Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: NEOC: Breakheart Navigation Race
 

Event: Old Sandwich Road Race Half Marathon
 

Old Sandwich Road Race Half Marathon. My only previous half was the 2010 New Bedford, in which Sam and I ran together and finished in 1:31:27. I estimated that I am sufficiently fit to run a 1:25 based on recent time trials, and that was the approximate goal - 4:00/km. However, my legs felt a bit trashed from sprinting for softball practice; I decided I would be ok with beating my PR.

I had perused the course map, and I expected it to be a bit slow because of the rolling hills in the second half and the dirt road running for the first third. I arrived at the race site at 8:55 - leaving 25 minutes to prep and 40 to take the bus to the start - and registered, put in my contacts, grabbed two Gus, put on sunscreen, and visited the bathroom. I had drunk about 120 mg of caffeine on the drive over, and I was hydrated. Breakfast consisted of cereal and a muffin.

I started out running very well, in the neighborhood of 4:05 - 4:10/km. My breathing was unimpeded (props to cetirizine), I had adequate energy, and while my legs felt tight, they seemed to be moving acceptably. There were a few speedy people - including a chap with a banana-suit shirt, and I judiciously made no effort to keep up with the lead pack, settling into the third pack of four by mile 1. My pack dissolved by mile 2, and I passed them to find myself alone. I was told that I was in ninth at the 4-mile mark out of maybe 200-300. I ran entirely alone - with no runners in sight - in miles 3-8 and 10-13.

The first 4-5 miles of the course were on a dirt and gravel road, which had some soft muddy bits. It was flat, but I expected it to be a little slower than pavement. I felt confident about my pacing over the first half, though I lost a little time to some small hills at mile 6. I came through the 10k mark in a comfortable 41 minutes, and figured that 1:26 or 1:27 was attainable. Unfortunately, I then got absolutely hammered by the rolling hills starting in the out-and-back at mile 8. One of the guys that I had passed at the start caught up and gradually pulled away from me. I was struggling; my muscles weren't responding well, and each step took effort. I tried to zone out for a few miles, but the hills felt relentless. I suppose they're not actually that trivial - the hill at mile 8 was 31m of climb in 750m horizontal, or about the same as Heartbreak. The long ascent from miles 8-11 is a net 60m climb over 4 km with a few wiggles. Daniel's Running Formula back of the envelope for climb is a change in pace of 12-15s per mile for each percent grade; with the wiggles, this yields a delta of about 20s per km. Since my pace fell off much more, I guess I started too fast given the onslaught that was to come.

Miles 8-11 were all about survival; I could see the pitiful pace on my watch, but found I was unable to do anything about it. For the last two miles, I attacked with everything I had left, which was not much. I sprinted the last 200m to squeak in under 91 minutes.

Three factors hurt my performance today:
1. Inadequate recovery from training earlier this week and the resulting muscle soreness.
2. Weather conditions: 27 C and a stiff wind of maybe 20-25 kph, which unfortunately was worst in the exposed areas right around miles 8-11.
3. Soul-sucking hills.

Lessons:
- Don't try new or unusual trainings the week before a race (duh).
- Don't wear a shirt if the temperature is above 21 C; don't wear pants of any kind if the temperature is above 35 C. I ran in shorts and a sleeveless shirt; the latter was completely drenched by the end.
- Train for hills more. My distance training has in general been inadequate.

I'm pleased with the effort, if not the result. I think that in my current conditioning on a good day with a flat course, I could run 1:25. I hope to do that before the end of the year, with an eye towards breaking through 1:20. I think I can safely conclude that running a sub-40 10k would not be difficult - maybe even 38. I'm a long way behind runners like Ross, but there is tremendous opportunity to get faster.

Splits from mile markers:
1: 6:41 (maybe 5s late on button push)
2: 6:24
3: 6:44
4: 6:17
5: 6:44
6: 7:11 (hill)
7: 6:28
8: 7:20 (oh god it burns)
9: 7:09
10: 7:38
11: 7:52
12: 7:29
13.1: 7:05

C • good 3

Softball practice: throwing and catching with the Wadz. Left palm and right shoulder are aching, and I throw like a duck.

C • team sports 1

Broad Ballerz softball game vs the Raiders. We were massacred 33-0, which is more a testament to how bad we are than how good our adversaries were. Apparently, the most recent addition to the Raiders roster joined 8 years ago. I batted 2-2 with a single and a walk, but went 0-2 catching pop flies in right field deep.

C • At least... 2

Easy jaunt home. The legs felt sore from all the sprinting today, and my right knee hurt a bit from when I slid... into first.

Neat video on Bayesian and Frequentist by the aptly named and suitably badass statistician, Michael Jordan:
http://videolectures.net/mlss09uk_jordan_bfway/

Registered for H21L at Oringen.

C • Like 5

Warmed up after biking over to Franklin Pond with Ali.

Control pick exercise, designed by Alex. It seems clear that while Franklin Park is very interesting terrain, it is unpleasantly thick at the end of May. I imagine the vegetation is unpleasant through September, and perhaps as early as late April. I was increasingly discouraged and finished with only a lackluster effort. The outing turned into an exercise finding the optimal path to the control that minimized off-trail travel.

To put this in perspective, in my view, Franklin Park during the summer is worse than Lynn Woods or the Fells. I may have also been discouraged by a strong allergic response to severe pollen.

C • Pollen 2

O-terval #1; started first and just avoided getting caught at 3.

O-tervals 2 and 3; I decided to call it quits after the third o-terval, though Ali persevered through the remaining o-tervals. The delight of the bike ride over contrasted heavily with my experience at Franklin Park itself.