My First Sub 90 Minute Half Marathon

The title of this blog post gave away the ending! Now let’s start at the beginning.

This morning I ran the Newport News One City Half Marathon. This was my goal race for the spring, and I trained specifically for it. Even though I am running the Boston Marathon in April, I oriented all of my training towards a half marathon.

In my training I focused primarily on half marathon pace and 10K pace. My goal was to work on improving my lactate threshold. My longest run was 15.5 miles, which included 2 x 3 miles at half marathon pace.

Coming off of a 40:31 PR in the 10K four weeks ago (on a hilly course), I knew I was ready to go for a sub 1:30:00 half marathon; I just had to solidify my endurance and continue to push on my lactate threshold pace. Lactate threshold is the point that your body can no longer clear lactic acid from your muscles, and you can run at that pace for approximately one hour. So it’s between 10K pace and half marathon pace.

I did my final workout 10 days out from the race: 3 x 1600m repeats on the track. They clocked in at 6:25, 6:24, 6:24. And I felt like I could have pushed harder. This workout was the final confidence booster I needed to go for that sub 1:30:00.

I had run this race once before, back in 2020. It was the last race I ran before the world shut down. I had attempted to go sub-90 there, but my fitness wasn’t where it needed to be. I had injured my foot during CIM in December of 2019, so I had to take the first three weeks of January off. My time from 2020 was 1:31:56. I should also mention, that since I ran this race 4 years ago, I have not run any faster in the half marathon. A combination of bad weather, not being fit enough, and simply not running a lot of half marathons contributed to this. So it was really time to run a strong one.

Also, my PR for the half was from November 2019 in Indianapolis. My time there was 1:30:58.

Race week
I woke up on Monday morning and checked the forecast. My heart sank. 50 degrees at the start with a dew point of 50. And of course getting warmer throughout the race. This is still technically winter (despite what the groundhog says) and I was really looking forward to racing in the 30s. All of a sudden it felt like my goal would no longer be possible at this race. My body just melts in the humidity. I decided that if the conditions were unfavorable I would adjust my goal accordingly, and then run another half marathon two weeks later and hope for better weather at that point.

Thankfully, the forecast started to improve slightly as the week went on with starting temps at 46 degrees, rising to 51. If the weather had been in the 30s, I would have been absolutely 100% confident in my ability to break 90. But this weather was a little iffy. I figured I might not get sub 90, but a PR (sub 1:30:58) would still be well within my reach.

Two nights before the race (Friday night) I slept for an incredible 9 hours. I NEVER sleep that much. I had tapered all week long and I could tell my body was really getting into recovery mode. And four nights before the race, I had slept for 8.5 hours! My usual is 7 - 7.5 hours during training. Greg and I drove down to Newport News, VA on Saturday morning. It took us just under three hours. We ate lunch at a really good sandwich shop. I had a turkey sandwich on multigrain bread with lettuce and tomatoes. I also made sure to drink plenty of water and electrolytes all day long.

We arrived at the race expo and I retrieved my bib from the Elite counter. I had qualified for their elite program through my previous times and I was excited to have a bib where my name was larger than the number! I’ve had elite bibs in the past, but never with my last name so prominent. I handed them my water bottle, which I wrapped in zebra duct tape. That bottle would be waiting for me at the elite aid station during mile 8. I filled it with water + Skratch Labs electrolyte mix.

Later that day we headed out to Target to get sunscreen for my face. I almost always put sunscreen on my face when I run, but I didn’t think to bring it because it was supposed to be totally overcast. But the forecast changed at the last minute to be about 75% sunny! We then had dinner with my friend Meredith and a few of her friends. I had my standard chicken parm with no cheese. Cheese can upset my stomach. Meredith would be running the full marathon and her friends in the half.

Before the Race
I woke up feeling pretty good after about 6 hours of sleep. I would have liked to have gotten more sleep, but I wasn’t at all worried, given my epic sleep in the week leading up to the race. I woke up at 4:00 and my alarm went off shortly before 5:00. I had a banana and some almond butter pretzels, which is my new favorite pre-race breakfast. I continued to hydrate with water and electrolytes.

I got dressed: shorts and a crop top. I tried not to think about the fact that all of my other PRs had been set in 30-degree weather wearing capri tights. I could defy the odds! I was confident! We left the hotel at 6:00 and it was a quick 10-minute drive to the start line. Greg stuck around for another 10 minutes and then he left to go to his first spectating point.

There was an elite tent at the start line which had bottled water and gatorade, but I had my own bottle with me. There was a porta potty there which I used, and it was nice not to have a long line. 25 minutes before race start, I had a UCAN gel. I typically drink the powder before races but lately I have found that the gel sits better. I still use the powder before long runs in training.

I warmed up for one mile, including some faster strides. It was 46 degrees, mostly sunny, and humid. I told myself I would be okay. Even if it got into the 50s at the end, I am usually fine if I can stay cool for the bulk of the race. On my personal race weather scale, I give these conditions a 7 out of 10. I might have rated them an 8 if it was spring, summer, or fall. But it’s winter and it should be in the 30s in the morning! A 7 out of 10 on my scale means that conditions are somewhat favorable, but not ideal. The weather will likely pose some challenges, but nothing too major. My plan was to go for the sub-90, but to still be happy with a PR of any kind.

I lined up close to the front, but not right at the front. I was friends with a few of the other elite runners so we chatted a bit. A few of the women asked me about my goal and I told them it was sub 1:30. Others were trying for that same goal.

I was happy to see that there was no 1:30 pace group. I do not like running with pace groups because they tend to start too fast for me. And then it gets in my head if they pass me or I can’t keep up.

Pacing & Fueling Strategy
My plan was to run a pace of 6:50-6:55 for the first three miles, and then run the rest of the race between 6:45-6:50. The course was mostly flat, so even pacing was the way to go. In order to run 1:29:59 for 13.1 miles, you need to run an average pace of 6:52. But since I would be using my Garmin to pace this race (and it measured 13.21 back in 2020) I knew I needed to pace for 6:48 or better. For fueling, the plan was to carry my own fluids for the first 15 minutes and then grab my bottle at mile 8. I would take a Maurten caffeinated gel at 15:00 and a Mauten regular gel at 55:00. There was also the UCAN gel 25 minutes pre-race.

Miles 1-4

The first 2 miles were all about finding my stride and my rhythm. I monitored my Garmin pace closely. It’s easy to go out way too fast in a half marathon if you just run by feel. Thankfully there wasn’t much crowding and after the first 10 minutes I was able to settle in without leap frogging people.

Mile 3

I saw Greg during the third mile. I was very happy to see him and hear him cheering for me.

My mindset during these miles was to stay relaxed and keep the effort controlled. It wasn’t time to push super hard yet. I reminded myself that this could be my PR half marathon, so I should savor the experience.

Mile 1: 6:54
Mile 2: 6:50
Mile 3: 6:47
Mile 4: 6:43

Miles 5-8
I had read my 2020 race report the day before and I knew to expect a lot of twists and turns during the 5th mile. Nothing too horrible, but just annoying and mentally exhausting. This race doesn’t have that many turns, but 50% of them are all squeezed into mile 5. Then we ran through a park which was nicely shaded. I was very thankful for the shade because I had begun to feel the sun beating down on me. It was also during this point in the race when I starting pouring water over my head. Yes, I over heat when it’s in the upper 40s!

I once again remembered the Richmond Marathon from last fall and how there was a similar section. I handled that section by focusing on the serenity of my surroundings and being super zen-like. It was during this time (around mile 7) where I was able to pass a guy. I hadn’t passed anyone since mile 4 and nobody had passed me.

I had no idea what place I was in the field among women. There was one woman about 20 seconds ahead of me for the entire race. I think we ran about the same pace throughout, although she must have run the first two miles a little quicker to be that much ahead of me.

I noted that I hit the 45 minute mark at around 6.6 miles That was a good sign, I was right on pace! But I didn’t have much wiggle room. All I had to do was to repeat what I had just done.

When we came out of the park during the 8th mile I knew the race would start getting hard. This is where I fell apart in 2020. At 55 minutes, I took my second Maurten gel (non caffeinated) which thankfully corresponded to when I picked up my zebra water bottle. I inhaled the gel in one gulp and chased it with my water + Skratch Labs mix. I continued to take water from the water stations and pour it over my head to keep cool. The sun was out in full force now.

Mile 5: 6:47
Mile 6: 6:50
Mile 7: 6:47

Mile 8: 6:50

Miles 9-12
I knew I would have to dig really deep here, and I was mentally prepared. But oh wow, did this hurt. I knew that my sub 1:30 was just 30 minutes away and all I had to do was work SUPER HARD for 30 minutes and my goal would be attained!

I knew that there would be a hill during the 10th mile. It was the only real hill during the race and once I climbed it, there would be no more hills. I knew it would be one of my slowest miles, so when my watch beeped at 6:55, i didn’t let it impact my confidence.

Even though there were no more hills, the race still felt impossibly hard. I tried every mental trick in the book. I oozed positivity. I looked at any sign I could find, read it and then kept repeating the words as a distraction. I told myself “keep giving, keep giving”. I did not want to go soft at this point. I had to fight for it.

The song I had going through my head was "Song To Say Goodbye" by Placebo, which has a driving beat. I imagined it was about saying goodbye to negative thoughts. Saying goodbye to not making my goal. Saying goodbye to the 1:30s. It really helped.

I don’t think it would have been this hard if it were 5-10 degrees cooler, but my energy was getting zapped, my legs were super tired and it was an all-out mental battle. I told myself to embrace the hurt, not to give in, and to fight super hard. I knew that if my pace started to slip above 6:50 then I would miss my goal. I didn’t look at my watch, for fear that it would demoralize me. I just pushed.

I did, however, quickly glance down to see that my elapsed time was 1:17:xx. Only 13 minutes to go. An important 13 minutes. I can do anything for 13 minutes!

Mile 9: 6:46
Mile 10: 6:55
Mile 11: 6:48
Mile 12: 6:52

Mile 13 and the Finish
By this point, I knew I had to hold it together for just one more mile. But I didn’t want to just “hold it together” I wanted to really push with everything I had. No more watch check-ins. Just grit and guts and grunts. There was a huge American flag at the end of a very long straight stretch and I just kept my eyes on that flag.

My last mile clocked in at 6:44 (second fastest mile of the race) and I ran a pace of 6:19 for the final 0.22.

As I approached the finish line I saw 1:29:xx on the clock and I vowed not to let it reach 1:30. I crossed, knowing that my clock time was under 1:30. I had finally broken 90 minutes! I did it!

I crossed the finish line and I felt like I was on death’s doorstep. I walked a little bit through the finish line chute, got my medal, and then pulled over to the side to vomit. I almost always vomit after half marathons, and today was no exception. But I felt worlds better after I did.

Greg found me and showed me that my official time was 1:29:51. Just barely made it! It took me a few minutes to recover before I could get moving again. Once I did, we made our way to the Elite finish area, where we had our own food and amenities. Once there, I changed clothing and created my Instagram video while waiting for the marathoners to start pouring in. Once the video was posted, we went back out to the course to cheer for Meredith. It was such an amazing morning!

I placed 12th out of 405 women and 2nd out of 45 women in my age group. We didn't stay for the awards because we were anxious to get lunch and get going. When the final official results came out, my time was listed as 1:29:50.

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
What a race! This was basically a case of me knowing what I was capable of and just having the sheer will to get it done. Weather be dammed! I definitely think the weather made those last four miles extra challenging and the ideal conditions would have yielded an even faster time but I am in no way complaining.

This was a PR by 1:07, finally bettering my 1:30:58 from Indianapolis back in 2019.

Per the McMilan calculator, my finish time correlates to a 10K of 40:18 and a marathon of 3:09:06. So at the age of 45, there could be even more PRs ahead of me.

To get to this point, I ran low-for-me mileage. I only had three weeks that were above 50 miles, and those weeks were 52, 56, and 51.5. My longest run was 15.5 miles. I relied on my natural endurance and focused on my lactate threshold.

I attribute my recent fitness gains to self-coaching and resolving my once-chronic Achilles tendinitis. Having been racing/training for nearly 20 years, I am super in tune with my body. I believe that following how my body feels on a daily basis is the best guide for my training schedule. I am constantly modifying my plan based on how my body is feeling and responding to workouts. And with my Achilles pain having disappeared, I have more ankle mobility, which allows for a longer stride, which contributes to a faster pace at the same effort. 

Probably the biggest takeaway is how mentally strong I was during the final miles. Things got really hard and it would have been so easy to back off of my sub-90 goal and still walk away with a small PR of 1:30:xx. I really had to fight for it and I am glad I did.

\\his feels amazing. PR cake and champagne tonight. Boston training starts tomorrow!

Vermont City Marathon: Pacing Greg

Yesterday morning I ran the Vermont City 2-person relay, which enabled me to run the first half of Greg's marathon with him. 

Greg chose this marathon because he wanted to experience a new city/state, and he wanted a late Spring marathon, having run Rehoboth Beach in December. Even though I am not a certified coach, Greg and I agree that I am qualified enough to be his coach, so I created a training plan for him. I have been his coach for his past 4-5 marathons, and it has worked out well in the past. 

We flew to Vermont on Friday. Our flight was delayed by about 90 minutes, which wasn't too bad considering the massive thunderstorms and tornado watch that came through the area during our originally scheduled departure time. We had dinner outside at a restaurant on Church Street, which is part of the marathon route. 

On Saturday morning, we did a shakeout run along the course. We identified where the big hills would be and we scoped out the start/finish area. Then we met up with Chad and his family for brunch. We've run a few marathons with Chad including Sugarloaf, B&A Trail, and New York City. Chad's goal is to complete a marathon in all 50 states. Chad's wife and twin children (11 year-olds) would be our cheering squad for the marathon. 

The twins were very excited about cheering for us in the morning. They wanted to wake up early to make sure that they were able to see us on both the first and second loop of the course. One of the twins, Nathan, was fascinated by my Instagram following and he got really excited about the opportunity to take a photo that could be seen by thousands of people. We told him that I got free shoes because of my Instagram following, and then he saw a sign at the restaurant that said "Follow us on Instagram". He asked if the restaurant would get free plates if people followed them on Instagram. Chad explained that it didn't exactly work that way. 

The expo was surprisingly not within walking distance of our hotel. The start/finish was very close to our hotel and many other hotels, and yet the expo was held at a hotel that was two miles away-- not even in the downtown area. Chad drove us there in his rental car and we met up with my relay partner, Emily. I met Emily on Instagram when I asked if anyone who lived in Vermont wanted to run the half marathon relay with me. She was very quick to reply and within 24 hours, we had signed up for the relay together. 

Even though I have run close to 200 races, I have never run a relay. I wasn't sure how the hand-off worked. Apparently you wear the bib on a belt around your waist. But Emily and I agreed that the belt felt awkward and we'd rather have it pinned to our chest, even if it cost us a minute at the transition. So we didn't take one of the belts and the plan was for me to start unpinning the bib as I approached the exchange area. The name of our relay team was Racing Stripes!

Before the Race
The alarm woke us up at 5:00, which rare because I am usually awake well before my alarm on race morning. We ate breakfast and got ready. We had outfits that matched each other and matched the colors of the race: forest green. We had the same shoes, too: the New Balance Fuel Cell RC Elite. This would be Greg's first time racing in "super shoes" with the carbon fiber plate. I recommended these shoes to him because I find them to be the most stable of all the super shoes I have tried. Chad knocked on our hotel door at 6:30 and we walked to the start line together. 

In the starting area, the announcer was very loud. No matter where you went, the speaker was blaring in our ears so we couldn't talk to each other. And the announcer spoke continually about how to line up in the corrals. So it was was 15 minutes of the announcer repeating the EXACT same thing over and over, really loudly. The funny thing was that he was telling some groups to go to the "left" and some to go to the "right" but of course, that could be either direction, depending on where you are facing! Chad lined up in his marathon corral and Greg lined up in my relay corral.

Even though Greg had a "preferred corral" bib enabling him to start at exactly at 7:00, I was not allowed to start with him as a relay runner. All of the 2-person relay teams started in the very last corral, which was released at 7:12. We had emailed the race director asking if I could be in the preferred corral with him, but he said that all relay teams had to start in the 7:12 corral, no exceptions. So Greg started with me. That meant 12 extra minutes of running in warmer weather at the end of the race and having to weave through the slower marathon runners. 

I asked the race director about the weaving in my email but he assured me that it wouldn't be a problem because the course was wide enough to pass people until you got on the bike path at mile 4. 

So Chad started the race at around 7:01 and Greg and I started at 7:12.

Weather
It was sunny with no cloud cover, a very light breeze and about 40% of the course was shaded. It was 58 degrees at the start and warmed up to 69 degrees by the time Greg finished. I would guess that it was about 63 when I finished. Thankfully the humidity was low. On my race weather scale, I give my race a 6 out of 10 -- too warm to run my fastest, but not detrimental either. If I had been running the full marathon, I would give it a 3 out of 10 because running in the upper 60s at the end of a full marathon would be extremely difficult for me. However, we knew that running in late May would likely be warm, so this weather was not unexpected and it was fairly decent relative to what it could have been.

Pacing Strategy
Greg races best when he runs a negative split. He has done this at most of his marathons and that was our plan for yesterday. He wanted to beat his PR of 3:19:51 from the Two Rivers Marathon (set in March 2021). So the plan was to run the first half in 1:40:00- or slightly under, and then for him to negative split by 2-3 minutes. 

We looked at the elevation profile of the course and I wrote down mile-by-mile splits on my arm based on

the elevation. 

Miles 1-4
I made the mistake of not warming up beforehand. We didn't have a ton of time, and we needed to be in our corral so I figured I would run in place as my warm up. Usually the first mile of any run I do is a pace of around 9:30-10:00. My Achilles in particular need to be warmed up.

So Greg started out as planned at a pace in the 7:40s and I struggled to keep up with him. It seemed like he bolted out WAY too fast and I was running at an extreme effort, but then I looked down at my Garmin and realized that I was running a pace of 8:30. And it felt ridiculously hard. I knew I needed to catch him but I would have to run even faster to do so! 

I caught him about a half a mile in and I felt like I was running a 5K! But eventually we settled into a rhythm and my body remembered that running in the 7:40's was not all that taxing. 

It wasn't long before we caught up with some of the marathon runners. At first it was just some weaving here and there and then we had the entire 5:30 pace group to run around. It's hard enough to weave around a huge pace group, but twice as hard when you are trying to stick with a running partner. I tried my best to run the tangents and have Greg follow me but that wasn't always possible. 

At some point during the 4th mile we passed the 5:00 pace group. There was so much weaving involved and it was very difficult to stay on pace with all the speeding up and slowing down to get around people. I think that having the relay runners start behind all the marathon runners was a bad idea. I think it should have been done by pace. No matter what race you are running, you should be lined up according to pace. We were running in the 7:40s around masses of people running in the 10:00's and 11:00's. It makes it hard for all runners - whether they are passing or the ones being passed. 

Mile 1: 7:41 (planned 7:45)
Mile 2: 7:41 (planned 7:50)
Mile 3: 7:42 (planned 7:45)
Mile 4: 7:46 (planned 7:40)

Miles 5-8
We were happily on pace by mile 5 and enjoying ourselves. The scenery was beautiful, and we really loved the bike path. At mile 6 it was time to get off the bike path and go back to the streets. This is when the hilly section started. During mile 6, we were pleasantly surprised to hear our names being called by the twins. They had woken up early to make sure they were out in time to see us. Nathan took a bunch of photos and Chad's wife got a video. It was a huge pick-me-up.

Photo by 11-year-old Nathan

The uphill section seemed to go on and on. Mile 7 was had over 80 feet of gain and some of it was on an uneven brick surface. Greg started getting ahead of me as we reached the top of the hill because he's better on hills than I am. He was running the planned pace, but I was a little slower. I think I had underestimated how hard the hill would be in my pacing plan. 

At one point Greg turned around and asked if I was going to fall off pace and not be with him anymore. But I just needed some time to catch up to him post hill. As soon as the hill ended I was right back with him. 

Another challenge of the hill was passing the 4:00 pace group. So not only were we running uphill on an uneven surface and trying to stay together, but we were weaving through a large group of people. Did I mention that I think it was a mistake to have the relay runners start at the very back of the race? And it's not just the pace groups that we had to weave around-- it was constant weaving throughout the entire race. The pace groups were most difficult, though.

Running uphill on brick surface

Mile 5: 7:31 (planned 7:30)
Mile 6: 7:34 (planned 7:35)
Mile 7: 8:09 (planned 7:55)
Mile 8: 7:35 (planned 7:45)

Miles 9- 13.1
We were able to make up for the slowness of mile 7 during mile 8. So we were still perfectly on pace by the time we reached the 9th mile. We had planned for mile 9 to be 7:15 because it was supposed to be all downhill, but it ended up not being as fast as I had imagined, so we only ran 7:31. 

My legs were feeling great at this point, but I was beginning to feel the effects of the sun and I was starting to get tired. We reached mile 10 and everything was still going well. Then we ran through a neighborhood that had a lot of turns and potholes. I ran gingerly over the uneven pavement and slowed down to avoid the potholes. This meant Greg was getting ahead of me. It was a combination of me slowing down due to the course and him being a little faster than what we had planned. And he needed to be going faster than planned to make up for our slow mile 9.

Photo by Nathan

At that point it seemed like it would be a huge task to catch up to him, especially since I was getting tired. In hindsight, I know I definitely could have surged to reach him and kept pacing him, but I wimped out. He was running really well and I figured he didn't need me anymore because we were almost at the halfway point. So somewhere during this 11th mile I yelled at him to go ahead and have a great race. 

I felt like a wimp, but I was also really tired and didn't have the drive to be pushing any harder. Once I was on my own, I ditched the pacing plan and just cruised in at a comfortably hard pace. I wasn't super motivated to go any faster once Greg had gotten ahead of me. I wanted a respectable relay time, but I wasn't going to kill myself over a minute or two. Somewhere around mile 12 I passed the 3:45 pace group. There were a few relay runners going my approximate pace, so I used them to help guide me through the pack.

During the last mile, someone recognized me from my Instagram and ran with me to take some selfies together. It was flattering, but given that it was the last mile of my race, it was difficult to focus on anything other than getting to the finish. I wasn't really in the selfie mood! Finally I came upon Chad's family and it was awesome to have a cheering squad.

Mile 9: 7:31 (planned 7:15)
Mile 10: 7:29 (planned 7:30)
Mile 11: 7:32 (planned 7:20)
Mile 12: 7:36 (planned 7:30)
Mile 13: 7:20 (planned 7:15)
Last 0.15: 6:56 pace

Relay Handoff
I stopped my Garmin at 13.15 and still had some more running to do after that. I knew that I would be running around 13.3 miles and my partner would be running a little less. And also there had been so much weaving that I probably ran even more than that. I stopped my Garmin because I planned to slow down significantly to unpin my bib while running. I wanted to be able to hand Emily the bib as soon as I saw her and not waste time unpinning the bib while stopped. So I ran slowly to the exchange point while unpinning the four safety pins. 

She spotted me and I handed her the bib. She quickly pinned it on, and I wished her a great race and she was off!

When I stopped my Garmin, I had 13.15 miles in 1:40:15.  Ironically, that was Greg's official half marathon split. Even though he was maybe 30-45 seconds ahead of me by that point, all of the weaving meant our Garmins wouldn't match the official time/distance, so it was good he sped up!

After the Relay
I went back to the hotel, which was close by, but I walked slowly because my SI Joint decided to act up. I wish that pain was completely gone, but sometimes I feel it on random occasions. At the hotel, I was able to freshen up a bit, change shoes, change tops, re-apply sunscreen, and grab my phone.

Greg at 25.5

The course was two loops, and I decided to go to mile 20, which was the top of the big hill we ran during mile 7. It was close to the hotel and it would be a good place to see everyone. I saw Greg come through exactly on schedule, and then Emily about 5 minutes later, followed by Chad. Apparently Greg had caught up to Chad and passed him. Once my three runners had come through the 20 mile mark, I proceeded to the finish line area and waited about half a mile before the finish line.

It was so much fun seeing all the runners come through, and Greg looked so strong! After he ran by me, I proceeded to the finish area.

I realized I hadn't had any water since finishing my half marathon, so I went to the finish line chute and asked a volunteer to hand me a bottle of water. She told me I wasn't able to have a bottle from the chute and I had to get a cup of water from a different location. I have to admit I felt like a second-class citizen at that point! When I finished the relay and passed the bib onto Emily, there had been no place to get water that was immediately visible. Otherwise, I would have grabbed a bottle then.

He ran a time of 3:18:15, which is a PR by 1:36. The pacing strategy was for 26.3 miles in 3:17:30, and he ended up getting 26.4 on his Garmin (due to all the weaving), so he probably did reach 26.3 in our projected 3:17:30. So Greg paced it exactly as planned! He is going to write a guest blog post, so I won't say any more about his race. 

Relay team Racing Stripes finished in a time of 3:28:17, which earned us 8th place in the women's open division. I can now officially say I have run in a relay!

Team Racing Stripes

We all reunited, and Chad's son was so excited to give me the pictures he had taken of us. His photos were excellent, and I posted one of them on Instagram. He caught us both smiling and looking at the camera, which is more than I can say for the official race photographers!

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
All goals were achieved: Greg ran a PR. I ran my first relay. We experienced a new city/state. We had fun with friends. This was exactly the experience we were hoping for!

In hindsight I wish I would have pushed harder to stay with Greg during miles 12-13. I know I could have, but I just got tired and decided to be comfortable instead of uncomfortable. 

Since I wasn't yet acclimated to the warm weather, I wasn't even sure I would be able to run with Greg for as long as I did. I thought I might actually bonk at some point, but that never happened. 

My heart rate was seemingly back to normal. The mile paces lined up consistently with their corresponding average heart rates. And considering that it was warm at the end, my heart rate didn't even spike or drift higher! It was consistent throughout the whole race, which is a sign that I am fully recovered from my post-Covid heightened heart rate.  

There were many wonderful things about the race including the beauty of the course, the volunteers, and the free photos. But there were some things that I think they could improve for next year:

• There was no runner tracking (unless the runner ran with a smart phone) and the results weren't posted in real time. Many races are now using the RaceJoy app, which doesn't provide official splits and is entirely reliant on the runner carrying a phone. Chad carried his phone so that his family would be able to know where he was, but he normally does not race marathons while holding an iPhone.
• The expo was not within walking distance to where most of the hotels were, and Ubers aren't easy to get in this area. If it hadn't been for Chad, we would have had to take a taxi there. That's not the end of the world, but it seems like they would have bib pickup closer to the start/finish/hotels.
• The 2-person relay teams were placed at the very back of the pack, which meant weaving through slower runners for the entire first half of the race. Passing pace groups was particularly challenging on the narrow bike path. I think this cost Greg nearly a minute in his finish time. If this had been a BQ, those precious seconds would have made a big difference in terms of having extra "cushion".

Despite the areas for improvement, I definitely recommend this race because it's a fun course and the city of Burlington is fun and beautiful. Overall it was a wonderful experience! We couldn't have asked for a better weekend. Greg even had the opportunity to see a close friend from childhood the day after the race.

Next for me: 5K training!

Pacing Greg at the Rehoboth Beach Marathon

I had the pleasure of pacing Greg for the first few miles of his marathon last Saturday! He ran the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon in Delaware. This course currently holds my marathon PR from 2018, and Greg wanted to experience it for himself. 

Rehoboth Beach, DE

People have asked us if we typically do the same races or different races and the answer is that it varies. Sometimes, like in the case of the Two Rivers Marathon or the Wineglass Half Marathon, we run the same race. Other times, he runs the full and I run the half, or vice versa. And sometimes one of us is running and the other is cheering. It just depends on our individual goals and what we want to experience. When looking at our race schedule for the fall, I had planned to run Richmond, but Greg didn't want to repeat that marathon, so he opted for Rehoboth Beach. I didn't want to repeat Rehoboth Beach because my 2018 race was a magical day and I didn't think it could get any better.

My original plan was to be a spectator and not participate in the race at all. But when I ran my marathon a week earlier than planned, it gave me an extra recovery week (4 weeks instead of 3). So I felt like I could run with Greg as a half marathoner until the two races split in different directions, and then finish off the half myself. So I registered for the half marathon two weeks before the race.

Greg and I would run together for 4.5 miles, I would proceed to finish the half marathon, run back to the hotel to change and grab my phone, then go back to the course in time to cheer him on at mile 19.5, and again at the finish. 

Before the Race
Even though I wasn't planning to "race" the half marathon at full effort, I made preparations as if I was racing. I figured I might as well get as much fueling and hydration as possible, and avoid foods that might upset my stomach.

We drove to Rehoboth the day before the race (Friday) and it was just under three hours. it was short
compared to our trip to Corning/Rochester in October and our trip to western West Virginia in November. We had dinner at DiFerbo's which was only two blocks from our hotel. They had a "pasta your way" and I ordered the rotini with marinara sauce and chicken.

The race started at 7:00am so we set our alarms for 4:49. I always like to set my alarm for a non standard time because everything else in life occurs on a standard time (4:30, 5:00, 5:30, etc). I had an English muffin with almond butter + the Maurten Drink mix 160. 

Greg and I got dressed in our matching Tracksmith outfits. Part of the fun of running together was letting people know that we were together based on our gear!

The race started right next to our hotel so we waited until the last minute to leave the hotel room. I was getting nervous because it was 6:40 and we were still in our hotel room, but Greg assured me that we had plenty of time. Ultimately this was good because I had not brought a throwaway shirt. I jogged around the boardwalk to stay warm, wearing just a tank top and shorts in the 45 degree weather. And it was windy on the boardwalk near the start.

I decided to wear the New Balance Fuel Cell RC Elite shoe. I don't like it as much as the Adios Pro because it doesn't feel as fast. But since I would be treating this run as a workout and not a race, it made sense to wear this shoe. 

They didn't have an official gear check, but you could toss your throwaway into a bin and the bins were brought to the finish. Greg had an old race t-shirt that he put in the bin, and we didn't care if he got it back again or not. I looked around for my friend Carrie, who was running the full marathon, but I didn't see her. I would also be cheering for her once I finished my half.

Miles 1-4
The race started without much of a warning. All of a sudden the gun went off and people started moving. Greg and I had positioned ourselves somewhere in between the 3:15 pacer and the 1:40 half marathon pacer (there was no 3:20 pacer). Greg's marathon PR was 3:19:51, which he had set earlier this year at the Two Rivers Marathon. His goal was to beat that, and I believed he could shave at least 5 minutes off of it. 

Now would be a good time to mention that I am Greg's coach. I have been writing his training plans for the past 3 years. I am not an RRCA certified coach but that doesn't matter to Greg! I create his plans by understanding his strengths and areas for improvement. I give him workouts that challenge him without burning him out. For this cycle, I had him running most of his weeks in the high 50's, with some of them into the low 60s.  He naturally has a lot of speed (he ran a sub-40:00 10K on New Year's day of this year), so if he developed his endurance, he should be able to run a sub 3:10 marathon. 

So I don't give him a ton of speed work. For this cycle, I gave him a medium-long run (11-13 miles) and a long run each week. I incorporated progression runs, marathon pace work, and lactate threshold work. He also needs needs a lot of recovery so I gave him a rest day each week and had him run no more than 5 miles the day after his long run.

Mile 2, photo by Fredman

Given all of this, he wanted me to pace him at 7:40. His plan was to start the race as 7:40 and then speed up if he could. I told him not to look at his Garmin and not to get ahead of me, but just follow my lead and to trust me.

I was able to pace him fairly accurately and the only hiccup we ran into is when the 1:40 half marathon pace group passed us on the boardwalk, crowding the area and making it hard for us to stick together. Greg said he didn't like running near pace groups because of the crowding and I agree with him. The benefit, however, was that the boardwalk was windy and the large pace group helped block the wind.

I carried a water bottle for the first few miles and I took a Maruten gel 15 minutes into the race.

I had so much fun running with him and being his pacer! I was so excited for what lay ahead of him and I knew I was setting him up for a strong finish.

Mile 1: 7:41
Mile 2: 7:39
Mile 3: 7:35
Mile 4: 7:37

Miles 5-8
As we approached the break-off point at 4.5 miles, I said my final words of encouragement to Greg as he continued onto a gravel path I turned around with the half marathoners. My plan was to speed up just slightly after leaving Greg and then gradually get faster and faster, depending on how I felt. I didn't have a goal time, but I wanted to see how much my legs could give me after running a 10K PR just 9 days prior. 

Mile 7, photo by blog reader Megan

It had been a slow recovery from that 10K because I pushed myself harder than I typically do. It wasn't until Wednesday (6 days later) that my legs felt good again and on that day I ran a track workout. I was definitely asking a lot of my body!

As I started to speed up I began to wish for my adidas Adios Pro shoes. The New Balance Fuel Cell wasn't really responding to my increased effort and the shoes felt bulky. They were great when I was going at a more relaxed pace but trying to push the pace felt a little awkward.

It wasn't long until I caught the 1:40 pace group and then passed them. It felt awesome to be passing so many people and leaving the pace group in the dust. I've had many experiences when they have come up from behind me and left me in the dust! I took my second Maurten gel at 55 minutes into the race which would be enough to power me through to the finish. 

The gravel section started just before mile marker 8. Up until then the race had been on the road and the boardwalk. I wasn't too worried about the gravel. Even though the gravel in my most recent marathon posed a challenge, it didn't pose that much of a challenge when I did this marathon in 2018. 

Mile 5: 7:27
Mile 6: 7:22
Mile 7: 7:22
Mile 8: 7:21

Miles 9-13
One of the coolest things about this race was the fact that so many people recognized me from my blog and from Instagram. There must have been 10-20 people who called out to me while either running or while cheering for Greg. They also took photos of me and sent them to me.

The gravel was more challenging than I remembered. It could have been due to the leaves on the ground making the surface more slippery than in 2018. Regardless, I still continued to pass people on the gravel section. My legs were beginning to tire and I wasn't able to continue to speed up as planned. By mile 11 I was ready to be done with the race, but I kept pushing because I knew I needed to finish fast to have time to see Greg at mile 19.5. I honestly did not care about my time at all; I just wanted to make sure I would be there for Greg.

I continued to pass runners and nobody passed me. Finally, I could see that up ahead the gravel was ending and we would be back on the road.

As I came out of the gravel section, I noticed a group of at least 8 half marathoners joining the course from another direction. This confused the heck out of me. Where did they come from? They were fast too. I only had one runner in my line of sight, and there were way more of these other runners. Did I somehow miss a turn? I didn't think so! 

I continued to run hard but I was worried that I had run the wrong course. I kept thinking the finish line would be at 12.6 or 12.7 because I had taken a short cut, but no- that did not happen. I did, in fact, run the correct course but that group of runners made a wrong turn after coming off the trail and ended up having to double back. (I found this out later on Strava. Some of them ran 13.45 miles). 

Mile 9: 7:23
Mile 10: 7:24
Mile 11: 7:36
Mile 12: 7:36
Mile 13: 7:15
Final 0.21: 6:29 pace

Transition from Runner to Spectator
I gunned it hard to the finish line for an official time of 1:38:40. As I finished, the announcer said, "Elizabeth Clor finishing. She has a great Instagram! You should follow her!" I was shocked but also beaming with excitement. The announcer knew who I was! This race was so full of wonderful support from my followers!

I somehow finished next to a guy dressed similarly to me!

I collected my medal and my cape, walked for a minute to see if I was going to vomit, but did not vomit! I guess that only happens when I race full-out. The hotel was 0.6 mile away. I jogged for 0.5 mile and walked the last 0.1. It was not easy to go right into jogging after that hard effort! I totally felt like superman running with a cape around me and holding a medal!

At the hotel, my first order of business was to get my hands functional. I soaked them in a sink filled with warm water along with my wrists and lower arms. Because of my Raynaud's, my hands go numb in the cold even if the rest of me is warm (which it was in the 51 degree weather).

Once I had the use of my hands, I used a wet washcloth to wipe all the sweat off my body and changed into warm dry clothes. I grabbed my phone and headed back out. I realized that I had less than 10 minutes to get to my spectator spot to see Carrie. I expected her at around 9:20 and in order to make it there in time I had to once again jog. Ouch, that hurt! I wasn't exactly sure where I was going either so I had to keep checking the map on my phone.

Cheering for Greg and Carrie
With less than one minute to spare I reached my spot and Carrie came flying by looking strong! Five minutes later I saw Greg and cheered very loudly and enthusiastically for him! He said that it was already hard, but that's to be expected at mile 19.5.

After that, I posted an Instagram story about the race and cheered for other runners as they passed. Then I relocated to the finish area, which was close by, and cheered the for the finishers. I absolutely LOVE watching marathon finish lines. Everyone is working so hard and it's so exciting to watch them as they chase down that final stretch!

I cheered for every runner, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Carrie and Greg. Carrie came into view and I cheered her into the finish. Greg followed shortly after looking strong. 

I met up with them both after they had collected their medals and they were very happy to be done. Greg ran a time of 3:21:24, which makes this his 3rd fastest marathon, right behind CIM (3:20). Greg might write a guest blog here on Racing Stripes with more details! He was happy with his effort and I am very proud of my athlete!

After Greg finished, he wanted to go back to the hotel immediately. I needed food. I had not eaten anything after my race and the hunger was setting in. He walked back to the hotel and I ate a biscuit + gravy, a waffle and some mac 'n cheese. As I walked around, I ran into several people who introduced themselves as Instagram followers. One of them actually lives about 20 minutes away from me and she runs around my same pace! She's doing Boston in the spring too and suggested that we do a training run together. I love meeting new runners. 

Before heading back to the hotel I found Greg's "throwaway" shirt in the bin and wrapped it around my waist. Once I got back to the hotel, he napped while I enjoyed the heated pool inside the hotel, which is actually more like a large hot tub. A fun day for everyone and a really well-organized race. 

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
This was harder than expected! It's crazy to think that I ran the full marathon on this course at an average pace of 7:25, and I couldn't even average that pace for a half marathon! (My average pace was 7:32). Granted, I wasn't racing it full out, but it still has me totally respecting my accomplishment from three years ago. And of course, wondering if I will ever beat that time!

• I placed 31 out of 931 women.
• I ran a negative split.
• It's really fun to pass a lot of people at the end of a race.
• Running a race as a workout is more fun than racing a race!
• Doing a workout in a race setting makes you push harder than you otherwise would

Within a 4-week time period, I ran a marathon, a 10K, and a half marathon. WOW! That's definitely a lot and more than I typically do. But I am having a blast and I will run a few 5Ks before I start to train for Boston. 

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!

A Monumental Day in Indianapolis

Yesterday, I ran the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon as a training run. I had originally registered for the full marathon last spring, before I came down with mono. But due to the nasty virus, I missed the entire summer of training so I was lucky to be able to run the half marathon as a training run. Greg ran the full marathon, and I cheered for him as he approached the finish line.

Amy and I post-race, cheering for marathoners

This race had been on "my list" for years and since quite a few of my friends were running it this year, I figured now would be a good time. It's just a short flight from DC, it's logistically easy with many hotels right next to the start/finish/expo, the weather is typically great for racing, and the course is flat. But before I write about my experience, I'll recap my past two weeks of training.

I've been making a smooth comeback from my 12-week training hiatus. For the past two weeks, I've been running seven days a week and feeling really good. There has been no sign of the illness returning.

Week of Oct. 24
This week was relatively boring, with easy runs every day except for Thursday, when I ran 12 x 30-second intervals with 1-minute recovery jogs. It felt really good to run fast again and most of the interval paces were between 5:55-6:30

My long run was prescribed at 80 minutes, and I surprised myself by running 9.1 miles at a pace of 8:51. The run felt wonderful. The weather was perfect and I had loads of energy. Based on this run, I knew I would be able to run the Indy Monumental half at my easy pace.  My total mileage for the week was 39.3, which is almost as high as it was right before I got sick. I think my coach's plan is to get my base mileage up before adding a significant amount of speed work. In June, my mileage was relatively low, but the speed was intense.

Week of Oct. 31
I was happy that my coach "approved" of my idea to run Indy as a training run, and I was looking
forward to it all week. I didn't have any kind of taper, though, since Indy would not be a race and my coach told me that I was supposed to take the whole thing easy- no speed whatsoever.

On Tuesday, I did the same workout that I had done the previous Thursday (30-second intervals) but this time I did 18 of them instead of 12, which yielded 3.3 miles worth of intervals. These were slightly faster than the previous week's intervals, with my last four intervals being sub-6:00 pace.

I started to get really frustrated with the monotony of the training again on Thursday. The plan called for 60-75 minutes, with 15 minutes at steady state in the middle of the run. Steady state is somewhere between your marathon and half marathon pace. I looked up my steady pace from January, and saw that I had run 8 miles at a pace of 7:26 for a steady state. Wow. I know that I am not in the same shape now that I was in January, but I figured I could pull off a pace close to that for two miles, and hope that it felt like steady state effort.

Well, as luck would have it, it was 60 degrees and very humid that morning. Usually when this happens I run by effort and dial back the pace. But because I had not run fast for more than 30 seconds at a time since June, I decided I was not going to back off the pace. I wasn't going to let the unseasonably warm and humid weather slow me down! So stubborn Elizabeth came out and over-ran the workout. The two miles averaged 7:28, but it felt like a tempo run instead of a steady state one. Usually I don't do this, but I was just super frustrated by the weather and my situation. Plus, I am running a 5K next weekend I have no baseline for what my pace might be. These 30-second intervals in no way predict what I can do for a 5K, so I used the steady state to test out what 7:28 would feel like!

Pre-race in Indianapolis
We arrived in Indy on Thursday night and went to the expo on Friday morning. I loved how logistically smooth this race was. It was a big race but with a small race feel. Our hotel was literally a 4 minute walk to the expo, and we could even use a skywalk to walk indoors.

Throughout the day, I was able to meet up with several people who had read my book. It was so

Meeting up with a Boston Bound reader

wonderful to hear them tell me about how much the book helped them. I was glowing from knowing that my book had made a difference not only in their running, but in their overall outlook.

Meanwhile, I was experiencing some ROMO: Resentment Of Missing Out. The weather outlook was perfect: low 40's and sunny with no wind. The course would be mainly flat. Many people would set PRs and qualify for Boston. I would not be. I had already resolved to come back to Indianapolis next year and run this race, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I would be getting the freakishly warm weather that Indy experienced just two days prior to this year's race. This was the year I had planned to run it, and I was a little upset that I was missing out on a perfect PR opportunity. So close- but so far away.

I was also trying to figure out how I would approach the half marathon training run. I felt like I wanted more of a purpose than just for it to be a training run. More excitement. More meaning. Of course I was going to abide by my coach's guidance and take it easy, but how could I do that and still feel excited? I thought it would be cool to pace another runner to a sub-2:00. Sub-2:00 is a huge milestone for many runners and I knew that my easy pace would get me in just under two hours.

The night before the race, I met up with two friends who I had known virtually for over eight years. We had met years ago on the Runner's World forums and kept in touch through Facebook. One of these runners, Sara, had a friend with her, Amy, who was running the half marathon. I asked Amy if she was, by any chance, trying to run sub-2:00. And she said she would love to run sub-2:00, but didn't think her training supported it. She had been dealing with a nagging injury and her training runs didn't lead her to believe that a sub-2:00 was possible right now, even though she had done it in the past.  I offered to pace her and she accepted, so we agreed to meet in the hotel lobby before the race to run together.

The next morning, Greg and I woke up, did our pre-race routine and left the hotel 30 minutes before the start of the race. I met up with Amy and we walked to the corrals together. She said that it takes her a few miles to warmup, so she wanted to start at around a 9:40 pace and then speed up from there. I was totally on board because it takes me awhile to warm up as well.

Miles 1-4
The race started and excitement was in the air. It was really crowded at first, especially since I was

Amy and I at the start of the race

farther back in the pack than I typically am during races. Amy and I got into a groove. I told her that if she wanted to pass people, I would just follow her path through. A lot of passing happened, but even more would happen later in the race. I was really happy to be running with Amy because the pace felt too easy for me, and if I was on my own, I would have been sub-9:00 from the get-go, and I think I would have regretted that later on.

Mile 1: 9:42
Mile 2: 9:25
Mile 3: 9:18
Mile 4: 9:05

Miles 5-9
Amy told me she was starting to "feel it" during mile six, and I assured her that she was supposed to feel it at mile six of a half marathon. I asked her if the pace was okay or if she wanted to slow down and she said she was fine to continue at that pace. We got into a rhythm where, at each mile marker, I would tell her what the mile split was and what our average race pace was. I think she had a different display on her Garmin and she appreciated having this info.

The cool thing was watching the average race pace slowly tick down from 9:20 to 9:09 by the end of mile 9. We were chipping away at the average race by by 1-2 seconds with every mile we ran, so it was super exciting. At one point, a guy around us asked me what the pace was for sub-2:00 and I told him he should try for 9:03-9:04 on his Garmin, just to be safe, as many Garmins measure a long course.

The course was not at all hilly, but whenever we had slight ups and downs, she totally surged on the uphills and I was extremely impressed. I tend to slow down on hills but speed up on the way down. I was really impressed with her effort level and how she just powered through the miles.

Mile 5: 9:07
Mile 6: 8:53
Mile 7: 8:54
Mile 8: 8:58
Mile 9: 8:58

Miles 10-13.1
Before I asked my coach if I could run this race as a training run, he had prescribed a 90-minute easy run. This would equate to slightly more than 10 miles. Interestingly, just after mile marker 10, my legs started to tire and ache a little. I guess my coach knows his stuff!

So my legs were not all that happy about the extra distance, but the pace still felt really relaxed and easy. I guess it takes the muscles awhile to catch back up to where the cardiovascular system is.

At this point, Amy and I started to pass a bunch of people. I brought to her attention that we were passing people so that she'd get a nice confidence boost and continue to push. By mile 10, we knew that we were going to go sub-2:00, it was just a matter of by how much. The last three miles of this race are a slight downhill and we could see a long stretch of downhill so we used it to our advantage. Our average race pace dropped from 9:09 down to 9:00 flat as we pushed our way to the finish line. We were elated to cross it 1:58:41.

Mile 10: 8:54
Mile 11: 8:44
Mile 12: 8:50
Mile 13: 8:26
Last 0.19: (7:54 pace)

We executed the plan exactly as intended, and it felt amazing!

Cheering for Marathoners
Amy and I high-fived each other a bunch of times and walked back to the hotel which was only one block away. We didn't have much time to go back to the hotel, quickly change clothes, get our cell phones, and come back to cheer. But 20 minutes later, we were headed back out to the course,

Greg at mile 26

looking for our mutual friend Sara. But first, I was expecting my friend Rochelle to come in at around 2:52. And she did! Slightly under, in fact. She looked amazing and I was so happy for her to run so strong in her first marathon. I cheered loudly for her and snapped a bunch of photos.

Next came Sara, and after that, Amy went to go meet her at the finish line.

I had some other friends running, only one of whom I saw next, and then Greg. He was ahead of the 3:30 pace group and I was so excited to see that. I was thinking he would run between 3:25-3:30 and he finished in 3:28:47, which is a PR by five minutes. He ran a really smart race, and attributed it partially to the race strategy I prescribed.

It was an ideal day for racing, with many of my friends setting huge PRs. I was really glad I met Amy and that I helped her do something she didn't think she could do. It made the day so much more special to me.

I decided to take a rest day today and end my 17-day running streak.  Prior to yesterday, my longest run since June was 9.1 miles the weekend prior, so my legs really weren't happy about doing 13.1, even though I ran at my easy pace. I logged 40.1 miles for the week, which I'm pleased with.

Up Next
I'm running a 5K next weekend, which I am super excited about. My coach prescribed a progression run for Tuesday so hopefully the last two miles of that will give me some sense of how it feels to run "hard" and what my "hard" pace actually is. Then I will run a 5K Turkey Trot, followed by another 5K in early December.

My coach still hasn't given me the green light to finalize a spring marathon, but I think I will be ready to run strong by early March at the rate I am going. Thinking about my next marathon makes the ROMO of this weekend easier to cope with, so I'm looking forward to nailing it down!