National Half Marathon - Washington DC

Summary:

Race result: 1:32:12. Faster than I thought for my limited training.

Place: 194 Division: 28/366 Sex: 161/1870

10k split: 45:47 (7:23 pace)

Guntime: 1:32:12 (7:02 pace) - Kind of a ridiculous negative split

I've spent the past week down in Washington DC as part of a radiology conference which lasts 4 weeks. As much as I love LA and SoCal, it has been a definite treat to relocate to the East coast for a change of pace and scenery for a brief period.

My friend Andy from my PhD years lives in DC, and he got me to sign up several months ago for both the National Half Marathon and the Cherry Blossom 10 miler while I'm over here. This was a good move - I didn't think much of it at the time, but having races to run is always a joy and one of my favorite ways to spend a weekend morning.

Since becoming a triathlete, I have been running substantially less miles than last year. I have probably averaged 25-30 miles per week for the past 4 months, versus 65+ and even 75+ during peak training last year. Because of my swimming & cycling commitments, I also ended up not following the Pfitzinger 12wk/55mpw plan that I had set out to complete as preparation for this race. With low volume run training, limited speedwork, and no long runs of over 14.5 miles, I was expecting a substantial underperformance today, and realistically set a target time of 1:40, which would roughly correspond to a 3:30 full marathon capability (8 min/mile). My last sprint triathlon had a 5k leg that clocked in at 21:30, or roughly 7min/mile, so I was doubtful that I would be able to run much faster than 7:45s today for the half. (In retrospect, that 5k leg appears to have been 3.5 miles, based on several race reports.) The big question, though, is how much my cycling would crossover to running. I've been running only 25-30mpw, but cycling 4-6 hrs per week, and definitely training way harder on the bike than the run. I was hoping that the cycling would at least partially crossover on the hills, but was very wary of expecting my legs to hold pace for 13 miles, since cycling probably won't cross over well for the long distance pounding.

The National Half marathon in DC is a relatively new race, only a few years old, and is growing rapidly. There were approximately 4000 people running the half, and many fewer in the full marathon, so this race definitely was not a megathon. I think races of this size (San Francisco is similar in size) are perfect for racing - enough people and spectators to have the excitement of a big race, yet small enough to have room to run even from the get-go and no bottlenecks. I suspect this race will become a megathon within a few years if they allow it to grow, as it is one of the flattest courses I have ever run, with only one real hill that everyone seemed to be complaining about, yet would barely even be classified as a hill compared to the mountainous terrain that I have been biking and running on. The weather was spot-perfect for a fast PR, which was a chilly 37 before the start, but warming up to 40 by guntime, and 45 midrace, which was completely comfortable in a T-shirt, short and gloves. GREAT conditions for anybody hoping to PR or BQ.

I felt very relaxed at the start of this race, as I really didn't expect much. I had no idea whether I'd be able to hold any sort of even pace after 10 miles, as I clearly hadn't been doing enough volume to guarantee no fade at the end. My plan was to run just under 8 min/mile for the first 4 miles, and then gradually accelerate (or decelerate!) through to the finish depending on how I felt. I was afraid that I'd be disappointed in myself for not pushing hard from the start (which I normally do in HM and shorter races) but it was very enjoyable to know that I wasn't going to completely destroy myself on the course; I definitely enjoyed the whole experience of the race more as a result.

The gun went off, and people charged ahead as I'd expected. I correctly guesstimated that I was running 7:30min/mile for the first mile (I don't even need a GPS anymore - I can guess my paces nearly dead on) and I was getting passed by hordes of people, likely close to 50-70. Furthermore, a lot of these folks did not look like particularly fast runners, so it was a bit surprising for me, as I felt that the pace was solid. The first 3 miles were dead flat, and I continued to get passed by more people despite holding a rock-steady 7:30/mile pace. This pace felt like a marathon-effort for me, which was relaxed but definitely not easy. I knew that I could easily run into a lot of trouble if I weren't careful, as my 10-12 mile long runs have been done at about 8:10 pace, and I have tended to faded in the final miles of those training runs, so 7:30s were a bit brisk given my limiting training.

Miles 4-6 were remarkably uneventful. I was right in my marathon pace zone, feeling overall very relaxed but starting to breathe moderately hard. There were a lot of runners around me, both male and female, which I do admit, is very different from my races last year, during which I was fast enough to outpace the vast majority of the females and usually ran nearly solo after a few miles. Today, I was just one of the pack, and there were an impressive number of fast females of all shapes and sizes easily keeping pace with me.

At mile 6, the biggest hill of the course showed up. To me, it was a modest incline, not even worthy of the bike climbs that I've been routinely doing on the weekends. To the other runners though, it was as if many of them hit a brick wall. I increased my effort to maintain my pace, and started passing back a lot of the people who had pulled ahead. I think most coaches would disagree with this strategy, as I've heard them advocate going easier on the uphills and regaining time on the downhills so as to keep a more even-keeled heart rate, but for me, I definitely outperform by a large margin on the hills. Even moreso now with the mountain cycling I have been doing, which directly translates to hill running (but not downhill running).

I had absolutely no problem powering up this hill, and had plenty left in the tank even at the top. The backside was a bit less impressive, as I made no progress in passing, and just barely kept pace with the folks around me. The rest of the race pretty much continued in this manner, with me gaining most of my time and placements on the hills, and holding placements on the downhills.

I decided that I felt good enough at mile 7 to start picking up the pace. It wasn't by much, but I opened up the stride to faster than marathon pace, and it felt good. Still not a hard effort by my standards; I definitely pushed significantly harder even on mile 1 in my past HM efforts. I was probably running 7:10-7:15/mile at this point, and now I started to really do a lot of passing. The few guys that pulled in front of me at this point were all reeled in within a mile or two, as I continued to accelerate.

At mile 9, it was racing time, and I kicked the pace up into true HM pace for my perceived exertion. I'd guess about 6:45-6:50min/mile, or slightly faster than that. This felt good, and I enjoyed the strong pace. My legs opened up well, and I was making a lot of forward progress on the field. I did notice a big pack of 30 runners ahead at the 10 mile mark - lo and behold, it was the 3:10 marathon pace group (HM and marathon ran concurrently on the same course.) As satisfied as I was with my performance today up to this point, it was self-humbling to realize that in my marathon-ready state, I would have been nearly a minute ahead of this pace group at this point, with tons of gas to spare. Today, I was working pretty hard, at my true HM pace, just to catch up to them!

I felt remarkably good at mile 11, so I really opened it up at this point. My pace likely dropped to 6:40ish, and I moved ahead of the 3:10 pace group by a fair amount. Breathing was labored at this point, but I felt that I was still well within a controlled lactate threshold effort. Miles 12 and 13 came a lot faster than I had expected, and by the time the finish line was in sight, I realized that I definitely had not pushed to my true race potential. Still, I wanted a solid finish for my efforts today, so I began a 600 yard "sprint" to the finish as soon as the finish was in sight, and came in strong.

The result for my efforts was a 1:32ish half marathon time, which was faster than my optimistic pre-race goal of 1:35. I'm surprised that I managed to run roughly 7:10/mile after a relaxed start, and that my legs held up for the distance without rebelling once despite my limited run training. While this time is a good deal slower than my 1:25 PR, it is faster than the HM I ran during peak training for my first marathon (at 55mpw) so I have definitely retained some ability from last year's hard work. This was also by far the most relaxed effort I've put into a HM, and about equal to how hard I pushed for the Palos Verdes HM which I did as a training run before the San Diego marathon last year.

All in all, it was a surprisingly successful race for me. I'm getting excited to see what I can do again, and am hoping to keep training up in the next few weeks so I can throw down a max effort at the Cherry Blossom 10 miler at the end of this month.

Marathon Questionnaire

One of my running friends had a nice questionnaire about marathoning on Facebook. I started answering the questions, then realized it would make a nice blogpost. Thanks Sara!

If you'd like, copy and paste these questions into your notes, change the answers, add a queston and tag your friends to do the same. Sorry to impose this on you if you're not into these "note" things. Just delete and give me grief accordingly. --sara :)

1. Number of marathons you have run: 6

2. Where was your first marathon? Orange County Marathon 2006

3. Favorite Marathon course: San Francisco Marathon

4. Most memorable race:

San Francisco Marathon 2007. Trained my butt off with Pfitz 18/70, paced it right, and went from 4:05 to 3:20 in one fell swoop.

5. PR?

3:16. I'm STILL annoyed at that PR - I'm convinced that I was in sub 3:10 shape on race day, but got burned by late race heat. Every single one of my HM-5k PRs correlates with 3:00 or sub-3 marathon, but the freaking 26er kills me.

6. Ever run in a costume?

I think my night-running light/reflective gear gets more attention than any Halloween costume (see my Facebook pics). I made the error of running at night the day before Halloween, and at least 3 people yelled "sweet costume!" Now I don't run on Halloween or the day before anymore!

7. The only running shoes for me:

Brooks Adrenaline. I used to use $25 Payless Amps (which I still have a working pair of in NorCal) but they were discontinued in the model I liked.

8. Ever injured?

Recent MRI-confirmed stress fx of my left foot in August 08. Took me out for 4 months, and while my foot has recovered, I lost most of my running speed and endurance.

9. Hot or cold weather runner?

Cold weather all the way. I'm "overweight" by BMI due to muscle mass, and I generate tons of heat. I wilt like crazy in heat - faster than the average person.

10. Morning or evening runs?

Evenings for me. I'm totally a morning person, but I have to reserve those precious times for studying, when the mind is sharp. On weekends though, I do all my training at the butt-crack of dawn! (That is, when I'm not on call.)

11. What is your Motivation?

I'm not sure, but I like to try and quantitate.
30%: Being as fit as I feel I can be.
20%: Love of competition. I'm a racer, for sure.
20%: Being outside in sunny California is a huge motivator.
20%: The mental hardcore factor. It sounds perverse, but the ability to inflict suffering on yourself (within reason) not only makes you stronger, but also improves your perception and enjoyment of the remaining aspects of your life.
10%: Fun factor. Fun is purely secondary to me. Most of my hard training runs and workouts will never be intrinsically fun, and much more akin to suffering. I have learned, though, that fun does not equate to happiness - achieving hard goals and challenging the self and soul leads to true happiness. So in a weird way, suffering = happiness in the long run. Within reason, of course.

12. Ever DNF?

No. But I started walking at mile 13 of the Houston marathon. I don't hold it against people for DNFing, but for me, if I can make it to the finish line at all without injuring myself, even if I have to crawl, I will get there. I'd probably get bloody knees from crawling though, so I try to avoid that.

13. Marathon I'd like to forget:

None of them. You don't appreciate the good ones without the bad ones. SFM was so incredible for me because I had two really tough ones (4hr finishes) before it which made me question my very core of how good a runner I could be. I really appreciated the scope of what I had accomplished after SFM because of those 2 other tough races.

14. Favorite post race nosh:

Whatever's nearby. Although oddly, I don't get that hungry after marathons. I think all the carbo-loading and tapering leaves me well stocked for race day. After 22 mile training runs though - I'd kill the cattle and eat it raw if you let it get near me!

15. Galloway or Higdon?

This is one of the few times I get "elitist" mentality (sorry, folks.) While I respect all folks who finish a marathon, I definitely give much more respect those who understand that committing to the marathon really means taking your training to higher volumes than 20, or even 30 miles per week. I personally would never race a marathon with the Galloway race-walk plans or low-volume Higdon plans (the high-volume ones are ok). I much prefer Pfitzinger's plans, especially the ones 70mpw max and above.


16. Flat course or hills:

Temps are a much, much bigger factor than the hills in my opinion. I crushed the hills on the SFM course without problem, but once the sun came out at San Diego, I completely melted even on the flats. The elevation profile is nearly irrelevant for me - race temperature, however, is critical - I race differently at 45-55F (go for the PR), 55-65 (save some for the ugly end when temps rise), and 65-75 (just try to survive).

17. Back, Middle, or Front of the pack?

Used to be a FOPer, now I'm probably front of the MOP. Dang.

18. Run alone or with a partner:

Alone, but I vastly prefer running groups. Single partners aren't as good for me - too hard to coordinate pace and logistics. Groups are the best, but limited in terms of meeting times due to my busy schedule.

19. Ever win your age group?

Yes. Wasn't a really big deal when I did it, but it's always nice to come in #1 AG. Much better was the feeling at the starting line in a local 10k when I KNEW that I would be #1-3 AG, by sheer volume and hardcore training. When you run 80-100 mpw, you know you're going to be fast in the field - there is no question. And that's a GREAT feeling. I have almost no chance at winning the overall though. Closest I've come is 2nd in a small 5k, and the winner beat me by nearly 1.5 minutes.

20. Favorite post marathon indulgence:

Anything with carbs. Usually rice, noodles, or pasta. I have other "vice" foods that are more tempting, but after burning that many carbs, nothing will satisfy the carbo urge except for carbs.

21. Funniest T-shirt spotted on another runner during a marathon:

Running behind a group of 5 ladies age 60+ when I bandited the Boston Marathon way back in 1997 (bandits were allowed back then, as marathoning was nowhere near as popular as it was today. It was a really ugly run for me.) Their shirts all read, "yup, we're 60 and we're kicking your butt." I almost wanted to cry, as I was a young guy in college who ran high school X-country, and I really was getting killed by senior citizens. Kudos to them!

22. One part of your body that has never seen body glide:

I only need body glide for between my thighs, and not much. Nipple tape is mandatory for 15+ mile runs, though!

23. Best Part of running:

Being in the best shape of my life.

24. If I didn't run I_______________.

Would be a road bike racer. I've sinced switched over to triathlon from the marathon (temporarily at least), and I have to admit that the fun factor of road biking is much greater for me than running!

25. I can't run without______________________.

My SweatGUTR. It's a plastic headband that diverts sweat to the sides of your face versus your eyes. I'm the only one who ever uses it, but I absolutely can't live without it - I go blind from the sweat in my eyes.

26. Ever lose a toenail?

Not even close. Weird.

27. Gatorade or Cytomax?

The more I learn about medicine, the more I see that these are overhyped, overpriced sugar water drinks, with little real substantiating evidence to prove their effectiveness compared to water, or water with a bit of food on the go. Humans evolved to use water (and food), and our entire thirst mechanism is geared around drinking water. In my opinion, it's all advertising hype - your kidneys can regulate your body fluids and salt loads so well that I could even give you coffee at the aid stations, and you'd stay well hydrated. (Would be a bit messy, though.) Water all the way for me.

28. Favorite gel flavor?

I do use gels on races, because of the convenience of having calories in a light packet. I'll eat anything - I'm usually pushing hard enough that the last thing I notice is the taste of the gu.

29. How many days after a marathon do you usually start running again?

Usually 5-7 days of no running, then 2-3 weeks of LIGHT running. I went back too soon this past season and got a stress fx because of it.

30. I run, therefore I ________________________.

Feel alive.

31. Pre-race routines? (night before or morning of)

Carboload. Mandatory bathroom break before the race. I'll wake up at 3AM to make sure this happens.

32. How often do you cry during a marathon?

Never. I've let off an ungodly string of swear words in at least 4 races, though. Anger seems to be my coping mechanism on race day, but I'm trying to substitute humor for it. That's not funny at all.

33. What was your worst/least favorite marathon?

LA Marathon 2007. Hot, crowded, chaotic. An all-around suck-fest. I'll never race this one again, for all of those reasons. I may run it a a fun run, but never as a race.

Run / Bike Equality (not a great thing, in my case)

I have to admit that in the absence of a major race goal to shoot for, I've been having trouble stay motivated to train to the next level. I'm still putting in a good 60-90 minutes of training 4/5 weekdays, and training both weekend days with long bike rides whenever possible, but my previous hardcore attitude to never missing workouts has definitely gone by the wayside without a big race goal. On the bright side, I've reached a level in which training 6-8 hours per week is pretty standard, even for off-season, so I certainly have achieved a new plateau level of fitness and dedication to training, even if I'm not in racing mode.

My running hasn't improved much at all for the past few months. Most of this is my own fault, as I haven't been keeping up with the Pfitz 12/55 plan that I'd set out to complete a month or two ago. This isn't because of laziness, but rather, my desire to continue improving on the bike and swim. I'm still logging at least three runs per week of 12, 8, and a sprint session of some sort, but getting over 40 miles per week has been challenging with weekends taken up by cycling, and spending 3-4 hours on top swimming. With 30 miles per week on average, you simply can't get a lot better on the run! I have a half marathon and a 10 mile race in March, but I will likely only race the 10 miler, as I'm having enough problems as is doing 13 mile training runs. It's sort of depressing to see how far my running has deteriorated after my injury, but it also is a strange comfort to also see that I really worked hard to get that fast, and that it's definitely NOT just talent that allowed me to put up some good times.

My bike performance has probably reached parity with my run performance. I feel fairly strong on the bike now, and I am confident in my abilities to go both fast and far. My performance in the recent triathlon seemed to confirm this. This past weekend, I joined a "bike trainer session" sponsored by the LA Tri Club at a local bike store, and got to spin it up at sprint intensity with 10-11 other cyclists of all different levels, male and female. I was surprised when during the warmup, the coach warned me that I was going too fast, as I had accumulated a tiny puddle of sweat below me, but it really did feel like an easy ride (equivalent to a 10min/mile for me on the run.) When sprints began, the buckets really began pouring, and by the time I was done, there was a good 4-6 foot pool of water around me. In contrast, not one of the other cyclists had accumulated more than a few drops of sweat. Come on folks, this is a SPRINT session! Actually, the coach didn't think I'd make it after the 2nd set of 8 - he actually turned down my gearing to an easier gear, but I promptly cranked it back up, and banged out not just 8, but 10 total sets (nearly dying in the process - in a good way!) Suffering is something I seem to be good at.

I think I still am a lousy swimmer compared to other triathletes, but I'm looking forward to doing a lot of open water swims to get my confidence up for races later this year. If I can successfully swim 1-1.5 mile distances in open water in training, I am definitely signing up for a half-ironman race later this year. With my bike/run endurance, I think I would excel at this race so long as I can survive the swim. Swim training has been holding steady, with small incremental improvements that I'm hoping will add up to substantial gains later on. My latest technique improvement is to minimize my head motion during breathing. By trying to breathe at the lowest point in the water, and not disrupting my hydrodynamic streamlining, I seem to be able to cut off nearly one stroke per pool length, so I think I'm onto something here.

As far as time available for training, I am coming to near the end of my weekend call commitments for my radiology residency. It's not a particularly heavy load off my back, but for sure, it will be pleasant to consistently have both Saturday AND Sunday off again. The last time I had more than a month of both weekend days off was during the first 6 months of my radiology residency (2 years ago), and before that, it was probably during my PhD years (5 years ago!) I'm secretly hoping that with all this new time on my hands as a senior resident next year, that I will be able to complete an iron-distance race, but that's still a LONG ways away.

I'll be looking for the next sprint or Olympic distance triathlon to enter in the near future to keep my motivation up.