Stuff about running, from me, your friend, Jay!

Ok, let’s start with the training:  I asked a fellow dailymiler (Caleb M) to help create a training plan that would allow me to increase speed significantly and PR big time in the GöteborgsVarvet (world’s largest half-marathon).  This plan started the second week of January, 2010, and leads through May 21, 2010.  It’s tough and fun, and I have seen big results so far.  I’ve been executing the plan consistently and while many of the workouts have been really hard, I’ve managed to complete or exceed them.  So, my outlook for this race was very positive. In fact, I became quite optimistic looking at the previous year’s results.  My frustration in the outcome of the UHC NC Half is resulting from the fact that I’ve put it all together in training, yet when race day came, I fell apart.

Race day:

The weather was in the low 50′s, a little warmer than I had hoped, but still ok.  The grounds and race setup were fantastic, plenty of porta potties and free water and lots of samples of stuff.  As we were getting ready to start, the beer truck was setting up, always a fantastic race sign!  The field was pretty small ~1600 racers, and the half-marathon and marathon racers all started together.  Words of encouragement were spoken by Joey Cheek and Charlie Engle, both fairly local dudes, and then we were off…

As you can see by the elevation chart, the course was full of rolling hills.  This chart is a lie! Don’t believe it.  There is very little truth here.  The reality is that there is not a flat section on the course, so if you’re not climbing, you’re barreling down a relatively steep hill.

Splits:

1-7:18
2-6:58
3-7:21
4-7:21
5-7:25
6-7:30
7-7:59
8-7:28
9-8:25
10-8:36
11-7:40
12-9:01
13-8:39
6:26 (.1 sprint)

Miles 1 & 2 were slightly downhill, and right on my target pace to reach 1:35.  I felt good at the end of 2, when we took a turn and started climbing.  Miles 3 & 4 were pretty much full climbs with a brief (tenth of a mile) downhill at the top of mile 3, and I managed to sustain those at 7:21 each.  This part of the course was through “Old Emerywood”, which is the oldest neighborhood in High Point, and contains a lot of mansions owned by families from the furniture industry.  At the end of mile 4, I felt pretty winded, which is when things started to feel off.  Have you ever had one of those runs where things just don’t feel right, and you can’t put your finger on why exactly, especially when you’ve done it before, and better?  Yeah, that was what I felt like then.

I had a Honey Stinger right before 4.5, where there was a water stop, and washed it down with about half a cup of water. Mile 5 was a little more downhill, and at this point, I was trying to recover and gain back some energy, as I knew there were some tough hills ahead in the course.  Mile 6 took us through the campus of High Point University, and there was a pretty big cheering squad of college students lining the course.  This mile was the first sustained downhill portion since mile 2.

Mile 7 was another roll of uphill and downhill, and here I had basically hit a mental and physical wall.  Not a bonk, but I almost felt like I was getting sick, and fully drained of energy.  Mile 8 was a full downhill, and I still managed a 7:28.  At this portion of the course, the half-marathon turned left and went back into town, and the marathon turned right and went out into the countryside.  The guy who actually had the best marathon time was registered for the half and got misdirected at this split.  He ran the full, won it, and was disqualified for being registered for the half.  Pretty big local race controversy, and created a lot of discussion in the media.  There were 8 or 10 people that got misdirected apparently.

After mile 8, I was seriously wiped, and my Plantar Fasciitis started to bother me a bit.  I had to stop and walk a bit during this mile, which surprised me, and was an indicator of what was to come in the remaining miles.  Mile 9 was a consistent rise that really put a hurt on a lot of racers, lots of people at my pace walked a bit at this point.  After mile 10, the course repeated itself for the next mile or so, and most of miles 9 and 10 were dive-bombing downhill.  I had another Honey Stinger at 10, as a last desperate attempt to get some energy from somewhere.  At this point, the race turned to face a massive uphill that you could see carried the course back into downtown.

The rest of the race was a climb until the final 400 meters or so.  The pack of 4 or 5 people I was embedded in at this point were leapfrogging each other with sad bursts of speed followed by much slower jog/shuffle/walks.  Once we got into the city itself, I mustered any last bits of energy I had and tried to sprint to the finish.  The absolutely best part of the race was this part, and the final bit was lined with little kids ticking their hands up for a high five.  It but a huge smile on my face, and carried me through.  I was happy to be done, and glad it was over.  I waited around the finish area to see fellow dailymiler Troy A and a coworker and a neighbor come through.

So, I learned a lot about the course, and know what to expect next year.  It’s likely that I’ll run this race again, given that it’s a local race.  I know I need to run a crapload of hills between now and my next race, and I think that will help immensely.  What I don’t understand, and would welcome some insight into is the following:

• I’ve run the distance (and further, up to 16) faster and on a comparably hilly training course
• I’ve never “died” like that midway through
• I could never even get up to my target pace, except for the first two miles, even though I’ve run 10 miles at sub-7 pace.
• I am super-sore from this run.  More sore than I have ever been running this or a longer distance, or tougher speed work.

Overall, I ran about a 6 minute PR, but it feels like a hollow victory, as I really believe I’m capable of 1:35 or better, and that’s what my training suggests.

Marathon Winner Story from the local paper’s website