Santa Clarita Half Marathon Race Report 11-4-07

With all the commotion this weekend with the NYC Olympic Trials and Ryan Hall's triumphant victory, the tragic story of 29 year old olympian Ryan Shay's unexplained death 5 miles into the Olympic Trials, and the big official NYC Marathon in progress, I feel that it's almost not worth mentioning my race report. However, I know that there are a stalwart few who are curious as to my progress, and at the least, it may help a fellow 3:10 aspirant in their progress.

(No, that's not my time....I finished sometime before that)

PRE-RACE
Last year, the Santa Clarita Half marathon was my first road half marathon, ever. I had a great time on the relatively flat, suburban course, which winds through both paved desert paths as well as through the commercial suburban district of Santa Clarita, just north of Los Angeles, and ran it in 1:35 (7:15-20/mile), which I felt was a fantastic performance for which I had trained very hard for. The half marathon is an extremely competitive race for a local race, with many running clubs bring their entire squad to snap up the AG awards. Apparently it's the biggest race of the year for some of these racers. The simulatenous 5k and marathon are much less attended.

I had been struggling with how to "mini-taper" for this race earlier this week, but the decision was made abruptly for me when I joined the LA Running Club for sprints on Wednesday. I hadn't been there in months due to my busy work/run schedule, but as I got off work early for Halloween, I wanted to say hi to my good friend, the coach David Levine. He normally gives tough, but not killer workouts, as there are a fair number of beginners there. He surprised us with a grueling 20 x 200m workout. Yikes! I erroneously assumed that as long as I didn't go all out, I would be fine, as I do 6 mile tempo runs at a brisk 6:20 pace nowadays. Well, 16 repeats later, my hamstrings were toast. I could barely even walk the next day, and ran almost zero miles from Thursday to race day on Sunday. I knew this could be a blessing in disguise, however - I was feeling a bit mentally overtrained from my last 90 mile week, and welcomed the brief rest.

I take my races very seriously as of late, as they're important "diagnostics" for my training paces since I am in a rapid improvement curve, with my paces steadily dropping. With my 6mile tempo dropping from 6:40 to 6:20 over 5 weeks, I wasn't sure if I was being overly ambitious, or if my fitness level was actually that greatly improved. So this race would certainly not be "just for fun." Sub 1:30 was a very realistic goal, maybe even on the low end, and sub 1:27 was the stretch goal - a BIG stretch; to hit that goal, I would have to run near my hard 6 mile tempo pace for the entire 13.2 half marathon distance.

The Sat expo was uneventful, and I spent most of the day staying off my feet, as I still had significant pain in my strained right hamstring. I even spent some time Saturday evening to buy some "Hefty" trash bags to try out Bruce's (Beast) garbagesuit warmup recommendation, and I custom-made one with taped head and arm holes. (It took 3 bags before I got it right.) By Sunday morning, my right hamstring had JUST healed in time to allow a maximal half marathon effort. It was still stiff and sore, and I felt it with every stride, but it was definitely working. Game on!

The whole town comes out for this event, even the kiddie section

I got to the race a bit over an hour early, which was 5:50AM. It's nice to get to the race early, as I find that between the cold, caffeine, and pre-race hydration, I generally need to go to the bathroom multiple times. With the extra time, I could leisurely stroll to the portapotties twice before they started getting crowded. Armed with my new garbagesuit, I strolled out into the 50 degree dawn. I did a few strides in the 15 minutes before the race, and definitely felt the hamstring, but overall felt like a go.

I don't have kids, but I feel like having them just so I can enter them in the kiddie race!

THE RACE START
There was a 5k, half marathon, and full marathon all starting simultaneously on a large parkway in Santa Clarita. I dumped the garbagesuit and got within the front 6-7 lines of people in the starting corral. As expected, I was surrounded by both fast and slow-looking folks. One gentleman in his 40s ahead of me was wearing a Boston Marathon longsleeve, and we started talking in the corral - he qualified last year with a 3:18, and was just out to enjoy the day. To his right was a 55+ year old gentleman who runs much slower, but does MANY marathons a year - he was scheduled for at least 6 in the next 6 months! And then there's me with my do-or-die at Houston for 1 marathon per 6 months. Very interesting to see the different takes on all the races.



The gun fired off, and we were off. I crossed the mat in less than 20 seconds, but was immediately stuck at a 9:00/mile pace behind rows and rows of joggers, made worse by the heavy clustering and row-formations. A bit frustrating, but not really all their fault, as there were no speed divisions in the corral. I went way off to the curb and put in a near-sprint for 300meters to clear the pack. Finally, I was clear, and slowed it down to my goal pace. Well, actually, faster than goal pace. I was ahead of 6:30/mile, whereas 6:40/mile was the target (I ran 7:20/mile last year), for a net time of 1:28:00. With the initial downhills, I was putting in 6:20/mile. It felt ok, though, so I stayed with it, planning to slow on the small later climbs.

MILES 1-5: FEELING GOOD, AND MOVING FAST
I felt pretty good through miles 1 through 5, which were an overall net downhill. This was a very different race than last year, during which I was caught in a large pack on the small paved trails, and had no room to maneuver. This year, I was running fast enough to only have 4-5 people around me at any point. The people around me looked strong, and I was pacing between two men in their 40s who were keeping up this uncomfortably brisk 6:30/mile pace with relative ease. I saw the only girl that was in front on the course from miles 4-5; she was young and looked to be running a strong 6:35/mile pace, which I thought was impressive, since she didn't have the "elite" look in terms of her clothing. She may have faded, however, as the eventual female winner was about 7:20/mile overall. Not much to comment on the locale here, except that the weather was nice and cool in the 50s, and I was working, but not suffering through this brisk downhill pace.

Mile 1: 6:27
Mile 2: 6:25 - downhill
Mile 3: 6:16 - downhill
Mile 4: 6:26 - downhill
Mile 5: 6:38

MILES 6-9: THE STRUGGLE BEGINS

I started to feel the effect of the fast pace at mile 6. My heart rate was near maximal, and I was no longer relaxed. My hamstrings were also very, very tight, and I had a nagging pain in the right one that I just chose to ignore. Plus, the hills of the course were in this section, and I suddenly feared that I had made the ultimate rookie move of overconfidently pacing the first half. Sure enough, the climbs started, and my pace dropped a bit. 4-5 men immediately moved by me, and I couldn't stay with them. I was suddenly very worried, and decided not to run by pace, but by perceived heart rate, and I tried to keep at 90-95% of maximal effort regardless of pace. My pace drifted from 6:20 to 6:40/mile, and I was getting slower with each mile. I was really struggling on mile 8; just barely holding my cardio together. The only upside was that the men who had passed me were no longer gaining on me, and they were progressively slowing as well.

It was during the struggles of miles 8 & 9 when I realized how vital my fast 6 mile tempo workouts and my fast 13+ mile long workouts were to racing at distance. I was running right on the edge of my abilities, however, I had been trained to do this with my 2 hard weekly workouts in the past 2 months. I knew exactly how far I could push at this point without sending myself into oblivion. I was starting to hurt, but I had been here before, many times, and I knew that I had at least a few more miles in me - which might be all that was needed. I stopped worrying about the other competitors, and just focused on keeping a steady, even effort. The miles drifted by, and before I knew it, this segment was done.

Mile 6: 6:31
Mile 7: 6:49 uphill
Mile 8: 6:40 uphill

MILES 9-12: BRING IT, BABY, BRING IT!
I knew that this is where I had to really "bring it." I was on track for a killer PR, and I knew that I was averaging near 6:30/mile, so 1:30 was in the bag. I quickly did some math and figured that if I ran 6:50/mile until the end, I would be in the 1:27ish range, which would be a very strong performance. As I hit mile 9, I started to accelerate. Very slightly, but I took it to at least 95-98% of effort. I knew that with my big miles, I could no longer rely on a sprint-finish approach, but would have to start the painful grind earlier if I were to run well. I had studied the elevation profile before the race, and knew that the significant climbs were over, so I could start to move. Fortunately, the course suddenly started to go downhill. And downhill. And more downhill. I couldn't believe my good fortune - these declines were almost imperceptible on the map, but wow, they gave me a needed boost of confidence. I was hitting sub 6:20/mile, and that was INCLUDING slowing for water stops. Even better, I reeled in several runners ahead of me who did not seem to be slowing - I just steadily accelerated past them and never looked back. One tall guy in red who blew by me at mile 3 and left me in the dust, had suddenly reappeared again. Unfortunately, he had bonked, and was walking by mile 11.

Mile 9: 6:42 uphill
Mile 10: 6:20 downhill (thank god!)
Mile 11: 6:15 downhill (there really is a god!)
Mile 12: 6:20 downhill (I will make sacrifices in your honor, o downhill god of big mileage)

Around the same time, I passed a guy that I'm sure many of you have passed in your very own races. I'll call him the "UNDERACHIEVER." This guy had been dropping further and further back into my radar until he was roadkill material by mile 12. I passed him in full stride, with my heartrate near maximal, and sucking wind like a dying man. I couldn't even talk. This guy, however, looks over at me, and says very calmly, "Great job! You're almost there - just 1.2 miles, and you're done." Service with a smile. I could barely hear him breathing, and he was smiling like it was a regular stroll through the park, waving to the fans, and talking to some of them as we passed. I suspect he was a much faster runner, out for a easy training run done on a race-course, but it's always unnervving (in an impressive way!) to be running your heart out, and see nearby folks just cruising easy. He made no effort to catch or stay with me - just let me go, nice and easy. Made me wonder (briefly) what the heck I was doing out here in the first place, when he was having all the fun!

MILE 13-finish: THE FINAL PAYOFF
Mile 13 this year definitely felt much easier than last year. I was running my fastest speed possible, and definitely could not have gone any faster, yet it was far less painful than last year. Why? I'm virtually certain that with the big miles, my marathon-trained legs were well adapted to pounding, and they were the least of my worries. Even with a sore hamstring, they were performing like the pistons of a finely tuned Corvette revving smoothly in the red-zone. My speed was clearly limited by my maxxed-out cardiac and respiratory system. I simply couldn't suck in enough air to increase my pace. Contrast this to last year, when both the cardiac system AND the legs were going down in flames simultaneously. It's like comparing a redlining Corvette was to a redlining Pinto - without a muffler! That hurt like all hell, and required far more guts to finish, although I was running nearly 1 minute/mile slower back then.

Mile 13: 6:31

My fast pace had payed big dividends in terms of placement - I had brought a pack of 10 guys who had been nearly out of sight less than 2 miles previously, right up to my crosshairs. We hit the final climb, which was a highway overpass, and people started to fall like dominoes. I think I passed 6-7 on that bridge alone. Before I realized it, the final sprint was around the corner, and I was gunning at all-out anaerobic pace to catch two more in front of me right before the chute. I got them, but I paid for it - I was completely drained at the finish, and had to stay keeled over for about a minute before I could even start walking again.

The payoff?

FINAL TIME, SANTA CLARITA HALF MARATHON:
1:25:22
M30-34/#5, (6:30/mile)
AG% = 69.87%
Link to Official Results


Far better than my stretch goal, and an excellent indicator that my current training strategy is paying large dividends. PR by 8 minutes compared to a more downhill course I ran last year, and PR of 10 minutes compared to my performance last year on the same course.

My last roadkill in the final 100m

CONCLUSIONS - SUB 3:10 IS A GO FOR JANUARY!
I am, of course, very excited about this result. It projects a marathon time well under 3:10, which is the time I need to qualify for the Boston Marathon in January, and the ultimate goal of this training cycle. Furthermore, it validates that I haven't been "over-running" my fast days; my increased paces were due to real increased fitness, not just irrational exuberance. I think this is yet another great example of the "big slow miles" strategy succeeding yet again for me. I've posted on this extensively before, but in case you aren't up to date on it, I was plateaued in terms of performance from age 19-31, with virtually zero improvement at all distances despite very hard tempo workouts and mileage in the 30-40s. I simply didn't think it was possible to get better, and I tried nearly everything in terms of different workouts. The breakthrough didn't come until I abandoned 5k-10k training and trained instead for the marathon. I logged lots and lots of slow miles (I run 9:00-10:00/mile for over half of my weekly miles, with 70-90 miles per week total) and did 1-2 fast or hard sessions per week as per the Pfitzinger Advanced Marathoning training program. Since adopting this training regimen, I have set significant large PRs at all distances from 5k to the marathon in every race I have run since March 2007. I plan to continue this training approach until my goal marathon in January.

A very friendly and remarkably young-looking masters (50) racer, who I barely managed to pass at mile 12.5. He took 3rd in his AG, and ran a 3:00 marathon at Long Beach fairly recently, so if I'm passing him, I'm looking good for 3:10 at Houston!

The endurance focus is also starting to really show, as well. Up to March of this year, my lack of endurance was staggeringly obvious in long races, as I would pull 64% AG results in the 5k, and drop to 50% AG for the marathon. My longer distances are starting to look and feel a lot more in line with my fast short-distance performances, which is very encouraging for the big marathon race day.

The only "bummer" about today was that I happened to pick the most competitive of the 3 races going on today, and also landed smack in the middle of the most competitive age group (by a long shot.) My 5k PR would have outright won the M30-34 category in the 5k, and my marathon 3:20 would have netted me AG 3rd if I had chosen that race. Unfortunately, I chose the uber-competitive half marathon, and was stuck with not just 1, but at least 6 racing-team affiliated speedsters who blew the course away, meaning I would have had to run a sub 1:17 to get 3rd in my AG! I'll guesstimate that I was about 8th or 9th in my age group. (In contrast, my 1:25:30 would have taken at least 2nd in every other age category.) Maybe I need to start cherrypicking races - I'll admit that I'm starting to feel a bit frustrated with my inability to win AG awards with all these big PRs that I'm pulling in!


Thanks again to everyone who has been supporting me and giving me feedback on the forums. You've all played a very real part in my motivation and improvement, and believe me, I wouldn't have made it this far if it weren't knowing that there are a community of folks out there not only trying to do similar things, but also rooting for me when I need it.

Enjoying my race medal and my new PR. Happy running!

Almost forgot to mention - got to meet RW Forumite "Charliepro" after the race. He was kind enough to keep a lookout for me after he finished in the impressive 1:27 time (even moreso given that he's 50!) but I squeaked in before he did. He was super nice, and I'm really looking forward to running into him again in future SoCal races.

PS - I haven't failed to appreciate that the 1:23 NYC marathon guaranteed entry qualifying time is suddenly within striking distance...




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