hello Moab
Oct. 18th, 2013 03:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ilanaramaI'm kind of afraid to write this post, because the last two races I wrote up my goals and plans for turned out much different (and for 'different', read SLOWER) than I'd expected. But I'd never run those races before, and my expectations were a bit different than reality. And I've run The Other Half four times now - my default profile photo is from that race - and I have a pretty good idea of what I'm getting myself into.
So, what am I getting myself into?
The course is basically flat or gently downhill for the first half. Then there are three big hills - a painful 200-foot climb in mile 8, and two shorter but also steep climbs in miles 10 and 12, with downhills in between - and a long screaming downhill to the Longest Finish Chute Ever. (And then there is beer.)
As I said above, I've run it four times:
2009 - 1:41:44, a 2+ minute PR and 3rd AG which became 1st after winners got other awards
(In March 2010 I got my current PR of 1:37:01 at this race's sister marathon, Canyonlands)
2010 - 1:40:25, and amazingly 1st AG
2011 - 1:43:54, which I was okay with because I was still coming back from a stress fracture
2012 - 1:38:37, 2nd AG
The finish times only tell part of the story, though. Because I'm a numbers geek, I copied my split times from all these races into a spreadsheet and spent some time looking at them. And one thing that jumped out at me - well, one thing I knew from how the races went, and that the spreadsheet confirmed - was that I really suck at pacing this course.
Last year, I went out fairly fast; my first 7 miles averaged 7:14 pace, which would have been a 1:35 half had I sustained it. But the hills took it out of me, as did a headwind which popped up right at the top of the mile 8 hill, and my average pace from mile 7 to the end was 7:46. Which is slower than I ran that same stretch in both 2009 and 2010. Not by much, fortunately. But if I'm getting fitter, I should be running faster on the whole course, so this implies I'm pacing badly. And incidentally, my pace on the second half of the course the first year was only 2 seconds slower than my pace on the first half. So I ought to be able to run faster on the second half - if I run the first half properly.
There's a nifty little tool at http://tazrunning.com/ that produces an elevation-adjusted pace band for any race in its database, including The Other Half. I've created a pace plan (go look, it's got a map and elevation chart!) which roughly matches my actual pace pattern in my previous races, but holds a better pace on the late hills...and also, gets me about a half-minute PR.
I'm not actually going to print this out and use it, though; it's just a tool to help me visualize my plan. Which is to hold about 7:18-7:20 through the first 7 miles, try to make that first hill in under 8 minutes (which I've never done; my best mile-8 split, last year, was 8:12), and then try to rocket the downhills and stay strong on the uphills. My A goal is a PR, anything under 1:37 (okay, 1:37:00 would be a 1-second PR, but that would not be nearly as satisfying as a totally new number in the minutes column); my B goal is to beat my time from last year (course PR). Actually, I guess my B goal is 1:37:xx and my C goal is anything under 1:38:37.
Also, I have a goal of winning my new 50-54 age group, though that will of course depend on who else shows up - but I have a feeling the race director, Ranna, is betting on me, because I have been assigned a single-digit bib number (9!) for the first time!
Of course, making a plan is not the same as executing it, as I said above, but I'm feeling good about this one:
The other thing I'm (a bit irrationally) worried about is...falling! Since falling a couple of times on road runs, I'm a bit nervous about tripping over pavement irregularities, rocks, air, whatever. Hopefully I will manage to keep the rubber side down!
No matter how the race shakes out, I am looking forward to it. I enjoy the solo drive out to Moab, listening to audiobooks and NPR; I enjoy meeting my running friends from other cities, who I only ever see at races, for Mexican food and margaritas the night before; I enjoy the after-race party, with many pints of Moab Brewery beer. I will enjoy these things even more, of course, if I'm also celebrating a PR and an AG win, so cross your fingers for me!
So, what am I getting myself into?
The course is basically flat or gently downhill for the first half. Then there are three big hills - a painful 200-foot climb in mile 8, and two shorter but also steep climbs in miles 10 and 12, with downhills in between - and a long screaming downhill to the Longest Finish Chute Ever. (And then there is beer.)
As I said above, I've run it four times:
2009 - 1:41:44, a 2+ minute PR and 3rd AG which became 1st after winners got other awards
(In March 2010 I got my current PR of 1:37:01 at this race's sister marathon, Canyonlands)
2010 - 1:40:25, and amazingly 1st AG
2011 - 1:43:54, which I was okay with because I was still coming back from a stress fracture
2012 - 1:38:37, 2nd AG
The finish times only tell part of the story, though. Because I'm a numbers geek, I copied my split times from all these races into a spreadsheet and spent some time looking at them. And one thing that jumped out at me - well, one thing I knew from how the races went, and that the spreadsheet confirmed - was that I really suck at pacing this course.
Last year, I went out fairly fast; my first 7 miles averaged 7:14 pace, which would have been a 1:35 half had I sustained it. But the hills took it out of me, as did a headwind which popped up right at the top of the mile 8 hill, and my average pace from mile 7 to the end was 7:46. Which is slower than I ran that same stretch in both 2009 and 2010. Not by much, fortunately. But if I'm getting fitter, I should be running faster on the whole course, so this implies I'm pacing badly. And incidentally, my pace on the second half of the course the first year was only 2 seconds slower than my pace on the first half. So I ought to be able to run faster on the second half - if I run the first half properly.
There's a nifty little tool at http://tazrunning.com/ that produces an elevation-adjusted pace band for any race in its database, including The Other Half. I've created a pace plan (go look, it's got a map and elevation chart!) which roughly matches my actual pace pattern in my previous races, but holds a better pace on the late hills...and also, gets me about a half-minute PR.
I'm not actually going to print this out and use it, though; it's just a tool to help me visualize my plan. Which is to hold about 7:18-7:20 through the first 7 miles, try to make that first hill in under 8 minutes (which I've never done; my best mile-8 split, last year, was 8:12), and then try to rocket the downhills and stay strong on the uphills. My A goal is a PR, anything under 1:37 (okay, 1:37:00 would be a 1-second PR, but that would not be nearly as satisfying as a totally new number in the minutes column); my B goal is to beat my time from last year (course PR). Actually, I guess my B goal is 1:37:xx and my C goal is anything under 1:38:37.
Also, I have a goal of winning my new 50-54 age group, though that will of course depend on who else shows up - but I have a feeling the race director, Ranna, is betting on me, because I have been assigned a single-digit bib number (9!) for the first time!
Of course, making a plan is not the same as executing it, as I said above, but I'm feeling good about this one:
- My average MPW is higher than it's ever been, about 60mpw over the past 8 weeks, with the last 3 weeks at 64+. Last year I had 2 weeks at ~62 and averaged about 52 over the same period before the race.
- Although my tempo runs have not been as fast as they were last year, my speed workout on Tuesday of 3x1 mile with 3 minute easy between intervals was faster than the same workout from last year, which I also did in the week before the race: 6:55, 6:55, and 6:56, while last year my fastest of the three intervals was 7:03.
- Speaking of indicator workouts, I also ran a route on Monday that has a lot of long, steep uphill (and long, steep downhill), and my average pace was 8:41, faster than it's ever been on this route (not to mention, faster than most of my 'easy' training runs!). Coincidentally I also ran more-or-less the same route on the Monday before The Other Half last year, at an average 8:52 pace. I felt super-strong on the uphill, and comfortable pushing hard on the downhill.
- I'm at my lowest weight in some time, doubtless as a direct consequence of running so much. This week my weight has ranged between 112.2 and 114.4 pounds; for whatever reason I didn't weigh myself much last year in the week before the race, but it looks like my weight was in the range of 113.8-115.4. I don't think one pound one way or the other makes much difference - the important thing is that I'm not significantly heavier.
- The weather is forecast to be awesome - cold and sunny, just the way I like it for racing, and most importantly only a 5mph wind.
The other thing I'm (a bit irrationally) worried about is...falling! Since falling a couple of times on road runs, I'm a bit nervous about tripping over pavement irregularities, rocks, air, whatever. Hopefully I will manage to keep the rubber side down!
No matter how the race shakes out, I am looking forward to it. I enjoy the solo drive out to Moab, listening to audiobooks and NPR; I enjoy meeting my running friends from other cities, who I only ever see at races, for Mexican food and margaritas the night before; I enjoy the after-race party, with many pints of Moab Brewery beer. I will enjoy these things even more, of course, if I'm also celebrating a PR and an AG win, so cross your fingers for me!
(no subject)
Date: 2013-10-19 04:02 am (UTC)I will be in Maniac gear and starting in the back with Wave N. A friend of mine is also walking the half.
Feel free to pass my name along.