Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon

Well, all the training paid off! I smashed my Half Marathon PR by 5 minutes and exceeded all of my expectations by finishing in 1:36:40 - an average pace of 7:22/mile.

I had been following the weather forecast for race morning closely for 7 days and had seen the forecast change from rain/thunderstorms to hot and humid and for a few days it seemed like all my training would be for nothing as the conditions would be too difficult to even break my existing PR, let alone get under 1:40:00. Luckily, the conditions on race morning turned out to be nearly perfect - 55F (12C) with cloudy skies.

Along with the weather, I had been nervous about the hills on the course. The elevation map below shows the hills between miles 1 and 3 and then between miles 9 and 11. I wasn't overly worried about the hill at the beginning of the course as I was fairly confident that the adrenaline from the start of the race would carry me through (and I had run on that hill a few times before in 5K races). I was however not looking forward to the hills between miles 9 and 11 following a significant downhill between miles 7 and 9. Two uphill miles on tired legs would be a challenge!

Hills!

On race morning I got up at 5:30am after somewhere between 4 and 5 hours sleep. This time last year 4-5 hours of sleep would have been a significant problem on race morning, but now with Jack I typically get somewhere between 5 and 6 hours a night so I was relatively well rested. I had already laid out my clothes and attached my bib with built-in timing chip to my singlet the night before and filled my water bottles. I had my normal breakfast and got dressed in my singlet, shorts, calf compression sleeves and shorts. I drank 10oz of Gatorade over the next hour and Elizabeth, Jack and I left the house at 6:30am.

We arrived at the RBC Center a little before 7am and had plenty of time to get Jack in his stroller, make a quick stop at a porta-loo and walk most of the way to the location that Elizabeth and Jack would be watching me pass twice during the race. I took my first GU (a new favor with some caffeine) of the day about 15 minutes before the start of the race and did my pre-race warm-up and stretches on the way back to the start line.

I entered the starting corrals fairly near the front as I knew it would be a small race (I hadn't seen any bib numbers higher than 2000) and bounced and stretched for the next 8 minutes or so until the race started. For the first time on race morning I focused on the 13.1 miles ahead of me. I had been focused on many other things until this point (waking up at the right time, breakfast, hydration, clothing, getting Jack up, getting to the arena on time, finding a bathroom, getting Elizabeth and Jack to the right location and then warming up and stretching) and now my thoughts switched to the Half Marathon that I was about to run.

I went back over my training. I had covered 319 miles in 2011. I had run faster at the track that ever before. I had breezed through my tempo runs and even had to focus on slowing down to run 7:35/mile on many occasions. I had run three 12 mile and one 15 mile long runs in the last 6 weeks and I felt stronger and more in control of my running form than ever before. I was ready to break 1:40 and I was ready for this race to start! The starter called us to our marks a little after 7:30am  and then we were off and running.

Mile 1 (6:49). The first mile was a loop of the RBC Center. I had run this loop a couple of times in 5K races and knew that it was mostly flat or downhill for the first 3/4 before the first 1.5 mile climb began. I never sprint away from the starting line, but I did let the caffeine boost from my GU take me out at a comfortable pace as I worked out the best position for my fuel belt which was bouncing up and down and twisting around my body. After half a mile of adjustments, the bouncing and twisting stopped and I settled in to an early rhythm. I glanced at my watch and saw I was 30 seconds or so ahead of my goal pace. I wasn't worried as we had been running downhill and the first decent hill was coming up.

Miles 2 (7:10) and 3 (7:06). I passed Elizabeth and Jack (and a number of other race supporters) half way through mile 2 and the shouts of "Go Daddy" made me smile! The course exited the RBC Center and turned on to Trinity Road where the climb really began. I felt good and before I knew it we had passed the first band (the race was "Raleigh Rocks" after all) and the Mile 2 marker and had turned on to Blue Ridge Road. I didn't notice the split for Mile 2 appear on my watch, but I knew I was already over a minute ahead of my goal pace. As the hill crested and the rolling hills began I was surprised that the hill was over already as it really hadn't been all that bad at all!

Miles 4 (7:22) and 5 (7:23). I focused a little more on slowing down my pace on the rolling hills of Blue Ridge road during this out and back section of the race as I was 1:45 ahead of my goal at the start of mile 4. I took a GU somewhere around mile 4.5. These miles just passed by so easily that I was a little shocked how easy the pace still felt, and I was still running faster than my goal pace even though I was constantly telling myself to slow down! I passed the mile 5 marker over 2 minutes ahead of goal pace with a huge downhill section to come.

Mile 6 (6:57). Mile 6 was downhill all the way (down the hill that I had climbed in miles 2 and 3) and I passed Elizabeth and Jack just before the mile 6 marker. They cheered for me and waved and the rest of the group (which had grown significantly since I passed it earlier) joined in as well. I had been looking forward to seeing them and it gave me a little boost of energy.

Mile 7 (7:23). During mile 7 I passed 10K in 44:20 (which would be a PR by nearly 2 minutes) and then had to climb another hill back up to Blue Ridge road. It was a short hill but it was first time that I felt that I had to dig deep to get to the top, but once I got there and started back up Blue Ridge road I felt good again.

Miles 8 (7:08) and 9 (7:02). These miles were down hill and my mind had switched to the up hill miles that were getting closer and closer. I kept telling myself to slow down and even though I felt like I was running slower, the down hill portions kept my splits way off of my target pace. As I passed the mile 9 marker I was over 3:15 ahead of my target pace and it was about to finally cause me a problem...

Miles 10 (7:58) and 11 (8:07). I had driven the hills of this portion a few days before the race, so I knew that they looked like and it wasn't pretty. I dropped my pace as the climb began and tried to focus on maintaining good form with short quick strides but it was suddenly it was all feeling very difficult. My legs began to feel heavy and I tried to break the next 2 miles down in to smaller sections, each with a single hill but the fact I was over three minutes ahead of my goal pace started to have a negative effect on me. I knew I didn't have to push through the hills as I had plenty of time to give and still hit my goal. When I set my 1:40 goal it had seemed something that I'd have to run hard to meet. Running 7:35/mile for 13.1 miles had seemed like a real challenge, but here I was with less than 4 miles to go knowing that I could run 8:10/mile until the finish and still comfortably achieve my goal. It was time for another GU so I walked through the water station and took it. I took maybe a 20 second walk break in the end and then set off running again. I looked at my watch and was still 3 minutes ahead of my target pace and decided that I could run/walk on the up hill parts and run the flat and down hill sections until the mile 11 marker and the downhill stretch to the finish started. The splits for the miles ended up being 7:58 and 8:07, even with a few walk breaks thrown in and I felt refreshed and ready to get to the finish.

Miles 12 (7:13) and 13 (7:59). Mile 12 was mostly downhill and my banked time increased back up to nearly 3 minutes. I could feel the finish was close but I was beginning to feel the hills that I had already covered on my calves and quads. As I passed the mile 12 marker my legs were dead all of a sudden. Everything ached and running a 7:13 downhill probably hadn't been my best plan. I wasn't out of energy, I wasn't feeling light-headed or anything like that, but I could feel my leg muscles tightening and once again being 3 minutes ahead came back to bite me. It was all too easy to take a few walk breaks on the small inclines that were scattered throughout mile 13. Had I needed to run through the entire mile I am sure I could have and although it might have hurt, I doubt I would have caused myself any lasting damage, but as I knew I didn't 'need' to run it, I couldn't stop myself from taking a few short walk breaks.

The last 0.10 of a mile: There were a decent number of race supporters along the final stretch in to the finish line. I could hear Elizabeth but I couldn't see her, then I spotted her and she shouted that she had "lost the baby" (who was being held by our friend Tania out of view). The photos below show me smiling as I pass her. She later told me that she was trying to motivate me to run faster! I must admit I did find her rather quickly once I had crossed the finish line. Searching for Elizabeth and then hearing her shouted comment took my mind off of the last stretch of the race and I just about remembered to stop my watch as I crossed the line: 1 hour 36 minutes and 40 seconds - over 3 minutes faster than my goal!

I am scanning the crowds looking for Elizabeth and Jack

I finally see Elizabeth and she shouts that she has "lost the baby"! It brings a smile to my face...

... and I run the last few meters to the finish line.

I received my finishers medal, grabbed some water and a banana and found Elizabeth, Jack and Tania. I then did some quick stretches and sat down to pose for a photo with Jack and the "Go Daddy" sign.

Posing with Jack after the race!

My initial reaction after the race was one of relief. I had been focused on this race and meeting my goal for 100 days. I had trained hard and gone out and run a good race, but there was a little hint of shock at how fast I had managed to run. Before the race I honestly thought that 7:35/mile for 13.1 miles was going to be a tough challenge and I wouldn't have been surprised if the hills prevented me from holding that pace. Running an average of 7:22/mile with only 3 miles over 7:23 never crossed my mind as a viable goal.

A few days have passed now since the race and although I am proud of my achievement (1:36:40 is a very respectable time (with an Age Grade of 61.5%) and if I never run another Half Marathon, it is a PR that I am happy to have), I am not sure whether my goal of breaking 1:40:00 a year after running 1:41:40 on a flat course wasn't challenging enough in the end. I found it too easy to take walk breaks on the hills towards the end of the race because I was so far ahead of where I needed to be. Would I have been able to break 1:35:00 if I had set that as my target? Should I have changed my goal to 1:35:00 at the half way point? These are certainly all things to think about when it comes to training for and running my next Half Marathon, but next up will be a full Marathon, and there is only ever one goal for a first Marathoner and that is to finish - and without a doubt I am comfortable with that!