East Bay Half Marathon

GF and I went on vacation to Boston and the Cape Cod area a few weeks ago.  We had a blast!  There was so much to do as we took in the beaches, Fenway Park, a whale watch, and the historic sites.  Naturally, I had a half marathon, #48 for me, on the docket right after we got there.  We stayed a few nights near Providence so I could run the East Bay Half Marathon in East Providence, RI.  This counts as my thirteenth state in which I've ran a half or full marathon.  My performance was lackluster, though I would have been thrilled with the time last year.  I've had an issue in my left hip that may or may not stem from my IT band issue a few years back.  You remember, the one I didn't give much time at all to heal?  Yeah, that one.

Miles 1-5: We started off from Pierce Field in East Providence and ran through some residential areas.  It was nothing too scenic but it was a lovely day.  It was starting to heat up earlier than I'm used to.  I started off at a conservative pace that I just couldn't quite beat and ran most of the race with or near the same fellow runners.  I really liked the size of the race (286) as there was no congestion yet I was never running alone.  The first five was mostly straight as we made our way south along the Narragansett Bay before turning around and heading back north.  We didn't really have much view of the water during this first section.  Here are my first five splits: 1 (7:46), 2 (8:24), 3 (7:52), 4 (7:40), 5 (8:02).  The splits aren't bad by any means, but I really was all over the map with my times.

Miles 6-10:  We meandered through some more residential areas during miles 6 and 7.  I was simply trying to hold on to my pace as my legs were feeling dead.  I went back and forth with a group of ten runners or so.  I'd pass, then walk for a bit, they'd pass, then I'd catch back up.  It went like that for quite some time as I simply could not get into a groove.  We finally made our way to the bike path and were rewarded with views of the Narragansett Bay and downtown Providence further to the north.  This was what I was looking forward to and it didn't disappoint.  Here are the second five splits: 6 (7:51), 7 (7:55), 8 (8:33), 9 (8:15), 10 (7:47).  Again, these splits aren't bad just inconsistent.

Miles 11-13.2: I was wildly inconsistent during the final portion of the race.  Miles 11 and 12 felt horrible and I just wanted to be done.  We continued heading north near a small park and then turned around to head back south to Pierce Stadium.  This was actually quite hilly.  I was really struggling and walked a good portion of mile 12 as the 9:02 split shows.  Once we were done with the hill, we headed east back to the finish.  We finished with a 3/4 lap on the track which I always enjoy.  I also get to see GF doing a celebratory dance at the finish.  Here are the last few splits: 11 (8:05), 12 (9:02), 13 (7:30), 13.2 (1:15).  My final time was a respectable 1:45:56, good enough for 45/286 overall.  This was my slowest time of the year by almost six minutes, but I was simply happy to hang in there and run a respectable pace.

Training has been slow and inconsistent ever since this race.  I'm trying to start slow and build up but 8:00/mile has been my normal training pace all year.  It's tough to change that.  The next race should be a fun one and will count as number 49 for me.  I'll hit big #50 in Akron at the end of September.

Next race: Yolo Family of Races Half Marathon- Greenville, OH