Back in Iowa today to attempt a PR at the half distance. I have PR'd in mileage both weekly (80) and monthly (263) in October, all at altitude, so I knew I had a great chance at attacking my PR of 1:18:15 from 2012. Coming back home to Iowa at 900 feet in elevation made a huge difference as well as it was super easy to breathe. Plus, this course was pretty favorable to running a good time, slight drop and favorable temps and wind at the back today.
Woke up about 4:20, had my normal pre-race snack and then relaxed until going to get the packet and driving to the start line. My 16 year-old brother was running with me today, as this was his first HM. Got a decent warmup in, and was suprised to find that even though the race started at 8am, it was still pretty dark out (last day before daylight savings time). Unfortunately, my watch deleted all my splits, which I am very mad about because I wanted to dissect my performance today. Oh well, the final time is all that matters. I started out with the leaders and we hit 5:59 the first mile. My goal was 5:56 pace and hold it as long as possible. I remember going through 3 in around 17:21, 4 in approx. 23:20, 5 in 29:0X, 10k was 36:3X, so I knew I was trucking along at a good pace early. I caught myself hitting a 5:44 3rd mile and conciously slowed down to my goal pace so as not to overdo it. However, after 10k, I decided to try to maintain the minute cushion I had built to ensure a sub-1:18. Because the watch didn't get the splits, I do remember seeing them flash at each mile (which was pretty consistent with the course markers) and most were between 5:50-5:55. I don't believe I hit a single mile in the whole race slower than 5:59, so that was positive to not be in the 6's for any mile. At the turnaround in the banner lakes park, I saw my brother entering and ran over to give him a five as he went one way and I went the other, that was pretty cool! Last 4.5 was a part of the trail that was super flat and super straight, so mentally a little rough to see the extended trail ahead, but I am pretty familiar with this particular trail and kept grinding out the 5:53 avg. Mile 10 was somewhere under 59, I think 58:53 or so. I knew a sub-1:18 was in the bag at that point. Crossed the line in 1:17:22, a PR by 53 seconds!!!! My watch had 13.15, so I ran the course amost perfect.
Overall, I am very, very pleased with this effort. I told myself at the start of this training cycle that a sub 1:18 and possible even a sub-1:17 shouldn't be out of reach for me if I had the training base. After putting in the miles, I was rewarded with a perfect day, an almost perfect taper, and a well-executed race. I felt great almost the whole time, and was surprised with how comfortable 5:53 pace felt. I honestly thought that my half PR of 1:18:15 from 4 years ago was the peak of my fitness ability (I was 26 and living in Germany, eating super clean and training well). However, I am glad to now report that even at 30, I am not done achieving PR's yet! I think realistically my ceiling in the half is in the 1:15's. A few more solid mileage cycles and I'd love to see where I can get in a year or two. For now, just enjoying a massive PR on basically a home course.
Side note- My brother finished his first full in 1:35:04, which he was pretty happy with. He is prepping for Nike cross regionals in a week or two and this training effort should propel him to future success.
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