High-Octane

Sometimes you just feel human!

Ha ha…I’m having a hard time writing this Race Report. I can’t decide if I’m happy or disappointed about the results. A month ago I really thought I would be able to run around a 6:45 pace. My training was going well and I was feeling really strong but then my knee started giving me trouble. When that happened I had to scale back on my training and my confidence started to fade.

Even so, I went into this race with the intention of running a PR and started out on a pace to set myself up for that. (More details on that later in the report.)

The morning of the race was cold and windy but luckily dry. It was about 35 degrees with wind gust between 15-20 miles per hour. With my Reynolds Syndrome I am always afraid of getting too cold but I quickly realized I overdressed. I wore all of my heavy Underarmor, heavy beanie another shirt and shorts and two pair of gloves. I was sweating after only a couple of miles and halfway through the race I felt like I was completely soaked with sweat.

Here’s how the race played out:

Mile 1: I started out the race near the 1:30 pace group. As the gun went off I kept pace with the crowd feeling pretty good. The entire crowd seemed to move in unison with very little jockeying for position. As I ran along in this first mile I was trying to just relax and breathe. I was feeling good in this mile and somewhat confident I could keep up a good pace. The first mile came in exactly where I wanted at 6:51.

Mile 2: Was even a little better at 6:45. I didn’t mean to run that fast on the second mile but I was happy to see the time.

Mile 3: Came in at a smooth 6:46 and I was feeling good.

Mile 4 & 5: I slowed slightly on these miles to 6:52 and 6:53 but felt like I was right where I wanted to be at this point in the race.

Mile 6: I dropped to a 7:03 but I wasn’t alarmed since I had stopped and gotten a good drink of Gatorade (this probably took 10 seconds). My plan was to stop and walk a couple of times in the race to make sure I refueled properly. (This seems to work best for me instead of trying to run and drink at the same time.)

Mile 7: I was back on pace at 6:53 and now feeling like I might really be able to pull off a PR.

Mile 8: For some reason I started to fade in the second half of this mile. I remember feeling very disappointed when I saw my Garmin flash 7:11 at the end of the mile.

Mile 9: Going into mile 9 I started to get a little concerned as suddenly I was feeling very tired and fatigued. I decided to slow to a walk, eat a Gu and drink some Gatorade in hopes this would revive me and give me a boost to finish the race. After doing this I just couldn’t seem to get my legs moving and the mile came in at 7:25. Oh no, I’m in trouble!

Mile 10: I tried to push but just didn’t seem to be gaining any time. The mile came in at 7:06 L

Mile 11: This is the mile when my heart really dropped. The pesky 1:30 pacers came running past me chanting something like “longer than 1:30 is way too slow”. Ahhhh I’m beginning to hate pacers! I think I gave up on this mile and my 7:24 time reflected that. I’ve never had so many runners pass me as did in this mile.

Mile 12 & 13: I just cruised along feeling sorry for myself and watching more runners pass me by. Ran a 7:09 and a 7:08

Last .1: At this point I got sick and tired of being passed so I kicked in another gear and pushed to the end. I passed about 7-8 runners before I crossed the finish line. Time for the .01 (Garmin read .15) was 0:56.

Official Time: 1:32:23

Age Group: 18^th / 215

Overall: 261 / 5025       

Little Details:

My knee didn’t really bother me at all during the race. I took several Ibuprofen the night before and then again before the race. After the race and gradually throughout the day my knee began to hurt more and more. Today it is finally getting better. I believe by tomorrow it will feel good enough to run but this is the cycle I’ve been going through for a while. I am starting to worry that I may fall too far behind in my training for the Ft Worth Marathon in six weeks.

More Information:

Below is a chart showing my six half marathon races. One thing I noticed is that my overall HR was lower in this race than any of the others. As I look back at the details of the race I see that my HR actually started dropping after mile 5. So what does this mean? Maybe I just wasn’t putting out enough effort? In all my other races my HR continued to climb throughout my race to the end. Also, this was the first half marathon that I did not run a negative split on the second half of the race.

  Here is my full spreadsheet with splits and HR:

Final Thoughts:

Lastly, as I look at all my half marathon times (including this one), I realize that I should be able to run below 3:20:00 in a full marathon with ease and probably closer to a 3:10:00 with the right training and execution. I should be and am grateful God has given me the health and ability to run and accomplish these goals!

Psalm 150:1-6

   Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy house of worship,
    praise him under the open skies;
Praise him for his acts of power,
    praise him for his magnificent greatness;
Praise with a blast on the trumpet,
    praise by strumming soft strings;
Praise him with castanets and dance,
    praise him with banjo and flute;
Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,
    praise him with fiddles and mandolin.
Let every living, breathing creature praise God!
    Hallelujah!

After three days off my knee was feeling pretty good so I went to the gym and rode the elliptical for 9 miles at a fairly easy pace. We'll see how it feels later in the day.

Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

I may have found a good mix to compensate for my knee issue.

2 miles Elliptical, 2 miles Run, 2 miles Elliptical, 2 miles Run, 2 miles Elliptical ... ran out of time.

Two miles is about where I can feel my knee start to complain, then it goes away with the elliptical work. I know this is not anywhere what I need to be doing but at least it's progress.

I may try to run 3-4 on the road tomorrow.

The weather was great this morning at 35 degrees, slightly foggy and no wind. I wanted to run more than 5 miles but I'm afraid my knee might not like it.

7:36  -  162 hr

7:55  -  154 hr

7:22  -  152 hr

7:47  -  155 hr

7:06  -  160 hr

Avg: 7:34  -  156 hr

 It's funny how my HR goes high on the first mile sometimes and then drops. I guess I'm just excited about running.I'm hoping to run 10-12 miles tomorrow.