Though technically my third race in 2012, I looked at the Mercer Island Half Marathon as my first race in 2012 and the Goofy Challenge was more of a fun thing to do at the very end of the 2011 season. The Mercer Island would also be my "first" race in several categories. It would be my first race after moving to Seattle, my first race in the 30-34 age group, and more importantly my first sub 1:30 half marathon.
Pre-Race
I woke up early and feeling confident that I would finally go under 1:30. The past few weeks I had been nailing longer tempo runs which really helped motivate me. As I was waiting for a friend to pick me up for the race, I quickly went across the street and got a bagel and Gatorade. I also had a quick cup of coffee and I was ready to go. The weather was looking perfect and I was feeling fit and ready to rock.
I had planned to break up my race into 3 segments in the same way I have been doing for the past few races. It has helped me hit some PRs in the past, and was able to finish hard without bonking.
First 4 Miles
My goal for the first four miles was to hold a 7:00 minute even pace. This is slightly slower pace than is needed for a sub 1:30, but is a relaxed pace and would leave me feeling fresh to run hard the rest of way while limiting the likelihood of bonking. I positioned my self towards the front of the start, just a few rows back from the start. As soon as the gun went off I kept saying to myself, stay slow and relaxed. It is very easy to get caught up with the early push and start out much quicker than I wanted.
The first mile was pretty much all down hill and I came in around a 6:45 even though I was relaxed and was letting people fly by me. Around mile 2 I was passed by someone who asked what our time was, I told him the time, and asked if he was on pace or not. He said he felt he was faster than expected but with the hills coming he didn't care. I just thought to myself, "I'll pass him again later, and continued to ease up.
The rest of the first segment wasn't too eventful. There were a few hills, but nothing overly difficult. I cam through mile 4 right around 27:30. I was 30s ahead of pace but feeling awesome, and was excited to crush the next 4 miles, and leave enough to really put the hammer down on the final 5.1.
Miles 4-8
Right when I saw mile marker 4, I hit the lap button on my watch and picked up the pace. I was flying by people and really picked up the pace much more than I should but was feeling awesome. There were a few hills, but nothing that really destroyed my legs. There were some nice down hills that I really crushed.
I passed tons of people and wasn't passed once in this segment. This is what I like most about breaking the race down into 3 segments. My goal was hold around 6:50, but since my first segment was right at 6:50, I made an adjustment and wanted to push around a 6:45. But excitement took over and I held on to a 6:37 pace, with a segment time of 26:43.
Miles 8-13.1
The plan for the race was to nail down the last 5.1 miles in the fastest pace between the three segments. Turns out the last segment had a few really rough hills. There were some nice big downhills, but my legs were fried and running downhill was actually a lot harder than uphill. I was actually getting passed a few times on downhills, but would catch up on uphills.
There was a really rough uphill at mile 11.5 at really slowed me down. Around this time I was really watching my watch wondering if I would be under 1:30 or not. I was very confident that I would be, but was still worried. I knew there was a sharp uphill at the end but wasn't sure how long the hill was. Once I hit the foot of the hill, I had about two minutes to get in under 1:30, but was completely toast, and worried that if this hill was any longer than a quarter mile, I'd miss the 1:30. Turns out the hill was super short, and really not all that steep. My final segment was at a 6:42 pace, a bit slower than the second segment, but still right around where I wanted in my original goal.
Overall
I was extremely happy with my performance, I wish I would have paced myself slightly better, but in the end I hit a PR by about 90 seconds, and cruised in under 1:30 for the first time. Now I need to figure out how to get a Half Ironman run in under 1:30. I am really enjoying living in Seattle, all my training runs feel great, and I have amazing scenery to look at while running around Puget Sound.
Time: 1:28:37
Overall: 81/1868
Gender: 76/962
AG: 23/156
Garmin Data
Pre-Race
I woke up early and feeling confident that I would finally go under 1:30. The past few weeks I had been nailing longer tempo runs which really helped motivate me. As I was waiting for a friend to pick me up for the race, I quickly went across the street and got a bagel and Gatorade. I also had a quick cup of coffee and I was ready to go. The weather was looking perfect and I was feeling fit and ready to rock.
I had planned to break up my race into 3 segments in the same way I have been doing for the past few races. It has helped me hit some PRs in the past, and was able to finish hard without bonking.
First 4 Miles
My goal for the first four miles was to hold a 7:00 minute even pace. This is slightly slower pace than is needed for a sub 1:30, but is a relaxed pace and would leave me feeling fresh to run hard the rest of way while limiting the likelihood of bonking. I positioned my self towards the front of the start, just a few rows back from the start. As soon as the gun went off I kept saying to myself, stay slow and relaxed. It is very easy to get caught up with the early push and start out much quicker than I wanted.
The first mile was pretty much all down hill and I came in around a 6:45 even though I was relaxed and was letting people fly by me. Around mile 2 I was passed by someone who asked what our time was, I told him the time, and asked if he was on pace or not. He said he felt he was faster than expected but with the hills coming he didn't care. I just thought to myself, "I'll pass him again later, and continued to ease up.
The rest of the first segment wasn't too eventful. There were a few hills, but nothing overly difficult. I cam through mile 4 right around 27:30. I was 30s ahead of pace but feeling awesome, and was excited to crush the next 4 miles, and leave enough to really put the hammer down on the final 5.1.
Miles 4-8
Right when I saw mile marker 4, I hit the lap button on my watch and picked up the pace. I was flying by people and really picked up the pace much more than I should but was feeling awesome. There were a few hills, but nothing that really destroyed my legs. There were some nice down hills that I really crushed.
I passed tons of people and wasn't passed once in this segment. This is what I like most about breaking the race down into 3 segments. My goal was hold around 6:50, but since my first segment was right at 6:50, I made an adjustment and wanted to push around a 6:45. But excitement took over and I held on to a 6:37 pace, with a segment time of 26:43.
Miles 8-13.1
The plan for the race was to nail down the last 5.1 miles in the fastest pace between the three segments. Turns out the last segment had a few really rough hills. There were some nice big downhills, but my legs were fried and running downhill was actually a lot harder than uphill. I was actually getting passed a few times on downhills, but would catch up on uphills.
There was a really rough uphill at mile 11.5 at really slowed me down. Around this time I was really watching my watch wondering if I would be under 1:30 or not. I was very confident that I would be, but was still worried. I knew there was a sharp uphill at the end but wasn't sure how long the hill was. Once I hit the foot of the hill, I had about two minutes to get in under 1:30, but was completely toast, and worried that if this hill was any longer than a quarter mile, I'd miss the 1:30. Turns out the hill was super short, and really not all that steep. My final segment was at a 6:42 pace, a bit slower than the second segment, but still right around where I wanted in my original goal.
Overall
I was extremely happy with my performance, I wish I would have paced myself slightly better, but in the end I hit a PR by about 90 seconds, and cruised in under 1:30 for the first time. Now I need to figure out how to get a Half Ironman run in under 1:30. I am really enjoying living in Seattle, all my training runs feel great, and I have amazing scenery to look at while running around Puget Sound.
Time: 1:28:37
Overall: 81/1868
Gender: 76/962
AG: 23/156
Garmin Data
