Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: New Bedford Half Marathon
 

The 2015 New Bedford half marathon. As Sun Tzu puts it, "the battle is won before it is fought." I came in feeling very lackluster about my training over the past six weeks, and this week was a bit overwhelming at work. Still, I figured I had underperformed over half marathons enough that this would be a chance to gauge my fitness. I jogged for less than a kilometer before the start, and wore shorts, a thin long sleeve shirt, and gloves in the 5 C conditions; sleeveless would have been better. I arrived a little over an hour before the start and had plenty of time to comfortably pick up my bib and get mentally ready.

My plan was to target 4:00 - 4:10/km, which is 85 - 88 minutes. I figured if I came through nine miles in under an hour - 4:10 pace, I could speed up for the last four miles. I was comfortable out of the start, and found myself in the neighborhood of Jon Waldron from CSU running as all the people near the front who actually were quite slow settled back. Of all the attractive women to run with, I tagged onto Jon. :) I stayed with Jon for about five miles; we didn't talk much, but I did say hello.

I came through 5 miles in a little under 33 - about 4:06/km, and I was feeling ok. Without really planning on it, I found myself pulling gradually away from Jon. As I started getting tired, I counted breaths in binary on my fingers to pass the time; I would get up to 256 then reset. As we turned north just before mile 8, we encountered a vicious north wind that I really struggled with. I tried to run with some people, but unsuccessfully; Jon caught me at about mile ten, gave me some encouragement, and gradually slipped away. I came through mile 9 in 59:22, so I hoped I could bring it home strongly. Unfortunately, I ran the last four miles in a glacial 29:47.

My fitness is not very good right now. In the long term, I think I need to do more ten-mile race efforts, and I struggled to keep my cadence up near the end. This winter has not been productive - snow, sickness, disorganization, and poor life choices; I will bring my best effort to the trials, but Sun Tzu is not optimistic. I need to set a training target anyway, since the US champs was never timed well to be a good objective.

C • 256 12

C • TT / US Champs 3

C • All the attractive women 3

A wee cooldown to shake out the legs. While my legs felt ok (some discomfort) during the run, my quads started aching vehemently after I stopped at the finish.

Easy morning jog.