Back in late November, I finally had what I would consider a breakthrough in the half marathon. After going through a period of a couple of years where I was not able to race much and not able to see improvements, I clocked a 1:17:50. My splits were incredibly consistent in that race and I felt strong through the finish. On this past Sunday, I ran 1:17:48 at the NYC Half Marathon. I would have been upset if I did not dip under 1:17:50, as my fitness coming into this race was as good as it ever has been. I wanted to see 1:16:xx on the finish line clock but came up a little short. This was due to some things that I controlled and some things that I could not. Let's get into it.
Like I just mentioned, my buildup was very solid for NYC. I read a quote once that said something along the lines of you know you are ready for a good race when you have a lot of good workouts but are not necessarily knocking them out of the park. This is how I felt. Here are some of my workouts since January (there were many others that were along the same lines so this is just a small snapshot):
1/13 6 x mile starting at 5:53 and working down to 5:42
1/17 10 mile tempo 1:00:55 (6:05 pace) in San Diego
1/29- 12 x 1k 3:36 average
2/17 6 x 2k 5:51 pace
2/21 12 mile tempo @ 6:09 pace (1st 4 6:15, last 8 6:05, 5:55 last mile)
2/27 3k 9:42
2/28 long run with 4 miles @ 5:53 pace, 6 miles in between, 3 miles @ 5:57 pace (2 mile warmup/cooldown)
3/2 2 miles 11:36 (5:48), 2 x mile 5:37, 5:34, 4 x 800m 2:45, 43, 40, 36
3/6 long run with 3 miles @ 5:50 pace, 2 @ 5:47 pace, 1 in 5:35
I also ran the Shamrock Run 8k on 3/13, which was the weekend before NYC. My goal for the race was to target half marathon pace. Because of the layout of the race (faster 8k runners running into slower half marathoners) I got a little over 5 miles on my Garmin, having to pass half marathoners for much of the race. My 28:46 for 8k came out to 5:44 pace with the added distance. This gave me some confidence for NYC. My plan for NYC was to take the early hills of the race easy- 5:50-55 pace and then work it down on the faster miles of the course starting at the 10k point. I was hoping for a 1:16.
The weather race morning was in the low 30s with 14 mph winds. Not ideal. The security line to get into the start area was excessive and unexpected. You have to enter the park and work your way about 12 blocks to the start line. Before you do this, however, you need to basically go through airport security. Put that image in your head but then much longer lines and you being antsy about getting to the start on time and getting your warmup in and that was how I was feeling. Bag check is also before security so I was waiting in line in shorts and my singlet. I was frozen. I started waiting 1 hour before the racing, hoping to start warming up 45 minutes out. Instead, I made it through security 25 minutes before and started running immediately. I stuck to my normal routine but it was rushed. Corrals also close 20 minutes before the race. This is absurd. In that kind of weather, even if I had gotten in sooner, I would not want to stand for 20 minutes. By the time I came back to my corral (wave 1, corral 1), it was just under 10 minutes to the race. They had removed what was separating the corrals so I entered into corral 3. I made my way to the front of the seconds corral and then security let me into the back of the first (those two were still separated but there was not another way to get to it). I made my way towards the front of the corral but made it about halfway. This meant there were about 500 runners in front of and behind me. For reference, I ended up finishing 145th and 500th place was 1:25. That is an awesome time but 8 minutes slower!
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| (ditching the gloves at 11.5) |
When the gun went off, it took me 5 seconds to cross the line and many more seconds to actually get going. It was very congested and I could barely move in the first 400 meters. I spent miles 1 and 2 moving around people and running extra distance. My watch clicked at 6:04 for the first mile but I reached the marker at 6:10 or so (maybe a couple seconds slower). That was well off goal pace but I was probably running pretty quick making up for a very slow opening 400 the rest of that mile. I then committed a mistake that made this race tougher than it should have been. I split a 5:42 weaving around folks in mile two. I wanted to stay relaxed through the hills in the park and then drop a 5:42 through Times Square and then hold that kind of a pace during the faster, flatter miles from 7 to the finish. Mile 3 was a 5:50 flat mile. Mile 4 was 6:09 but climbed 110 feet (also dropped 70 so a net 40 gain). By mile 5, 29:42 (on my watch), I took the only gel I had on me. My legs felt cooked so I just tried to get in some calories. I took some gatorade between 6 and 7 and that would be my last fluid/fuel intake of the day. In retrospect, I should have grabbed a gel just before mile 8 where they were being handed out and I should have taken liquids again around 9 or 10. My splits on my watch were off where the course was. After I came out of the park, I dropped two 5:45s (6-8) and the started running in the low 5:50s until 20k. I ran by my family at 11.5 or so and was exasperated by then but hanging on. I was giving it everything I had and I felt like I was running 5:40s instead of miles closer to 6:00. At mile 10, I had 58:50 on my watch. The course had me at about 59:10. I definitely lost a good amount of time on the course with the slow start, weaving in and out of runners, and not running the tangents. Even with my gun time, I was quicker than my last half through 10 miles by 25 seconds. In this race, however, I ran my slowest miles of the race versus my last half where I ran my fastest 5k at the end. I held it together but I was really spent from 20k to the finish where I averaged about 6:05 pace. I had no kick and lost some serious time here. Had I kicked and had been able to drop the pace, I could have been closer to 1:17-mid.
Here are my official 5k splits from the race (not from my watch, I had myself a little quicker with the added distance):
5k: 18:20 (5:54 pace)- 1:17:21 half pace overall
10k: 37:01 (18:41- 6:01 pace)- 1:18:06 half pace overall
15k: 55:12 (18:11- 5:51 pace)- 1:17:38 half pace overall
20k: 1:13:39 (18:27- 5:56 pace)- 1:17:41 half pace overall
4:09 to the finish- 6:05 pace
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| (flying- both feet off the ground!) |
On my watch, I was on 1:17:07 half pace at 10 miles and 1:17:13 half pace at 12. At 20k, you enter an underpass so my Garmin lost reception here and did not calculate the rest of the race accurately. I lost some time coming back uphill out of the underpass. My legs were toast at this point and I was pushing hard but could not muster anything that resembled a kick. My official time was 1:17:48 which is 5:56 pace and a 2 second PR. I did not execute my race plan in the park which could have made some of those 5:5x miles from 8-12 in the 5:40s. I am happy looking at my official splits that my best 5k was my third one. I would rather have it there than the first or second. The third 5k is also by far the fastest miles on the course. 18:11 for 5k comes out to 1:16:43 pace so that was what I hoped I would have been closer to for the entire run. Overall, I have to be happy with where I am at. My last two half marathons were 1:17:50 and 1:17:48. Both averaged 5:56 pace. The training has been going very well. I just would have liked to have seen something in the 1:16 range or 1:17-low range. I do not get to race a ton of half marathons because they take a lot out of you. That means I will not get a chance to better this mark until the fall. I definitely feel like my time could have been 1:17-low or better even with some aggressive miles in the park if I had just had a clean start. The start process needs to be cleaned up for runners who qualify into this race. There needs to be an easier way for corral 1 runners to access their bags, their corral, and get a good warmup in. I would suggest using the entrance by 72nd street which is where I am guessing the true elites get to go through. 180 runners went under the qualifying mark of 1:19 so it would not be too many people to accommodate. There should also be a separate gear check by the start line for those folks so runners can warmup and stay warm right up to the start.
So after this overly wordy blog post, I feel satisfied but disappointed. I am in much better shape than a 2 second improvement indicates. I had to fight the entire race just for those two seconds and lost time in ways I could have controlled and in ways that I could not have. A 1:17:48 half equates to a 2:41-2:42 marathon or so. I believe I am in 1:16-mid shape which would equate to a 2:39-40 full. I am going to run the Eugene Marathon which was six weeks out from Sunday. I want to clock a sub-2:40 marathon. This half marathon does not quite indicate that, but the fitness does. This is tough to process but I am hoping to use the half as motivation for the full and not as a setback. I know I am in the best shape of my life for longer distances. I'm excited for the challenge of a shorter marathon buildup with the half marathon base that I have. One final thought is that I have the best support crew in running! Shoutout to my friends and family who braved the cold for me and gave me a boost a little before mile 12. I made a hard move on the downhill going into the underpass and passed some folks that I would end up beating. While I slowed in that final stretch, their energy might have been the difference in a 2 second PR. Onward to Eugene. Onward to a sub-2:40.
