Running Mania

Did this one as a weekend excursion with fellow Maniac Cupcake Girl, who had a great Milton Women's Triathlon on Sunday. So Monday it was my race in the Oakville Half Marathon. This was my second shot at a sub-1:40 Half Marathon result. My PB was a 1:40:43 in August 2009 - in that race, I had taken almost six minutes off my prior PB so I foolishly thought that another 44 seconds would be fairly easy to take off next time out. But in March 2010 at the Chilly Half, I blew up 15K in trying to maintain the necessary 4:44/K pace needed for a 1:39:59 result. Later I realized that I attained the August 2009 PB when it was a race I trained toward. Like March 2010, this Oakville Half was just a warm-up race in Marathon training and I likely lacked the necessary speedwork for a Half PB. With that in mind and a mild case of food poisoning Saturday, I didn't go into this one very confident of a PB but thought I would start out at the necessary pace to make it a possibility.

Nice day, well organized course and route, looked like it would be enjoyable race regardless of outcome. I noted that the water stations were every 3K - being a 21K race and having a prior blowup at 15K last time out, I was thinking of this one as seven 3k stages in assessing whether I could hit my goal 4:46/K needed for a PB - or in a stretch, 4:44/K for a 1:39:59.

First 3K - this was the easy part. Went out slow enough to not blow too much energy if was not in shape for my goal but quick enough to keep it in sight. Was very discouraged to see the 1K marker 6 minutes from the start line and 150 metres too far and the second and third K markers with the same apparent error. Could the starting line gate and timing mat rushed out in the 2-3 minutes available after 10K runners went by have been that far off?
4:46, 4:47, 4:47 (GPS Race to-date pace - 4:47/K)

3.01K to 6K - Started to pick it up a little bit here as I was warmed up, felt good and knew I needed to keep 4:44/K possible but knew a blowup at 15K could happen. Did not know if stomach could handle gels today.
4:42, 4:42, 4:48 (Race to-date pace - 4:45/K)

6.01K to 9K - a bit of uphill in the 7th and 8th K, the only northbound running of the race, which was away from the lake and possibly the only significant uphill. Much of the offsetting decline was in the 9th K. Gelled before the 9K water station, knew I needed to test the stomach to keep up, and possibly pick up, the pace. With a slow 3K stretch here, the toughest running to come, and the 150K marker offset remaining consistent, I did not think my goals were achievable without picking up the effort a bit over the remainder. So knew I needed to risk a blow-up here again and push.
4:47, 4:52, 4:40 (Race to-date pace - 4:46/K)

9.01K to 12K - pushed the effort here and got a solid 3K stretch. Felt strong and gelled for the second and last time before the 12K water station. Got the Garmin pace for race-to-date down to 4:44/K, so was good for 1:39:59 only if the 150 metes marker offset would go away.
4:41, 4:34, 4:39 (Race to-date pace - 4:44/K)

12.01K to 15K - pushed the effort here and got another solid 3K stretch. Decided I was not going to rely on an accurate course length and knew I needed to run the back half around LT level to go sub-1:40.
4:38, 4:43, 4:41 (Race to-date pace - 4:43/K)

15.01K to 18K - some uphill here beyond the Third Line (17K & 18K), I knew this had to reverse before the end so did not get too fussed and kept some gas in the tank.
4:39, 4:44, 4:42 (Race to-date pace - 4:43/K)

18.01K to 21.1K - started to open this up increasingly through this stretch as I realized I could keep each increase up.
4:36, 4:25, 4:32, 4:04 for 0.26K

(Full race pace - 4:40/K for 21.26K)
(Official pace - 4:42/K for 21.10K - 1:39:08.3, PB by 1:35)

The course may have been long. I make a point of running tangents and counted 21.26K while most finishers had around 21.30K. Which is fine, the beautiful weather and fast course made up for it.

A great event. Saw Taxman the Maniac at the finish as well and he also had a strong result...for him, it would be a miraculous result for the rest of us.

Nice PB and very consistent splits! Great report-- congratulations.

good job hitting your target nearly bang on. Congrats on the sub 1:40, onwards to the marathon

nice job and nice PB! way to go. those last 3 km splits were nice and fast - especially at the end of the race. and i thought the course was certified? maybe the guys responsible for putting down the markers were a bit sleepy still that early in the morning.

i've always wondered about the start of the half at this race. i run the 10k and was curious how efficiently they moved the start line. you would think there would be an easier way - make a small change to one of the races so the start lines are the same, have 2 permanent starting areas, i don't know but it can't be that hard.

greate race and report, I read with out skipping to the end to see to result, you had me hooked.

I've done it twice, but not this year. I recall the uphill stretch. Did they change the start? If its like it has been in the past I'm surpirzed that the organizers wouldn't notice that the hardware was all set up in a different location.

Dave

Well done DB. Perfectly paced. Nice little PB.

Seriously I think you always have to add .1 / 10km to a race distance, so really you came in a little short

On to NYC

Strider wrote:Seriously I think you always have to add .1 / 10km to a race distance...

Agreed. As I thought to myself half way in something sucky like "this pace will be good enough if the course isn't long as I suspect it is, doesn't pick on me and doesn't call me names" or something equally lame, I just told myself "Suck it Up, Buttercups" and sped up (marginally...though it will be a turtle to cheetah pace change in later retellings.) The latter quote may have actually occurred and may have been aloud. Better to go down fighting. As long as employment or marriage isn't involved, that is

So happy to read of the sub 1:40:00!!! Great pacing, great result.

Huge congrats DB! Wow... excellent pacing and great sub 1:40.

Mid_Packer wrote:Did they change the start? If its like it has been in the past I'm surpirzed that the organizers wouldn't notice that the hardware was all set up in a different location.

Not sure - there are so many pylons set up through a race like this that it could be another part of the course that is slightly off and the start line is unchanged. The only issue here is me being cranky about having to run a few extra steps...

Got so excited I replied twice.

Congrats on the PB!

I guess I missed this one... Nice work and congrats on the PB sub 1h40. Good job!

Congrats on a HUGE pb.