Pretty much every race I’ve run in Philly has produced PRs or pretty awesome experiences. While yesterday did not produce a PR as hoped, I did learn a lot and had a pretty fantastic time out there. At the end of the day, shouldn’t that be our goal? I also learned a few other things along the way.
Anyway, rewind to Saturday. While I didn’t observe the fast completely, I was not hydrating and eating as I normally do. Somehow a glass of Gatorade and cliff bar doesn’t translate to my usual pre-race day food. Dinner consisted of bagels, cheese, tuna salad. Again, not my usual food but I figured it’d suit fine with massive amounts of liquids. This is the second half marathon I’ve run post-fast.
Sunday. 5:15 wakeup to prepare for my first true race since Boston? I definitely felt nerves even more than before pikes. Funny. The awesome part of this race is since my dad’s friends have done every single pdr they get VIP access (and so do I). So pre-race I was within feet of Shalene Flanagan. Neat. Didn’t spot Ryan Hall.
Oh, the race. Runnin’ Around Uptown and I planned to run this one together. Our plan? See how the legs feel and go from there. Obviously a new PR was on the mind but this ultimately would be a stepping stone for November 7.
We got to corral 3, had our ears blasted with the national anthem and finally we were off! Immediately we were sucked into going way too fast. ES and her friend Kelly she was pacing caught up to us. We started chatting a bit when Amy goes “um 6:40 pace.” Immediately we dropped back into our own race. And smart that indeed was as we were at mile 2? Eek! Not sure on splits since my garmin seemed to hate Philly! However AC’s watch stated 7:02. Not good. That’s um 40 seconds faster than goal pace.
At this point, it was hot. The sun was blazing and we were sweating like crazy. I felt fine, as did AC, so we started to cruise. I think in the back of our minds we knew we weren’t going to PR today but sometimes that isn’t the name of the game. A solid race is where you want to be at this point in training. I commented on a few items in the city as I’ve run this course five times prior (all in the reverse direction – grr rock n roll stop messing with Philly!). We spotted our friend NM twice in our tour of the city and she joined us on the run to the Kelly Drive/West Drive section. She pushed the pace a bit but looking back it probably was closer to a 1:40 pace. However, it just didn’t feel “comfortable” today. I passed my dad and he commented to just stick with it (he knew it wasn’t my day either).
As we entered the park loop, AC commented how nice it was to have a bit of peace and quiet. I tended to agree as we could finally relax and just let the legs roll. I felt pretty good at this point. AC pointed out we were a good 40 seconds behind goal pace at this point. We both knew there was no way we were going to hit the goal today. It stinks when you know so early. We arrived at mile 7 and I remember thinking “crap, another 10k?. That never happens to me but today I should have taken that as a precursor of what was to follow. When we hit a “bump” or a hill as they refer to it (haha) I would comment to AC. We both laughed especially once I commented that 4 weeks ago I was running up one massive hill! Anyway, we took our gu/sharkies at around mile 8. I stupidly didn’t take very many and have to wonder what the heck I was thinking?
Mile 9 I remember thinking: “ok legs, 4 more. you can do it.” At this point, I started to feel a bit “off.” As we approached mile 10, I began to feel even more lousy but continued. Finally, as we approached mile 11, I remember asking AC if we could walk the water stop so I could recollect for t he last section of the course. She agreed (you rock for being there!) and we started running again. At this point her words to me, “ok, I’m pulling you to the finish line.” We started rocking out sub 7:40s (I think close to 7:30 not sure since the garmin was funky). I was hurting and definitely felt depleted at this point – not leg pain but just an empty tank of energy. AC continued to pull me along. All I remember is just thinking “it’s faster to run than walk.” haha. And thank goodness AC is here to pull me to that finish line!
With that we crossed the line at 1:43:09. Not a PR. But I think I learned a lot about being able to pull out mental toughness to get to a finish line. It hurt but mission accomplished. No leg/body soreness (ran 5.5 this morning). I had a good time in Philly with family and friends. I earned another sub 8 half (becoming the norm! yay!). All was not lost in this half (#25 or 26 in my career I believe).
No garmin splits. I forgot to manually do them. Wish I did because I’m sure they would be interesting.
As I look out with less than 7 weeks to go, I don’t think my goals are unreasonable for NYCM. Guess we’ll see. Last tune up before NYCM is Oct 10: Staten Island.
How do you deal with a race when you know a PR is out of sight and you know it isn’t your day?
Great post. Sounds like a fun race!
PR’s are special and can only be attained (at least for common distances) when you are at the absolute top of your game, and the weather conditions are your best.
Most races for me, PR is out of sight. Next best goal to keep me going is negative split. Next best from there, especially for long races, is reserving enough so the last mile is fastest. Nothing more satisfying than a half marathon where the last mile is the fastest one.
Otherwise, if it isn’t my day (as was the case for me yesterday), I take more time to appreciate the surroundings, don’t get caught up in the problems I’m having, and resolve to learn from it and do better next time.
A few observations from a back of the packer: 1) you totally can’t trust your Garmin in Center City Philly; 2) the first part of the course absolutely SUCKED A**, what were they thinking, having it wind and curve so much, and OTOH; 3) I loved the reversal of the drives, seemed like a slight decline most of the way except that damn hill at the end; 4) for a so called “rock and roll” race, there wasn’t much of it–I would have been better off with my iPod; 5) for those who complained about the heat, just remember what we trained in all summer long–this was warmer than in past years, but still a relief from the heat and humidity of the past 3 months. And it didn’t rain! Hope you kick major butt in NYC…
I absolutely concur. The heat was nothing compared to this summer. I’m pissed I didn’t do my usual manual clicks of the garmin yesterday. Not sure why I didn’t. First time I haven’t!
Way to gut it out, that’s about how my Boston experience went last year, I knew 10 miles in that it was going to be a long race and there was no way I’d meet my goal to PR… But now I look back on that experience as something that will make me tougher as I train for NYC and get to that starting line in November.
I think you are totally right, PRs only come so often and under near perfect conditions, so you just have to use the other races to gain experience, learn how you feel at different parts of the race, and let it build your confidence in your training as you prepare for your bigger goal races.
Congrats on the race! A sub-8 half mary–PR or not–is a good day. I agree with SCL – going for negative splits is a great goal – whether or not the overall pace is PR worthy or not.
And, being able to enjoy the experience and be in the moment is such a special opportunity. We spend so much time training, training, training; if we can truly enjoy race day and celebrate the awesome abilities of the human body – that is a great day, PR or not 🙂
that last paragraph is beautiful 🙂 It’s true. I think the whole experience of feeling the butterflies and being out there…