Pomerene Foundation Fall Trail Run Half Marathon

I'm in a bizarre gap between fall races.  Last week was this half marathon in Millersburg and my next race won't be for a while.  Odd for the fall. 

This race was well organized but I just wasn't feeling it.  We had some hot and humid weather in the week leading up to this one.  It cooled down a bit on race morning, but not enough to make much of a difference.  The course was not quite what I was expecting.  I knew it would be on the bike path, but I was really expecting some hills considering all of Holmes County is hilly.  It wasn't.  It was pancake flat as the path runs next to a river.  I don't do the best on flat courses, though I was ok with my performance in this one.

We started out on a bizarre half mile run before turning right around and heading the opposite way.  Odd.  I'm not sure why they didn't just add a half mile to the turnaround point.  Anyway, I started out a bit quicker than I needed to with the first three miles coming in around 8 minutes each.  There weren't many people around for the majority of the race so I just acted like it was a training run.  There were some nice sections of the path, but the majority of it really reminded me of the Little Miami Half Marathon I ran back in 2011.  It was just kind of dull. 

I slowed down considerably after the turnaround point.  I was around 7 miles at the one hour mark, so I knew I was safely going to come in under two hours.  I mostly just tried to zone out, listen to music and stay hydrated.  Meh.  Not much more I can say. 

The finish was not my usual strong effort, but I was able to come in under the 1:50 mark at 1:49:51.  That was good enough for second in my age group, though again this was a very small race.

Next race: Findlay Red White & Blue Half Marathon- Findlay, OH

Banking for a Cure 5k

I decided to do a last minute 5k one week after the half in Wooster.  It was held only a few miles from my apartment so it was an easy decision.  If you've been following the blog, I've been focusing on less distance and more intensity this year.  It's been working wonders as my half marathon times have been coming down.  This little 5k was timed perfectly by being two weeks prior to my next half.  My performance...meh.

We started out at Malabar School in Mansfield.  I took off with the lead pack which included a few young kids taking off at young kid pace.  Their parents really should tell them to not start off at a sprint in a 5k.  Another runner and I quickly took the lead and it became a two person race.  The scenery was just suburban homes and plenty of hills.  It was a pretty solid workout.  I abandoned my plan and started off with a 6:38 mile.  I intended to start off with a 7:00 and run negative splits but that dang competitiveness clicked in.  The leader was about ten feet in front for most of the race until the heat started in.  It warmed up fast and we felt it halfway into the race.  The second mile clicked in at around 7:06.  We were both slowing down.  I really slowed down during the last mile and I really regret it because the leader did too.  I had a great opportunity to pass him with about a half mile left but I had nothing left in me.  I crossed the finish in a respectable 21:38, good enough for 2/66 overall, but only 17 seconds off from the winning time.  I was kicking myself for this one, but I have to remember that I would have killed for a second place finish a year ago.  Plus, the heat was a killer.

Next race: Pomerene Foundation Fall Trail Run Half Marathon- Millersburg, OH

Buehler's Heart & Sole Half Marathon

 

Well, I'm a week behind on this blog.  I ran a 5k this morning but have yet to give my report for last week's race.  My fifth half marathon for the year was in nearby Wooster, the Heart & Sole Community Run.  I had the added bonus of running it with a good friend so that was pretty cool!

This race had a very early start of 7:30.  Love it.  Why can't every race start early?  Plus, it was unseasonably cool for mid-August with temps around the low 50s at the start of the race.  The GPS on my watch was malfunctioning, so I will not be reporting specific times on this one.  Let's keep it short and sweet despite my surprising effort.

We started out in the downtown area and ran north through some upscale neighborhoods.  My friend and I started out at a conservative pace because we weren't quite sure how bad the hills would be.  Wooster is very hilly so we planned accordingly.  There were paces for this small race and we tucked in with the 1:55 pace team.  I wanted to hang out there for the first 3-4 miles and see how I felt.  We encountered a few longer hills but they really weren't that bad.  More of a nice change of pace, really.  The pacer let us know we were around the 26 minutes at the 3 mile mark.  That's right where I wanted to start and I felt great. I started picking up my pace in the hope of catching up to the 1:50 pace group. 

We kept running through residential areas and hit a few more hills.  I knew by looking at the elevation chart prior to the race that the worst hills were over in the first half.  I'm just guessing that I was running a lot of 7:30-7:40 miles midway through the race.  We did hit one dull portion by making our way around a huge park.  It was right out in the open, flat, and the sun was starting to warm things up.  This was around the 7-8 mile mark.  We then made our way back towards the downtown area.  I kept my pace around 7:30 (guessing) and focused on running a sub-1:50, if not a sub-1:45.  

The last three miles or so were net downhill and a really great opportunity to make up some time.  Seriously, I felt great throughout the entire race.  I noticed I was passing quite a few people over the last mile or two.  The downtown area came into view and I kept pushing, crossing the line in a great time of 1:43:52.  This is only the third time I've broken 1:45!  Not too bad for a non-goal race.

My strategy this year of doing less mileage and more intensity is working wonders.  My half time is consistently strong now and I'm hoping for a couple opportunities to break my PR.  I followed this race up with a local 5k.

Next race: Banking on a Cure 5k- Mansfield, OH

Mad Half Marathon

I conquered my eleventh state last weekend by venturing to Waitsfield, VT for the Mad Half Marathon.  This race counted as my 35th half marathon and took over as the toughest, and prettiest, I've completed yet.  The organization was top-notch and I honestly don't have any ideas for improvement.

I flew in the day before and made it to packet pickup so I would know where to go the next day.  The town was very pretty, a quintessential small New England town.  There was a farmer's market going on and it seemed everyone in town was out and about.  Pickup was a breeze and I made my way back to Burlington to rest.  The race started early on Sunday, 7:00, so I had to leave around 5:30 to get there around 6:00.  I was concerned about the parking in such a small space but the race organizers did a great job.  Even the start area was pretty!

Miles 1-5: We took off at 7:00 on the dot.  I'm not going to worry about splits for this race.  The hills made it impossible to go out at a consistent pace.  Some miles clocked in at 9:20 and others clocked in at 7:30.  It was up and down the whole way.  You can find the nasty elevation chart for the full marathon here.  The first few miles weren't bad as we made our way out of town.  Our first climb came up about 2 1/2 miles in and was it ever a climb.  It was roughly a 500 foot climb over a mile or so.  Straight up.  We then encountered the downhill which was almost worse.  I tried to hold back some on the downhills, knowing more climbs awaited us later on, but it was destroying my quads.  We leveled out for another mile or so and made our way back for the very same climb!  Our two biggest climbs came up in the first half of the race.

Miles 6-10: We hit the halfway mark at the end of the climb and I was around one hour here.  My goal was to simply break 2:00 or even a 1:55.  At this point, I thought breaking 2:00 was going to be a stretch.  We kept on hitting smaller uphills that felt worse than they were and that kept slowing me down.  Things leveled out a bit over miles 9 and 10.  I finished mile 10 around 1:28 and was finally feeling comfortable about breaking 2:00.  We had been running around a hill over the town, so I knew we had a long downhill coming soon that would take us back to the finish.

Miles 10-13.1: We finally started hitting the downhill and winded our way back to Waitsfield.  This was a long downhill and I gained a lot of time during this stretch.  It was finally comfortable enough to hold some conversation with other runners.  Everyone was extremely friendly.  I also finally got a chance to enjoy the views.  The race was gorgeous throughout, but the final 5k was the prettiest section of the course with some views of the town and the mountains.  We made our way back towards the start for a nice, level finish in Waitsfield.  I didn't really pick up the pace as I knew I had a much better time than expected.  The finish line finally came into view and I came in with a very good time of 1:51:48.  This was good enough for 56/366 overall and sixth in my age group.  I was actually less than two minutes away from placing in my age group.  I was beat!

As much fun as this one was, it will be a one-time thing for me.  It was tough and my legs were feeling it for a few days.  I've actually taken most of the week off and will start hitting it again soon.

Next race: Cooper Tire Centennial 5 Miler- Findlay, OH

Tiro-Auburn Firefighter's Festival 5k

I made my way to this 5k last Friday after work hoping for a reprieve from our latest bout of heat and humidity.  Alas, no luck.  It was sunny, hot, humid, and just plain miserable.  The course was certainly more varied than I would have expected, too, with rolling hills throughout the out-and-back.  The race was definitely larger than I was expecting.  There were probably around 80 people total and there were quite a few high school runners.

We lined up at 7:00 (an 8:00 might have helped some with the heat, but not much) for the start of the race.  I lined up near the front of the pack and took off at a conservative pace.  We hit a slight downhill at the very start as we made our way out of town onto country roads.  I tucked in to fifth place at the start and focused on maintaining it through the race.  The first mile went by in 6:32, much faster than I meant to go out.  I slowed down some as we wound our way down more country roads.  There's not much to report on this race as it was pretty much farmland and a surprising number of turns.  We hit some rolling hills that would have been nice any other time of year.  Not when the temperature is in the upper 80s.  I did slow down to 7:02 for the second mile and tried to maintain that pace on the way back to the finish.  I was pretty much running by myself with the fourth place person about 100 yards in front of me and the sixth 100 yards behind me.  The last mile was pretty tough with a few uphills, particularly the one right by the finish.  I was able to finish out with a 21:07, good enough for fifth overall and first in my age group.

Like I said, there's not much to report on this one as it was a tune up for my next race.  The course was measured out to 3.1 on the dot, which I really appreciated.  The organization was top notch for a local 5k and it was nice to grab some food at the festival before heading home.  Next on the docket is a half marathon in my eleventh state.

Next race: Mad Half Marathon- Waitsfield, VT

CACY Drug Free 5k

My amazing 2014 running season continued last weekend with the CACY Drug Free 5k in nearby Lexington, OH.  This was a fantastic 5k run on the B&O Bike Trail that runs in a semi-circle around the southern half of Richland County.  The field size was small, but I could tell there were some serious runners out there during the pre-race warm-ups.  My training has been pretty consistent over the past month and I was shooting for a sub-21:00.

We started out heading south on the bike path and I took off like a beast.  Translation: Way too fast.  We had a downhill early on that I flew down to take the race lead right out of the gate.  Not much to report after that as this part of the bike path isn't very scenic.  Much of the course was shaded, which was nice.  I flew through the first mile in 6:13.  Again, I was going way too fast as my goal was to get a 6:30 here.  I had a nice lead as we made our way to the turnaround point, which had about a half mile worth of shade.  The temperature difference was huge and I was able to hang in there.  At the turnaround, I noticed the runner in second place was about 200 meters behind me.  This is a good lead, but I had my doubts I could keep it with how fast I went out.  The second mile came in at 12:53 (6:40) so I was definitely slowing down.  The last mile was rough.  It was seriously warming up and much of this last mile had no shade whatsoever.  It was tough going and I did what I know I shouldn't do which is look behind me.  The next runner looked to be closer to a quarter mile off at this point, so I let off the gas just a bit.  We made our way towards the finish and the uphill that I had flown down at the beginning.  It wasn't bad and I was able to come in for a very good 20:36 finish and first overall!

To think I had never won a race until December is hard to imagine, as I've had two first place finishes and one second place since moving to Richland County.  Add my 10k (albeit in an indoor race) and half marathon PRs and it seems 2014 is my year.  I have the next couple weeks off before another small 5k and a half marathon in July.

Next race: Tiro-Auburn Firefighters Festival- Tiro, OH

Greek Festival 5k

I ran a local 5k last week here in Mansfield.  It was a bit of an experience as we had some interesting weather during the run. 

We headed out on a long straightaway in town and it immediately started raining.  It was light but that didn't last long.  Some high school runners took off in the lead, but I was able to catch this group pretty quickly and led the race about a half mile in.  We turned onto Park Avenue and another runner came up and passed me.  He was running so effortlessly that it made it look like I was standing still.  Time to run for second place!  The rain picked up and I hit the first mile in about 6:32, right where I wanted to be.  We had a really nice downhill during the second mile and I gained a good size lead over the number three runner.  This is when the hail started.  It was very small pieces but it was still quite unpleasant.  We turned off of Park towards a side road for a quick circular route around a neighborhood and back to Park.  The second mile came in about 6:50, so I was still holding steady.  Remember that nice downhill during the first half?  What goes down must come up.  This was a tough stretch.  I took a quick glance behind me and noticed the third runner was probably a minute behind me, so I didn't feel the need to push it too much.  We turned towards the finish and I came in at 21:03, good enough for second overall.

This wasn't a bad showing but I was a bit disappointing.  I was hoping to get around 20 minutes even but this course simply wasn't the right one.  I'm taking a couple weeks off and doing some speedwork in preparation for the next one.

Next race: Drug Free 5k- Lexington, OH