This was a tuneup race for me, to help determine and dial in my goal marathon pace for the upcoming Chicago Marathon. I didn't know if I could run this race until the very last minute, and thus did no formal taper for the race. In fact, I did a hard VO2 Max Workout just 2 days before the race, so wasn't exactly sure what to expect. However, leading up to the race, I've felt very strong, and I'm nearly 100% healthy (except for a perpetually tight left Achilles Tendon).
The race itself is a small race, a few hundred runners total, but very competitive. It's a nearly pancake flat course, which helps, and also should mimic the Chicago race. The day broke with mild temperatures around 50 degrees, light winds, and blue sunny skies. Ahh, perhaps the sweet spot for racing.
Overall, this was a very strong race for me. I nabbed a new PR of 4:22, with a finish time of 1:39:57. It was also the first race that I almost threw up at the finish line, I was running that hard. Average HR 162, max 176. Splits 7:51, 7:49, 7:45, 7:44, 7:37, 7:37, 7:34, 7:29, 7:25, 7:41, 7:39, 7:39, 7:35, 6:18. My 10th Half Marathon since I started running almost 2 years ago.
Even though it was a PR for me, it was no where close to an age group award. The M40-44 division is an extremely, tough, competitive group. But that's OK. Still a great race and I'm not complaining at all. I also realized that I would need to run this exact pace for another 13.1 miles to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I'm definitely not there yet either, but I'm making progress.
After the race, I also had just a faint amount of blood in my urine. From my web research, this appears to be somewhat common with hard exercise, especially if you have an empty bladder. The inside of the bladder wall rubs together creating a mild trauma, which creates a little bit of blood.
This was a great race. It has given me a new-found confidence in my running, and also means that I probably need to choose a new time goal for the Chicago Marathon in 5 weeks. Better than I was before, but not as good as I'll be. But for today, it was good enough for me.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
New Monthly Mileage PR
This past month, I hit a new monthly mileage personal record. It was a strong month, and an online running game that I manage also helped push me a bit too. 259.2 miles, with an average pace of 8:59. That's about 9 miles above my previous PR in May. Hopefully, the investment in time will pay off for the Chicago Marathon in 6 weeks.
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