Revenge Was at Hand

Today I ran my 6th half marathon and I PR'd by 2 minutes (exactly). This half marathon has a special place in my heart because it was my first half marathon (last year). It's a well organized race, small (somewhere around 4000 I think) and with great crowd participation. I had planned to run this one as an MP run but since I DNF'd my PR seeking half two weeks ago due to illness (as you all know), I wanted to race this one to see how well I could do under the circumstances.

Weather: The cold snap left on Tuesday and I've been running at 80F again. The temps started dropping just a tad yesterday and the forecast was 61F with 87% humidity. Fortunately, the forecast changed to 64 with 80% humidity, which I thought was much better. I finished the half at 75F. Those 10 degrees cost me some time in the second half.

Pre-Race: I am training for my first marathon so I only took one rest day as taper. This week was not as bad as the previous ones, running only 42mpw so the legs were a little fresher. Unfortunately, due to travel most of the week (for court) my lower back has been hurting. I had a massage on Friday but it still bothered me today. Plus remember, my ankle is not 100% yet.

We spent most of Saturday walking the auto show here in Miami and my back was killing me. I spent the rest of the day off my feet, ate some pasta and went to bed at 9:30pm. I was not able to sleep until midnight and I woke up at 4:30am.

I got to the race at 5:45 for a 6:13am start. I parked 0.40 miles from the starting line and headed there. Gear check was quick but there were more than 100 in line for the potta potties. Ugh. I had to go because I just drove 45 minutes and I get stomach issues before a race (always). So, I made it out of the potta potties at 6:12am and I missed my Doral Runners picture. I try to head as close to the 10mm corral and off we go. I crossed the mat 2 minutes after the start.

Race: I immediately started passing some walkers and walker/runners that should have stand further back. For some reason the 2:15 pace group was ahead of me by a lot even though I was on pace for a 2:10 finish (I passed them at around Mile 5--they were way fast for 2:15). By mid-race I was on pace for a 2:08 finish and I passed the 10K mark at 1:01:36 (almost my current PR). I had crank e-gels at Miles 4 and 8 but decided not to do the one at Mile 12. There was no sun (cloudy day) and a nice breeze. Unfortunately, by the time I hit Mile 11, the temps had gone up and I was getting dehydrated, even though I had my 20oz handheld bottle and I was sipping at every mile. So, I walked the water station at Mile 11 and got at least 4 oz of water. I again walked the water station at Mile 12 and got some more water. I knew that by stopping at Mile 12, my sub-2:10 was gone but it really gave me the boost to finish strong. I even had a nice sprint to finish. I crossed the mat at 2:12:15 for a chip time of 2:10:15, a PR by 2 minutes.

Post-Race: I drank a bottle of water and met with some of the runners from my running group. I headed to the buses and stopped at a Starbucks for some iced coffee. As soon as I got home, I finished my 17 miles for the day and ran another 4. I am not sore at all.

Thoughts: Now I have to redesign my paces and reconsider my goal of 4:45 at the marathon in three weeks. I think I can reach 4:30 if the temps are somewhere in the 60s. Very unpredictable this year in Miami. We'll see.

Splits:

Mile 1 - 9:58

Mile 2 - 9:35

Mile 3 - 10:24 (Miles 2 and 3 are off because of the tunnel underpass, Garmin lost signal at 2.85 and returned at 3.13)

Mile 4 - 9:44

Mile 5 - 9:45

Mile 6 - 10:03 (I think was the second hill)

Mile 7 - 9:42

Mile 8 - 9:46

Mile 9 - 9:48

Mile 10 - 9:53

Mile 11 - 9:58

Mile 12 - 10:10 (walked the water station)

Mile 13 - 10:29 (average pace was faster and this mile recorded 1.04)

0.13 - 0:54 or 7:53mm

Next: 2:08!