While I wrote about my twenty mile run on Sunday, I realized today that I could really write a race report about my day. So, here it is.
Four days prior to race day I did a solid 2 hour hilly, 12 mile run. Two days prior I did another solid 3 hour bike ride. My legs were still somewhat stiff and definitely tired when I went to bed on Saturday night. I got up at 5 am, with the knowledge that if I left my house by 5:40 am that I would have time to complete a 7 mile warm up. I got in my typical bathroom stops while putting on sunscreen. My legs felt ok, not great, but not bad. When I put my shoes on, I felt a twinge in my left low back/hip area. It’s my pre-race twinge area. I quickly relaxed, keeping it from completely seizing up. I put some tiger balm on it and massaged it a bit. I ate a banana and headed out to the race venue. I got to there right around 6 am and quickly took off on my seven mile “warm-up” run. I ran the first loop of the course, starting very easily and comfortably. In fact, for the first 3-4 miles, I just breathed as easily as I could, and kept my running effort completely relaxed. There were lots of bunnies on the bike path, and my girls love bunnies, so I just enjoyed nature and the sunrise. I picked up my effort a bit and got myself close to breathing every 4th step, which should be an effort I can do for a long time. I didn’t really pay attention to my paces, but realized that I had started at between 9:30 and 10 minute mile pace, and had increased that pace closer to 8:45-9:00 pace over the last 3 miles. I got back to the race start with just enough time to use the restroom quickly and get back to the starting line for the start.
At the start line I ran into a couple of members of my triathlon club. One told me that she was going to run 9:30 pace, and the other told me that she was going to run 8:00-8:30 pace. I decided to head out with the faster runner, but immediately realized that she was running much closer to 8 minute pace, and I had no intention of starting that fast. The other person wasn’t running 9:30 pace, and I decided to just tuck in behind her, hitting the first mile in 8:20. A little faster than I’d planned, but I was breathing ok. I also noticed a gentleman who appeared to be my age running at the same pace. He looked very comfortable and his form looked super easy. I decided to focus on him, as the woman started to slow down a little. I found out his name was Marco. I thought he was running easier than I was, but he wasn’t so sure. We ran together for a little while, until he started drifting back. I was maintaining a solid effort and pace between 8:30 and 8:50 while maintaining my breathing. Right around mile 1 I had counted the folks ahead of me, and there were 40. By Mile 4, I’d moved up about 5-6 spots. There were a few people ahead of me that I couldn’t really catch without pushing too hard.
As I started the second loop I was still feeling pretty good. I did mile 8 in 8:53 and was starting to increase my effort for the final 5 miles. Mile 9 was on a slight incline, which I could feel. I was breathing harder, but continuing to push and try to keep a solid cadence. When I hit the mile 9 marker, my watch showed a 9:20 mile. My mind wanted to run faster, but my body was saying now. I realized at this point that the next four miles would take both concentration and effort. I increased my breathing and began to focus a bit on grunting (my favorite focus tool!). The next three miles were right around 9:30 pace, and there wasn’t much I could do to go faster. In fact, I caught one of the people ahead of me, but he pushed forward on a downhill and I just couldn’t match it. He stayed about 100 yards in front of me to the finish. When I got to the final mile, I tried to push as hard as I could. I did manage to get my pace down to around 8:30, but that was it. I hit the lap button when I’d hit 20 miles for the day. I’d almost forgotten that today was actually a 20 mile run day, not a true half marathon race.
If I’d have been racing a half marathon today, there’s a lot of things that would have been different. I wouldn’t have done a 12 mile hilly run four days before, and most certainly wouldn’t have done a 3 hour bike ride two days before. I absolutely wouldn’t have done a 7.2 mile warmup run either! So, I was beyond happy as I did my final push to the finish line and finished the half marathon in 1:57:07, good enough for 34th place overall and 1st in my age group! Granted, it’s a local race, and in most other venues, I’d have been lucky to have been top 10. On the other hand, I wasn’t actually racing, so I’ll take this any day of the week. Hopefully, with a little more focused training and a real taper, I’d still be capable of pulling off a 1:44 half marathon.
One of the more important take homes from this race was that I was able to lock into a 9:30 pace over the last five miles. If I could ever do that in an ironman I’d be beyond ecstatic.
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