, it just says that you ran it hard today and didn't leave a lot on the course- all good!
I think when we were first talking about plans way back in the day, you had some 15 milers scheduled in there. I am curious, why did you decide to take those out? Or am I remembering that wrong?
Dude, you're on fire! I love that you planned that training cycle on your own, had a goal and reached it (you had previously told us 1:30:00, so for me, you beat that goal). You were a man with a plan. Excellent work, LRB! And congratulations on the AG award! To win an award in a larger race is something few of us can do. You rock.
Question: do you think you could have done without any water? I'm debating whether I will drink in my next half. In my PR half, I had nothing at all. Does water really help things for that distance, in that weather?
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
In my PR half I had no water. It was pretty cold that day, and I didn't feel I missed it. Navigating the aid stations was just one less thing to worry about. I am sure you could do it considering how you've trained. Granted you & LRB are both running way faster than me.
I'm so clumsy anyway when I grab a cup and try to drink while running. I barely get a few sips in. The rest goes all over me. I'm not sure it's worth the humiliation.
on my way to badass
Still waiting for the perfect race picture. 5K PR-33:52 , 10K PR 1:11:16, First HM 2:42:28
I am on the road but just got this post race pic from my man Joe who is the local coordinator for the Detroit chapter of Medals4Mettle. Thanks Joe!
That is an awesome picture, LRB. Love that winner's smile! But the wings should be on your feet.
LRB, a tip of the hat to you on a great race and race report, very inspirational!
Ron's PRs 5K 24:14 (12/07/2013); Half Marathon 1:53:33 (5/26/2013)
Nice pic! But what's up with the one black and one white arm sleeve?
Just noticed that. Totally cool!
Uffda
Great sub 1:30 Rick! Nice pic man. You ran that entire thing with sub 7 splits. That's pretty speedy!
- Andrew
Fantastic pic!