FIRST RACE OF THE YEAR: COLCHESTER HALF MARATHON:
2/23/13
Some quick facts:
I PR big for this course!
My best Half Marathon time is 1:46:54.
This course sees 700 feet of vert and I do it in 1:48:57 at 8:20/mile
pace.
This is 2 minutes and three seconds slower than my all time
best for the Half Marathon distance. This is Exceptional given the hills and the 700 feet of elevation!
My best time for the
course had been 1:53:26 at 8:40/mile pace. A HUGE COURSE PR by 4 minutes
and 29 seconds!
I have run 15 races with Robin. At times I have come very close to beating
her. TODAY I have a better time than
Robin and WIN my first race with her by 2 minutes and 12 seconds (ten seconds
per mile). THIS IS AMAZING!
I do better than Robin, Marc, Bob, Steve, and all three of
my rabbits (people I don’t know but one of whom I spoke to while running and I
congratulated after he crossed the finish line).
PRE-Race Plan
I am going to go for 8:30/miles
on average. The up hills will be
slower. I will make up for that on the
flats and down hills. Mile 1-4 will be
tough. Mile 5-6 will be catch up. Mile 7-8 will be tough. Mile 9-10 will be catch up. Going into Mile 11…no real concerns here –
keep it together. The last 2.1 mile
stretch will be on one road to the Finish Line.
And there will be hills. The end
of the race IS THE RACE. So you will run
those 2.1 miles at race pace or better. Don’t
overextend. BUT, don’t chill
either.
The Race:
Theo and Steve: I ran this race with them as a training run
a month ago and I know Theo did that at 8:06/mile. I figured Steve finished that training run at
the same pace as Theo. This may not have
been the case as today I finished before Steve.
Theo did it at around 7:30/mile today.
When I did this as a training run, I did it at 9:01/mile pace and went Easy. Today the plan was to take thirty seconds per
mile off that time.
Marc and Bob: I am running with Marc for a while. At mile 1, Bob is in back of me. Marc and I get mile 1 done at 8:00/mile.
I am surprised by this as I figured we were probably doing 8:30/mile.
It was a little fast – but manageable.
At around mile 2, I am ahead of Marc and Bob: I go into this race not
really knowing what kind of a time I am going to put together. Marc and Bob – I consider them both strong
competitors. They will not be easy to
beat. But I am simply going for a pace here. The goal is not to beat anyone in particular - only to get the race done at 8:30/mile. At mile 2, I take a walk break and
have Power Gel/Gatorade. Marc and Bob
both pass me. I’ll catch up – I had a
fast first mile and only needed 8:30/mile. I pass Bob and catch up to Marc. Eventually, I put some distance between me
and Marc while sticking to the plan of keeping 8:30/mile
pace. I wind up keeping ahead of both
Marc and Bob and finishing the race before them.
My couple rabbits: Going into mile 7 – the up hill – I tell
my rabbit I might catch up to him a little later. We had started talking about the hills while
running. I said I was going to slow down
a bit now. I walked some of the hill (a
lot of it). As always, I keep an eye on
the rabbits (two) while doing this making sure there is enough distance between us
such that I will be able to catch them when I pick up the pace. The rabbits are running up this hill…but not gaining much distance
on me despite my walking! I love these
hills!
Robin: I have run a total of 15 races with Robin. My only concern is to run at the pace I
selected. I am running these miles and
figure that since I cannot see Robin, she is probably doing 8:00/mile pace or so.
I don’t even consider finishing the race before her. It is not part of my plan. Surprisingly at 7.5 miles, I see Robin. I kind of run Easy and catch up to her at
mile 8. At that point I say hello and we
talk about the mile 7 hill. I then tell
her she will probably catch up to me but I am going to catch up to a couple of
my rabbits. I surge for about a tenth to
a quarter mile and catch my rabbits.
It’s late in the race, and I am able to surge easily enough. By doing this, I put some distance between
myself and Robin. This was kind of
tactical in that I wanted to show I had plenty of gas in the tank. I was thinking that if I put enough distance
between myself and her…it might cause her to think let’s wait and see what he
does. He may overextend himself. My
thinking: I won't overextend myself. I am capable of surging at various points this late in the race. AND : I am prepared to run hard at the tail end of this race…meaning the
last 2.1 miles. For this course and that
distance, I don’t know of many people who would run hard for the last 2.1 miles! But a month ago I did just that during the training run. And I know that doing well at the end of the race - the last quarter - decides the outcome. FOR ME - NOW - I deal with races by preparing to do exceptionally well during the last 25 percent of the race. For example, MILE 12 sees 121 feet of elevation and I do that @ 8:18/mile. MILE 13 sees 128 feet of elevation and I do that @ 8:32/mile! (That is fast given this vert.)
Bob: He is relatively new to running. BUT, he runs well. We did the Santa Scramble 5K together. He beat me.
So – he is not to be underestimated.
The longer distances are kind of new to him. His potential is good. Going into this race, he said he was going
for 9:00/mile. His plan was to do it in under two
hours. I told him I was shooting for 8:15-8:30/mile.
But despite all this, I viewed Bob as a potential threat. It was feasible that he could do better than
9:00/mile. I did better than Bob this
race. He finished it in 2:02 at 9:20/mile
pace. But the guy has the ability to
improve quickly. NOTE TO BOB: My first
race was a half marathon – this half marathon course. This was the first half marathon race for
Bob. I did this course in 10:20/mile
pace my first time out! Here’s the thing
– Bob is new enough to running that he will see dramatic gains early on! What does this mean for me? Well – he is still a threat!! And that is Perfect!
THE SPLITS
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/276832666
Sat, Feb 23, 2013
10:02 AM
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Distance:
|
13.15 mi
|
|
Time:
|
1:48:55
|
|
Avg Pace:
|
8:17 min/mi
|
|
Elevation Gain:
|
869 ft
|
|
Calories:
|
1,753 C
|
|
Split
|
Time
|
Distance
|
Elevation Gain
|
Elevation Loss
|
Avg Pace
|
|
1
|
0:08:00
|
1
|
28
|
27
|
8:00
|
|
2
|
0:08:18
|
1
|
86
|
46
|
8:18
|
|
3
|
0:08:53
|
1
|
56
|
0
|
8:53
|
|
4
|
0:07:59
|
1
|
94
|
134
|
7:59
|
|
5
|
0:07:45
|
1
|
0
|
65
|
7:45
|
|
6
|
0:07:46
|
1
|
0
|
71
|
7:46
|
|
7
|
0:09:25
|
1
|
128
|
54
|
9:25
|
|
8
|
0:08:57
|
1
|
115
|
90
|
8:57
|
|
9
|
0:08:06
|
1
|
35
|
13
|
8:06
|
|
10
|
0:07:30
|
1
|
6
|
214
|
7:30
|
|
11
|
0:08:12
|
1
|
50
|
79
|
8:12
|
|
12
|
0:08:18
|
1
|
121
|
61
|
8:18
|
|
13
|
0:08:32
|
1
|
128
|
31
|
8:32
|
|
14
|
0:01:14
|
0.15
|
22
|
0
|
8:21
|
|
Summary
|
1:48:55
|
13.15
|
869
|
885
|
8:17
|
THE OFFICIAL RESULTS AND TIMES FOR PEOPLE MENTIONED ABOVE.
Colchester Half Marathon USA/TF Course Cert. CT112001JHP Colchester, CT USA 2/23/2013 - 10:00 AM Weather: light Rain - Mid 30's Results by: The Last Mile Racing LLC. www.thelastmileracing.com Timed using MyLaps Bib tag System email: timing@thelastmileracing.com ================================================================================================ ***** Official Results ***** ================================================================================================ ********* Results in order of gun time ********** The DIV Column is your place in your age group or division for Awards
Place No. Name S Div/Tot Sex/Tot Nettime Pace Guntime Pace City St ===== ====== =================== = ======== ======== ===== === ========== ===== ========== ===== ================== == 1 549 Brian Nelson M 1/75 1/336 1:14:45.34 5:43 1:14:46.17 5:43 Vernon Rockville CT
98 164 Mathias Theo Maryes M 20/75 85/336 1:38:08.92 7:30 1:38:17.72 7:31 Quebec QC 213 132 Patrick Kearney M 29/71 179/336 1:48:57.31 8:20 1:49:03.18 8:20 Hamden CT 237 21 Robin Beauregard F 9/46 43/165 1:51:09.58 8:30 1:51:15.30 8:30 Hebron CT 260 8 Marc Audet M 34/71 209/336 1:54:12.46 8:44 1:54:18.85 8:44 Hamden CT 330 298 Stephen Zweir M 81/109 253/336 1:59:37.85 9:08 2:00:04.76 9:10 Waterford CT 351 302 Bob Urban M 87/109 267/336 2:02:12.69 9:20 2:02:20.02 9:21 Clinton CT 498 138 Ruth Kenneth-Barbie F 54/54 163/165 2:46:27.57 12:43 2:46:50.23 12:45 West Haven CT 499 181 Cheryl Mitchell F 46/46 164/165 2:46:42.25 12:44 2:47:10.86 12:46 West Hartford CT 500 380 Kathleen Scotti F 1/1 165/165 3:16:05.77 14:59 3:16:29.34 15:00 W Hartford CT 501 117 Dick Hoch M 3/3 336/336 3:20:14.95 15:18 3:20:40.28 15:20 Fishers Island NY
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