This was to be my first run at the March Madness event in Cary and my third half-marathon. The course for this race is comprised of streets east and north of the Cary-Grove High School area with the start and finish at the high school. There are a few flat areas in the race course but for the most part you’re challenged by different levels of rolling hills, which makes for a rather challenging half-marathon.
Being unfamiliar with this race I really didn’t know what to expect. It’s difficult for me to gauge hill races at this distance since I’ve run only one other, the North Shore Half in Highland Park. That was my first half-marathon and I bonked after about 8.5 miles. Ironically it is also my half-marathon PR (2:13) and I was able to recover well enough for a respectable finishing time. But that race sort of left a bad taste in my mouth because I hate having to stop and walk in a race when I encounter a rough spot. Plus, I had planned on finishing the race with Kelly. She was having an awesome day (and PR’d) but I wasn’t able to sustain the pace she was setting.
To prepare for this race I had been doing my long training runs at the Morton Arboretum, which also has rolling hills. The week prior to the race Jim and I managed to do a 12-mile training run in just less than two hours. I pushed the pace the last two miles to get us under 10 mpm. After hearing this, Kelly was confident that we could run the March Madness Half in 2:10 or better based upon our training run. I wasn’t as confident since hill races usually cause me trouble if I don’t manage my pace well.
On the day of the race I picked up Kelly and Brian on the way. Once we had arrived at Cary-Grove High School I realized that it was a bit chillier than I had anticipated. My plan was to wear my long sleeve Brooks moisture-wicking base layer. It was about 28 degrees at the start so I ended up wearing my Brooks half-zip mid layer as well. I didn’t bring my gloves or ear muffs. We picked up our race packets and headed back to the car. We ran into Jim on the way and told him we would meet him back at the high school gymnasium.
After pinning on our race bibs and warming up a bit in the car we headed back to the gymnasium where we met up with Jim, chatted a bit and then headed out to the race start. Janeth was also running in the race but we didn’t see her as we lined up. Jim and I were going to start together, since we’ve been running at about the same pace over the last several races. This was a recovery run for Brian from his training run at Clinton Lake the day before and he and Kelly lined up at the back of the starting pack.
Although it was a little cold and breezy, with a bit of a headwind at times, it was also sunny and that kept my uncovered extremities comfortable.
The gun sounded and we were off, running east on Three Oaks Rd for the first couple of miles. I had planned to start my pace at around 10 mpm or higher but we actually started out a little faster than that at about a 9:30 pace. Jim was pushing the pace a little, running to my left side but a little in front of me, but I held back and mentioned to him that this was a long race.
Jim and I have a rather different running style. He tends to start races faster and more aggressively than I and relies on a faster starting pace for good finishing times. I need to start slower, warm up a bit so until I’m more comfortable, and then finish strong - making up for the slower start time with a faster paced second half of the race. I’ve messed up more than a few runs by starting out too fast.
The first mile went by rather quickly in 9:40. I was keeping an eye on my Garmin to let Jim know what our pace was. As a few people passed us Jim seemed to unconsciously pick up the pace. During the second mile we dipped under 9 mpm and I let Jim know about it. He said, “Ooh, that’s too fast” and slowed it down a bit. I told him that it was OK with me if he wanted to run ahead but he said that our pace was fine with him.
Since the first couple of miles didn’t have much in the way of (up)hills I thought it would be OK to run a sub 10 mpm pace. I was compromising a bit though since I wanted to run a little more conservatively, but then remembered that Kelly successfully implemented the “banking time” approach during her P.F. Chang’s Marathon run in Phoenix. So, I thought I’d give that a try (since our running style is about the same) and hope that I still had something left over for a strong race finish.
We continued on somewhat of a gradual downhill run from the first half mile of the race all the way through mile two. We completed mile two in 9:28. I remember a young woman runner who kept walking and then running. I thought it was rather strange since we were only through the first couple miles of the race. Eventually she fell behind us sometime during mile three.
We turned the corner just past the two mile mark and headed north on Hickory Nut Grove Rd. You couldn’t really see it but you could feel that we were gradually heading up hill. I seem to remember that Jim had tucked in behind me at this point as we continued at the same pace. Mile completed in 9:27. The colder weather was helping me stay cool and I felt comfortable – no aches or pains. I just didn’t know how long that would last as the race progressed.
During mile four we turned on to Hickory Nut Grove Lane heading west. I was focusing on our pace and not really paying too much attention to what was going on around me. I had slowed us down to around a 10 mpm pace figuring that we would have enough of a buffer to finish at or just under 2:10. Mile four through seven was completed in 9:57, 9:57, 10:14 and 10:02 respectively.
Jim and I were pretty much blowing off the water stations as he had his hydration belt and I was using my hydration pack. We each ate half a bag of Black Cherry Shot Bloks at mile five, without slowing down or stopping, and waited for the caffeine boost to kick in. Consuming Shot Bloks while running is a bit of a challenge for me but they were warm and soft from being held in my hand. No problem with the first serving.
Somewhere between miles four and seven we encountered a rather large hill. I can’t recall where it was (mile six?) although I think we encountered one like it (the same one?) on our return trip. Since there are quite a few rolling hills, that I literally lost track of, I’m unable to identify it from the elevation and map in the Garmin Training Center or Google Earth software.
I was still feeling pretty good after mile seven and Jim was running up a little a head of me and to the side. We would switch sides occasionally depending upon the running traffic. We were back running at a sub ten-minute pace. Mile eight through ten was completed in 9:39, 9:36 and 9:45 respectively. Once again I mentioned to Jim that it was OK if he wanted to run ahead. But he said no, because he’d probably just end up “coughing up a lung” or “puking his guts out” or something to that effect (Jim’s words were probably a bit more colorful and descriptive than mine). ;-)
I remember telling Jim that we would probably be catching runners ahead of us as we continued our pace. During mile eight we passed a number of runners during our ascent up the winding hill on Crystal Lake Rd., which was one of the highest elevation points of the race. Fortunately, we had a bit of a respite between miles eight and nine as we descended back downhill and sustained our sub ten-minute pace.
Mile ten was back up hill again. Shortly after mile ten we ate the second half of our bag of Shot Bloks. I wasn’t able to finish the last Shot Blok before we encountered more hills so I waited a few minutes. It was becoming much more difficult to chew and breathe at the same time and I thought that breathing at that point was probably more important. On a descent I popped the last Shot Blok into my mouth and after a few chews started to choke on it a little. But I made a nice recovery by simply swallowing what was left and then taking a swig of Gatorade G2 from my hydration pack. But if you’re wondering, yes I can walk and chew Shot Bloks at the same time. ;-)
Mile eleven was a bit of a dipsy doodle as we ran through the sub divisions of the town. I still felt pretty good at this point. Nothing was hurting and my stamina was good. A couple of runners passed us but their pace slowed to ours so they ran just a little in front of us. I wanted to pick up the pace just a little, but not too much since I didn’t know what kind of hills we would encounter during the last couple of miles. We completed mile eleven in 9:39 as the course descended and we began mile twelve.
At this point Jim mentioned that he didn’t think he would beat his PR for the half-marathon. I asked him what it was and he said he thought it was around 2:06. I knew that I was on track to obliterate my PR and was pretty sure that we could finish under 2:10. If we picked up the pace during the last couple of miles there was a good chance of being around the 2:06 mark. But I also knew that we still had some hills to conquer and that it would be even more of a challenge at this late stage of the race.
Jim and I maintained our pace through mile twelve and began to leave some of the runners that were running with us behind. This mile was one of the toughest as it was uphill throughout. However, it was also one of our best as we finished it in 9:32. No one would pass us for the last 2.1 miles.
Mile thirteen started off downhill and at this point I decided to pick up the pace. With a mile and a tenth left I figured I had energy enough left to push the pace even harder. Jim sensed that and said, “I can tell we’re running faster now”.
I continued to push the pace as we passed runners that were slowing down. As we approached the right turn from Mallard Rd to the asphalt path along side Three Oaks Rd. I increased our pace slightly in anticipation of the finish, just a half mile away. Once we had turned onto the asphalt path I noticed that it was on an upward incline. UGH! I wasn’t anticipating another hill!
Jim said we could slow down. I backed off and he ran just a little ahead of me. I maintained my pace and Jim picked up his a little. I let the gap grow to about 15 feet. We were both on our own at this point.
Jim didn’t appear to be increasing his pace so I simply maintained mine as we approached the 13-mile mark, which is a right turn into the high school drive and then on to the finish line. As we rounded the corner I kicked in sprint mode for the final tenth of a mile.
I thought Jim might speed up to match my pace as I approached him from behind, but he just yelled “Good job Paul!” as I ran past him. As I continued my sprint towards the finish line I heard someone yell “Show us that big kick!” Big kick? Moi? Was there someone behind me he was cheering for?
There weren’t that many runners at this point so I had a clear lane as I crossed the finish line. Jim finished well, just eight seconds behind me. I completed the last mile in 8:58 and last tenth of a mile in 41 seconds (6:50 pace).
It was a new half-marathon PR for me as I crossed the finish line in 2:07:16. Jim would find out later that his time was a PR as well. I’m still somewhat surprised with the time since my planned goal was to simply to finish at around 2:10.
Jim and I couldn’t get our official results right away so he ran to get a beer…oh wait, sorry, that was a “coffee”…and I waited for Kelly and Brian to finish a few minutes later.
Afterwards we headed to the gymnasium for warm pretzels. I will admit to having difficulty standing and eating one of those pretzels after running a half-marathon. But I didn’t choke. ;-)
At the gymnasium we met up with Janeth, where I found out that she passed another runner a little before the finish line to win the women’s division. Yaaaaay Janeth! You’re awesome Speedy! ;-)
Can’t help but be very pleased about my race and finishing time. I didn't expect this but it’s apparent to me now that all of the longer distance training runs and races I’ve been doing since last year has made me a much stronger runner (Thanks Kelly! :-)). Now I just have to keep it going.
Next up is the Shamrock Shuffle in downtown Chicago. I ran my best race there in 2006 and it will be quite a challenge (but still possible) to beat my current 8K PR.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Let's Get Wacky!
I had never run the Wacky 5K before but a co-worker of mine, Jim, had signed up to run and I decided to join him. Plus it looked like it might be kind of fun to collect all the food goodies after the race.
This was to be my first race of 2008. I wasn’t sure what sort of shape I was in for a 5K since I had been focusing mostly on longer (slower) runs – didn’t know whether those fast twitch muscles could warm up fast enough to run close to my PR times from last year. In addition, I had gained about 7 lbs. since my last 5K at Bucktown (although I did drop a couple of lbs. over the last two weeks).
In any event the previous week’s running mileage had been rather pitiful, at 11 miles total, so I needed to step it up the week of the race. During the week I’m generally stuck running on a treadmill because of the snow. Concrete sidewalks have no appeal, even when shoveled, and the streets around me are too busy for me to feel comfortable running on.
My dislike for the treadmill results in an ongoing mental challenge for me to start and complete my training runs. For this week I decided to change it up a bit and run a variation of Kelly’s current training schedule, which involved running half the distance of my regular six mile runs on consecutive days. That seemed to work for me and on one of the days I ran tempo for a 5K to find out where I was at speed-wise.
By race day (Sunday), I’d had a good week of preparation and felt pretty good. I headed out to the west side of Chicago where the race was to take place. The race starts out on Washington, just a few blocks east of Ashland Ave. I noticed that this particular race course is just a bit north of the Bastille Day 5K race course that I run every year during the summer.
I spotted Jim at packet pick-up, which was at Plumbers’ Union Hall on Washington St, and also was the starting and finishing location of the race. We chatted for bit and then lined up for the race. Jim asked me what pace I had planned on running and I told him I was going to shoot for 8 mpm. He said he didn’t think he would be running anywhere near that fast…but I wasn’t going to fall for the “unintentional sandbag” routine since his pace is close to mine and over the last three races he’s kind of hung just behind me, leaving me wondering what he had planned for the end…which is usually my strongest part of the race. ;-)
He said that he had to run eight miles later in the day for his half-marathon training. I told him that I had run my 12-mile pre-5K warm-up the previous day at the Morton Aboretum, thinking that might make him feel better. (Psych) ;-)
As the horn sounded to start the race we took off east on Washington. Actually my mental compass was totally off as I felt as if we were running south. Of course it didn’t make any difference since all I had to do was follow the runners in front of me. However, it did matter later during my drive home when I found myself heading northwest on 90/94 instead of west on the Eisenhower Expressway. ;-)
After a half block on Washington (yes heading east), we turned left on Ada St. and headed north. It was very congested at this point with a mixture of slower and faster runners. I was passing slower runners and I was also a slower runner with faster runners passing me. After a block on Ada we turned right on to W. Randolph St. heading east. The crowd of runners began to break up a bit and I didn’t have much difficulty sustaining my pace, which bounced around between a seven and low eight mpm pace. There were a few chunks of ice and snow on the road so you had to be careful where you were running.
I didn’t notice whether Jim was behind me and I didn’t look. I though that I might have lost him during the initial runner shuffle at the start.
We ran about five blocks down Randolph and I continued to maintain a sub eight minute pace. I had to keep an eye on my Garmin GPS watch since I’m not very good at figuring out my pace by feel. We made a right turn on to Green St and headed south. The one thing I noticed was that the runners were very quiet – those around me were all very focused and running a good pace. I could hear one runner behind me who was breathing rather hard but he was actually catching up to me and eventually passed me.
Half way down the Green St. leg we approached the one mile sign. It read 8:13. My Garmin had me at 7:56 - so far so good.
I continued to maintain my pace and even picked it up a little. I still felt good but was a little apprehensive since I hadn’t run a 5K in a while. We took a right on to W. Van Buren St. and headed west. Two blocks later a right heading north on Aberdeen and then a block later another right on to W. Jackson heading east. We were in a bit of a zig-zag as we turned left on N. Peoria St. heading north again after a block and then another left on to W. Adams St. heading west again.
The two-mile mark was at the Peoria/Adams intersection. I didn’t see the mile marker sign but I checked my Garmin and my second mile completed in 7:52. OK, I thought to myself, this is going better than I had expected. But I still wasn’t sure how much I had in the tank for a good finish.
As we headed down Adams, I was checking my Garmin a bit more frequently. I was beginning to tire just a little bit. My legs were good, but I could feel my wind going away a bit more. Speaking of wind, it seemed like every direction we ran, except east, there was a bit of a headwind.
I was determined not to let my pace drop, run my last mile a little conservatively but still maintain the sub eight pace for as long as possible. Half way down the Adams leg (shortly before the 2.5 mile mark) I heard someone running just a little behind me. I took a quick glance, slightly to the right, and realized it was Jim. At the same time I noted the sound of his pace (his shoes made) so I knew where he would be as we continued towards the finish of the race.
Jim continued to run just a little bit behind me. I wasn’t sure how much energy he had left but he made no effort to pass. It was a bit more difficult to hear his breathing since he was hanging back a bit. But now I had some additional motivation to maintain my pace, or step it up a little to see if he would continue to hang with me.
I continued my pace, watching my Garmin judiciously, as we took a right on S. Laflin St. from Adams heading north. I thought that Jim might have been dropping back a little at that point since I had difficulty hearing the sound of his pace.
At W. Madison we made a right turn heading east and then a short block later a quick left turn on to Bishop heading north. There would be one more long block before returning to Washington for the finish of the race.
I had picked up my pace ever so slightly during the last half mile but wasn’t sure how much energy I would have left for my traditional “sprint to the finish”.
A few (younger) runners passed me but stayed within sight. Two young women, running together, passed and I decided to match their pace. As we approached the final (right) turn on to Washington a couple of runners ran by me.
This was starting to suck. I usually don’t get passed at the end of a 5K. But I didn’t panic. I matched their pace and just waited until about a block and a half from the finish and then when into sprint mode.
Not only did I pass those runners that had just passed me but I had enough left to pass other runners slowing down at the finish. I could hear one runner trying to catch back up to me but I kept him behind me. Heh heh heh. That felt gooooood!
WOO HOO! Now that was an awesome finish! Did anyone video record that? ;-)
No official race time as I log this but my Garmin has me at 24:41, which is close to my 5K PR. Well it probably would be a PR if the race had been exactly 3.1 miles. Garmin shows 3.17. All three miles were under 8 mpm, with the last mile the fastest at 7:49 and the final .17 at 6:07.
Jim finished well, probably about 15 seconds behind me. I think he ran a little faster than he “pretended” he would. ;-)
After the race, we grabbed our goodies…um, that would be the food I was referring to earlier. They had boxes of cereal, cookies, gum, pizza, various Fuze smoothies or whatever they are (I don’t drink that stuff - yuck).
Overall I was quite pleased with my finish in this race. Now I know that my speed has carried over from last year (or I’ve recovered it). Next up is the March Madness Half Marathon - which will be a much bigger challenge and good indicator of whether I’ve made any progress running a hill race.
This was to be my first race of 2008. I wasn’t sure what sort of shape I was in for a 5K since I had been focusing mostly on longer (slower) runs – didn’t know whether those fast twitch muscles could warm up fast enough to run close to my PR times from last year. In addition, I had gained about 7 lbs. since my last 5K at Bucktown (although I did drop a couple of lbs. over the last two weeks).
In any event the previous week’s running mileage had been rather pitiful, at 11 miles total, so I needed to step it up the week of the race. During the week I’m generally stuck running on a treadmill because of the snow. Concrete sidewalks have no appeal, even when shoveled, and the streets around me are too busy for me to feel comfortable running on.
My dislike for the treadmill results in an ongoing mental challenge for me to start and complete my training runs. For this week I decided to change it up a bit and run a variation of Kelly’s current training schedule, which involved running half the distance of my regular six mile runs on consecutive days. That seemed to work for me and on one of the days I ran tempo for a 5K to find out where I was at speed-wise.
By race day (Sunday), I’d had a good week of preparation and felt pretty good. I headed out to the west side of Chicago where the race was to take place. The race starts out on Washington, just a few blocks east of Ashland Ave. I noticed that this particular race course is just a bit north of the Bastille Day 5K race course that I run every year during the summer.
I spotted Jim at packet pick-up, which was at Plumbers’ Union Hall on Washington St, and also was the starting and finishing location of the race. We chatted for bit and then lined up for the race. Jim asked me what pace I had planned on running and I told him I was going to shoot for 8 mpm. He said he didn’t think he would be running anywhere near that fast…but I wasn’t going to fall for the “unintentional sandbag” routine since his pace is close to mine and over the last three races he’s kind of hung just behind me, leaving me wondering what he had planned for the end…which is usually my strongest part of the race. ;-)
He said that he had to run eight miles later in the day for his half-marathon training. I told him that I had run my 12-mile pre-5K warm-up the previous day at the Morton Aboretum, thinking that might make him feel better. (Psych) ;-)
As the horn sounded to start the race we took off east on Washington. Actually my mental compass was totally off as I felt as if we were running south. Of course it didn’t make any difference since all I had to do was follow the runners in front of me. However, it did matter later during my drive home when I found myself heading northwest on 90/94 instead of west on the Eisenhower Expressway. ;-)
After a half block on Washington (yes heading east), we turned left on Ada St. and headed north. It was very congested at this point with a mixture of slower and faster runners. I was passing slower runners and I was also a slower runner with faster runners passing me. After a block on Ada we turned right on to W. Randolph St. heading east. The crowd of runners began to break up a bit and I didn’t have much difficulty sustaining my pace, which bounced around between a seven and low eight mpm pace. There were a few chunks of ice and snow on the road so you had to be careful where you were running.
I didn’t notice whether Jim was behind me and I didn’t look. I though that I might have lost him during the initial runner shuffle at the start.
We ran about five blocks down Randolph and I continued to maintain a sub eight minute pace. I had to keep an eye on my Garmin GPS watch since I’m not very good at figuring out my pace by feel. We made a right turn on to Green St and headed south. The one thing I noticed was that the runners were very quiet – those around me were all very focused and running a good pace. I could hear one runner behind me who was breathing rather hard but he was actually catching up to me and eventually passed me.
Half way down the Green St. leg we approached the one mile sign. It read 8:13. My Garmin had me at 7:56 - so far so good.
I continued to maintain my pace and even picked it up a little. I still felt good but was a little apprehensive since I hadn’t run a 5K in a while. We took a right on to W. Van Buren St. and headed west. Two blocks later a right heading north on Aberdeen and then a block later another right on to W. Jackson heading east. We were in a bit of a zig-zag as we turned left on N. Peoria St. heading north again after a block and then another left on to W. Adams St. heading west again.
The two-mile mark was at the Peoria/Adams intersection. I didn’t see the mile marker sign but I checked my Garmin and my second mile completed in 7:52. OK, I thought to myself, this is going better than I had expected. But I still wasn’t sure how much I had in the tank for a good finish.
As we headed down Adams, I was checking my Garmin a bit more frequently. I was beginning to tire just a little bit. My legs were good, but I could feel my wind going away a bit more. Speaking of wind, it seemed like every direction we ran, except east, there was a bit of a headwind.
I was determined not to let my pace drop, run my last mile a little conservatively but still maintain the sub eight pace for as long as possible. Half way down the Adams leg (shortly before the 2.5 mile mark) I heard someone running just a little behind me. I took a quick glance, slightly to the right, and realized it was Jim. At the same time I noted the sound of his pace (his shoes made) so I knew where he would be as we continued towards the finish of the race.
Jim continued to run just a little bit behind me. I wasn’t sure how much energy he had left but he made no effort to pass. It was a bit more difficult to hear his breathing since he was hanging back a bit. But now I had some additional motivation to maintain my pace, or step it up a little to see if he would continue to hang with me.
I continued my pace, watching my Garmin judiciously, as we took a right on S. Laflin St. from Adams heading north. I thought that Jim might have been dropping back a little at that point since I had difficulty hearing the sound of his pace.
At W. Madison we made a right turn heading east and then a short block later a quick left turn on to Bishop heading north. There would be one more long block before returning to Washington for the finish of the race.
I had picked up my pace ever so slightly during the last half mile but wasn’t sure how much energy I would have left for my traditional “sprint to the finish”.
A few (younger) runners passed me but stayed within sight. Two young women, running together, passed and I decided to match their pace. As we approached the final (right) turn on to Washington a couple of runners ran by me.
This was starting to suck. I usually don’t get passed at the end of a 5K. But I didn’t panic. I matched their pace and just waited until about a block and a half from the finish and then when into sprint mode.
Not only did I pass those runners that had just passed me but I had enough left to pass other runners slowing down at the finish. I could hear one runner trying to catch back up to me but I kept him behind me. Heh heh heh. That felt gooooood!
WOO HOO! Now that was an awesome finish! Did anyone video record that? ;-)
No official race time as I log this but my Garmin has me at 24:41, which is close to my 5K PR. Well it probably would be a PR if the race had been exactly 3.1 miles. Garmin shows 3.17. All three miles were under 8 mpm, with the last mile the fastest at 7:49 and the final .17 at 6:07.
Jim finished well, probably about 15 seconds behind me. I think he ran a little faster than he “pretended” he would. ;-)
After the race, we grabbed our goodies…um, that would be the food I was referring to earlier. They had boxes of cereal, cookies, gum, pizza, various Fuze smoothies or whatever they are (I don’t drink that stuff - yuck).
Overall I was quite pleased with my finish in this race. Now I know that my speed has carried over from last year (or I’ve recovered it). Next up is the March Madness Half Marathon - which will be a much bigger challenge and good indicator of whether I’ve made any progress running a hill race.
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