While I still feel a bit of remorse on not being able to do my first marathon last weekend, it was a very successful weekend of running. After my fall last month and the resulting hip injury, I was a bit worried on just being able to do a half marathon. A full would not have been possible. While I was able to run again after two weeks off, the longest run prior to the event weekend was an 8 mile run that did have me feeling a good bit of soreness in the hip.
With that in mind, I went out to the races without any set agenda except for finishing and trying to enjoy myself. In fact, just getting to the start with a good frame of mind took some doing. The last few weeks have been filled with sadness. On the afternoon of Thursday, November 3, Luci passed away. Luci was the the black lab that had been living with June and I for what was just a few weeks short of 14 years. I'll probably do a full post on just what a great dog she was on another date. It was difficult to go out to the outer banks. Luci had made that trip with June and I probably close to a dozen times over the years. She loved the beach. Here she is with June on the beach near Corolla. Luci is still a puppy in this shot. I think this might have been from her first trip to the beach, so she would have been around 5 or 6 months old.
And as she looked in her adult years, sitting with me on our back deck.
So, the timing of the trip was not great. One other bit of bad timing was that June would not be able to make the trip with me. Of course, she had a great excuse. She was directing the Tennessee Williams play "The Glass Menagerie" as her first production in her new job as director of the theatre program at GTCC. Opening night was the day before the race expo. So, I went to opening night, then drove to the outer banks the next day. The play was a great success by the way. If you are in the Greensboro area, there are still three more changes to see the production. There are performances Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. I highly recommend it.
Friday afternoon, I get to the race expo. Made the trip with Chris Knodel. Picked up all our goodies at the expo, then went to the Kill Devil Grill for dinner. Food was superb. Lots of carbo loading.
Saturday was the 8K. Weather was perfect. In fact, the weather was perfect for running the entire weekend. Here is Chris with Josh and Michael Holt getting ready to warm up for the race. All are members of the Brick City Running Tribe.
I decided to just run totally by feel, with no thought for pace. It turned out to be a good decision, as I turned in my fastest time ever for that distance, 44:20 for the 5 miles. I also had negative splits for the distance, which I have done in practice, but not before in an actual event. I think I'm looking closely at my watch in the photo because I don't really believe the time. Here were my splits.
Mile 1 9:15
Mile 2 9:03
Mile 3 9:02
Mile 4 8:45
Mile 5 8:15
After the race, we all were going to go back to the Kill Devil Grill for more good food, but it was too early for them to be open. So, off to Sam and Omie's, a long time favorite of mine. Then after breakfast, had time to do a little sight seeing at Jockeys Ridge and the Wright Brothers Memorial. Of course, while we were at Jockeys Ridge, we had to do some dune running to prepare for the bridge climb towards the end of the half.
After playing tourist, of course we had to eat again. Guess where? Kill Devil Grill again. Great food, could easily have eaten there for every meal.
The next day was the big event. We parked near the start and waited with the crowd for to run to begin.
Now, when I got to the OBX for the weekend, I had no goals other than to finish. But, after the good results in the 8K, I started to think about finishing times for my half. Back in the spring, my first two HMs came in with times of 2:26 and 2:35. I wasn't pleased with either of those times. The first should have been closer to 2:20. I lost close to 7 minutes by having to make two pit stops, with long lines at both. The second I wound up running on a pulled hamstring, and was lucky to finish at all. Back on October 8, I ran a 2:07 at the Cannonball Run, and felt that was close to as good as I could do. So, now that I was having a good weekend, how fast should I try to go?
I thought there might be a slim chance I could come in under 2 hours. That would probably take a near perfect race, but might be something to shoot for. It would all depend on how my hip felt as the miles added up. I talked it over with Chris, and decided to break it down into three sections. I had just done a 5 mile race slightly under 45 minutes. So, just go out at that pace. If I finish the first 5 miles at close to 45, just do it again. That would put me at 10 miles into the race in only an hour and a half. I would then be near the bridge, with just 3.1 miles to go. Even losing some time at the bridge, I would only have to average just under 10 minute miles to the end to hit the 2 hour finish.
Sounded OK, but I really didn't think I would be able to do it. A possibility, but a long shot. I was really thinking that I would come in around 2:10 to 2:15, and feel really good about that time.
So, off we went. We started way towards the back since I had transferred from the full to the half. I had expected it to be slow at the start from the crowds, but would open up a bit after a couple of miles. I was also counting on the first few miles to let me know if the hip would be an issue. If so, I planned on easing back to around a 10 minute mile pace for the entire 13.1 miles, and just enjoying the day. Surprisingly, the road never really cleared. Starting that far back with the slower runners, we were bobbing and weaving to pass others pretty constantly, which takes much more energy than just running a straight line.
The 5 mile mark came up, and I was close to my target. Only a minute over at 45:55. Here were my splits.
Mile 1 9:21
Mile 2 9:10
Mile 3 9:12
Mile 4 9:18
Mile 5 8:57
I still didn't really think I would come in under 2 hours, but I did keep the pace up for the next 5 miles. I hit mile 10 at 1:30:49, so my pace was still only a minute over my target goal. Here are the splits for miles 6-10.
Mile 6 8:45
Mile 7 8:42
Mile 8 8:58
Mile 9 9:06
Mile 10 9:26
At mile 10, I was starting to slow down. I'm not sure if it was because the hip was starting to exert itself, or because I went a bit too fast for miles 6 and 7. Probably a bit of both. No, actually it was because the bridge was approaching.
Now, the race got real interesting. The bridge was approaching. The bridge itself is not that long. It is steep, but not too long. What makes it tough is the long almost two mile approach from the turn onto the causeway all the way to the steep section for the boats to pass under. The entire approach I think is really a false flat. A very gradual slope. So, you hit the steep section already feeling the grind.
I got to the steep section, and started to feel a good bit of soreness in the hip. It was decision time. The smart thing to do would be to keep my turnover rate and shorten my stride. Keep that going all the way to the top, then lengthen the stride back out and glide down the hill. If I was lucky, I would only drop a couple of minutes from my pace, and be able to gain it back on the way down and the couple of miles left to the finish. A finish in under two hours was a real possibility. Except, the hip was starting to hurt.
So, I decided to race up the bridge. I thought going up as fast as I could would put less pressure on my hip. Fewer times to lift those legs, and you do lift from the hips when going up hill. So boom, off I went. Probably not the best decision, but it felt good on the way up. At least until I crested the top, and the heart rate peaked, and it was time to go into full recovery mode for the next few miles. It felt like I went up at my fastest pace of the day, and slowed to well over a 12 minute mile pace all the way to the end. The reality was quite a bit different. Here is what the splits to the end look like.
Mile 11 9:36
Mile 12 10:08
Mile 13 10:07
To the Finish 9:29
Actually, pretty close to what I though might be a near perfect race, only a few minutes over. Final time, 2:03:10. I look a lot better than I felt at the end. I was tired.
Chris on the other hand, always seems to finish looking refreshed. Here he is just moments after the finish.
Well, give me a few more years, and I'll finish looking that relaxed too.
So, if I hadn't raced the bridge, conserved some energy for the last few miles, could I have finished under 2 hours? Maybe, but it did feel good to pass all those people on the way up. And, 2:03 is still my fastest time to date for the half. Now, its time to start planning the next few races. There's the Triangle Freeway Trot this weekend, and I plan on doing the Reindeer Run again in December. After that, more halfs, and finally a full. I just need to decide on which ones to do.
Till then, see you on the road.
