My final tune-up race before Boston was scheduled to be the New Bedford Half Marathon. Heading into race week, I suffered an injury to my IT Band that caused me to miss three weeks of training. My first full week back was this past week, the week before the race. I decided that running more miles during the week would be best for my lead-up into Boston and to not taper for the race. I put in over 70 miles this past week and had some solid tempo runs (on the Boston course too)! I ran twice on the Boston Course last week: on Tuesday and Friday. On Tuesday I ran miles 1-6 and then had to run the course backwards to get back to my car in Hopkinton. For some reason, I was able to get my friend (and huge supporter of my running- John) to drive the course and help me out with water on Friday. Very professional, can't thank him enough! I did a 12 mile tempo through miles 6 to 18 of the course. I ran it in 1:19:07 (6:34 pace)! I was very happy with this effort, especially coming off my injury. I, however, did not rest up for my half on Sunday. I can't really be dissapointed with my result but I know I could have run a faster time. Last year's New Bedford Half Marathon was my first go at the distance, yesterday I hit number five. Let's compare the two.
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| (New Bedford 2011) |
3/20/2011- 2 months of training for my first half, skipped a run here and there, tapered properly for the race
3/18/2012- In the middle of Boston training, put in 80+ mile weeks, always running every day (sometimes throwing in a double), IT Band injury prior to the race, 70+ mile week during race week itself
Start:
3/20/2011- I cruised out to a 6:40 opening mile, then 12.1 difficult miles came after that.
3/18/2012- I tried to run a controlled first mile and it ended up being 6:36. My second was 6:35. After this, I was thinking that I could keep this pace but then the course spiked uphill for two miles and my legs were pretty much "dead" after that.
Middle:
3/20/2011- After going up the hills, my legs simply felt heavy. The rest of the race was a personal struggle and one of my most difficult and successful days in running. (at this point received a compliment on my shirt from "The Office." Rabies never quits!)
3/18/2012- I did not change my effort going up the hills and ran 6:50s. My mile 5 split was back down to 6:38 but my legs were starting to feel it already. (at this point someone complimented me on my beard, very awesome!)
End:
3/20/2011- Every mile seemed uphill until the end of the race (and the last one actually is). When I turned the corner and saw the finish, I was so excited! I raced to the awaiting medal, took a few steps, and realized it was too painful for me to walk.
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| (New Bedford 2012) |
Recap:
3/20/2011- 1:45:17 (8:02 pace) 887th place overall
3/18/2012- 1:30:40 (6:55 pace) 366th place overall of 2772, 11/28 M1-19
(splits: 6:36, 6:35, 6:56, 6:57, 6:38, 6:51, 6:38 (42:03 at 10k), 7:02, 7:21 (thanks to the wind in my face while running by the water), 6:54 (1:08:30 at 10 miles), 7:03, 7:04, 8:00 (1.1 miles, uphill mile plus the finish)
Concluding thoughts:
In one year, I was able to cut 15 minutes off my half marathon (more through unofficial PR's in training runs), and move up over 500 places. After the race a few days ago, my mother told me something interesting. She told me that she has never once seen me happy about a race result. I completely see this as I am writing this blog. It is so easy to find something to complain about after a race, find a spot where you think you could have done better if you did something differently. I am happy that I have been able to improve so much in the past year, but I want more. There is so much left that I feel I can accomplish in running. I don't think I'll ever be truly happy until I get there. All I can do until then is try to get the most out of myself each day. If I can do this, I'll keep chasing my dreams.
Run Happy,
David
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