Sunday dawned with misty, cool conditions, about 65 degrees, which stayed constant through the whole race. There were slight breezes on a couple of the stretches that helped cool me off a little as I tromped through this hilly course, but basically it was an okay weather day. Just cool enough. News reports after the race touted this course as the toughest half marathon in Texas, which may be true, but I still maintain that the Pervasive 10 miler course is tougher for me. This one is tough, don't get me wrong. There's a long section in the middle of the race that has a sustained climb with several distinct parts, then a section of steady inclines of a more insidious nature, before it more or less levels out with 4 miles to go.
I was really nervous before this one for some reason. I think it's mostly because my legs have been a little weird this week, and because I knew I was in shape for a good time if I ran a proper race. It's been a while since I've really been in shape to run solid races, so I'm still having to relearn The Art Of Racing after a couple of years of pretty slow running.
After a quick port-o-stop, I met some of the Gazelles at the finish line at 6:30 am for our warmup with Gilbert. Jesse, Frank, Alex, and others met there, and we enjoyed a truly easy 1.2 mile warmup out and back to the 12.5 mile mark of the race course. We saw that there were some sneaky inclines during the last mile that would have to be dealt with, which is good information to know. Also, when we were at our wit's end, we'd know exactly how far it was to the last two corners of the course, which is always good information to have. After the warmup, we did the drills that we do every morning at our workouts, and finished with some strides. This routine has become a comfort before these hard efforts, which is partly the reason for it, I suppose. Gilbert gave us some last minute encouragement, and we were off to drop off extra clothes and any other last minute adjustments. I still had 25 minutes or so to the race start, so I dropped off my jacket in the car, pinned on my race number, took a last sip of Accelerade in the car, and strolled back to the start line.
For a change, I lined up closer to the start than normal, partly as an experiment, and because I was tired of losing Distance Challenge positions to folks who ran a slower time than me, but had a 1 or 2 minute headstart based on field position. I chatted with Frank as we waited. Frank wanted to run a solid half, partly to get rid of any lasting aftereffects from his NYC marathon. Most of the Gazelles wanted to run fast, because this race and Decker (20K) would be the last real chances to run a long race hard. The Buda 30K and 3M Half Marathon would be too close to Freescale for really hard racing, instead being opportunities to run at a controlled marathon race pace.
My goals for the day, in the usual three-tiered format, were to (1) Beat my course and "Masters" PR of 1:57:31 (8:58 pace) from two years ago, (2) 1:53:37 (8:40 pace), which was the half marathon equivalent time on a distance prediction chart for a 4:00:00 marathon time, and (3) a perfect day goal of 1:51:26 (8:30 pace). I also wanted to run a negative split, with my average pace for the last 6.11 miles being faster than that for the first 7 miles, and hopefully, my last mile would be my fastest. That sounds like a lot of stuff to keep in mind, but basically I wanted to go out conservatively, push through the steep and long climbing section of the course without blowing the whole race doing it, and pass people all the way in for the last 6 miles, picking up the pace from the 8 mile mark to the finish.
A nice multi-part harmony version of the Star Spangled Banner was played (taped), and we got the starting horn shortly thereafter. I crossed the start line some 17 seconds after the horn, and got underway. Gene Woodruff, a really terrific guy and 70-something year old runner, was just ahead of me in the crowd. I had spoken with him shortly before the race started, and he was hoping to run somewhere around the pace I was trying for, so I figured we'd see each other along the way.
A whole group of Gazelles passed me about a half mile into the race, getting up to their race speed, including Diana, Jesse, Alex and Liliana. It turns out that they all ran together and finished within a minute or two of each other. I certainly did well to let them get on with their fast ways.
I passed the first mile split in 8:26, a little quicker than I had planned, so I tried to ease back just a bit over the rest of the relatively flat opening section. At the first water stop, I took a quick drink, and enjoyed the live music at the "Bison City Limits" stop, but then it was time to keep going. All through the day, I walked about 5-10 seconds through the water stops, which didn't cost me too much time, maybe a couple of seconds each stop. The second mile came and went, along with mile 3, splits 8:06 (oops) and 8:51 (more like it). We streamed past the giant megachurch there on Jollyville Road, and I hoped that we'd all be gone by the time they needed to open up their parking lot to the 5 to 10,000 parishioners who'd be attending that morning's services.
A lot of people streamed by me during those opening 3 or 4 miles, huffing and puffing loudly, and it was all I could do to resist telling each of them that they were working a little hard too early, if they were having to breathe like that on the flat section. I wondered if they really knew what was ahead on the course, and knew that I'd pass most of them for good later on in the race. These musings gave me something to do while I tried to keep my pace regulated.
Gene was up ahead of me, about 10-20 yards, and I was sort of using him to distantly pace myself. Mile 4 was a smooth 8:47, for an overall early pace of 8:33/mile for 4 flat miles. I was ahead of schedule, but had throttled things back, and was feeling just fine. We turned off of Great Hills and headed towards the serious climbing section of the course.
Mile 5 featured a long steep downhill that I carefully negotiated, trying not to pound my legs too much, then a water stop at the bottom of that hill, a circus-themed stop. I took my first dose of Gilbert's favorite on-the-road energy replacement stuff, Enerviten, there, and headed up the steep initial part of the three part hill climb. I passed the mile 5 split at 8:50, about half and half steep downhill and then uphill. During mile 6, Ron Perry, my massage therapist, passed me, running at his training pace with his training partner. We chatted a bit, and he was gone. Looking up at the hill, it seemed to never end, but I shifted into climbing gear, and worked my way up and past a bunch of fellow runners. The neighbors there were out to watch us crazy people fight their way up the long series of inclines, but to their credit, they didn't taunt us or lie to us that "this is the last hill." I caught up with Gene during this mile, and we ran together for the next little bit. Mile 6 was in 9:15, about what I had planned for this nasty stretch. I felt pretty good, considering the terrain, and felt like I wasn't using myself up too much. We turned a last corner and I pulled away from Gene on a shorter steep bit, followed by a shallower but still inclined segment after another turn. The mile 7 water stop was themed after the 70's movie "Car Wash," which was pretty funny, especially since it was on a flatter section after all that climbing. Mile 7 split was 8:58, for an overall pace through 7 miles of 8:45/mile. I was close enough to my middle goal pace that I was confident I would get it, since I felt fairly fresh at the halfway point, and the worst of the course was behind me.
During mile 8, I felt the need for a quick hydration adjustment, and spotted an empty port-o-john, dashed in, and was back on the course pretty quickly. Gene had again passed me during my short rest stop, but I caught him again, and on the steady incline that followed, I pulled away again, and never saw him again until after the race. I also caught and passed Patrick on the same incline. My mile split suffered due to the 20-30 second rest stop, but still it was 8:57. I was okay, pacewise, and settled into the effort now that the course had settled down again. I figured I had run around 8:30 pace during the running portion of that split, so I was picking it up just on plan.
During mile 9, I hooked up with Patrick again from my long run training group, as he rolled up on me just after the water stop. I took my last Enerviten dose there, and told Patrick that I was going to try to push it from there. My mile 9 split was 8:22, and it didn't feel that bad. The water stop there was a takeoff on the Blue Man Group, with everyone made up like that troupe, which was funny to see. At least they didn't switch to blue Powerade. Patrick and I dueled a bit during mile 10, after I caught up after my Enerviten stop, for a split of 8:45. At the 10 mile mark, I pushed a bit harder, and on a steady shallow incline, Patrick fell behind a bit, and I was off.
Mile 11 was full of turns and slight ups and downs, but I made good time through here. I believe the second Bison City Limits water stop was through here, with more live music. That boosted my spirits, for sure. By now, I was mostly pouring water on my head and taking just a sip of Gatorade at each stop. Mile 11 split was a fine 8:05, which was unexpected. I kept reeling in people, and started picking individuals to chase down for a game to play. I also tried to keep a running total of the miles clicking down, and started looking for the mile 12 marker, just around the next bend. There was a fun Las Vegas styled water stop, and then there was mile 12. Split for mile 12 was 8:16. I was in good shape for my various race goals, but couldn't quite work the math, so I pressed on.
Mile 13 was a tough one, with a lot of sneaky uphills and only a few short downhill respites. I was still pulling in people, and so I knew I was doing okay, but I was starting to break form a bit. I also started looking for Gilbert and those Gazelles who I knew had finished by now, so I tried to get into full Gazelles running form. I was working hard as I took the last two sharp turns onto the last stretch. Mile 13 was 8:31, but I only saw that later. Right at that mile marker was Gilbert, and he jumped onto the course with me, exhorting me to push hard to the finish, that "[I'd] been here before" so do butt kicks and get to the finish. He ran with me for a good distance, and for a second, I feared that I'd have to race him all the way to the finish line. He yelled at me to pass the people in front of me, which they heard as well, and so I was at maximum speed by the time he pulled away. I was in a serious gear now, and I'm sure my face was a study in fierce concentration. I wheeled around the last sharp turn and blasted as much as I could to the finish line, crossing in 1:52:55, 8:37 overall pace. My last .11 miles was in 0:45, for a sprint finish pace of 6:49, about as fast as I can run.
Gasping, I took a second to catch my breath, hands on knees, and then went ahead through the finish chute to collect my medal and food bag. I took a Gatorade and water bottle, and moved on. Man, I was glad to be finished!
My second 6.11 miles were covered at an average pace of 8:28, so I achieved my negative split goal. I had some of my fastest miles in the last 4 or 5 miles, so that was good. I beat my middle speed goal, and am right on track with progress towards my Freescale marathon goals. This was a truly great race for me, and I was pretty stoked about it afterwards. My finish time equates to a 3:58 marathon, using the McMillian calculators, so that's a good thing. Considering the Freescale course is much more runner-friendly, I'm probably ahead of the game.
This was a 10 minute improvement over my time at the Indy 500 Half Marathon in May, a 17 minute improvement over my time at this same race in 2003, and a 5 minute improvement on my "Masters PR (PR since I turned 40)" set at this race in 2002. Altogether unexplored territory, and further evidence that Gilbert's training regimen is working for me in a big way.
I found Gene afterwards, while I was finishing my Gatorade, and then saw Frank, Alex and Patrick quickly after that. Everyone seemed to have had a good day at the races, with PR's from almost everyone in the Gazelles. After hanging out a bit, I scurried (slowly) over to my car to get some dry clothes on, since I was starting to chill down. I pawed through my stuff in the truck, and found a jacket, cap and long running pants, along with a dry t-shirt. Gratefully, I put all that stuff on, along with dry shoes and socks. Amazing how something as simple as dry clothes can make you so happy, eh? While I was there, I chugged down my post-race Endurox recovery drink to help the legs start to heal. I was pretty stiff walking along there, but I started feeling better as I walked back to the post-run scene.
Now that I was warm and dry, it was a lot more fun to chat with people as they finished. I saw a good number of running friends, as expected, and most everyone seemed to have enjoyed their day. There was a live band, and plenty of good food, including Krispy Kreme donuts, for those so inclined. After chatting away, and checking in with Gilbert for a post-race discussion, I decided to call it a day. In the parking lot, I ended up talking for a good while with Gene, about a large span of topics. Once again, it's an example of the generally fine disposition and makeup of most distance runners. We may pursue a solitary sport to those who don't partake in it, but it's a lot more about community and a bond of a shared pursuit to those of us in the middle of it. I only hope that I'm still out there racing when I'm 73 years old!
It was a fabulous day at the races, and now I'm looking forward to Turkey Day, the 20 miler on Saturday, and the Decker Challenge 20K the weekend after that. Decker has been my favorite race the last two years, so it will be fun to run it in my improved running shape.
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