Fleet Week Half Marathon

Been looking forward to this race for quite some time:
#1 – it would make a welcome change from a Sunday long run on the trail on my own!
#2 – it would be a good test of fitness 2 weeks before the Marine Corps Marathon
#3 – it would be a good chance to catch up with several friends who were running that I haven’t seen for a while

Going into the race I hadn’t really settled on a goal. Actually I posted the following on Corey’s Fitness & Nutrition Journal blog last night:

Do I try and run at marathon goal pace for the 13.1 miles?
Do I start off at marathon goal pace and try to speed up for the latter miles?
Do I see how I feel and just run the race?
Do I race as fast as I can for as long as I can?

Knowing me, I’ll do the latter and probably wish I’d started off slower. Ok, here’s the prediction, and it’s quite a bold one – 1:22:00…..

Well, quite predictably I started off too fast and ended up gutting out at least half the race. The good news is I only slowed slightly in the last mile, and was able to move up from 14th place at the 5 mile mark, to 8th overall at the finish.

The Fleet Week Half Marathon took place at Naval Station Norfolk – the largest Naval Installation in the world which occupies about 4,300 acres and a great venue for a race. The weather was perfect too and a welcome change from the heat and humidity of recent Sunday mornings.

Despite lining up a few rows back at the start line, I somehow managed to get swept away with the excitement of the occasion and ran the first mile in 6:11 – about 10 seconds faster than I probably should have run. It might not sound much, but 10 seconds can do a lot of damage later on a race. I intentionally “slowed” to a 6:22 second mile, but somehow got carried away in the third mile and ran a crazy 6:06.

The fourth mile doubled back the way we started and I got caught up in cheering on my friends as our paths crossed. I was somewhat shocked to record a fast 6:00 mile, and with 9 miles still to run, told myself to cool it for a while. A 6:12 was more like it for the next one, but by now I was kind of isolated from a pack of 6 or 7 runners ahead and working hard in the breezy conditions. If only I get to the back of the pack and draft off them for a while to conserve energy.

At this point I was still feeling ok – light on my feet, fast cadence and good arm carriage. I was running faster than I expected, but still felt relaxed. Mile 6 was slightly quicker (6:06) and with the pack ahead breaking apart, I surged slightly to try and catch them. A 5:59 suicide mile took me past 2 fading runners, and now I was over halfway through the race with 6 miles to go – still a long way to go and a lot of work to do.

The course changed direction and the wind was thankfully behind us for a while – it felt great to get that extra push and the sun on my back felt wonderful. Three solid miles (6:03, 6:00 and 6:02) took me past the remainder of the broken up pack, and now it was just a question of hanging on as long as I could. I must admit it was hard work now. Two race official pulled alongside me just after the tenth mile and asked if I needed anything. My reply was “Just the finish line”. They laughed and reminded me “I was almost done”, but I knew 3 miles was a long way still to go.

I slowed to a 6:12 in mile 11, but knowing I was fairly close to the finish, surged again in the twelfth mile (6:08). Mile 13 was the toughest however. It was such a struggle to maintain any kind of “speed” and with the finish line agonizingly in the distance, all I could do was try to stay relaxed and strong to the end. I actually didn’t slow as badly as I thought (6:15), but it was a painful mile.

So, my finish time was 1:20:53 – a full minute faster than I anticipated. My lofty pre-race goal of 1:22:00 was beaten and now I can reflect on a solid performance with just 2 weeks to go until my fall marathon.

For the record, temperature was 70°F, humidity 36% and wind speed 11.1mph.
I placed 8th overall out of 880 runners and was second in the 40-44 age group.

Looking back through my results archive, this was my second best half marathon ever, so naturally I’m very pleased with the performance. Good confidence booster for the Marine Corps Marathon!