Yesterday I ran the Skidaway Island Half Marathon. It was half marathon No. 3. My first since Seawheeze. The goal was a 1:45 half. That's 8 minute miles. I've been training forever for this race. And the training cycle went pretty well. A missed week or two here or there, but no dramatic months off or serious injuries.
The training plan went up to 15 miles (ouch!) and had some hard tempos. I did a 10 mile tempo two weeks before the race. I thought the training went as well as it could have. I probably could have done a few more miles. But pretty well.
I tapered the week of the race. And didn't have any taper tantrums. I honestly love 30 minute runs. It's perfect. I loved having the extra time.
I was pretty nervous going into this race. The plan was to start out 8:10/8:15 and drop down to an 8 minute pace and make up the time at the end.
We showed up race day and it was still dark. But I got in a quick warmup, rolled my leg and stretched. The weather was 50 degrees and pretty perfect. The race started at 7:11, rather than 7 a.m. but okay. For fuel, I did one pack of caffeinated Cliff Blocs and one packet of caffeinated honey stingers.
The race
I started off faster than planned. I really tried to stay back from the 1:45 group. I wanted to start slow, but there I was.
Mile 1: 7:59
Mile 2: 7:58
I was feeling good, I wasn't working too hard. My hands were cold. But they warmed up by about 20 minutes in.
Mile 3: 8:06. Because of a water stop. I had to grab the water. Stop. Drink. Throw. That's the 6 seconds on my very practiced pace.
Mile 4: 8:02. Back on pretty much pace. Easy enough pace to kind of chat. Going well.
Mile 5: 8:12. Another water stop.
Mile 6: 8:05. Close-Ish. I was having trouble finding the pace at this point. At halfway point I was on track for a 1:46, which was fine. I knew I needed to keep pushing.
Mile 7: 8:00. Found the pace. Had to work for it a little.
Mile 8: 8:02. This is when I left my friend, who I had been running with. The pace was slowing down and I felt good so I went for it.
Mile 9: 8:03. I honestly thought I had more 8 minute miles. Looking back at my splits I was running slow for the second half. I couldn't find someone to run with. I was running solo.
Mile 10: 8:11: This water stop. They were all holding cups of gatorade. I wanted water. I had to double back and get a cup from the table.
Mile 11: 8:06. I'm sure I was grimacing at this point. It wasn't fun.
Mile 12: 8:11. I tried to run through this water stop and ending up coughing for 30 seconds. It was awful.
Mile 13: 7:48. Well at least I did what I was supposed to on this mile.
Last .18. 7:17 pace. As I tried to pass a 22-year-old guy. He matched my speed and on the results he beat me, but I swear I finished first.
The clock was on the high end of 1:45 as I came through and I was trying to make it in under 1:46. Final results were 1:45:59
After the race:
I was fine. I wasn't spent. Or tired. My legs didn't hurt. And I knew I should have pushed myself harder. I drank some water. I grabbed a granola bar. I went and found my friend who was running.
I ate the granola bar and got some gatorade. I did a .5 mile cool down and stretched. A gnat bit me in the shoulder, so I changed into long sleeves and put some bug spray on.
 |
| Accurate. Glad to be done |
Then I walked the last 2.2 miles of the course, found Matt finishing his marathon and ran the last 2.2 with him. I tried to chat with him, but he asked met be quiet so we ran in silence. He kept telling me it hurt. (And my knee wasn't happy with all the extra miles.) He'd ask me how much further and I would guess. So I ran him in, and he finished his first marathon in 4:11:20. I thought running him in was a nice supportive thing to do.
All in all, I did about 40,000 steps that day. I ran about 16.4 miles that day and walked another 2.2. Those last 2 miles might not have been the wisest.
What went well
• Pre race prep. I ate healthy for 10 days up to the race and hydrated really went.
• The course was beautiful. Flat. Well marked. And the weather was perfect. (I'd do this race again). The medal was big and TONS OF RACE PHOTOS!!!
• My pacing was pretty consistent. A 10 second swing in mile times is pretty dead-on.
• I didn't give up. I never thought I couldn't do this. I have enough fight to keep going.
• I had a 2 minute PR. Which is awesome.
What I might go back and change
• The whole reason I wanted to wear the pack was to avoid water stops. So possibly wear the pack. (I'm mad at myself because I WANTED to wear the vest. I trained with it. Did tempos with it. Then I wouldn't have to stop. But I didn't wear it.)
• I wish I had been better on those water stops. Stop. Run through and cough? I need more practice in this. Matt said I didn't need water stops. But my calves didn't cramp like they did my last half. Running in South Georgia, I'd rather have water.
• I wish I had raced a little harder and pushed myself. I wished I had pushed myself those extra 3 seconds a mile. I wished I had stuck with some of those people who ran ahead of me. I could have kicked it harder. (Maybe more tempos at 7:57 pace for next time?)
I should be happy with this race, but it was a little slower than I wanted. And I'm just mad at myself for not pushing a tiny bit harder. 59 seconds. That's how much I was off my goal. I did have trouble finding the pace. Matt thought maybe I should do more longer tempos.
What next?
I'm considering running the Twilight 5k in a month. I have no 5k speed at the moment. But it's a good local race maybe a rust buster?
Am I done with half marathons? Do I want to try for that one more minute? There's a downhill half in a month. (Seems too soon). And the Georgia Peach Jam that at the end of May that I ran last year. But half marathons take so much time and effort to train for. I don't get to run enough races when I'm training for a half.
I guess we'll see.
