Half Marathon in May

OK, part of my overall plan is to run fewer marathons and make each one I actually do run count for more with a much better idea on pacing and training level. In order to make that work, my plan includes a lot more half-marathons. Plus, half marathons are probably the best event you can use to help predict your actual marathon performance. So, after a few months of building up miles, it was time to take on an actual race, and I picked a relatively new half marathon in Irvine. It had the advantage of being relatively flat, and also the half-marathon was the longest event here. Running a half while others were gearing up to run a full marathon can make you start questioning your decision to "just" do half. I distinctly recall some crazy notions filtering through my head in February while on the course for the Pasadena Half Marathon that maybe I could knock out the full marathon as well.

So, I set myself ten goals for this month's race and it looks like I did pretty well on them so far. I'll have to wait until the end of the week to evaluate the last two:

1. Run faster than 1:57:00. Check. Finished at 1:55:24. It was hard to settle on a time, but in order to meet all the following goals, the time had to somewhat track with my current training and let me focus on constant improvement for my next run.

2. Don't start out too fast. Check. I invariably get swept up with the excitement of the race and start out way too fast. I know I shouldn't, but it doesn't seem to be hurting anything, at least not at first. And then by the time I start hurting, it is way too late. So, instead I really tried to focus on restraining myself for the first 1/3 of the race and keeping to the set pace of 8:55. The next third of the race was meant to feel free and then the last 1/3 would be where I would allow myself to dig deeper to keep going.

3. Run an even pace. Check. I still got swept up in the first mile, but was able to keep it to roughly an 8:30 and slow down from there. All my following splits were pretty even and I waited until the last 1/2 mile to speed up. I blame the near sprint at the finish on the announcers and crowds.

4. Focus on running tangents. Check. I run with a GPS-enabled watch, which is wonderful during training runs - I can take any turn and extend or cut short training runs on a whim. However, on race day, it really doesn't matter what your GPS watch says - the course is the course and just because your watch says 13.1, you aren't done till you cross the finish. Plus, the measured course is the absolute shortest it is possible to run and unless you are in the lead, invariably, there will be bodies in the way of allowing you to run that shortest course. Still, needlessly crossing the road or running the corners wide should be avoided. Even with all of this, you could end up running an extra 1% longer, which works out to a minute or more and ruin your goal.

5. No speed adjustments until the last 1/3 of the race. Check. I tend to get overly optimistic, constantly adjusting my goal pace downward in the weeks leading up to event, and then actually adjusting the goal during the race (or, even worse, at the start line). This time I promised myself I wouldn't make any adjustments until the last 1/3 of the race, and I didn't.

6. Learn something for my next race. Check. I learned two things - first, do not forget the lip balm. I rarely need lip balm, even on long runs, but it is guaranteed I'll need it on race day. The second lesson is to not forget to adjust my pace to account for my GPS watch. See goal #4 above - on race day, I'll end up running as much as 1% longer distance. So, I have to run so my GPS watch shows a faster pace so that the time at the finish time works out. 1% seems like a small difference, but it means instead of holding a 8:56, I needed my watch to show 8:51 (or 5 seconds per mile faster). I didn't remember this until the start line, so found myself mentally second-guessing myself throughout the full race.

7. Have fun. Check. It was great weather and a beautiful course. Best of all, it was not crowded and I was able to chill out and just run for a large portion of the race.

8. Run this as part of normal training. Check. My pace, while slightly ambitious, was still within 10 seconds of what my training said I should be doing for that weeks weekend run. I also didn't do any real tapering into the event.

9. Don't get injured. Unknown. Signs look good - there was definitely no obvious injury. My existing Plantar Fasciitis is holding up pretty well and is not bothering too much in the morning. And my standby test, walking down stairs, went well heading into work this morning.

10. Don't impact my following training week. Unknown. I'll be postponing my speedwork to Wednesday, but still plan on doing a normal week. We'll see how it goes.