Race did not go according to plan at all but I had fun. I started out just following a guy who'd mentioned he was probably going to run 1:21 before the race. I figured I'd just try to keep near him for the first couple miles. We went out a little faster than I'd planned in 6:11 but I just went with it, but then we sped up to miles 2 and 3 in 6:05 and 6:06. We ended up with a group of 4 for the first couple of miles and then 2 of the runners gapped us before 5k and I ran with the girl in 4th place for the next couple miles. She was somewhat chatty and I felt good enough to reply but it also made it harder to stay in a good rhythm. We caught one guy around mile 4 and then she started to gap me around mile 6. The race was an out and back and I never recovered from getting off pace with after the turnaround. I'd been under 6:15 for every mile before the turnaround and I couldn't get back under 6:20 after. In fact the wheels came totally off. It went 6:20 mile 7 6:30 for mile 8, 6:45 mile 9... And then I hovered around 7:00 pace the last few miles. Finished 1:25:54. The last mile I barely finished, I really went out too hard. The half marathon is tough because the pace can feel really nice and easy and it might be too fast. More than that I just don't have a good base right now, I think if I boost to 40 miles I could go sub 1:20 for sure. I think even 2 months at 30-35 miles and I'd be able to break 1:20. I was on pace for like 1:20:30 the first half of the race. So not the perfect race, not an amazing time- but honestly the first 10k felt great and it was a pretty confidence building race. Time to get back into a better training schedule and maybe try run a 10k in 36 next. |