Parks Half Marathon – 2015

Scroll all the way down to the end of the post for the tl;dr version.

Training

I’ve been following one of the Hanson’s advanced marathon plans. It’s 20 weeks long and maxes out at 85 miles a week. The plan is much tougher than I thought it would be.  I’ve run 80+mile weeks before but not with this much speed and tempo work.  The last two weeks in particular have been pretty rough as the plan transitioned to three “something of substance” workouts a week.  It’s also been pretty hot and humid in the Washington, D.C. area.

The training schedule doesn’t include races and the authors don’t seem keen on altering the schedule to incorporate them.  However, after training my heart out for the 2012 Boston Marathon (super hot) and 2012 New York City Marathon (cancelled), I like to race or achieve some other goal during my marathon training cycles so that I feel I have something to show for it if something goes wrong on race day.

Goals

I hadn’t set a time goal going into the race.  I thought 1:40, or goal marathon pace, would be good considering the bad couple of weeks I’ve had.  But, I decided to just run by feel and see how it goes.

My PR for the distance is 1:32:19 (7:03 pace) at last year’s Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon.  My course PR is 1:35:30 (7:18) also from last year.  For the past two years, I’ve won my age group at this race, and I did think it would be great to repeat.  Not only do they give cash awards but they also send a nice piece of apparel with the race logo on it.

The Course

The course is a point-to-point.  It starts in Rockville, Maryland near the Metro station and ends in Bethesda.

The first two miles are on roads and then the races goes on the multi-use trail that has some very gentle rollers.  It’s pretty narrow at points but not terrible.  The course flattens out for a while and then the last two miles are slightly uphill.  There isn’t much cheering on the course except at the beginning and the end.

The Weather

Temperature/Wind Chill (DCA): 64 at 6:50am, 64 at 7:50am, 66 at 8:50am.  Winds were 7-13 mph out of the NW with 16 mph gusts (i.e., a tailwind.)  Near perfect racing conditions!

Pre-Race

I went to packet pick up the day before.  It was at a local running store so of course, I bought some gear (arm warmers).  The shirt is nice:

The back of the shirt is cool.  The graphic plays off the design of the previous years’ shirts which featured a fox and a rabbit:

I went out to dinner the night before with a college friend.  I didn’t stay out very late, but I went directly to bed without laying out my clothes for the race.

I woke up at 4am but didn’t get out of bed until 4:30am.  Too early!  I had coffee and a half bagel for breakfast.  I fussed over clothing for a few minutes but then just threw something on because time was wasting.  I grabbed my running bag, packed a long sleeve hoodie for after the race, and left the house hoping I gave myself enough travel time.

It was about a 30 minute drive to the race site.  I got myself ready in the car and drank  a little Gatorade.  I met up with a running friend at bag check.  It was a little chilly so I wanted to wait until the last minute to give up my long-sleeve shirt.  The bag check line was short and the volunteers were efficient so checking my bag only took a minute.  My friend and I went for a short warm up and hung out before the race.  There were plenty of port-a-potties so we only waited a few minutes for those, too.  We left each other about 15 minutes before the race.  I lined up between the 1:30 and 1:35 pace groups.  The race strongly discouraged headphones and if you win an award, you aren’t supposed to have worn them.  So, I didn’t bring my tunes today.  I was alone with my thoughts until the race started.

Early Miles – Miles 1 to 3

The course started on Viers Mill Road.  The first quarter mile or so was a bit of a climb but then, it was a gradual downhill until we hit Rock Creek Trail.

For a little while, I found myself in the middle of one of the pace groups.  In the pace, I’ve noticed runners in pace groups tend to clump and shut down passing lanes.  I didn’t want to get stuck in or behind them on the trail so I sped up and went around them.

Just before entering the trail section of the course, I grabbed a cup of water and downed a gulp without losing my stride.  I felt really good!

Splits (by course marker): 7:08, 6:54, 7:32.

Middle Miles, Miles 3 to 11

The next 8 miles were on Rock Creek Trail, which I would describe as gently rolling but not real “hills”.  The first climb came right around mile 3.  I slowed down a little but not much.  I told myself, “The real work starts at mile 10,” and try to make sure I have something left by then.  I could hear the 1:35 pace group gaining on me, though, and it pushed me to run a little harder.

At mile 4ish, there was also a section of the course where runners could grab a “high five” while climbing a hill.  I’m a sucker for kids asking for high-fives so I slapped a few hands.

I think it was shortly after this hill when the 1:35 pace group leader passed me.  It didn’t seem as though he had many people in this pack, so it wouldn’t have been terrible to have been behind them.  Just ahead of me was a woman in a black and red top, and a woman in a light blue top.  They seemed to be running strong and roughly my pace so I tried to keep them in my sights.  I think the second water stop was also around this point.  I drank some more water here but would skip the rest of the stops.

I was in a zone and the miles seemed to just fly by.  It rained the day before and there were a couple of spots on the trail with a light layer of mud.  I came upon one while speeding down hill and hit the breaks hard.  In the end, it wasn’t slick, but I thought it was better to be safe than sorry.  At about 5.5 miles, the course comes to Ken-Gar Palisades Park where there was a man and a woman playing a piano!  That was a nice break to the monotony.

Just after the 6th mile, I crossed a timing mat.  I think it read 45:something.  That seemed like a good split but I didn’t permit myself to do any math.   I just kept running.  I was almost halfway done and I felt like I was having a great race!  I sped up a little and before long, I found myself a few strides behind one of the women I’d been following for miles but I didn’t try to pass her or anything.

Mile 8.  Two more controlled miles.  I briefly passed the woman I’d been trailing.  She passed me back and I decided to let her go.  The toughest part of the course is at the end and I didn’t want to waste energy racing someone.  But during this part of the race, I found myself passing and re-passing a male and female runner.  This section of the trail also had some muddy spots.  I mostly ran through them rather than slowing down or running around them.  They weren’t particularly deep or slippery.

I was thinking so much about what was going on around me that I lost track of where I was in the race.  “How many miles until mile 10?”  I passed the 9 mile marker and was brought back to reality.  “Keep it together for one more mile and then you’ll have to work“.

The course went up a mini-hill and then down again before crossing Jones Mill Road.  At mile 10, I decided to finally look at my Garmin.  It read 1:14:something.  I did some quick math and thought I would probably finish around 1:37:00.  I didn’t have any reaction to that.  I really don’t remember my PRs and I thought I was running well.

Even though I’d planned to run a little harder after mile 10, I knew the uphill was coming and decided to hold back still.  I took the uphill leading to Susanna Lane easy, cruised through the neighborhood, and a few strides later, I passed the 11 mile marker.

Splits: 7:22, 7:24, 7:35, 7:33, 7:32, 7:38, 7:42.

Later Miles 11-13.1

The last section of the race course is a slight uphill on the Georgetown Branch Trail.  By this point, there wasn’t really anyone running next to me.  After about a half mile, the course made a little out-and back loop on Connecticut Avenue.  It was nice because there were a few people cheering.

Back on Georgetown Branch, I tried to keep a steady pace and ignore my labored breathing.  I still predicted a 1:37ish finish, so I told myself things like, “Just 10 minutes of hard running left” and then, “Just 5 minutes of hard running left”.  For the first time in the race, I felt pretty bad.  I was passed by quite a few runners in the last mile which was a bit demoralizing.

At the 13 mile mark, the course left the Georgetown Branch and went onto roads next to the finish line festival area.  The chute went right, then left and then right again.  I was heartened by the high school cheerleaders there.  Another left and I managed a little kick to the finish line.

Splits:7:56, 7:59, 8:17, 0:38.

Post-Race

I finish and get my medal and a headband:

I head back to the finish area to cheer on my friend to the finish.  We meet up, get some delicious food, find a picnic table in the sun, and talk about the race.  Then, it’s a short walk and a Metro ride back to our cars.

Result

My time was 1:39:15 (7:40 pace).  I was 33rd woman overall, 10th female master, and 7th in my age group.  I missed out on repeating as an age group champion, but since the the master’s female winner ran a 1:24:38 (6:28 pace) and the age group winner ran a 1:25:47  (6:33 pace) – about 7 minutes faster than my PR on a tougher course – I know pushing myself a little harder wouldn’t have made any difference.

Epilogue

I’m pretty happy with the race overall.  I felt much better than I thought I would.  It’s been a while since I’d raced anything this long.  My legs had pretty good turnover and my form never really broke down.  Since I trashed my legs on Wednesday, I thought there was a good chance I’d crash and burn.  I might have pulled off a slightly faster time if I’d watched my splits during the race but I think racing by feel was the right decision.

I wore the Brooks Pure Flows during the race and given how well my legs felt, I’m thinking I’ll wear them for the marathon.  This particular pair already has 100+ miles on them so I may need to break in another come early November.

I think I’ll count this as my goal marathon pace run for the week, run easy for the next two days, and then do Monday’s speed workout on Wednesday.

My next race report should be the New York City Marathon, which I’m planning to run as a long run.

Abridged version

I ran 1:39:15 (7:40 pace).  For the most part, I felt great and kept my pace under control for the entire race.  Considering my training load, my legs felt strong and my form was pretty good.  I may be crazy, but I can actually imagine running a marathon at this pace.  I lost my age group winner title by a LOT, but overall I’m happy with how things went.  The race was well-run and the premiums were great.   Still one of my favorite local races.