The National Half Marathon

Since I haven't updated my blog in two weeks, I could spend considerable time detailing my training and the lead up to the National Half Marathon. However, I am not going delve into the nitty gritty of the past two weeks. Essentially, I was riding high after the Club Challenge. It took me several days to recover, but, after two days a few days of maintenance runs, I began increasing the mileage and attacking tempo runs. The period from February 28, race day, through March 15 may have been the best 16 days of training I've ever had. My workouts included 8x1600 @ LT pace, 4x2K at critical velocity pace, a 21.5 mile run, and an 18-miler with 5x1600 at LT pace, averaging 5:25. Unfortunately, I paid for it on race day.

I had tendon issues on the Monday, March 15, at the end of my run. On Tuesday, the problem was still present and my legs felt completely trashed. I preceded to run a mere 1.75 miles and got my pre-scheduled massage. On Wednesday, both problems continued. I found myself with a Catch 22. If I drop the mileage drastically, I would most likely allow my body to both heal and recover. However, this approach would, in the words of Coach Swags, most likely put my body "to sleep." In other words, a significant drop in mileage would leave my legs feeling flat and unresponsive. I attempted to carefully tread a middle ground, keeping my mileage near my planned daily totals but at an easier pace and a lighter mid-week workout. I was hopeful that this would be the remedy I desperately needed if I was to run a personal record on Saturday.

Alas, I toed the line of the National Half Marathon feeling only slightly less tired and flat than I did earlier in the week. Despite my unresponsive legs, I did not adjust my race plan; from the gun, I chased my goal of a sub-1:11:00, approximately 5:25 per mile. Ultimately, this stubbornness and failure to adapt cost me significant time. Although I did not get my splits due to my failure to start my watch, I am nearly certain that I went through 10K on pace. A series of hills in the critical middle miles broke me physically. After crossing the 10-mile mark in 54:30ish, I finished with about an 18:00 5K in 1:12:38.

Disregarding context, this would appear an awful race, 1:40 slower than my goal. But context is everything. I felt terrible from the gun after a physically and mentally challenging week yet managed to average 5:33 per mile on a fairly hilly course. I've managed to find the proverbial silver lining, and, undoubtedly, this race has prepared, both physically and psychologically, for the challenges that lay ahead in the Pittsburgh Marathon.

Furthermore, my greatest disappointment is not my final time, but my failure to adapt to race conditions. This is another positive outcome of the race: I must be more cognizant of my circumstances and adjust accordingly.

My plan is take the next week and recover. I hope to run about 80 miles this week, and I will probably run cruise intervals at goal marathon pace instead of my usual lactate threshold or goal half marathon pace. If I recover fully by the week's end, I will begin my final phase of marathon preparation on Sunday the 28th.

Mileage Totals:

February 28 - March 6: 76.75 miles
March 7 - March 13: 88.5 miles
March 14 - March 20: 74.5 miles