Unedited Race Report from PDX Half Marathon.
It's fair to stay that I was probably at around 80-85% heading into race day, 'the day before' "carboloading" at VooDoo Donuts notwithstanding. I thought that by keeping up with extra cardio and mimicking the heart rate that I would have on my z2 runs that would help compensate for the fact that I was not able to run for extended periods of time without being in some pain. So the focus became getting the runs in once a week and focusing on speed work.
And before we know it on race morning, I am off. Find a groove, stick to it and take the 1st quarter of the race in a conservative manner since the only real hill was in that section. At this stage, I was really happy that we drove the course the day before because I knew when the hill was going to be over and didn't have to guess when that might be. I was really happy with the mile 3 split of 8:45.
I decided that I was not going to check my Garmin for "real time split" during each mile. I would look only at my overall lap time over the course of the entire race and my elapsed time, and figured that would be enough to manage the race. Once I crested at the top of the hill just before the 5k mark, I reminded myself to pick up some speed but not get ahead of myself on the downhill. Again, didn't look at the watch and saw a 7:58 at mile 4 so I was pretty happy because I definitely felt like I was not taxing myself.
The only snag in this was that I was so focused on keeping an even cadence up the hill that I forgot to take my gel at :25 mins in. I took one at :40 and decided that I would take another one at 1:05 and at 1:25, and figured that would be ok.
Miles 5 - 10 honestly felt really good. I saw Marc at mile 6+, kept taking in water and was thinking that this was a pace that I felt I could maintain for awhile. I was sticking between 8:10 and 8:20 for those splits, and was happy but knew the real work was in the last 5K of the race. I can't say there was much to report in the middle section.
Somehow in mile 11, I started feeling very fatigued and my breathing was starting to labor. I deliberately decided NOT to look at my watch in the middle of the lap (mile) to see what pace my watch said. If you have learned anything this year, it's to go with your feel, Jill!
Needless to say when I saw my mile 11 split, I was not happy. The course is flat and I was giving everything I had. I tried going faster and maybe I increased my exertion level, but it didn't really help when I saw my mile 12 split. I saw Marc and he actually ran with me for about 1/4 mile, and I was just struggling. I was giving everything I had, trying not to give up even though the goal time was out the window. My legs were going, but the results were not commensurate with the effort I was giving, which was a real downer.
I took the turn off of the main highway finishing mile 13 and just tried to beat my PR from NYC. I tried to get my legs up that hill quicker. It just wasn't happening. I couldn't find my exact time because of issues with tracking, but I was pretty sure I came within 5 seconds of my PR. On the wrong side. Sure enough my official time was 1:49:54 - 3 seconds slower than my previous PR in NYC.
That sucked. Obviously I was injured but to get THAT close and not at least beat it was a true bummer. Logically I know I gave a great effort and did the best I could considering I hadn't run 13 miles in one stretch since June (!). In my heart though, I am disappointed and frustrated because I really don't know what else I could have done to better manage the race. Would micromanaging miles 12 and 13 helped after I saw problems in mile 11? I don't know.
Takeaways:
But at least Big Blue and the Pinstripes won! Unfortunately the Broncos lost though for Marc, who deserved better for being such a great cheerleader. Other positive was great friend, PNak, PR'ing the full marathon and coming in under 4 hours and celebrating at Paley's Place later on in the evening! Plus we had good meals earlier in the weekend at Pok Pok and Wildwood, which caught Marc in a somewhat overwhelmed position looking at the SAVORY menu (normally it's the sweets!)
And before we know it on race morning, I am off. Find a groove, stick to it and take the 1st quarter of the race in a conservative manner since the only real hill was in that section. At this stage, I was really happy that we drove the course the day before because I knew when the hill was going to be over and didn't have to guess when that might be. I was really happy with the mile 3 split of 8:45.I decided that I was not going to check my Garmin for "real time split" during each mile. I would look only at my overall lap time over the course of the entire race and my elapsed time, and figured that would be enough to manage the race. Once I crested at the top of the hill just before the 5k mark, I reminded myself to pick up some speed but not get ahead of myself on the downhill. Again, didn't look at the watch and saw a 7:58 at mile 4 so I was pretty happy because I definitely felt like I was not taxing myself.
The only snag in this was that I was so focused on keeping an even cadence up the hill that I forgot to take my gel at :25 mins in. I took one at :40 and decided that I would take another one at 1:05 and at 1:25, and figured that would be ok.
Miles 5 - 10 honestly felt really good. I saw Marc at mile 6+, kept taking in water and was thinking that this was a pace that I felt I could maintain for awhile. I was sticking between 8:10 and 8:20 for those splits, and was happy but knew the real work was in the last 5K of the race. I can't say there was much to report in the middle section.
Somehow in mile 11, I started feeling very fatigued and my breathing was starting to labor. I deliberately decided NOT to look at my watch in the middle of the lap (mile) to see what pace my watch said. If you have learned anything this year, it's to go with your feel, Jill!
Needless to say when I saw my mile 11 split, I was not happy. The course is flat and I was giving everything I had. I tried going faster and maybe I increased my exertion level, but it didn't really help when I saw my mile 12 split. I saw Marc and he actually ran with me for about 1/4 mile, and I was just struggling. I was giving everything I had, trying not to give up even though the goal time was out the window. My legs were going, but the results were not commensurate with the effort I was giving, which was a real downer.
I took the turn off of the main highway finishing mile 13 and just tried to beat my PR from NYC. I tried to get my legs up that hill quicker. It just wasn't happening. I couldn't find my exact time because of issues with tracking, but I was pretty sure I came within 5 seconds of my PR. On the wrong side. Sure enough my official time was 1:49:54 - 3 seconds slower than my previous PR in NYC.
That sucked. Obviously I was injured but to get THAT close and not at least beat it was a true bummer. Logically I know I gave a great effort and did the best I could considering I hadn't run 13 miles in one stretch since June (!). In my heart though, I am disappointed and frustrated because I really don't know what else I could have done to better manage the race. Would micromanaging miles 12 and 13 helped after I saw problems in mile 11? I don't know.
Takeaways:
- Managed most of the race without micromanaging it and it worked really well for the 1st 10 miles. This is good.
- No matter how much elliptical time I log, I am now past the point where I run a pace that necessitates getting out and hitting the pavement more than I did in August and September. Yes, was in a lot of pain but would it have been worth it to take 2 Tylenol Extra Strength before the run and during the run while I was training? I think I would consider it now even though conventional wisdom is against taking pain relievers so you don't mask an injury and do something worse.
- Doing the mileage I did at Ragnar (25+ miles) was a mistake if I have a fall race longer than a 10k on my calendar. I'll have to stick to 15-17 miles total going forward.
- I gave everything I had in this race, so I guess there is something to be said for that. I didn't give up and didn't leave any time out there, although I almost left some of my insides just after the finish line but fortunately got myself together. Yeah, lovely....
- Not sure how to measure sweat rate but I get pretty salty after long efforts, even now with taking the Power Bar Gels. I don't know if I need to take Hammer Enduralyte tablets even for half marathons now as opposed to just full marathon efforts. My clothes were absolutely soaked.
But at least Big Blue and the Pinstripes won! Unfortunately the Broncos lost though for Marc, who deserved better for being such a great cheerleader. Other positive was great friend, PNak, PR'ing the full marathon and coming in under 4 hours and celebrating at Paley's Place later on in the evening! Plus we had good meals earlier in the weekend at Pok Pok and Wildwood, which caught Marc in a somewhat overwhelmed position looking at the SAVORY menu (normally it's the sweets!)