Here's my recap of this past weekend's half marathon at Indy Monumental. Results are here. First I'll do the play-by-play, and then I'll give my overall reactions to the race.
The day started off with less-than-ideal conditions -- starting line temperatures hovering around freezing with a steady (sometimes gusting) wind. It was a solid 10-15 degrees colder than it has been at any point this fall, so I was bundled up with a hat, gloves, and a light long sleeve under my singlet. Fun stuff.
If the temperature and wind did anything, though, they slowed the really really fast guys down. So instead of people gunning for times below 1:04, everyone was content to settle into the pack and run relatively relaxed 5:00 per-mile pace (which is a 1:05:30 finishing time). From the time the gun went off, there was a pack of close to 15 guys, all running consistent 5:00 miles. Our first mile was 5:04, and then at every next mile interval we were right on pace (give or take a few seconds each mile): 10:00, 15:00, 20:00, 25:00, 30:00, 35:00, etc...it felt like we could run like that ad infinitum.
During the early miles, I just tried to focus on staying relaxed and out of trouble. Since it was so windy, I think people tried to pack up as tightly as possible, and so inevitable a few legs were tangled and a couple people fell at various points during the race. One of the guys took a spill right in front of me, which brought back memories of hurdling fallen bodies in cross country races. So to stay out of the fray and protected from the wind, I just tucked safely into the back of the pack and let everyone else do all that work. No use dealing with all the stress of jockeying for position in the crowd.
The miles just felt effortless for most of the first half of the race. We went through 10k in about 31:05, right on 5:00 pace and faster than I had run for the Zero Prostate Cancer race a couple months earlier. Any faster and I'd be struggling, but I was confident I could hit this pace all day.
Between miles 7 and 8, around where the half marathon split off from the marathon course, the eventual winner started bringing down the pace and stringing out the tight pack. It was a surge so much as it was a gradual ratcheting down of the pace. As the pace dropped, I tried to hang onto leaders, but I eventually found myself towards the back of the line. Miles 8, 9, and some of 10 were a rough patch for me, as I could see the line stretching farther and farther in front of me. This is where I've struggled in the past, and this is where little mental games came into play. Just make it on pace to the next mile, I told myself. Just to the next mile. Don't think about how far to the finish, just this mile. 5:00, ok, good, that wasn't too bad. Now go do it again.
As the 10th mile was ending, and the finish was less than a 5k away, I could see people up ahead starting to come back to me. I survived the rough patch and used catching them as motivation. One person, one stride at a time. Then onto the next person. Just a few miles ago I was struggling; now I drew strength from their suffering. Running near empty, I still felt strongest near the finish.
I ended up coming through the line in 7th place with a time of 1:05:28. Nearly a two-minute PR.
As for my reactions of the race, I know that it is a breakthrough race. The time certainly was, considering my previous half PR was 1:07:11. But it doesn't feel like a breakthrough, which I suppose is a good thing.
It feels more like just another step towards the Olympic Trials standard. In a fall season of progress, this was just another rung on the ladder. I said going into the race that I would run 1:06, plus or minus a minute, and that's exactly what I did. (Though it is nice to be on the 'minus' side of the guesstimate.)
I figure I always knew I had race like this in me, but just hadn't had the right training consistency and race conditions to do it. So running mid-1:05 doesn't feel like a breakthrough, it feels more like a validation of what I know I'm capable of.
That said, it is time that I'm really excited about. Previously, I was two minutes away from the OT standard of sub-1:05, which is very far at this level. Now, I'm within spitting distance of the standard. Give me a good training block and competitive race, and there's no reason I can't do it in the near future. I've hardly even done much half-specific training, only 2 total sessions -- one of mile repeats and one of two-mile repeats. I can't wait to see what I can do with a little more under my belt! So I'm still looking forward to racing at the US Half Marathon Championships in Houston. If there's a time and place to continue this momentum and take a shot at the standard, that's the place to do it.
And one more thing about Indy Monumental: what a well-run event. It can be so hard to find quality races with quality competition, so to have one within 90 minutes of Cincinnati, where 15 guys are all running 5-minute pace together, so just fantastic. There aren't too many opportunities like that close by, so it's nice to take advantage of the ones that do a good job. From having a hassle-free technical meeting (no expo!), to a private warmup / cooldown / gear check area (that was warm!), to the loaded competition, Indy Monumental was a top-notch event. It's nice to see events that cater to both elite competition as well as mass participation.
The day started off with less-than-ideal conditions -- starting line temperatures hovering around freezing with a steady (sometimes gusting) wind. It was a solid 10-15 degrees colder than it has been at any point this fall, so I was bundled up with a hat, gloves, and a light long sleeve under my singlet. Fun stuff.
If the temperature and wind did anything, though, they slowed the really really fast guys down. So instead of people gunning for times below 1:04, everyone was content to settle into the pack and run relatively relaxed 5:00 per-mile pace (which is a 1:05:30 finishing time). From the time the gun went off, there was a pack of close to 15 guys, all running consistent 5:00 miles. Our first mile was 5:04, and then at every next mile interval we were right on pace (give or take a few seconds each mile): 10:00, 15:00, 20:00, 25:00, 30:00, 35:00, etc...it felt like we could run like that ad infinitum.
During the early miles, I just tried to focus on staying relaxed and out of trouble. Since it was so windy, I think people tried to pack up as tightly as possible, and so inevitable a few legs were tangled and a couple people fell at various points during the race. One of the guys took a spill right in front of me, which brought back memories of hurdling fallen bodies in cross country races. So to stay out of the fray and protected from the wind, I just tucked safely into the back of the pack and let everyone else do all that work. No use dealing with all the stress of jockeying for position in the crowd.
The miles just felt effortless for most of the first half of the race. We went through 10k in about 31:05, right on 5:00 pace and faster than I had run for the Zero Prostate Cancer race a couple months earlier. Any faster and I'd be struggling, but I was confident I could hit this pace all day.
Between miles 7 and 8, around where the half marathon split off from the marathon course, the eventual winner started bringing down the pace and stringing out the tight pack. It was a surge so much as it was a gradual ratcheting down of the pace. As the pace dropped, I tried to hang onto leaders, but I eventually found myself towards the back of the line. Miles 8, 9, and some of 10 were a rough patch for me, as I could see the line stretching farther and farther in front of me. This is where I've struggled in the past, and this is where little mental games came into play. Just make it on pace to the next mile, I told myself. Just to the next mile. Don't think about how far to the finish, just this mile. 5:00, ok, good, that wasn't too bad. Now go do it again.
As the 10th mile was ending, and the finish was less than a 5k away, I could see people up ahead starting to come back to me. I survived the rough patch and used catching them as motivation. One person, one stride at a time. Then onto the next person. Just a few miles ago I was struggling; now I drew strength from their suffering. Running near empty, I still felt strongest near the finish.
I ended up coming through the line in 7th place with a time of 1:05:28. Nearly a two-minute PR.
As for my reactions of the race, I know that it is a breakthrough race. The time certainly was, considering my previous half PR was 1:07:11. But it doesn't feel like a breakthrough, which I suppose is a good thing.
It feels more like just another step towards the Olympic Trials standard. In a fall season of progress, this was just another rung on the ladder. I said going into the race that I would run 1:06, plus or minus a minute, and that's exactly what I did. (Though it is nice to be on the 'minus' side of the guesstimate.)
I figure I always knew I had race like this in me, but just hadn't had the right training consistency and race conditions to do it. So running mid-1:05 doesn't feel like a breakthrough, it feels more like a validation of what I know I'm capable of.
That said, it is time that I'm really excited about. Previously, I was two minutes away from the OT standard of sub-1:05, which is very far at this level. Now, I'm within spitting distance of the standard. Give me a good training block and competitive race, and there's no reason I can't do it in the near future. I've hardly even done much half-specific training, only 2 total sessions -- one of mile repeats and one of two-mile repeats. I can't wait to see what I can do with a little more under my belt! So I'm still looking forward to racing at the US Half Marathon Championships in Houston. If there's a time and place to continue this momentum and take a shot at the standard, that's the place to do it.
And one more thing about Indy Monumental: what a well-run event. It can be so hard to find quality races with quality competition, so to have one within 90 minutes of Cincinnati, where 15 guys are all running 5-minute pace together, so just fantastic. There aren't too many opportunities like that close by, so it's nice to take advantage of the ones that do a good job. From having a hassle-free technical meeting (no expo!), to a private warmup / cooldown / gear check area (that was warm!), to the loaded competition, Indy Monumental was a top-notch event. It's nice to see events that cater to both elite competition as well as mass participation.
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