The One City Half Marathon: The Royal Treatment

This morning I ran the Newport News One City Half Marathon. I had never run this race before, although last year, Greg ran the full marathon. He had a good experience (fast course, good organization, etc.) so I figured it would be a good race to target as my spring half.

Running in the Elite Field
As a master’s runner (40+ years of age) I qualified to run as part of the elite field by having run a previous half marathon faster than 1:35:00. The benefits of running as an Elite were:

• A free race entry
• The ability to place a bottle of fluid along the course
• A VIP finisher’s tent
• VIP parking for Greg at the finish line
• Really low bib number (1001, which was the first half marathon bib number)

Training for the Race 
In my previous post, I detailed my past four weeks of training. They were solid weeks, but prior to those weeks, I had been dealing with posterior tibias tendonitis and running much less. Four weeks ago, I raced a 10K in 43:43, which is an official pace of 7:02.

Today, my goal was to run the half marathon at a pace of 6:52. Yes, it was ambitious of me to think I could run over twice the distance at a pace that was 10 seconds per mile faster with just 4 weeks of

training. However, the 10K was very hilly and I had hardly done any speed work leading up to that race due to my foot. Furthermore, 10 days out from the half marathon, I ran a workout of 3 x 3 miles at half marathon pace (3 minutes recovery jog in between) at a pace of 6:52. So that workout indicated I was in 6:52 half marathon shape.

My goal pace was 6:52 because that is what it takes to run sub-1:30. . . IF you run exactly 13.1 miles and perfect tangents. Realistically, I knew I would probably have to run a pace of 6:50 by my Garmin to get that elusive 1:29:xx. But I was up for the challenge. My PR was 1:30:58 and I had faced a stiff headwind in the final miles to achieve that. With the perfect weather that we had today, I thought I had an excellent opportunity to shave 59 seconds off of that time.

As for footwear, I decided to wear the adidas Adios 4. I had worn the Nike Vaporfly Next% in my previous two half marathons (1:31:55, 1:30:58) so I figured it would be a good experiment to see what I could do without that carbon fiber plate advantage.

Before the Race
Greg and I drove down to Newport News yesterday morning, in time to have lunch with my friend Trish, get my race packet, and watch the Olympic Marathon Trials. Everything went according to plan. It was great to meet Trish (she was an Internet friend whom I had never met in person before) and talk about her race goals. She was running the full marathon and trying to break 3:30.

Trish and I at lunch

We picked up my packet at the elite table, and I handed them my special bottle. I filled it with plain ol’ water, nothing special. It’s much easier to drink water from a bottle instead of the cups so the plan was for that to be my water for the race. I have found that when I have pre-hydrated really well, and the weather is cool, I don’t need to drink much water during a half marathon. I decorated my bottle with zebra duct tape so it would be easily visible.

We then watched the Olympic Marathon Trials on our hotel TV. It was great inspiration for the next day, and when it came time to actually race, I pretended I was running the trials with an announcer commentating on my performance! I slept reasonably well— 7 hours total.

When I woke up I felt ready to race. I had a bagel with peanut butter at 5:00am, got dressed, and then we left the hotel at 6:00am. Greg drove me to the start line and I hung out in the car with him until 6:20. This course is point-to-point, so he dropped me off and drove to mile 3 where he would be taking photos. The race started at a high school. I went inside and headed straight for the bathroom. Then I hung out in the gym for 10 minutes, drank my Generation UCAN and made sure my shoes were tied the way I wanted them to be.

At 6:40, I decided to use the bathroom one last time and then warmup. As I walked into the school bathroom, the smell was so bad that it triggered my gag reflex, so I promptly walked out to use an outdoor porta potty. Ironically, the porta potty did not smell, whereas the indoor bathroom was horrendous.

I then warmed up for 1.2 miles. I felt good. The weather was ideal. I give it a 10 out of 10 on my new personal weather scale that I recently launched inside my head! For me, the ideal weather for a race is 28-38 degrees if it’s sunny, of course with no wind. It was 28 degrees at the start line, sunny, and we had a 2-3 mph wind. Perfect for me!

I lined up at the front of the race, if you can’t do that with what was essentially bib #1, then when can you? I was also competing for first place female master which would be based off of gun time, not chip time.

Miles 1-4
My plan was to run the first 3 miles at a pace of 6:56-6:58 and then gradually speed up. This meant I would need to be in the 6:40’s by the end. But shortly after crossing the start line, the 1:30 pacers caught me. I decided I would stick with them, but keep an eye on my Garmin and hold back if they went out too quickly.

I’ve found that race pacers have a tendency to start much faster than what I would like so I avoid running with them. However, these pacers seemed to be going at pace that was only slightly faster than what I had planned anyway. I’ve heard others say that it really helps to have the motivation of a pace group. I figured, okay- so I will be just a bit faster in the beginning. I’d be compromising slightly on my race strategy in exchange for the benefit being in a pack. In my mind, this was a small risk, but I was confident in my ability to go sub 1:30. And if I couldn’t, well, then at least I would know that I tried.

Mile marker 3

Everything flowed well and felt smooth. At mile 3, I saw Greg. I realized he might not be able to get great photos of me being in that 1:30 pack with so many runners around, but I didn’t veer out of the pack just for a better photo opp.

Mile 1: 6:56
Mile 2: 6:53
Mile 3: 6:49
Mile 4: 6:49

Miles 5-8
Normally, this is where a half marathon starts to feel good. The early miles are tough because I know I still have a long way to go and I haven’t settled into a groove. Usually miles 4-8 flow really well and everything feels sustainable. These miles felt a little harder than I would have liked. Mile 5 had quite a few turns and curves and speed bumps so I wasn’t “flowing” as well as I normally would have been.

I stuck with the pacers and during the 6th mile they asked “how is everyone doing,” and I replied back “the woman is still here!” I was the only female in the pack of about 8-10 guys. I normally wouldn’t have expended the energy to do that, but it was a mental pick-me-up to say it out loud and the fact that I still had the energy to yell something gave me confidence that I had plenty of gas in the tank still.

Shortly after passing mile marker 7, I took my caffeinated Maurten gel. I knew my water would be coming up soon so I’d have something to wash it down with, even though you really don’t need to have water with the Maurten gel. I slowed down as I took the gel, which is natural. When I was done with it, I saw that the pace group had gotten out ahead of me by about 5 seconds. I decided they were still close enough to be helpful and that I didn’t need to be tightly in the pack.

At mile 8, I saw the table of elite fluids and took my zebra water bottle. I took a few swigs and tossed it off. I had to slow down to grab it, which meant my pace group got even farther ahead.

Mile 5: 6:54
Mile 6: 6:55
Mile 7: 6:55
Mile 8: 6:55

Miles 9-12
I couldn’t catch up with the pace group, but I still was running at a decent clip and I felt okay. I figured I might not be getting my sub-1:30 but I could still PR. At this point, it would have been really easy to ease up on the effort. That’s what my body wanted. But I had mentally prepared for this moment. I used all my mental persuasion tricks to keep myself pushing hard. I felt strong and energized and but the pace my Garmin was slipping.

Mile 10 had a hill that really did me in and my pace slowed quite a bit. I logged a 7:12 mile. After that hill, I was not able to fully recover and get my pace under 7:00 again. I still had the pace group in my sights, but I knew I’d never be able to catch them. The last three miles were rough. I told myself It would be just 21 minutes (which is easier mentally than 3.1 miles) and I could tolerate anything for 21 minutes.

I felt like I was pushing to my absolute max, but in reality maybe I was just doing what I could to hold on. I looked at my heart rate data post race, which showed that during miles 10, 11, and 12, my average heart rate when down by 2 beats. My legs felt good, but I felt tired and it was so hard to push. I can’t help but think I wasn’t as mentally strong here as I could have been, and I could stand to improve here.

I think that during the last four miles of a half marathon I start to get the attitude of “just do whatever you can to hang on and finish” instead of “do you have more to give right now?” I always make sure that I “hang in there” and “don’t stop” even though my body is screaming at me, forgetting that I not only want to hang in there— I want to give more. It’s like I’m afraid to give more because that would hurt more and then surely I would have to stop.

I should also note that as my watch beeped for 10 miles, the time was 1:09:21, which is faster than my official 10-mile PR. This is my 3rd half marathon with a faster 10-mile time than my official 10-mile race PR! I think it was 1:08:xx in Indianapolis.

Mile 9: 6:59
Mile 10: 7:12
Mile 11: 7:06
Mile 12: 7:06

Mile 13 to Finish:
As I said earlier, I was hoping to win the female master’s race. Once I knew that my sub-1:30 and PR were both not happening, I stayed motivated by the idea of winning and trying not to be passed. I had no idea if I was the first woman over the age of 39, but I ran the race as if I was and as if the Master’s win was on the line.

Mile marker 13

I could hear someone coming up behind me in the last mile. Spectators cheered, “let’s go ladies” so I knew it was a female. I told myself that she could be in the Master’s race and I needed to stay ahead of her. She passed me at mile 12.6 and encouraged me, and I noticed she looked really young. Phew- not another master! But then as I got even closer to the finish, I heard yet another person approaching. I vowed not to let her pass too. I ran the last 0.21 miles at a pace of 6:20 and did not let her pass me. If I had lost the master’s win in the last 400 meters of the race I would have been so disappointed in myself.

Mile 13: 7:03
Last 0.21: 6:20 pace

After the race
I finished with an official time of 1:31:56. I missed my PR by 58 seconds, and my second fastest time by 1 second. This was officially my third fastest half marathon. But I wasn’t wearing Vaporflys so let’s call this a PR for non-Vaporfly shoes.

In all seriousness, I never thought the Vaporflys made me that much faster; rather they made it easier on my legs to recover. The two PRs I set in them were times that my training indicated I could hit wearing adidas shoes. I know that the Vaporflys definitely offer an advantage to many runners, but I am not one of them. Maybe it’s my gait, or maybe it’s because my weakness is not being able to push when I’m tired, and no shoe will help with that.

Anyway, back to the race. I found Greg and did my traditional vomit (only it was dry-heaving because my stomach was empty). I’ve vomited or dry heaved at the past 5 half marathons I have run. I don’t do it in marathons or 10Ks. Just the half for whatever reason. We checked the results and sadly I learned that I was not the female master’s winner; I was second place. The winner ran over two minutes faster than me. Even sadder, there was no award for the second master, but if I had been the second master in the full marathon, I would have won an award. I am not sure why they award a second place master in the full and not the half, but it’s okay.

I then proceeded to get a massage and hang out in the heated VIP tent where I met the other elite runners. Most people PR’ed given the ideal weather conditions and the fast course. It was nice to meet the other women and exchange stories about the race and our training. Greg and I then went out to cheer for the marathon finishers. Trish came into sight right when we expected her and ran a blazing fast 3:28:15. She was elated and I was so happy to see her so happy.

Trish and me post race

One thing I have learned over the past few years is how to truly be happy for others even when my race doesn’t go as planned. Today was her day and I was genuinely happy that she got to experience the joy and satisfaction of a huge PR. I think the “old me” would have felt bad that I wasn’t the one with the good race, but that’s not at all how I felt. How did I feel? Read the Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways!!!

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
I think it’s pretty simple: I was not in shape to run sub 1:30 today. I took a [slight] risk by running with the 1:30 pace group. They did not go out too fast; I simply couldn’t hang with them after 8 miles.

My coach and I agree that I had a faster race in me today, which I would have run if I had started out slower. If I had been around 6:58 for the early miles, I probably could have progressed down and been faster at the end, but it still wouldn’t have been a sub-1:30, and it still might not have even been a PR.

We have no regrets though. I had my sights set on 1:29:xx, I tried and now I know I’m not there yet. It’s disappointing but not the end of the world.

My heart rate data indicates that I physically was capable of pushing harder in the later miles. So I know I need to improve my mental game. I need to change “hang in there and keep it up” to “push harder”.

In any event, the McMillan Running Calculator predicts PRs at every other distance based on this time, so I know have some of those in my future. Particularly in the 10-miler. To put things in perspective, 4 weeks ago, I ran a 10K at the same pace as this half marathon. So in four weeks, I was able to more than double the distance I could run at a pace of 6:59. I think that’s pretty good!

Snowy Days

As you know, the Washington DC metro area has been hit hard with snow over the past two weeks. I've been relegated to the treadmill for all of my runs, and it doesn't look like I will run outside again for awhile. They don't typically plow the trail that I run on, so I just have to wait for it to melt. And with several feet of snow and temperatures in the 30's for the foreseeable future, melting is highly unlikely. I don't live in a neighborhood that I can run around, either, because it's very small and surrounded by road work and construction zones.

There are many "hard-core" runners who will run in anything, but I refuse to risk slipping and falling an not being able to run altogether. Many of these runners say that they just go a lot slower, but in my mind, I'd rather be on a treadmill and hit the proper trainnig paces.

I was supposed to run the "Love the Run You're With" 5K on Sunday, but that was rescheduled to Feb. 28. I was glad that it was rescheduled because I don't think the roads will be safe to run on by then-- especially at 5K race pace. Unfortunately, I don't know if I will be able to do the race on the 28th. That's three weeks out from the marathon and I need to do my last 20-mile run. My options are to do the 20-miler on Saturday and then volunteer at the race on Sunday. Or, I could take a few hours off of work in the middle of the week to do my 20-miler, and then race on Sunday. I'll just have to see how things play out with the weather and the rest of my training.

Speaking of Pacers, my bio is now up on the Pacers web site. Click here to see it!

Despite the snow, my weekly mileage has been where I wanted it to be. My training log is here.
Week of Jan. 18: 54
Week of Jan. 25: 56
Week of Feb. 1: 55

This week is a cutback week, with a goal of 43 miles.

Last weekend, I was supposed to do a 20-miler. This would have been the second of three 20-milers in the training program. On Saturday, it was impossible to even leave my house, so I opted to do this on a treadmill on Sunday. My fiance drove me to the gym (his car is better in snow, and I really don't like driving in it). I was mentally prepared for 20 miles, because I had read Facebook status updates and blogs of other runners who had done 20 on a treadmill on Saturday. I was one of the only people at the gym, and I was determined.

After 12 miles, the power went out, and they were forced to evacuate the gym. Sadly, I had to go home, where I had no power either. I took a shower, changed into comfy clothes, and had a small bowl of Ben and Jerry's. Just then, the power came back on. I was cursing myself for not having started until later. But I guess I had no way to know. So, I changed into some fresh running clothes and headed down to the treadmill in my neighborhood fitness center. I don't like this treadmill as much as being at my gym, but it did the job for the remaining 8 miles.

It was disappointing to not do a 20-miler, but I did reach 55 miles for the week, and I guess that 12 + 8 is better than just 12.

Another run of note was a 6-mile tempo run about a week ago. I ran a total of 10.5 miles, with the middle six being at an average pace of 7:50. Ironically, this is faster than my 10K PR pace, and I felt like I could have gone faster. I made certain to keep my heart rate in the Lactate Threshold zone for maximum training benefit. (For some reason, I just have never been able to race a 10K anywhere close to my true ability. I've tried a bunch of different pacing strategies, but a 7:53 average pace has been the best I have ever done. I probably won't run one again until June, when it will be too hot to get a PR. . . . )

I just hope that I will be able to get one more long run in on the trail before my taper starts in two and a half weeks.

New Year's Eve 4

To finish of a strong year of running in 2009, I ran the Fairfax Four Miler on New Year's Eve. I had run the inaugural race last year and I really enjoyed it. Last year, the race was run during a wind advisory and the course had to be changed at the last minute due to a down power line. It had been changed to a one-mile loop run four times.

This year, the original course was used, but I had no experience with it due to last year's change. The weather was in the mid 30's and rainy. The forecast had been for freezing rain, so in the days leading up to the race I figured I might not actually run it. In fact, two days before the race, I ran an intense set of 5 x 1000m intervals at a 7:11 pace. Normally, I wouldn't do this so close to a race, but I was fairly certain that the freezing rain would deter me from participating.

On Thursday morning and throughout the day, it looked like it was going to be cold rain and not freezing rain, so my fiance and I decided to go for it. We shivered at the start line as the rain fell down on us. I did not have high expectations for myself. Based on the half marathon that I ran earlier in the month, I should have been able to run a 29:30. However, I excel at long distance races, and my shorter race distance times never "match up" to the equivalent McMillan predictions. Last year, I ran a 30:16, and I figured I would be lucky to do that well again.

The race started and I had a very difficult time weaving through people. My fiance was just behind me, but I lost him in the midst of all the people. We had started relatively close to the start line, and yet there were swarms of slower runners blocking the way. For the first three minutes, my pace averaged a 9:00. As soon as I had passed most of these runners, I just took off. I ran a 7:00 pace for the rest of that mile and ended up averaging 7:30. The next mile was the fastest, I ran it as hard as I could, although I had to occasionally slow down for pockets of ice on the road. We ran one lap around a track, which was a nice relief from the icy road. During that time, I was averaging about 7:12, and it felt great. I am fairly confident that if the race was held on that track I would have done significantly better. Mile 2 averaged 7:15. The next mile was a bit tougher for me with some large uphills that I wasn't expecting. I logged a 7:30. At the end of that mile, I felt very strong and and was prepared to really gun it in for the finish.

However, the hills continued. The last mile just murdered my time. The problem was that there were so many long hills that I hadn't anticipated. The last mile seemed to be all uphill! Normally, I make up some of my time on the downhills, but in this case, the road was wet and icy in places, so I was afraid to really give it my all on the downhills. I crossed the finish line at a disappointing 30:35. My fiance followed about 20 seconds later. He said he had kept me in sight until about the last half mile, when the largest hill came.

Although I wasn't happy with my time, I was pleased with my performance and how I felt. I felt very strong, I felt like I gave it all I had, and beating my fiance is no easy task. He recently murdered me in a 5K and a 10K, so I know I had to have put out a strong performance. Usually I like to measure my performance by age group ranking, but the results weren't presented in such a way that I could determine that. I placed 147 of 1095 runners, both male and female. I counted 27 females who finished ahead of me, but I have no idea how many total runners were female. Another thing that felt great about this race was that almost nobody passed me. I passed a bunch of runners in the beginning and that trend continued throughout the race. Often times, I would pick out people to pace off of during the uphills so as not to slow down, but then I would end up passing them. For this reason, I feel like I did very well, although the watch indicates otherwise.

Overall it was a very fun evening. Going into it, I wasn't all that excited about putting out a race effort in cold, rainy, dark conditions, but it was all worth it. My fiance and I went home to crab legs, champagne and Rock Band until we rang in the new year.