Notes
Well I am pretty happy with my result. I'm so glad I decided not to run with the 3:30 pace group. Unfortunately, the Garmin got a bit confused early on and ended up being enough off that I just used it as a watch for my splits along with my bracelet, although I think at the end when I was away from the buildings my splits were probably accurate.
Longish break down:
Pre-race:
I head over to the start at about 6:30 and it was a 15 minute walk. The throw away sweatpants and sweatshirt definitely did their job since it was about 37 out. Since I got to the race with only 15 minutes to go, I had to find a hole in the fence to get to the black corral. Unfortunately, at this point I could tell I kind of needed to pee even though I had just gone at the hotel, but there was no way I would have time to do it before start with the line for the portapotties being so long. I decided I would figure it out later.
1 - 6:
I started about 2 minutes after the elites and even though it was crowded I was able to go only a bit slower for the first mile. I saw My dad and Abby right before the mile split which was awesome. I was feeling good right away. The Garmin went off about a 100 feet from the mile marker and i figured this was about normal. My first mile was about 8:20ish and I was fine with that but decided to speed it up just a bit. Naturally, feeling so good in the beginning and with the adrenaline, even thought it felt like nothing my next couple miles were in the 7:40s. At this point I saw a bunch of guys going off to the side on pee breaks, but I decided not to do that and hold off a bit. Passed a few portapotties but they had a few people waiting on line so I figured I'd keep holding off. A little after mile 5, I finally saw a bunch of portapotties with no line and I got in and out in about 15 seconds. This was my 6th mile which I did in 8:14, so I don't think it slowed me down too much, and I was so happy to be relieved. At mile 6 I saw my Dad And Abby again which was awesome, and I threw Abby my hat. So I was now hatless and gloveless and feeling good.
7 - 13:
I was feeling very good and relaxed but I was a bit upset that the Garmin was getting farther ahead of the mile splits. At this point it was about .2 to .3 miles ahead. So I was getting a sense of how fast I was going, but I didn't know if I saw that I ran a 7:50 did it really mean a 8:00 or was it an 8:10. So I started going by the mile markers and my pace bracelet and I started dipping about a minute under my pace which I decided was fine. I hit the one hill at around 9 and it was pretty much nothing at this point because I was feeling really good.
14 - 20:
Right after the half I saw my Dad and Abby again who ran along side of me for a couple hundred feet or so which was cool. My dad sprinted ahead so he could take a picture of me. You can tell from the picture that I was still feeling very fresh and relaxed. Between 15 and 16 is when I saw the first place guy coming back. I made a mental note of comparing how I felt to last year. I was still feeling pretty good, and I remembered how last year at this time the thought of running another 10 miles seemed daunting. I decided to keep my pace which I slowed just a bit to my goal pace of about 8:12 and save my self for the end which I knew was going to be rough. As I got into 16, 17 and 18 I was starting to feel the length of it but was able to maintain my pace. When I hit the turn around back to the finish at 20 it was getting a bit worse. At this point I had my 4th and final GU which I should say went very well. I drank water at every water stop and had a GU at 5, 10, 15 and 20. Pretty much evenly spaced.
21 - Finish:
I was able to barely maintain a decent pace (8:16) for 21, but then after that I couldn't hold the pace anymore. I was really starting to fade and I was trying to dig deep to hold on. Every mile was a bit slower than the last. By the time I hit 25 I could only manage 8:54 and then 8:49 for 26. The last few miles were pretty rough and it was just one foot in front of the other and finishing this. I realized in the last couple miles that I didn't have enough in me to get my 3:35 but I wasn't sure how much worse it would be. At around 25 I felt a twinge in my left calf that felt like it could seize up at any point so I adjusted my stride for a minute and then it was back to normal. that was a bit of a scare but it passed. It was great to hear my name called so many times in the last half mile when the crowds were getting larger. As I passed my Dad, Abby and my Mom I could just make out my Mom's voice as I passed her and I knew the end was near. With about a quarter mile left I started to really pick up the pace. I was able to have a pretty solid kick for the last 100 meters and I was so happy to see the finish. My last .61 mile had my pace at 8:16 on the Garmin which makes sense. Even though I didn't hit 3:35, I was pretty happy with the whole thing.
I think I maybe went out just a tad too fast for the half, by a minute and then I ended up slowing down by a few minutes at the end, but I wouldn't say I blew up like last year. I will update here later with my Garmin splits where at the end I think I got to 8:30 - 8:45 range for a few miles. I can't be disappointed with a 17 minute PR. Can't wait to get back to training and running some higher mileage. Looking to improve just as much next year!
Race splits:
10K 0:50:55 8:11
Half 1:46:35 8:04
30K 2:31:51 8:11
Full 3:37:07 8:36
1:46:36/1:50:31 half splits which is a 3:55 positive split which is not bad at all. Last year I had a 9:44 positive split. So now that I look at this, there is definitely still room for improvement in terms of running just a bit too fast in the beginning but only by a bit. Who knows what would have happened if I was a minute slower in the front. Would I have had enough left in the tank to run 2 minutes faster in the front? I keep thinking back to the race when I started to fade and thinking whether I gave everything I had. Whether I should have pushed myself harder in those last miles to keep my pace. Maybe that will come with more experience.