Summary

Sunday I ran the April Fool’s Half Marathon in Atlantic City. Official time 2:06:01, 20 seconds slower than my PR at this race last year, but all things considered, probably a reasonable showing.

Background

Last year I picked this race out in February but had started a training plan targeting a mid-May race. Oops. This year, I registered around Thanksgiving when I got a 50% discount code for doing one of the AC races in 2015. $45 for a half, can’t beat that deal! In December, I increased mileage, doing my first 40 and 50 mile weeks ever. I used the Hudson half plans 1 and 2 for guidance, but wasn’t tied down to any one plan.

Last year the weather was absolutely perfect. This year. LOL. Starting 2 weeks out, the forecast was calling for heavy winds. I kept hoping it was going to change. It didn’t. And after having a reasonably warm March, it was going to be in the low 40s, with 30 mph winds and 50+ mph gusts, making it feel like 20. As a cold weather wimp, I bought multiple options of warm clothes with me. I wound up going with a thin base layer top, Nike ¼ zip top, heavy weight tights, hat & gloves. I was comfortable, never too warm during the race.

The race started and ended in from of Resorts Hotel & Casino. This year they had some sort of firefighter convention in town for the weekend and wanted $500/night on Saturday, so we stayed at the Marriott about 2 blocks away. It was a less than 5 minute walk from the hotel, plus they had a little cafe with Starbucks coffee, unlike Resorts. I waited as long as possible (after a bathroom stop, yay for indoor bathrooms) and then went outside at 7:55. The race was delayed about 10 minutes, ugh. So stood there freezing. At least we were in front of the building, so it shielded the wind.

Initially, my A goal for this race was 1:59:59, B was PR (under 2:05:41). Once it became clear the weather was not going to cooperate, I decided I was not going to fight the wind. So run at a comfortable pace when the wind was not cooperating and speed up when I could.

Miles 1-3 (boardwalk) 9:46, 9:45, 9:46

While standing at the start, it wasn’t obvious just how miserable the wind was going to be. As soon as we got into the first opening between tall buildings, WHOOSH! It was coming from the west, so at that point to my right. It would knock your feet into each other and would push me a foot or so to the side. I worked my way over to the far right side of the boardwalk--at least then I got some shielding from the buildings. Once we passed the final large building (about 1.5 miles in), the cross winds were even more brutal since it was more open. Even worse, at few times, there was a swirl of wind that would come from the east, which blew sand everywhere.

Miles 4-8 (road) 9:49, 10:13, 9:52, 9:38, 9:17, 9:06

Somewhere between mile 3 and 4, we left the boardwalk to get on Atlantic Ave. Fortunately, it was only one block over the the street, because it went right into the wind. This section got progressively worse. Instead of a cross wind, it was now a stiff headwind. There were points where I didn’t feel like I was moving forward at all. I stopped at the first water station once on the this section, mainly since I had gotten a mouthful of sand. The volunteers did not have the usual table full of cups, so I did have to wait a second or two to get some Gatorade. I don’t think they could have pre-filled cups--the wind would have blown them away. Up until about mile 5, I really wasn’t looking at my watch. Then I started looking to just will myself up to the turn around. Less than ⅓ of a mile from the turnaround, there was a tall condo in Longport. The wind was almost unbearable there, I kept doing my mental countdown, thinking how nice it would feel to finally have a tailwind.

I’m not liking the Garmin modern view, I think I hit the halfway point in just under 1:05. After the turnaround, it was back to the condo wind tunnel. A gust of wind about took me out at the knees. It was not gently pushing me along, it was like a violent shove in the back at points. However, not fighting the wind definitely made a difference.

Miles 10-13 (boardwalk) 9:29, 9:41, 9:21, 9:08, final .1 8:35 pace

After the brief reprieve (mostly) from fighting the wind, it was back onto the boardwalk. I knew from last year, the section was probably the most mentally challenging. As soon as you get on the boardwalk, you can see the Trump Taj Mahal Casino. It is just past Resorts and the finish. But it is 4 miles away! Add to that, the cross wind was back, just now it was coming from the left. So until I got back to the casinos, I kept a pace that did not feel like I was fighting with the wind too much. My first landmark was to get to the now-closed Atlantic Club casino--that would be where there would finally be some shielding from the wind (and my pace shows it). Then it was just a matter of checking off casinos. After not looking at my watch much, I was looking quite a bit in the last 2 miles. I kept doing a mental countdown, ok, you only have to do this for 20 more minutes, now 10, now 6, etc.

Post Race

I had bought a scone for breakfast and only ate half, so I had that waiting back in the room. I collected my medal, grabbed a Gatorade and then walked back to the hotel. I did not want to hang around outside for any length of time, even though I was comfortable temperature wise most of the race (aside from the wind tunnel area), I had sweated enough that I knew I was going to get cold quick.

Final Thoughts

I am kinda of sore today. I don’t think sitting in the car for 3 hours helped with that. I registered for a back up race in 3 weeks. I am questioning if I ran the first part faster than I should have, but it never felt too hard effort wise, aside from the wind tunnel sections.

Saturday we had waited for the elevator in our hotel with a guy who looked like a fast runner. DH asked him if he was running and what sort of time he was shooting for. He said 68 minutes! I told him I’d wave when he was on the way back, cause I’d be out there much longer. He was one of the leaders, not sure if he won, but the first 2 men came in 1:11 and 1:12. So if the conditions caused the elites to be 3 or 4 minutes slower, that makes me feel like I did about as well as could be expected given the conditions.

Despite the weather, I still enjoyed this event. There were 1600+ finishers, so the field spread out quickly, so it was never insanely crowded. Plus, I like the convenience factor of staying a block away from the start, even easier than races close to home. The only 2 complaints are the shirts are not gender specific and this is the second year the race started late.

Given the conditions you did really well.  Congratulations.

Docket and Ginny, thanks!

Brilliant, yes, I am going to shoot for sub 2. They have a 9mm pace group, so I'll see how they plan on approaching the hills. Indoor bathrooms in a casino are great. Best prerace bathrooms ever.

Music Girl, I didn't realize just how windy it had been until we stopped by a friend's house in Egg Harbor and there were multiple huge trees down.I told my friend who is running the same half as me later this month that the weather and running gods owe me perfect weather after this!

Half marathons are hard to judge. Sometimes I feel no effects, and others my legs are dead for a few days. In either event, I would keep an open, positive mind regarding the race in three weeks, you just might be on shape to give it hell. As it is, nice job racing on a tough day!

 

This was totally random. lol

It used to be that I could click on a point on the map and it showed elapsed time and pace for that point. I should have hit the lap button at the turnaround, the mile markers were not matching up anyway, maybe the wind moved them.

Nobody is going to PR in that crap, unless the PR is really, really soft.  On days like that, finishing the race is the goal.  Nice job coming so close your PR.  Are you doing the back up HM in three weeks?  You've got plenty of time to recover for that.  

As long as the weather doesn't wind up worse, yes, I am going to do the back up race. AccuWeather says cloudy, low of 46, high 71.

It used to be that I could click on a point on the map and it showed elapsed time and pace for that point. 

I miss that too.