After missing this race for the past two years because of injury, I was very happy to sign up for it early (for me) in September when I realized I'd come out of the summer feeling good. I'd had ideas of racing it but over the past few weeks realized I'd be better off doing it as a fun run for a few reasons.
The race in England even with the course difficulty and conditions showed I'm not quite to a good race shape yet. I have the miles but I don't have a lot of solid tempo runs under my belt and I knew I'd lost speed. If I chose to race the Seattle Half, I knew I'd be disappointed with my time and I'd have to take time off of running for taper/recovery. It just felt like a long race right now would be disruptive to my training schedule.
"Fun run" and "race" are often hard words to put together for me. If you start out real easy, the temptation to start blowing by people at the end when you are feeling great is just too tempting. So once I'd decided on my training plan for the week (50 running miles for the week with a track workout and long trail run), I decided it would probably be better if I could find someone slower than I to run with.
Coach Lesley had just the client for me. JCB was looking to race the Seattle half and expected to finish possibly under 2 hours but not necessarily. That would be my perfect easy pace for this hilly course.
I knew what the plan would be because Coach Lesley had sent me instructions about how to handle the course and pacing JCB in particular. It was a very informative and I will save that information to use for my future seattle half marathon plans! Basically the plan was to keep JCB in control the first few miles, use the flats along Lake Washington and keep it steady and strong on the hills through Madison and Interlaken. Once past mile 10, this was where the race would start. JCB herself knew that we were aiming for around a 2 hour half marathon but not the basics of the plan and depending on how the hills felt might be just a bit slower.
Phew! No pressure! I was quite nervous about this the night before and slept poorly. Once I was up the next morning and happy to see good weather, I was ready and looking forward to the whole experience.
I knew what the plan would be because Coach Lesley had sent me instructions about how to handle the course and pacing JCB in particular. It was a very informative and I will save that information to use for my future seattle half marathon plans! Basically the plan was to keep JCB in control the first few miles, use the flats along Lake Washington and keep it steady and strong on the hills through Madison and Interlaken. Once past mile 10, this was where the race would start. JCB herself knew that we were aiming for around a 2 hour half marathon but not the basics of the plan and depending on how the hills felt might be just a bit slower.
Phew! No pressure! I was quite nervous about this the night before and slept poorly. Once I was up the next morning and happy to see good weather, I was ready and looking forward to the whole experience.
Her husband would be driving us and another friend M who'd be pacing with us to the start. Her husband even was able to meet her along the course for gel and moral support which was really a big boost for her. M has been a runner for a long time and it was fun to have his support as well.
JCB's husband knew right where to drop us off with no fuss at all (I'm remembering this for next time!) and before we knew it we'd run into Coach Lesley's gang and posed for a good luck photo! Off to the clothing check and porto potty line and we were walking towards the start just when the marathon walkers started. We really had the easiest time of it.
And we were off! I had taken my garmin off of autolap and planned for manual splits with the mile markers. I hate how the miles get all mixed up in the tunnel.
Downtown and the tunnel.
Planned Actual
1 9:10 9:12 I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
2 9:10 8:48 Oops! I had no idea that I'd lose satellite reception downtown. The first half of this mile is uphill and then a pretty strong downhill. I did slow us down quite a bit on the downhill.
3 9:15 9:06 Better. We would be chatting a bit and start to drift faster.
4 8:50 9:08 In tunnel. I do think we took a water break in here which added time and had not been included in the pacing plan. I was glad to get out of the tunnel. I dislike it!
Lake Washington
5 8:50 9:15 Water stop.
6 8:55 9:01 Gu stop.
7 8:55 9:09
A little slower than planned pace but we had had a couple of faster miles at first and getting in the water was important as it was warmer than expected. JCB might've been a bit overdressed. JCB was still chatty at this point. I did tell her that at the end, I did not expect her to talk and that would be just fine!
Madison and Interlaken
8 9:45 9:39 Seriously, I was amazed by this! I can take hill running lessons from her I think!
9 9:15 9:14 Perfectly run. M & I kept her form in check for the downhill and the uphill which is on this mile. She ran it perfectly and made us tell stories. I made her stop trying to respond to our chatter. She needed her breath for recovery. It was here I was pretty certain she'd make the 2 hour marker.
10 9:30 9:01 Confirmed! A gradual climb, JCB stayed steady and strong. She was working and her breathing showed that. Water stop while the 2 hour pace group caught up.
One Green Lake Unit left
11 9:00 9:05 This is a sneaky tough mile as you cross Roanoke and feel like you must be close but mile 11 has a lot of rolling which is tough at this point in a race.
12/13 whatever's left! 17:49 Missed the mile marker but 8:55 average pace. JCB was hurting in here but kept at it like a trouper. M & I kept up a steady stream of form checks and encouragement. The last little dip under Aurora on Mercer is evil. JCB dug deep and kept at it.
As we approached the finish I could see the gun time clock just tick over to 2:00. Woohooo! she had done it and looked done in but it didn't matter at all. The grin came out shortly.
We did spot Coach Lesley and crowed the good news. At this point JCB started the "i can't believe it" but it didn't matter at that point because she had done it.
Wow! What a thrill to help someone to a 5 minute PR and sub 2 half marathon on such a tough course. It really hit home some points I've been missing lately in training.
1. Run hard for those hard training runs. I think I've been slacking in this partly because of poor conditions (dark/sloppy).
2. Have a realistic race plan and stick with it.
3. Stay with it mentally when it gets tough. JCB flat out said she'd never have been able to hammer in the last mile unless she'd had help. I doubt that but it is a learning experience to know that you can experience that level of discomfort and pain and still keep running.
I have never had a half marathon go so quickly and this one is actually my second slowest. I'm poor at math and pace calculations even when running easily and that could've hurt us. M seemed to have a very good grasp of where we were pace-wise and it's something I need to develop a better head for.
Watch time 1:59:28!
garmin connect course: click here
Downtown and the tunnel.
Planned Actual
1 9:10 9:12 I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
2 9:10 8:48 Oops! I had no idea that I'd lose satellite reception downtown. The first half of this mile is uphill and then a pretty strong downhill. I did slow us down quite a bit on the downhill.
3 9:15 9:06 Better. We would be chatting a bit and start to drift faster.
4 8:50 9:08 In tunnel. I do think we took a water break in here which added time and had not been included in the pacing plan. I was glad to get out of the tunnel. I dislike it!
Lake Washington
5 8:50 9:15 Water stop.
6 8:55 9:01 Gu stop.
7 8:55 9:09
A little slower than planned pace but we had had a couple of faster miles at first and getting in the water was important as it was warmer than expected. JCB might've been a bit overdressed. JCB was still chatty at this point. I did tell her that at the end, I did not expect her to talk and that would be just fine!
Madison and Interlaken
8 9:45 9:39 Seriously, I was amazed by this! I can take hill running lessons from her I think!
9 9:15 9:14 Perfectly run. M & I kept her form in check for the downhill and the uphill which is on this mile. She ran it perfectly and made us tell stories. I made her stop trying to respond to our chatter. She needed her breath for recovery. It was here I was pretty certain she'd make the 2 hour marker.
10 9:30 9:01 Confirmed! A gradual climb, JCB stayed steady and strong. She was working and her breathing showed that. Water stop while the 2 hour pace group caught up.
One Green Lake Unit left
11 9:00 9:05 This is a sneaky tough mile as you cross Roanoke and feel like you must be close but mile 11 has a lot of rolling which is tough at this point in a race.
12/13 whatever's left! 17:49 Missed the mile marker but 8:55 average pace. JCB was hurting in here but kept at it like a trouper. M & I kept up a steady stream of form checks and encouragement. The last little dip under Aurora on Mercer is evil. JCB dug deep and kept at it.
As we approached the finish I could see the gun time clock just tick over to 2:00. Woohooo! she had done it and looked done in but it didn't matter at all. The grin came out shortly.
We did spot Coach Lesley and crowed the good news. At this point JCB started the "i can't believe it" but it didn't matter at that point because she had done it.
Wow! What a thrill to help someone to a 5 minute PR and sub 2 half marathon on such a tough course. It really hit home some points I've been missing lately in training.
1. Run hard for those hard training runs. I think I've been slacking in this partly because of poor conditions (dark/sloppy).
2. Have a realistic race plan and stick with it.
3. Stay with it mentally when it gets tough. JCB flat out said she'd never have been able to hammer in the last mile unless she'd had help. I doubt that but it is a learning experience to know that you can experience that level of discomfort and pain and still keep running.
I have never had a half marathon go so quickly and this one is actually my second slowest. I'm poor at math and pace calculations even when running easily and that could've hurt us. M seemed to have a very good grasp of where we were pace-wise and it's something I need to develop a better head for.
Watch time 1:59:28!
garmin connect course: click here
1 comment:
"it is a learning experience to know that you can experience that level of discomfort and pain and still keep running."
Words to live by - what a fun recap!
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