I only run on days that end in a "y."

San Antonio Half

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Location:

Austin,TX,USA

Member Since:

Feb 02, 2009

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

2008 Austin Marathon - 4:12

2008 Dallas Marathon: 3:30 (8 months later)

2010 Austin Marathon - 3:24 (bonked at 25 - 12 minute last mile run/walk)

2010 Steamtown Marathon - 3:27 (quads killed on the down hills)

2011-Feb   Austin Marathon - 3:17 (finally BQ'd!)

2011-June   Marathon to Marathon, IA - 3:07 (BQ'd by 13 minutes!)

2011-Dec  CIM - 3:02

2012-April  Boston Marathon - 4:03

2013-April  Boston Marathon - 3:06

2008 Austin 3M half marathon: 1:43:00

2009 Austin 3M 1/2 Marathon: 1:29:50

2011 San Antonio Half - 1:25 (100% humidity fun fest)

2010 Chuy's 5k - 19:19

2011 Chuy's 5k - 18:23

2012 Chuy's 5k - 18:25 

2012 RFTW 5k - 18:05 - PR! 

2009 Austin Capitol 10k: 41:50

2011 Austin Capitol 10k: 38:57

2012 IBM Uptown Classic 10k - 37:52 - PR!

Short-Term Running Goals:

BQ at Austin Marathon - 2/20/2011 Tough course, warm and humid - but I did it.

Break 3:10 in a fall marathon (TBD) 3:07 at Marathon to Marthon

Break 40:00 in a 10k 38:57 @ Cap10k 2011

New: Break 3:05 @ CIM on December 4th, 2011  3:02

Break 38:00 in a 10k - Done - 37:52 @ IBM Classic 

Break 18:00 in a 5k - 18:05 @ RFTW - October 2012 - getting close!

2011 RACES:

Run for the Water 10 mile - 10/30/2011  1:04:06

San Antonio 1/2 Marathon - 11/13/2011

California International Marathon - 12/4/2011

2012 Fall Races

IBM Uptown Classic 10k - 37:53

Run For the Water 5k - 18:05

2013

Boston Marathon - 3:06

2014

Boston Marathon - April 21 - 3:11

2016

Rookie Tri - May 1st

Peak to Creek Marathon - Oct 29th

 

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Run a sub 3:00 Marathon

Personal:

Der Hammer is a nick name I picked up from my German friends while living in Germany. My real name is David. 

 I have been running seriously since March 2007.  I started with a local running group called "Gilbert's Gazelles".  Before that I had run a couple 5k's (26:00's) and never run more than 3 miles at one time.  I have lost about 40 pounds in a little over 2 years. 

I am 45 years old, married and have 2 children, ages 5, girl, and 10, boy.  I try to keep my running from interfering with my family as much as possible, e.g. getting up at 5 am.  However, Saturdays are long run days and I don't come home until around 9 am or so.  I owe my family a debt of gratitude for allowing me to pursue this passion. 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Hoka One One Lifetime Miles: 152.00
Saucony Ride 7's - Blue Lifetime Miles: 345.97
Hokas Red Lifetime Miles: 127.25
Brooks Launch Lifetime Miles: 151.75
Race: San Antonio Half (13.1 Miles) 01:25:40
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.0013.100.0015.10

Mid 60's and something like 90% humidity - we are off to the Zoo now so I will put in a full report later.  I am pretty disappointed as I thought a 1:23-1:24 was a possibility.  I guess I will take the 1:25 and live to fight another day.  I started out right were I wanted but faded in the last 3.  More details to follow.  Overall pace was 6:32 according to the Garmin.

RACE REPORT:

I woke up at 5am, downed a bottle of Gatorade Prime Pro, got my stuff together, and then headed out the door.  I knew it was going to be a rough morning when I went out to the car and it was drenched in moisture – and it hadn’t even rained. 

I don’t know San Antonio that well so I decided to drive to the shuttle location.  It took about 10 minutes to get into the parking lot because of traffic.  They had arranged everything well and getting on the shuttle was not a problem, as short wait in line and then we were off.  The shuttle ride took about 15 minutes.  I had about an hour before the race.  I had to find the gear check in.  There were 26 UPS trucks arranged by last name.  Since the race end was not near the beginning they trucked all the gear over to the finish.

I warmed up for 1.5 miles and then made my way to the 1st corral.  When I registered the day before the computer assigned me to corral 5.  Changing it at the Expo was not a problem, though.  It didn’t really matter since no one was checking anyway.    

I met up with Matt, a guy that I try to keep up with in training.  He said he was going to shoot for a 1:20 – 1:25 – I thought that was a wide range.  I said I wanted to go for a 1:23-1:24 but would be happy with a 1:25.  I thought I would try and stay with him but we got separated at the start and he passed me about the ½ mile mark and I knew I could not keep up.  He finished n 1:23 BTW. 

My main strategy was to keep the splits around 1:25 but at least under 6:30’s.  I was hoping I could pull off strong finishing miles like I did in the 10 mile race but the weather kept me from doing that.  I drank a Gatorade Prime around mile 2-3 and got a surge off of that.  I felt pretty strong until mile 5-6 when my heart rate started to rise.  My mind was playing tricks on me, too, thinking about how I can barely run a 5 mile tempo run @ 6:25’s – how was I going to run a half marathon at that pace?   At around mile 8 I took a 2nd Surge gu and almost choked – it burned my throat something awful.  I had been fighting something lately and did not realize my throat was that sore.  It took everything I had to keep from walking at that point.  It was probably another ½ mile or so before I got some water.  It was very hard to get my breathing back under control.  They were handing out Cytomax and I choose not to have any.  Too many bad memories from Steamtown marathon.  I should have probably done a better job with my nutrition strategy.   I don’t know how much it would have helped but it may have made it less painful.

Miles 10, 11, and 12 - I really started to fade big time – again, it was mentally taxing just to keep the legs moving.  At this point I am telling myself to finish and to save it for the marathon in 3 weeks.   I don’t remember much else.  I do remember there was a pretty good hill climb with about ½ mile to go.  Somehow I was able to pick up the pace a tad on the last mile and gave it everything I had when I turned the corner and saw the finish in the distance.  I was not going to be denied a 1:25. 

They say to double your half marathon time and add 10 minutes – so I should have a shot at a 3:00 in 3 weeks if all goes well.

I am not sure how to handle the next 3 weeks training wise – I have never raced this close to a marathon before.

Splits:  6:27, 6:24, 6:25, 6:26, 6:37, 6:30, 6:35, 6:31, 6:29, 6:40, 6:40, 6:46, 6:33, .13 @ 5:04.

Jogged .5 mile from the shuttle back to the car.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments
From SlowJoe on Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 12:02:55 from 74.196.65.182

Nice! definitely would've been lower with normal temps. Look forward to the details.

From Bec on Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 19:59:59 from 68.206.133.141

Great time! I heard that it was really hot and humid. Kinda strange after the cool mornings we've been having this week.

I have recently moved to Texas and I am looking for some good races in San Antonio (marathons) that fall on Saturdays, know of any?

From derhammer on Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 20:37:20 from 70.113.125.159

Thanks Joe - I would think so, too.

Thanks, Bec. None that come to mind. I am not too big on Texas marathons - every one I have run ended up being hot and humid or warm but the end. Marathonguide.com lists all marathons, and you can search by state.

From thelimey on Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 08:20:26 from 66.90.219.170

Fantastic run David. It was awful out there yesterday morning. I ran my slowest 1/2 marathon in 5 years. I drank so much water and Gatorade the day before the race, and of the morning of the race, but I was already feeling dehydrated by mile 6. I was almost 30 seconds per mile slower than in the Run for the Water (10 miler) on a hilly course, but in kind weather conditions. If you catch good weather in CIM you will crush it. Have faith in the huge and sustained effort you've put into your training, and let it carry you to success. We can't control the weather, but you did a great job of taming it yesterday morning.

From I Just Run on Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 09:19:31 from 67.79.11.242

Although I wasn't at the race I was still out running at the same time as you! It was hot and humid...I think you did very well considering the conditions! I would still mark it down as a success :-) This was still a 4:00 PR for you wasn't it?

From flatlander on Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 09:20:21 from 76.31.26.153

Looking forward to the long report, but if 3:05 is still your goal at CIM it's probably already in the bag. You have been running so well that your profile goal might be out of date, though, seems to me your "B" goal would reasonably be 3:00 flat, simply because cool weather with low humidity is so much faster. Even if it's a bad day in Sacramento you will have low humidity. But just think about it, you had a 3:17 PR this year -- to get anything in the low 3s in the same year is remarkable.

From JG on Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 10:49:28 from 71.59.27.33

Let's see ... you just ran 20 seconds faster than a 3:00 marathon pace on a tougher course, in much tougher conditions ... 3 weeks before your marathon. I don't think anyone needs to tell you what 90+% humidity does to you! Hope you had fun at the zoo! Celebrate!!

From derhammer on Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 10:49:57 from 192.156.110.40

IJR - yes, a 4 minute PR off of a mostly downhill and cold 3M half in 2009. My most recent half was the Decker half last December and that was a 1:31 or so. It is not a distance I have been particularly good with.

Flat, well, I ran a 3:07 in Iowa in June, so yes, I have revised my goal to a sub 3:00. I have not put it in writing, though. Maybe I should.

From Claudio on Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 14:51:52 from 173.75.185.177

Congratulations on a great effort and PR, DerHammer! It does sound like you are right there on the 3:00 level, and the benefit of running a half a few weeks before the full is that you can then focus on what can be improved - maybe race-day nutrition strategy as you noted. For your final 3 weeks, I wouldn't do anything different than you did for your June marathon, if that worked out really well, since you should recover from this half in a very short time given your fitness level. Good luck on your quest for sub-3!

From Steam8 on Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 19:37:14 from 166.70.55.77

Wooohoooo! What a great time! Congrats. You've got to be feeling gooooood!

From Dan on Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 21:52:43 from 24.209.83.20

Congrats David - everything is falling into place for CIM- and I believe you see that too. Well done man, I am impressed!

From I Just Run on Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 17:34:11 from 67.79.11.242

I just heard about and listened to the report of runner that died at the SA Marathon. Here is the weblink:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/14/jorge-fernandez-half-marathon-runner-dead-dies_n_1093615.html

I think you can cut and paste it in the browser.

Tragic

From derhammer on Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 17:53:00 from 192.156.110.40

IJR - yes, I heard about it. Tragic, indeed.

From flatlander on Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 11:20:34 from 198.207.244.102

Just read the full report. Had to laugh about the "collapse" in miles 11 and 12. Cost you a whole 10 seconds per mile there! Seriously good job on that race and I think you can look forward to a great marathon time.

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