Aramco 1/2 Marathon - 1:23:40
I went into the weekend thinking I was about as ready as I could get given the time I had to train, but only after cramming the last couple of weeks before my taper last week. I'm not sure I could have gotten in significantly better shape with another month or two to train but still felt that my 1:23:29 PR was out of reach. My goal was to go sub 1:25 and going into the weekend I felt like I should be able to do that, though not by much.
But then I had a rehearsal dinner Friday night for my sister-in-law and buddy's wedding, which included Mexican food and too many margaritas. A headache yesterday morning and that sluggish feeling all day planted major seeds of doubt. Then last night I probably ate too much, as I know I did Friday night, and didn't get home from the reception until 11:15. I probably fell asleep sometime between 11:45 and midnight, then got up this morning at 4:35. I stepped on the scale and became even more skeptical when it showed me to be about 4 lbs. heavier than I was Friday morning. Ugh. But at least I felt good and wasn't tired. The legs felt great and I did some runs of close to a quarter mile before the start at a very brisk pace and never got winded. And the weather felt okay to me, at least without a shirt on.
I met up with Matt Nicol and Tuan Nguyen at the start and decided to hang with them as long as I could and as long as it felt right. Tuan wanted 6:20s and Matt was planning to run that pace for awhile, though he didn't expect to hold it to the end. The first mile was a 6:24 but mile two was a 6:10 and I knew before I saw the number that it was too fast. Mile three backed down a bit to a 6:16 but it was at this point that I let Tuan and Matt pull away a little. They stayed well ahead of me as I hit mile four in 6:21. By the completion of mile four I had already banked nearly 50 seconds against the 6:30 pace I was looking to stay just under so I decided to settle down and start hitting some even splits at a little closer to my target pace of 6:29. Miles five through ten were:
6:25
6:19
6:25
6:24
6:27
6:31
I passed Matt somewhere around mile seven or eight but of course knew I was not likely to catch Tuan. I was at ten miles in 1:03:41, a new PR for me, and now had more than a minute cushion over that 1:25 mark I was looking to dip just under. And I still felt fine so nothing to do but keep on keepin' on. Mile eleven was a 6:16. Mile 12 was a 6:30 but I was getting into downtown now and the Garmin picked up a 6:11 mile 13, so I'm not sure both of those miles are accurate. At mile ten I realized that barring a catastrophe sub 1:25 was in the bag and by mile eleven and twelve I started to think I might go sub 1:24 and have an outside shot at my PR. I'd like to think that 6:11 in mile thirteen was accurate - I know I was pushin'.
My Garmin has me at 1:22:38 for 13 miles but I couldn't hear it beep and wasn't paying attention anyway. I know I hammered the last couple of miles as best as I could and enjoyed the fact that Autumn Ray came up beside me in full game-face mode. I did my damnedest to hang with her but she ran strong through to the finish and I came in 4 seconds behind her. My official chip time was 1:23:40, just eleven seconds off my PR, but that means that somehow it took me almost a minute to cover the final .1, which is impossible. I guess maybe I had built up some extra distance over the course of the run and probably ran 13.18 or 13.19. I'll never know because I forgot to click as I crossed the finish line.
I attribute my much-better-than-expected time today to the no pain no gain runs I did over the last month of training, such as the 18 miler where Brian and I did the final mile in around 6:30, or the 9.1 mile run we did last weekend where my final mile was 6:07, or the 10 mile run I did New Year's Eve at a 6:34 pace. If you're unfamiliar with extended periods of running beyond your comfort level you'll back off when you get to that pace. But if you're no stranger too it it's old hat. Today was old hat. I really didn't suffer much at all and wonder if I might have gone faster. At any rate I'm looking forward to a good spring season, and maybe a 10K PR. Mine is over three years old and needs to come down.
But then I had a rehearsal dinner Friday night for my sister-in-law and buddy's wedding, which included Mexican food and too many margaritas. A headache yesterday morning and that sluggish feeling all day planted major seeds of doubt. Then last night I probably ate too much, as I know I did Friday night, and didn't get home from the reception until 11:15. I probably fell asleep sometime between 11:45 and midnight, then got up this morning at 4:35. I stepped on the scale and became even more skeptical when it showed me to be about 4 lbs. heavier than I was Friday morning. Ugh. But at least I felt good and wasn't tired. The legs felt great and I did some runs of close to a quarter mile before the start at a very brisk pace and never got winded. And the weather felt okay to me, at least without a shirt on.
I met up with Matt Nicol and Tuan Nguyen at the start and decided to hang with them as long as I could and as long as it felt right. Tuan wanted 6:20s and Matt was planning to run that pace for awhile, though he didn't expect to hold it to the end. The first mile was a 6:24 but mile two was a 6:10 and I knew before I saw the number that it was too fast. Mile three backed down a bit to a 6:16 but it was at this point that I let Tuan and Matt pull away a little. They stayed well ahead of me as I hit mile four in 6:21. By the completion of mile four I had already banked nearly 50 seconds against the 6:30 pace I was looking to stay just under so I decided to settle down and start hitting some even splits at a little closer to my target pace of 6:29. Miles five through ten were:
6:25
6:19
6:25
6:24
6:27
6:31
I passed Matt somewhere around mile seven or eight but of course knew I was not likely to catch Tuan. I was at ten miles in 1:03:41, a new PR for me, and now had more than a minute cushion over that 1:25 mark I was looking to dip just under. And I still felt fine so nothing to do but keep on keepin' on. Mile eleven was a 6:16. Mile 12 was a 6:30 but I was getting into downtown now and the Garmin picked up a 6:11 mile 13, so I'm not sure both of those miles are accurate. At mile ten I realized that barring a catastrophe sub 1:25 was in the bag and by mile eleven and twelve I started to think I might go sub 1:24 and have an outside shot at my PR. I'd like to think that 6:11 in mile thirteen was accurate - I know I was pushin'.
My Garmin has me at 1:22:38 for 13 miles but I couldn't hear it beep and wasn't paying attention anyway. I know I hammered the last couple of miles as best as I could and enjoyed the fact that Autumn Ray came up beside me in full game-face mode. I did my damnedest to hang with her but she ran strong through to the finish and I came in 4 seconds behind her. My official chip time was 1:23:40, just eleven seconds off my PR, but that means that somehow it took me almost a minute to cover the final .1, which is impossible. I guess maybe I had built up some extra distance over the course of the run and probably ran 13.18 or 13.19. I'll never know because I forgot to click as I crossed the finish line.
I attribute my much-better-than-expected time today to the no pain no gain runs I did over the last month of training, such as the 18 miler where Brian and I did the final mile in around 6:30, or the 9.1 mile run we did last weekend where my final mile was 6:07, or the 10 mile run I did New Year's Eve at a 6:34 pace. If you're unfamiliar with extended periods of running beyond your comfort level you'll back off when you get to that pace. But if you're no stranger too it it's old hat. Today was old hat. I really didn't suffer much at all and wonder if I might have gone faster. At any rate I'm looking forward to a good spring season, and maybe a 10K PR. Mine is over three years old and needs to come down.
posted by Lance Collins at 7:04 PM
3 Comments:
Congratulations, Lance. To come w/in 10 seconds of your half-marathon PR, not to mention a 10-mile PR en route, on less than ideal conditions is excellent. You are definitely a racer.
In the now-it-can-be-told department, I had predicted (and still have the email to prove) a 1:24 or better for Lance based on his 9-mile tempo run. I would also like to think that by allowing Lance to use the service of my "portable port-a-can" at the start line I deserve some credits, if not all, for Lance's performance. Imagine an untimely pit stop along the course that could take a minute or more. Not only that but I think Lance was also drafting on me during the Elysian viaduct miles. The energy saved definitely helped him in the latter miles.
BTW, Ed & I have a long running weight competition at the Memorial Park Tennis Center scale. Yesterday, I lost by 3 lbs. If your handicap is the same as Ed's, you lost by 4.:-)
Great run, Lance. I am predicting multiple PRs for you in the Spring, not just the 10K. There. No pressures.:-)
Tuan
"Hard Hat Running" and "Lance Collins Running" are two terms that Andrew and I use inter-changeably to describe those workouts that require you to grit your teeth and git 'r dun. Nicely done Lance! It was great seeing you today - sorry to be in such a rush but I had some sore bodies to attend to!
Nice run! Way to get around those less-than-favorable conditions. Best of luck for the rest of your season.
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