Ok. So we got back home and the results are finally up. 1:13:53 and 7th place. Here is my novel I wrote on the plane:
Sun: 18 miles w/Long Beach Half Marathon
2 miles warmup w/ Allison then the typical drills and only time for a couple of strides. I felt really good going in. My goal was to start off with two miles around 5:40 then pick it up after that and hope for a strong finish. I ended up executing the plan very well. The weather wasn't bad but it wasn't close to ideal either. It was 65 w/ 90% humidity and sunny. I never thought "damn this is hot" but it definitely was a little warm and not PR weather. At one mile a guy came along side me and asked what I was going for. I told him sub 1:13:30 and he said he would try to stay with me. He quickly fell back right after that. The first two miles were 5:41 and 5:40 just as I had planned. I wouldn't say these were easy but they were very comfortable. After that I picked it up and would say that I was running hard the rest of the way. That guy who came along side at mile 1 showed back up at mile 5 and we ran the rest of the race together literally till the last step. There were a bunch of miles in the 5:34-5:40 range and I was pretty much running just slower than lactate threshold which was perfect. My thoughts were pretty positive but it was tough and I knew I was working hard. The course goes along a bike path with the ocean right there from miles 6.5 -9.5 which sounds awesome but that was probably the toughest part of the course for me because it was a long straight and not many spectators. I was using the turn around at 10 miles as a landmark because we would be heading towards the finish at that point and the crowds would be better. There is a small gradual hill from 10.25-11.25 and I managed that pretty well. Although I was tired I knew I was setting up for a decent finish as the last 1.5 miles had a nice gradual down hill. My PR is 1:13:30 (5:37 pace) and I was right on that with a mile to go. I started pushing as hard I could and that guy and I ran stride for stride. It was nice to have somebody right there to help push me. At the final turn to the finish I sprinted (relative) and started to pull away from my running partner. When I saw the clock for the first time I was shocked that it already said 1:13:30. I thought that I had a PR. I had a nice finish but my running partner came back on me and beat me to the line in the last couple of steps. All certified courses are long but this one was an extra .12 and that cost me a lot of time. On my watch I was 5:35 pace but I can't claim this as a PR. I was really happy with my effort today running a large portion of the race right on the edge and still having a strong finish.
Splits:
5:41
5:40
5:34
5:36
5:36
5:33
5:39
5:39
5:37
5:34
5:39
5:36
5:29
.22 1:02:44 (4:48 pace)
My wife won the women's race in a low 1:19 which was cool. We got to go into the VIP tent and she did all the media stuff. I was very proud! I'm really happy with my effort today and I don't think I could have run any better. I think I can shave at least a minute off my next one with cool dry weather and another few weeks of training. | 