Race Report: 2010 Toronto Women’s Half Marathon
My friend Laura and I registered for this race back in October after receiving a brochure for it at the Toronto Marathon Expo. It’s a good thing we did because the half filled up months ago with a cap of only 1,500 runners. My plan for this race was to run with Laura, have a blast and help her finish in the best time possible. We made the agreement that she was allowed to hate me during the last 5km if I tired to push her.
The days leading up to the race had been relatively hot and unfortunately the heat did not break before the race. It was sunny and around 20C at the start of the race and rose maybe 5C while we were running. Although the course was shaded and breezy in parts we were predominantly running in full sun. The heat started affecting us around the 5km mark and once we got to 10km it was clear the the goal of the day was just to finish the race. At about 14km we switched from a 9/1 run/walk ratio to 4/1.
I have never had more to drink during a half marathon. I carried 600mL of water with me and I took at least one cup or gatorade and/or water at each of the six water stations plus I had my bottle refiled once. I also consumed two gels and a Cadbury 100 calorie chocolate bar. That’s right, I ate a chocolate bar during the race! Hey, if they’re going to put out a chocolate station (I loved the sign “Attention Chocolate Ahead”) I am going to partake.
In the end we finished in 2:42:14, a time which was severely influenced by the heat. It’s a minor miracle that neither of us ended up dehydrated or sunburnt. I seemed to bounce back quite well from this race which I consider to be a positive sign for the Goofy challenge. I’m not saying I felt ready to run a full marathon when I woke up on Monday morning but I did feel like I could have gone for a run had it been on my schedule.
Race Report: 2010 Sporting Life 10k
Pre Race
Laura and I picked up our race bibs on Saturday morning and spent a few hours jetting around the city doing some shopping. We took things easy in the afternoon, had a delicious dinner of homemade (although not by us) pasta and then spent the evening watching a movie. On Sunday morning we woke up at 5:45am, ate breakfast and took the TTC to Yonge and Eglington. We walked up past the start line to drop off our bag, did a short warm-up jog and then parted ways at the entrance to our corrals.
The weather reports had been calling for thunderstorms and a 90% POP. It was a warm 18C and humid but mercilessly the rain held off for the most part.
My primary goal for this race was to set a new personal best. That meant running faster than 54:02, my time from my only pervious 10k: the 2006 Dawg Dash. My pie-in-the-sky goal was to go sub 50:00. Just before the race started I decided to throw caution to the wind and try to run 5:00 min/km for as long as I could and see what would happen.
The Race
Despite the fact that the race has a large net downhill (87m or 285ft) there are sill several uphill sections particularly in the first half. I had to do a bit of jockeying for position during the first kilometer but eventually settled into my goal pace. Actually I threw down some ridiculously consistent splits during the first 5k. The were all between 4:55 and 5:03. I hit the 5k in 24:57. I was feeling good but not great at this point and knew I had no room to slow down if I wanted to break 50:00.
During the second half of the race I had to really concentrate on running the kilometer I was in and not worrying about how far it was to the finish. I held things together through the seventh kilometer and then I started to fade. The eighth and ninth kilometers came in at 5:11 and 5:09, respectively. I figured that put me about 20 seconds behind and I’d have to try and make it up in the last kilometer. I turned on the jets with about 750m to go and then really sprinted the last 200m. I knew I had to give it everything I had left because I would be upset if I barely missed making my goal. I hit my watch after crossing the timing mats and felt like I might fall over. When I looked at my watch it read 50:00.21 so I was pretty certain I’d broken 50:00 by chip time. Yippee!
Post Race
I got my medal, some food and drink and then picked up my checked bag. Laura and I met up at our appointed meeting spot and then made the trek up her her condo via TTC. It was sort of cool that even though we kept getting further away from the finish line we kept seeing people on the streets with their medals around their necks.
Data
==================================================
Cumulative Cumulative 5Km
Km Split Time Pace Split
==================================================
1 04:58.5 0:04:58.5 04:58.5
2 04:58.8 0:09:57.4 04:58.7
3 05:02.3 0:14:59.7 04:59.9
4 04:54.5 0:19:54.1 04:58.5
5 05:02.5 0:24:56.6 04:59.3 24:56.6
6 04:58.0 0:29:54.6 04:59.1
7 05:01.1 0:34:55.7 04:59.4
8 05:11.3 0:40:07.0 05:00.9
9 05:09.4 0:45:16.3 05:01.8
10 04:39.8 0:49:56.1 04:59.6 24:59.5
49:56.1
==================================================
Overall place: 2670/11913 (77th percentile)
Gender place: 648/6684 (90th percentile)
Division place: 138/1221 (88th percentile)
Race Report: 2010 Waterloo Half Marathon
Yesterday I ran my tenth official half marathon, the St John Ambulance Waterloo Half Marathon. I finished in a time of 1:57:39 which is about a minute faster than the average finishing time of my previous halfs.
Pre Race
My parents were visiting for the weekend so I spent most of Saturday sewing curtains for my living room with my Mother. On Sunday I woke up at about 6:20am and my Dad and I arrived at Betchel Park at around 7:10am. It was drizzling rain when we arrived and by the time I’d picked up my bib and timing chip, made a final wardrobe selection and made it through the bathroom line up it was about 8:10 and absolutely pouring rain. Thankfully all the pre race stuff was at an indoor soccer facility and since there were only 365 people in the half marathon we didn’t have to walk out to the start line until the last moment.
The Race
Because of the torrential downpour I started the race wearing a garbage bag (see photo below). I knew the general route but I didn’t really know where the hills would be so everything was a surprise. My plan was to keep my kilometer splits between 5:27 and 5:42 (i.e. between a 1:55 and 2:00 finish time). I started out way too fast covering the first two two kilometers in 10:24 (I missed the first kilometer sign). I think I was just excited by the crowd, the fact that this was my first race of 2010 and I was keen to warm up. By the third kilometer I’d pretty much settled into my own pace. This was the first races I’ve done on open roads. The first few kilometers were closed to traffic but after we turned onto Bloomingdale Rd the road was open and we were supposed to run on the shoulder for the rest of the way. This could have been bad but it wasn’t really a problem. The roads mostly had generous shoulders and the cars gave the runners a wide berth when driving by. It seemed like a St John Ambulance or police car drove by about every five minutes monitoring the course.
I came through the first five kilometers in 27:09 and was feeling pretty good. The course was reputed as hilly but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. There were a couple long inclines but nothing that made me think of walking like other hills I’ve run on. In particular, kilometer eight had a big hill which slowed me down to a 5:50 split. I just kept on trucking and enjoyed a few downhill kilometers after that. My split for the second five kilometers was 28:03 giving me a 10 kilometer split of 55:12. Around this time the rain had returned to a drizzle and I finally took off the garbage bag I’d been running in. I had never intended to keep it on for this long but it served its purpose.
There were a few more hills in the next few kilometers and I was starting to feel myself slow. Whereas before I’d been hitting the low 5:30’s now I was clocking high 5:30’s and some 5:40’s. I took a gel coming out of Conestogo and then faced down the wind and rolling hills of Northfield drive. My third five kilometer split was 28:39. As I made the turn onto University Ave I knew I was getting close to home. I had hopped to turn on the engines in the last five kilometers but I didn’t quite have much to give. It was the usual story, my legs were the limiting factor not my lungs. I managed to pick up the pace in kilometer 20 and then hit my fourth five kilometer split in 28:05.
I did find a little something at the end of the race and pulled off the last 1.1 kilometers in 5:42 which is a 5:11 pace. I crossed the finish line in 1:57:39 (chip time) with a smile on my face. Actually I had a smile plastered on my face for most of the run. Despite the crazy weather I was just happy to be out and racing. I always new that it wasn’t a day for a PB but I was happy to finish almost right smack in the middle of my goal range of a 1:55 – 2:00 finish time.
Post Race
Dad met me at the finish line and we headed back into the soccer facility so I could pick up my medal (a handmade clay medallion, nice touch), a drink (Timmy’s hot chocolate, really hit the spot) and some food. I changed into dry clothes and then we headed out. We decided to try and leave quickly because we were afraid that once the marathon finishers started coming in we’d be trapped in the parking lot. Back at home we had blueberry pancakes for brunch and then my parents headed home to Ottawa leaving me to spend the rest of the day lying on the couch recovering!
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed the Waterloo half marathon, it’s a great small hometown race. Despite there only being 365 half marathon finishers I was never alone on the course. I also never felt in danger while running on open roads. My one and only complaint is that I really disliked the last kilometer of the half marathon course that ran through the parking lot. We were running on uneven gravel and I felt like we were trapping the cars in. I wonder if we could somehow do this loop at the start of the course next year? I know it’s a bigger pack then but at least it would open up the parking lot at the finish. In any case, I expect that I’ll run this race again next year and possibly for many more years to come.
Data
==================================================
Cumulative Cumulative 5Km
Km Split Time Pace Split
==================================================
2 10:24.1 0:10:24.1 05:12.1
3 05:36.7 0:16:00.9 05:20.3
4 05:32.1 0:21:33.0 05:23.2
5 05:36.1 0:27:09.1 05:25.8 27:09.1
6 05:30.5 0:32:39.6 05:26.6
7 05:36.1 0:38:15.7 05:28.0
8 05:50.1 0:44:05.8 05:30.7
9 05:33.5 0:49:39.3 05:31.0
10 05:33.1 0:55:12.4 05:31.2 28:03.3
11 05:37.0 1:00:49.4 05:31.8
12 05:52.3 1:06:41.7 05:33.5
13 05:43.7 1:12:25.3 05:34.3
14 05:37.2 1:18:02.5 05:34.5
15 05:49.0 1:23:51.5 05:35.4 28:39.1
16 05:40.2 1:29:31.7 05:35.7
17 05:38.5 1:35:10.2 05:35.9
18 05:33.5 1:40:43.7 05:35.8
19 05:39.4 1:46:23.1 05:36.0
20 05:33.8 1:51:56.9 05:35.8 28:05.4
21.1 05:42.1 1:57:39.0 05:34.6
1:57:39.0
===================================================
Overall place: 146/365 (60th percentile)
Gender place: 41/201 (79th percentile)
Division place: 19/55 (65th percentile)
Fun Run Report: 2009 Santa Shuffle KW 5K
Last Saturday morning I ran the local Santa Shuffle 5K. It was an untimed “fun run” so everything was pretty free and loose. There was no official start or finish line and Santa counted down the start. I’d say there were about 150-200 runners at the event. Looking around, I really couldn’t gauge how fast the crowd was. There was a lot of technical gear being worn but it was cold so the cotton t-shirt metric wasn’t really useful.
The course was two loops around and through Waterloo Park. The loop was sort of funny because it actually crossed itself at one point. I’m glad I wasn’t in charge of directing traffic there! As soon as Santa said GO! a group of really fast runners broke away. I could see at least two women in the group and probably six to eight others. My goal was to run sub 25:00 so I set my Garmin to lap each km and focused on keeping my pace just below the 5:00 min/km mark.
My first km came in a 4:39 which was a big quick so I focused on holding a steady hard pace. I was passed by a women in the first km but I never let her get more than 20m ahead of me and eventually reeled her in about 5 minutes later. The course was quite twisty in parts and after the second km I was running alone although I could see two men about 40 and 80 m ahead of me.
During the second loop I started to really feel the effort. I made a turn just after the 3km mark and the volunteer there told me I was the something-th female. I really couldn’t tell what number she had said. I was just excited to hear a comment like that. I’ve never run a race where I’ve been in a position to hear a ranking! I figured I was probably running in fourth or fifth and just keep chugging along. My main goal was not to get caught from behind by the woman I’d passed. I had no idea how much of a lead I had on her but I wanted to trick myself into thinking she was close.
I tried to turn on the jets in the fifth km, hold off any one that was behind me and push to the finish. My Garmin hit 5km as I crested a hill about 200m before the course actually ended. I ran down the hill past some spectators and someone holding a clipboard, figured I’d crossed the invisible finish line and hit my Garmin. My km splits were:
4:39/4:52/4:49/4:40/4:53/0:56
My Garmin mapped the course at 5.2km with a finish time of 24:49. My cumulative time at my 5km split was 23:53 which would make this my third fastest 5km (out of ten). I have decided not to record this among my official finish times though since the course wasn’t certified.
After the race the runners went back to the Waterloo Rec Complex for snacks. I passed the volunteer who had told me my placing and she asked me if I’d held onto my spot. I told her I had. Of course I didn’t know what place that was but I was starting to suspect that maybe I’d come in third because (1) why would she ask me if I’d held onto fourth or fifth? and (2) one of the women who I thought had been in front of me had actually finished in a few minutes after me.
Back at the Rec Complex there was hot chocolate, coffee, fruit and granola bars. At the awards ceremony I was announced as the third place woman! I now am the proud owner of a Running Room bronze medal! I know it was just a fun run and it was a small race but I’m still quite pleased with myself.
Race Report: 2009 Toronto Marathon
Pre Race
I went into Toronto on Friday after work and spent Friday evening and Saturday hanging out with my friends Laura and Douglas. On race morning I woke up at 6:45 am, ate breakfast and got myself organized. The forecast was calling for clear conditions with a low around 0C and a high of about 10C. I had made the decision to wear shorts with a long sleeved technical t-shirt, gloves and a baseball hat. I was slightly concerned that I was going to be too cold at the start of the race but decided to risk it because being too hot later in the race would be worse.
At about 7:40am four of us racing the marathon climbed into a cab for the drive to the start line at Mel Lastman Square. We heard the 8am half marathon start and then ducked in to a municipal building that was open to runners. It was certainly nice to get to wait for the start indoors since it was chilly out. After some nervous chatter and a pre race gel we made out way out to the corrals about 15 minutes before the start and lined up between the “sub 4:00” and “4:00+” signs.
The gun went off and the race was underway!
Part 1: Down and Up Yonge Street, 0-10km in 57:46 (average 5:47 min/km)
There were only about 2200 marathoners so the start wasn’t too crowded and I was able to settle into my pace fairly quickly without wasting energy weaving around people. At some point during the second kilometer Douglas pulled up next to me and we started running together. We hadn’t planned to run the race together but we were both happy to have the company so we stuck together. I really didn’t want to go out too fast so I was monitoring our pace trying to keep our splits somewhere around 5:45-5:50. There were a few rolling hills in this first section including a fairly long uphill during the fifth kilometer which lead to the slowest km of the day at 6:08. It actually wasn’t that bad of a hill but it was daunting because we could see it coming from a ways off.
We kept rolling down (an occasionally up) Yonge street checking off subway stops until south of Eglington when we turned off into a lovely neighbourhood with tree lined streets and big houses. I took a gel somewhere in the ninth kilometer. I carried four gels with me (all of which I would take) and a plastic water bottle that I threw away after the first water station. After that I just went with what they had on course and it worked out fine.
Part 2: Rosedale and into Downtown, 10-21.1km in1:03:09 (average 5:41 min/km)
We continued moving along at a comfortable pace running past Upper Canada College and Casa Loma. This was exciting for me because I used to run past Casa Loma during the summer of 2000 when I lived in downtown Toronto. This section had a lot of downhills including one during our fastest kilometer of the day: 5:23 for kilometer 12. We did a lovely set of about four kilometers on Rosedale Valley Road. This was my favourite section of the course. The trees were in full autumn colours and it was quiet and peaceful. In other words there were no angry motorists honking because the marathon was blocking traffic!
We came out of the valley onto Bayview Ave and then onto Front St. This was probably my least favourite section of the course. The road was a little uneven and mixed with asphalt, concrete and street car tracks. We were passing half marathon walkers at this point so I had to be a bit more aware of my surrondings. Also the CN tower was looming in the distance and I knew that not only did I have to run to it but I also had to go way past it and then back again!
Douglas and I were holding a strong pace. We went through the half in 2:00:55 (chip time). I was very happy that we weren’t sub 2:00. We made our target pace 5:41 min/km and figured that with a few occasional faster kilometers a sub 4:00 finish was possible.
Part 3: Queen’s Quay and the Lakeshore Pathway, 21.1-30km in 50:35 (average 5:41 min/km)
As we were running out of downtown we saw the marathon leader go by us heading towards the finish line. We were still a long way away from finishing so I just focused on making it to the turn around at the Humber Bay Arch Bridge. We maintained a strong pace but it was definitely getting harder to sustain. My legs were making their presence known and the wind picked up making things a bit more difficult. Somewhere around 25 km I finally took off my throw away gloves and made the joke that I was taking off the gloves and getting serious.
Part 3: Lakeshore to Queen’s Park, 30-42.2km in1:10:51 (average 5:48 min/km)
As Douglas and I headed back towards downtown we were consistently picking off runners ahead of us. In the end we would pass 203 runners in this section while only being passed by six. Yes, we were that awesome.
I should mention that there was a marathon relay being run concurrently with the marathon. There were eight legs so each relay runner ran about 5km. Needless to say they went flying by us. Fortunately most of them had a bib on their back that read RELAY so you could at least justify their speed as they bounded past you.
Douglas was definitely pulling me along in this section. He seemed to have just a tiny bit more in his legs than I did. At first he was a step ahead of me, then it was 5 meters and by the time we hit the turn up York street it was about 20 meters. We’d already had the discussion that when we got close to the end we each had to run our own races so I was happy to see him pushing the pace. The funny thing was that we were both passing everyone on the course but the distance between us was staying fairly consistent.
The last three km up York and University Ave were very very hard. For about the last two km I could see Queen’s Park in the distance and I just knew I needed to make it there. I took a few very short walk breaks but I kept pushing whatever pace I could squeeze out of my legs. Just after the 41 km mark I caught up to Douglas and told him that we were going to finish this thing together. We saw Laura cheering us on along the bend behind Queen’s Park and then matched each other stride for stride as we sprinted for the finish.
Finish: 4:02:21 (average 5:45 min/km)
My chip finish time was 4:02:21 which is a 7:58 improvement over my previous personal best from 2008 in Seattle. I didn’t break 4 hours but I left everything I had out on the course so there’s no way I can be disappointed with my result. I’m also thrilled that my half marathon splits of 2:00:55 and 2:01:26 were so close. A 31 second positive split is some very consistent pacing and I firmly believe that this is the most efficient way for me to run a marathon.
Lessons Learnt
- Consistent pacing is the way to go
- On a cool day I do not need to carry my own water/Gatorade.
- Next time around I think I should include more marathon pace sections into my long runs.
- It’s really nice to have a running partner. Thanks for racing with me Douglas!
- After a marathon it helps to have someone around who can think straight. Thanks for taking care of us Laura
Finally here is the “Achievement Statistics” report generated by the marathon for me (you can click to get a bigger view).
Race Report: 2009 Rock n Roll Seattle Half Marathon
Pre Race
I stayed with my Dad at his downtown hotel the night before the race because it made race day logistic much easier for me. The wake-up call came at 4am and I quickly got changed, made some green tea and headed out the door. I walked the six blocks to the Westin and immediately boarded a waiting shuttle bus (big yellow school bus) to the start line. It was about 4:45 am by the time I arrived at the start line. I did a quick walk around to get the lay of the land before things got too crowded and then settled down on the grass to eat my breakfast and relax. I checked my gear bag at about 6am, took one final trip through the porta potty line and then entered my start corral.
My projected finish time of 1:54 put me in corral six. I think there were about 35 corrals for the 25,000 registered runners (17,500 in the half, 5,000 in the full). This is definitely the biggest race I’ve ever run. I’ve heard that other runners had problems getting to the start line. My advice to future runners is to take the shuttle and get there early!
As I was waiting for the race to start I really had no expectations for the day. I just wanted to have a good time and enjoy my last Seattle long run. I’d done nine weeks of really solid training but then I finished my PhD and went on vacation so running took a back seat. In other words I did a two week taper of 3 runs for a total of 15 miles. I had no plan, no real goal pace and no worries.
Miles 1-5 (9:01, 8:26, 8:32, 8:22, 9:11)
The first mile was crowded but I didn’t really suffer any major bunching problems. I tried to keep things easy and I was happy this mile came in under 9:09 (the pace for a two hour half). The first few miles through Tukwila and Ranier Valley were new running ground for me so I never knew what would be around the next corner. There were a few small hills but nothing major and I was able to settle into a reasonably comfortable pace. The worst hill of the day came during the fifth mile. Almost the entire mile was uphill with approximately 150 ft of elevation gained. It was tough but nothing compared to Prospect Point in the Vancouver half. I ran up the whole thing and was pretty happy with the 9:11 split for mile 5.
Keeping with the rock n roll theme of the race there were bands playing every mile. That was a fun distraction. There were also cheer squads whose enthusiasm I greatly appreciated. The water stations and volunteers were awesome which was good because I chose to run without my own hand held water bottle.
Miles 6-10 (8:21, 8:07, 8:36, 8:31, ?:??)
During the sixth mile we recovered from the previous mile’s big climb with a very steep downhill. There was actually a volunteer warning runners about the downhill. It was so steep people were running with there arms out for balance. I tired to run relaxed like a rag doll and roll down the hill. I took my only gel of the race somewhere in mile 6. I thought I should get one down but I didn’t really feel like I needed it. Miles 7, 8 and 9 were very familiar to me. We ran north along Lake Washington Blvd. This section is part of the Seattle Marathon course and I’ve run it in training many times. There was good crowd support in this section. I still wasn’t too concerned about my pace but I knew that things were going pretty well. My legs were starting to get tight and tired but cardiovascularly I was still feeling strong. I could see I-90 in the distance and focused on getting there.
When we hit I-90 the half marathon and marathon courses split. As we were running through the tunnel the 3 hour marathon pacer went by me (they had run a few more miles than me at this point). Those guys were flying! I actually liked the tunnel mile because it was shaded and a little cooler. My Garmin lost its signal in the tunnel but I’m pretty sure the tenth mile marker was in the wrong place because there’s no way I ran 5:01 mile!
I should note that for some reason I decided not to take any walk breaks during this half. I did walk through a few water stations as I drank water but that was it. I really thought that if I slowed down my legs wouldn’t want to start back up.
Miles 11-13.1 (???, 7:34, 8:50, :50)
By the time I made it to mile 10 I was about ready for the race to be over. My legs were tired and things were starting to get tough. The eleventh mile was along the I-90 express lanes. It was exposed and hot and frankly seemed to last forever. Of course that might have been due to the misplaced mile 10 marker. I could see Qwest Field and knew I just had to make it there. There were some nice downhills in mile 11 and 12 coming down the off ramps. I have no idea how I pulled off a 7:34 mile 12. I was actually telling myself to keep it under control in this mile and prepare to turn it on for the last 1.1 miles. This was the first point in the race where I realized that I had the potential to set a new personal best.
The last mile was a physical and mental struggle. There were a couple of turns and the climb up to Aurora certainly slowed me down. I was pushing but my leg turnover wasn’t quite there. By the time we were coming off Aurora I was ready to be done. The finish was similar to the Race of the Cure finish so at least I’d seen it before. I saw the marathon 26 mile marker and new I was getting close. Eventually I passed the 13 mile marker. I looked at my watch and saw 1:50 on it. I knew a personal best was close so I poured on the best sprint to the finish I could muster.
After I crossed the start line I hit my watch and say 1:51:02. My actual chip time was 1:50:57 which is a new personal best by 1:02 over the 2007 Fall Classic.
Post Race
I got my medal and picked up some water, a banana and a granola bar. I downed my first 500 mL of water very quickly and then another 1L after that. The weather wasn’t that hot (maybe 15C) but it was sunny and I definitely needed the water. I picked up my drop back from the UPS truck and then met my Dad at the “C” sign in the family meeting area.
I’m beyond thrilled to have set a new personal best. I don’t have a half way time but I definitely ran a negative split (second half faster than the first). I can’t say enough about how well organized this race was. The Rock n Roll series of marathons is run by a corporation (Competitor Group, Inc) that I’m now referring to as the Starbucks of marathons. It’s all about branding, efficiency and consistency. I appreciate it when things run smoothly so I’d definitely consider doing another one of their races in the future.
Data
========================================
Cumulative Cumulative
Mile Split Time Pace
========================================
1 09:01.3 0:09:01.3 09:01.3
2 08:26.1 0:17:27.4 08:43.7
3 08:31.8 0:25:59.2 08:39.7
4 08:22.4 0:34:21.6 08:35.4
5 09:11.5 0:43:33.1 08:42.6
6 08:20.7 0:51:53.8 08:39.0
7 08:07.0 1:00:00.9 08:34.4
8 08:36.8 1:08:37.7 08:34.7
9 08:31.9 1:17:09.6 08:34.4
10 05:01.5 1:22:11.1 08:13.1
11 11:33.7 1:33:44.7 08:31.3
12 07:34.2 1:41:19.0 08:26.6
13 08:50.1 1:50:09.1 08:28.4
13.1 00:47.9 1:50:57.0 08:28.2
1:50:57.0
========================================
Overall place: 1506/15541 (90th percentile)
Gender place: 600/11339 (94th percentile)
Division place: 125/2089 (94th percentile)
1:50:57
I set a new personal best at Saturday’s Rock n Roll half marathon! I’ll post a full race report in a day or two.
Race Report: 2009 Beat the Bridge 8k
This morning I ran the 27th annual Nordstrom Beat the Bridge to beat diabetes 8k road race and set a new personal best! The race is so named because the University Bridge falls 2 miles into the race and the bridge is raised 20 minutes after the third and final wave starts the race. Anyone who lives in Seattle is familiar with the feeling of arriving late somewhere because you got stuck behind a raised bridge. Don’t worry, they do eventually lower the bridge and let the runners finish the race!
Pre Race
I arrived at Husky Stadium at about 7:20 am. My wave was scheduled to start at 8:40 so I had lots of time to pick up my bib, relax and warm-up. There are three main events during the morning with about 10,000 total participants. First, the 4 mile walk went off and then the 1 mile kids fun run. Then it was time for the 8k road race.
I was a little frustrated with the total lack of appreciation for the 8k wave start. I know I should be more zen about this but it drives me crazy! There were three waves based on your anticipated finish time: green (<35 min), white (35-40 min) and red (>40 min). I chose the red wave when I registered because my 8k PB was 40:53. Well I saw red bibs go out in the middle of the green wave! Sure a few people could have been put in the wrong wave but not the numbers I saw. It was a mess. My theory is that that the threat of not beating the bridge caused people to head out early. There were also no pace signs at the start. I lined up in the second row of the red start because that’s where I figured I belonged. Less than half a mile into the race I was passing people who’d inappropriately started in the white wave. OK vent over.
I wasn’t sure how well the course would be marked so I left my Garmin to auto-lap each mile.
Mile 1: 7:29 I was clearly a bit too fired up at the start and I went out way too hard. I did not enjoy running over the metal grating on the Montlake bridge. I’m not afraid of heights it’s just that the surface is made for car tires not running shoes! As I mentioned, I was passing people within half a mile. Still I felt OK but I had a hard time settling into any sort of a zone.
Mile 2: 8:01 There was a lot of congestion in this mile but I was finally able to settle into my goal pace.
Mile 3: 8:18 This mile began with the climb up the University Bridge. I started paying for my fast start and seriously thought I might be in trouble. I kept rolling though because I know that while hills aren’t my strength as long as I stay out of the red zone I can recover pretty well. The thought did cross my mind that if this was a 5k I’d be nearly done!
Mile 4: 8:12 (a little long) I started feeling the heat in this mile. It was probably only about 20C but there wasn’t much shade on the course and this was my first hard and hot run of the year. I’m not heat acclimatized but apparently neither was anyone else because people were removing layers all around me. I actually took about a 20 second walk break at a water stop to take a drink. I’m not sure if I needed the water or not but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Mile 5: 7:05 (a little short) I didn’t bother to look at my watch during the fourth or fifth mile so I had no idea how fast I was running. I just kept trying to focus on running at a comfortably hard pace. The section of the course behind the stadiums seemed to last forever because we took a round about way of getting into Husky stadium. I just kept thinking that I’d put too much effort in so far not to push all the way through the finish. There was one last short climb behind the football practice field and then I put on a kick into the stadium. I crossed the finish line, hit my watch and tried to stay vertical. I was shocked to see a finish time of 39:05 on my watch. Later I found that my official time was 39:03!
Post Race
I picked up a goody bag, some water and fruit and hung out in the stadium watching the rest of the racers finish. The picture above was taken about 15 minutes after I finished the race. I can only hope that the weather is this nice in four weeks when I’m back at the stadium for Commencement!
My official finish time of 39:03 (results) is a personal best by 1:50 over my 2006 Torchlight Run. That was my oldest standing PB which means that now the next in line to go down is my 10k PB of 54:02. I hope to destroy that some time in the fall.
There were some “technical difficulties” experienced with the timing chips. I think the mats at the start line failed meaning that they only have gun times for everyone. I’m not sure what that means for people who started in the wrong wave so I’m not going to report my percentile rankings. I am confident that my time is correct though.
The Rock n Roll Seattle half marathon is six weeks away. I have a recovery week and then four weeks of 30+ miles before the taper week. I’m feeling pretty optimistic about my current fitness. The half marathon starts at 7am which hopefully means that heat won’t be too much of an issue. Still I’m planning to get a few runs in during warmer temperatures just to be prepared.
Race Report: 2009 Mercer Island Half Marathon
Pre Race
Race weekend started on Friday evening with a steak dinner celebrating my sister Allison’s birthday. Steak isn’t exactly carbo loading food but I had enough mashed potatoes and chocolate cake to make up for that. Unfortunately, I had a fitful night of sleep on Friday which left me feeling a bit sluggish on Saturday morning. We had tickets to first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament Saturday evening. The games were at 5 and 7:30 pm and since the stadium doesn’t have the greatest selection of food we decided to have dinner in the mid afternoon. So I had raw veggies with dip and pizza at about 3:30 pm. Not exactly my usual pasta with tomato sauce but that’s OK. I had a better night’s sleep on Saturday night and was up at 6:40 am to have my standard oatmeal and banana pre race breakfast.
Dad picked me up at 7:30 am to head over to Mercer Island. We joked that it was like back when I was in high school and he and I would be up early on the weekends driving to who knows where to get to a basketball tournament! When we got to Mercer Island the traffic at the 77th Ave SE exit was backed up onto the highway! It took about 10-15 minutes but eventually we made our way into one of the race parking lots. I got myself organized at the car and then Dad and I walked about 10 minutes to the community center. I picked up my bib and chip, waited in a longish porta potty line and then Dad and I made our way over to the start. I lined up between the 8:00 and 9:00 min/mile pace signs and did some quick stretches before the gun went off.
The plan
I didn’t have much of a plan coming into this race. This was my eight official half marathon so I wasn’t too nervous about finishing. I just wanted to push myself and see what I could do without putting a lot of pressure on myself to get a PB or anything. Honestly, going into the race I was feeling good about my training but I wasn’t feeling like I was in PB form. I’ve been having problems with tight hamstrings and I wasn’t sure how that was going to affect me.
The Race
I really didn’t want to go out too hard and luckily the course was so congested in the first mile that this wasn’t a problem. I missed the first mile marker but averaged 8:42 over the first two miles. I was feeling OK early on in the race but at the same time I knew that dropping down to 8:23 (the pace for a 1:50:00 finish, my dream goal) just was not going to happen. Instead I decided to just run hard and see what would happen. There were a lot of winding turns along the east side of the island during the first 6 miles. I tried to run the tangents and avoid road sections with a steep camber but they really started to get annoying. I took my first walk break at 35 minutes during the fifth mile. We were running on one lane of E Mercer Way and the course was surprisingly congested. The density of runners didn’t impede me in any way but there were a lot of people around.
I was feeling OK, but not super, as we hit the bottom of the island and started heading back north. I knew the second half of the course was hillier than the first but since I hadn’t memorized the elevation chart I didn’t exactly know when the hills would come. We covered a number of small rolling hills which I felt that I handled reasonably well. At this point I’d decided that 8:40 min/mile would be a good target pace for me but I couldn’t quite get down there. Miles 7 and 8 were both done in 8:46. I was feeling my hamstrings/butt musles fatigue already. I wouldn’t say they really hurt but, as per usual, my legs were more tired than my lungs. I took my only gel of the race during a walk break at the 1:10 mark. This made my mile 9 come in at 9:02 which didn’t make me too happy. The highest point on the course came during the tenth mile which was also slow at 9:00. Hitting mile 10 means that the finish line is “just a 5K away” and I rode the downhills hard in this mile to come in at 8:27.
The biggest hill came during the twelfth mile and it was a beast. I’m sure it seemed worse because I was tired but it brought most of the runners near me to a walk. I only let myself walk for about 50 steps at one point and otherwise pushed myself up it. Then I tried to push through the last 1.1 miles but I was beat. There was a short incline just before the finish line that I didn’t very much appreciate. Fortunately there were lots of people lining the course and the cheering really helped in the last few hundred meters.
Post Race
I crossed the finish line in a chip time of 1:56:02. I immediately met up with Dad, Alli, Tim and Matt. My legs were shot but the rest of me felt OK within a few minutes. I ate a banana and half a bagel and then we started walking back to the car. I was quickly getting cold and all my warm clothes were in the trunk. Dad, Matt and I went out for a post race brunch at the Rusty Pelican in Wallingford. Usually I’m a sweet food brunch kind of girl but for some reason today I was craving savory so I had a veggie and eggs scrambler with potatoes and toast. Oh and of course coffee. We spent the rest of the day watching NCAA basketball on TV!
Final Thoughts
I really upped the speedwork and tempo runs during this training cycle so part of me is disapointed that I didn’t see that pay off with a faster finish time. I’m starting to think that doing both speedwork and a tempo run each week might just be too much for my legs. In the end though I’m pleased with my race result because I feel as though I gave pretty much everything I could on race morning and that’s all I can ask of myself.
Data
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Cumulative Cumulative Average
Mile Split Time Pace HR
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1 08:42.3 0:08:42.3 08:42.3 179
2 08:42.3 0:17:24.6 08:42.3 180
3 08:22.3 0:25:46.9 08:35.6 185
4 08:36.4 0:34:23.3 08:35.8 185
5 08:50.7 0:43:14.0 08:38.8 183
6 08:51.7 0:52:05.7 08:41.0 184
7 08:46.0 1:00:51.8 08:41.7 183
8 08:45.9 1:09:37.7 08:42.2 180
9 09:01.6 1:18:39.3 08:44.4 180
10 09:00.2 1:27:39.5 08:45.9 180
11 08:27.2 1:36:06.6 08:44.2 176
12 09:03.0 1:45:09.7 08:45.8 175
13.1 10:52.3 1:56:02.0 08:51.4 178
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Total 1:56:02.0 180
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Overall place: 820/1620 (49th percentile)
Gender place: 276/798 (65th percentile)
Division place: 61/144 (57th percentile)
[places are based on chip time and do not include walkers]
