In each race, what I did after Mile 8 told the tale.
These are the Garmin splits from the last two times I ran the 3M Half Marathon, with 2010 on the right and the 2011 race on the left. (I’m signed up to run the race again this year. More on how I’ll do later in this blog entry.)
I’ve highlighted my total time at Mile 8 because that’s where things began to turn in both races.
In 2010, outside of a crazy downhill Mile 5, I stayed at or over 7:00/mile pace for each of the first eight miles, with an overall pace of 7:06 as I started Mile 9. Over the final 5.1 miles, and flush with energy, I was able to close pretty effectively, completing each mile in 6:53 or better and closing with a blistering 6:31 (faster than 10k pace) on Mile 13. I was just 99 seconds shy of qualifying for NYC .
Now let’s fast forward to 2011. I came into that race confident I could keep a sub 7:00/mile pace. No problem for my lungs or my legs, at least not for this distance. This was the race I was going to try to use my half marathon time to qualify for the New York City Marathon. I needed to run a 1:30, which meant averaging 6:52/mile.
So boom, out the gate I go, using the first 3 miles as a “warm-up” and then easily settling into goal race pace. I get to Mile 7 and my overall pace is about 6:55. I get through a hill-ridden Mile 8 in damn near the exact same time I get through it in 2010. My lungs are feeling good. My head is clear. And I think I am ready to crush Miles 9-13, just like I did in 2010.
But it doesn’t happen. As I wrote here last year, I started cramping in my inner quads and finished the last two miles two minutes slower in 2011 than I did in 2010. Not only did I not qualify for NYC, I didn’t even get a PR.
When I toe the line for this Sunday’s 3M Half Marathon, it would be perfect if I could combine the first 8 miles of 2011 with the last 5.1 miles of 2010. But I know you can’t do that in real life. In fact, I don’t even think I’m in 1:30 shape now. I’ve still got that hitch in my giddy-up, where my right quad/hamstring misfires from time to time , the leftovers of overcompensating while running too many miles in October and November with terrible calf pain.
So what do I hope for this weekend: To come out of it as healthy as I am now. To have fun. And if a 1:30 comes, it comes.
In each race, what I did after Mile 8 told the tale.
These are the Garmin splits from the last two times I ran the 3M Half Marathon, with 2010 on the right and the 2011 race on the left. (I’m signed up to run the race again this year. More on how I’ll do later in this blog entry.)
I’ve highlighted my total time at Mile 8 because that’s where things began to turn in both races.
In 2010, outside of a crazy downhill Mile 5, I stayed at or over 7:00/mile pace for each of the first eight miles, with an overall pace of 7:06 as I started Mile 9. Over the final 5.1 miles, and flush with energy, I was able to close pretty effectively, completing each mile in 6:53 or better and closing with a blistering 6:31 (faster than 10k pace) on Mile 13. I was just 99 seconds shy of qualifying for NYC .
Now let’s fast forward to 2011. I came into that race confident I could keep a sub 7:00/mile pace. No problem for my lungs or my legs, at least not for this distance. This was the race I was going to try to use my half marathon time to qualify for the New York City Marathon. I needed to run a 1:30, which meant averaging 6:52/mile.
So boom, out the gate I go, using the first 3 miles as a “warm-up” and then easily settling into goal race pace. I get to Mile 7 and my overall pace is about 6:55. I get through a hill-ridden Mile 8 in damn near the exact same time I get through it in 2010. My lungs are feeling good. My head is clear. And I think I am ready to crush Miles 9-13, just like I did in 2010.
But it doesn’t happen. As I wrote here last year, I started cramping in my inner quads and finished the last two miles two minutes slower in 2011 than I did in 2010. Not only did I not qualify for NYC, I didn’t even get a PR.
When I toe the line for this Sunday’s 3M Half Marathon, it would be perfect if I could combine the first 8 miles of 2011 with the last 5.1 miles of 2010. But I know you can’t do that in real life. In fact, I don’t even think I’m in 1:30 shape now. I’ve still got that hitch in my giddy-up, where my right quad/hamstring misfires from time to time , the leftovers of overcompensating while running too many miles in October and November with terrible calf pain.
So what do I hope for this weekend: To come out of it as healthy as I am now. To have fun. And if a 1:30 comes, it comes.