Flying Pig Half Marathon
1st place
1:08:32 -- event record
Well, I finally finished a major Flying Pig race -- I just had to drop down to the half.
Actually, I did this race more out of a feeling of local obligation than true motivation. My focus really remains on the Vermont City Marathon, which is now less than three weeks away.
But a minor race can be a great tune-up for a goal race; in fact, I think it's often the best preparation. (Just wait for my next blog post to explain that.) And that's what this race really was: a tune-up, practice for the real deal in Burlington, VT.
So instead of focusing on the mile-by-mile details of the race (I pretty much ran solo the whole way and won by something like three minutes), I want to focus on my plans coming into it and how successful I was at executing them.
1. Run the first 9-10 miles at a controlled effort and then shift gears to race the last 5k.
On this one I was very happy with my execution. I didn't want to blow my wad and run my goal race here, so I wanted to temper pace expectation and keep it controlled throughout. Instead of trying to hit a specific goal marathon pace, I just wanted to find a moderate, marathon-esque effort. I'm really trying to focus on effort-based rhythm this training cycle, so this was further practice. I'll let that dictate my race-day marathon pace. For the first 6 miles I cruised 5:15 pace, which is admittedly probably faster than marathon pace, but it felt completely under control. From miles 6-9 is a long and brutal uphill, where I downshifted and just tried to survive. One of my miles was over 6:00! No matter the pace, that kind of hill takes it out of you, and shifting gears back faster was tough. That said, I was able to bomb down Gilbert Ave. after mile 10, running the most downhill mile in about 4:45. I pushed to the finish and may have been suffering more than I thought, but it was still pretty successful. I felt like, for the most part, I was able to train, not strain out there.
2. Practice eating before the race.
I struggle with pre-race nutrition. For any race below the marathon it's not that big a deal -- I can run on an empty stomach no problem -- but the marathon is such a unique event that it demands proper fueling. I had an authentic waffle from Taste of Belgium, and it went down fine and, most importantly, stayed down. This might actually be a perfect pre-marathon breakfast: it's dense, which means I get nutrition without a lot of volume; it's packed with standard carbs but also quick-burning simple sugars; and it's made with real food and simple ingredients.
3. Practice confident patience.
I have a bad habit of going out too hard in races and workouts. Doing so is the refuge of un-confident athletes, because they fear losing and they doubt their fitness -- so the response is to go out too hard and either bank time or hang on until the inevitable collapse. In shorter distance races that might be an okay strategy because you can always push through suffering until the finish, but again the marathon is a different beast. I actually wanted to start out a little slower than I did on Sunday. I went straight to the lead and, while it was a controlled pace, I was giving in to my nervous nature too much. I should have worked my way into the race much more smoothly, letting the early scalders go and then patiently reeling them back in. So there's something good to work on come race day.
Overall, I think this one was a success, even if the finishing time wasn't really all that fast. If nothing else, it's validated a lot of my training and made me really excited to race the marathon. While 5:15 pace may be a little ambitious, after Sunday 5:25 +/- 5 seconds seems very sustainable.
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