M'kay

Army Half Marathon

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Location:

Eatonville,WA,USA

Member Since:

Nov 01, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

Short-Term Running Goals:

Regain consistency.

Build up slowly and come out strong.

Regain "speed" (relative)

Finish WR50 again.

Improve at Cascade Crest. 

2013 Races:

  • Capital Peak Mega Fat Ass 17M (1/19) - 2:48:48
  • Yakima Skyline Rim 50K (4/21) - 7:16:20
  • Grey Rock 50K (5/13)
  • White River 50M (7/27)
  • Cascade Crest 100M (8/24-25)

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Find my true running potential, then exceed it.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Hoka Stinson B Lifetime Miles: 982.34
Hoka Stinson Evo Lifetime Miles: 452.95
Altra Provision Lifetime Miles: 139.73
Altra Torin Lifetime Miles: 380.08
Hoka Bondi 2 Lifetime Miles: 706.15
Hoka Mafate 3 Lifetime Miles: 81.12
Race: Army Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:23:48, Place overall: 6, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.500.0013.600.0020.10

Warmup:  2.66 mi, 0.5 at threshold pace, 20:07, 7:34/mi, HR 146.  Half-Marathon:  13.1 mi, 1:23:48, 6:24/mi, HR 165.  Cooldown: 4.34 mi, 34:10, 7:53/mi, HR 139.

Perfect weather for the race, ~50F, overcast/foggy, no wind, absolutely perfect.  Course was relatively flat...the grades so subtle in virtually all areas that they weren't noticable.  Felt a bit of tiredness in the legs during the warmup but that's happened before so no mind.  The 1/2 mile threshold portion felt a bit hard but been there before to so no worries.  Goals for the race were to "hang it out there a bit more", keep all my miles at 6:30/mi and under and try for a sub-1:25 time.  Reach goal was for under 1:24.  Lesson learned from last year, line up in the front since my top-15 finish last year should be better this year, and plenty of folks rabbit the first 1/4 mile.

Splits (from garmin):

  • 6:23 - Fast start.  Backed off the 2nd 1/2 mile.  Slight downhill.
  • 6:21 - More slight downhill. 
  • 6:30 - Flattened out with a couple of turns.  Still getting into the groove start of slight uphill.  No one manning the water-point and didn't want to take time to stoop for a cup.
  • 6:26 - More slight uphill for a while.
  • 6:26 - Pushing through more slight uphill.  In 9th place by now.  Got passed by 1 runner.  Finally got a water stop here, preceeded by a GU.
  • 6:18 - Some slight downhill.  Working the tangents better than most anyone ahead.
  • 6:24 - Lonely long stretch to the turnaround.
  • 6:29 - Back up the slight incline for the next couple of miles.  Believe I'm in 7th place here.  Caught the next runner at the end of this mile and but he doesn't let me go. 
  • 6:25 - Still on the uphill with the trailer.
  • 6:17 - Trying my hardest to shake my trailer but it just isn't happening.  Got a bit of downhill.
  • 6:15 - Pushing hard to see if I can sneak under 1:24.  Trading places with my trailer.  At this point, started working with him to push ourselves to get below 1:24.
  • 6:13 - Ouch.
  • 6:15 - Legs suddenly zapped and pace feels like it drops dramatically.  Must be the slight incline that no longer feels so slight.  Believe it or not, actually caught another runner here.  Desperately trying not to let my pacer pull away but he does get about 10 seconds on me.
  • 1:06 (0.2 mi, 5:38/mi pace) - Push to the end, only to see 1:24:xx on the clock.  Wha???  Clock is so hosed.

So the Garmin splits are a bit off but they pretty much tell the pacing story.  At the mile 10 marker, I had exactly 19 minutes of running time left to get 1:24:00, so I knew a sub-1:24 was possible but going to be close and it would hurt.  The guy I traded places with for a while and I really pushed one another through this stretch (when I passed him initially, he was having a bad stretch on the slight uphill but got stronger and really pulled me towards the end).  I've run exactly 1 sub-19 minute 5K in my life (okay, so only 3 real 5Ks, but still) but I really wanted it bad and really just pushed the last 3 miles, telling myself over and over it's just a 5K race so run your 5K pace.  Well, it wasn't my real 5K pace but it got the job done.

The clock snafu at the end was a bit upsetting, but (thankfully) the course makes a 90 degree right-hand turn about 100 yards from the finish so I didn't see the clock until I was already deep in my kick (what little kick I had left).  After crossing, I consulted with my watch and the other finishers and determined that it was 1 minute fast...dunno how that happened but at least the chip times and official results got it right.  A 7:19 PR over last year on this course, another half-marathon PR over the one I set 2 weeks ago, AND finally a new overall PR using the McMillan Running Calculator equivalent projections, something I haven't had since March.   Quite happy with the race, although it definitely took more out of me than the one 2 weeks ago (guess I sandbagged a bit, although it didn't feel like it).  Also pleased to be able to finish the final 3 miles so strong (although I felt weak), take 6th overall, and 1st in my AG (although the overall winner was also in my AG, but hey).  Finally, really happy my wife came along for this race....it's been a while since our schedules aligned for her to attend a race and despite a brief unscheduled nap, she managed to make the finish line in time for me to come across. 

Despite applying liberal body-glide to my left foot, I still got the hot-spot on the outside bottom (ball) under/near the 5th metatarsal, so I guess it's not all just friction.  The NB903s are definitely out as marathon shoes but I'll still race 1/2s and under in them and hopefully over time my feet will adapt. 

Finally, my HR throughout was low for racing a half.  Typically, I'll average 168-172.  This one I averaged 165 and only briefly got above 170.  Very strange and I can only hypothesize that it was the weather conditions.

Cooldown lap around the airfield.  Really slow and easy.

NB 903 - 94.51 miles.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Tom on Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 20:49:17

Dale huge congrats on a stellar performance! Those splits are awesome especially at the end. Reminds me of my PR and all-time-favorite race which unfortunately for me was in January rather than lately when I wish I was peaking. But good news for you that you appear to be peaking at just the right time. Sub-3 is looking easy for you now, with sub-2:50 looking more doable all the time. Good job!

From rockness18 on Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 21:22:06

Great run! Looking through some of your workouts, you've earned it.

From cody on Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 23:13:13

Payday! You finally had all those workouts and miles come back and pay you back. A perfectly run race! Very solid finish! Enjoy it and celebrate...

From josse on Sun, Sep 14, 2008 at 11:38:07

So happy for you, it is great when you have break through races like this. Congrats on the PR!! And way to dig super duper deep on those last 3 miles.

From mattrow on Sun, Sep 14, 2008 at 13:18:27

Good race, to be able to run faster a sub 19 minute 5k at the end is impressive.

From Paul Petersen on Sun, Sep 14, 2008 at 15:21:06

Great job!

From Dave S on Sun, Sep 14, 2008 at 15:29:06

Great race. A 7:19 improvement on the same course in one year is awsome. Nice finish

From Andy on Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 16:38:20

Excellent race.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 17:20:14

Congratulations on the PR. This is exciting. HR drop while running faster is an indicator of increased aerobic fitness. I see a sub-1:20 half for you in the cards in a year or two.

From Dale on Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 21:54:57

Thanks all. The blog encouragement and support really does help a lot. Without it, I think I'd still be shuffling along at a snail's pace.

From David on Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 00:24:23

Nice one Dale, way to crank down that time and compete. I have a feeling you'll be pulling me along in Kennewick. Can't wait for it though.

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