Mercedes Half Marathon, Results

Well that went better than expected. Never in my greatest prediction would I have thought that a 1.51.38 half mary was possible. That is an 8:32 per mile pace. My negative thoughts and minor obstacles are well chronicled.

I woke Sunday morning with little excitement. I knew I had to get through the next few hours and I would feel better. I arrived downtown around 6:15. Fortunately the sun was up and it was a warm 40 degrees. I opted to run in my compression shorts and a light under armor long sleeved shirt. This was the right call. I proceeded to the bathroom line around 6:30 then stretched and did some gentle strides to get the heartrate up and kicking. I finally entered the corral with less than 10 minutes to go. I positioned myself ahead of the 4:00 marathon pace group.

The gun went off and so did we. My HR took a quick spike and I slowed down a bit. I have a knack for going out too hard and the first mile is always indicative of this. I was amazed at the number of people who began walking within the first mile of the race. Seriously?

I was struggling to get my HR down into zone 2 as it seemed to stick in mid z-3. I decided at this point to just run by pace and rate of perceived exertion (RPE). This seemed to work. My pace for the first three miles was smooth. Somewhere during mile 4, I stopped to empty an otherwise full bladder which provided much needed relief.

Half way through mile 4 and all mile 5 was an climb up Greensprings. It also amazes me the people who clearly never train on hills. I was surging up the hill past people. I also let my HR climb into z4 for a bit. Once I reached the summit of the hill and mile 6, I knew I was in good shape. I could tell that I was a few minutes ahead of schedule.

Mile 6-9 were small rollers through the neighborhoods. My heartrate was stuck in zone 3 but my pace was comfortable and I didn't feel labored. I hit the final hill around mile 10 and it definitely took some out of me. The final 3 miles were nearly all downhill and flat. At this juncture I knew that unless I blew up, I would be on pace for a PR.

At mile 11, I picked it up a bit more to see if the pack would come with me...and they did. Mile 12 was a beautiful site. I picked it up a bit more over the last half mile but realized that I needed to hold back and not kill myself today. I crossed the finish line only to run into my high school track coaches.

1.51.38 is the official chip time. That is 63/158 (39th percentile) within my Age Group and 566/2667 (21st percentile) of all competitors. Not a bad day. (8.39, 8.36, 8.28, 8.35, 9.26, 9.07, 8.25, 8.48, 8.30, 8.32, 7.58, 8.05, 7.54) Avg HR 155


What is more important is that I felt great afterwards. I wasn't drained like my previous long runs. I was upbeat and energetic....like I should be.

Now I have my work cut out for me at ING in 6 weeks. I need to shave 6 minutes. That is roughly 30 seconds per mile or an 8:00 mile pace. That is the goal at least.

Lessons Learned:
--Base fitness is the MOST important aspect
--Trust your training
--Kick ass at ING