PR at the Madison Half Marathon

It has been a tough year to run a marathon. The cancelation of the Madison Marathon, due to severe temperature (predicted to be in the mid 90s), was the third Wisconsin marathon to be canceled in the month of May. First it was La Crosse on May 6th, which was canceled a few hours before the start as a result of lightning and thunder. Then the Green Bay Marathon on May 20th (mid-race) because the medical staff was overwhelmed with runners fainting, collapsing and being severely dehydrated. The Madison Marathon staff and Board of Directors made the right decision, as the majority of the participants have not adequately trained in hot humid conditions. Sure, a few experienced athletes would be able to hydrate and run a smart race, but the majority would have put themselves in a dangerous situation.

Fortunately the half marathon was on my agenda and I was not disappointed with the decision (though it did affect my overall place).

Bearing the morning heat, roughly 5,000 runners made their way to the Capital to begin the half marathon. The race started promptly at 7:12am with temperatures hovering right around 70 degrees, which is definitely manageable for most athletes providing that the volunteers at the aid stations would be on top of their game.

I was able to maintain a somewhat consistent pace (more so than CrazyLegs). Below are my splits:

Mile 1: 5:30

Mile 2: 5:31

Mile 3: 5:30

Mile 4: 5:41

Mile 5: 5:08

Mile 6: 5:45

Mile 7: 5:45

Mile 8: 5:50

Mile 9: 5:47

Mile 10: 5:46

Mile 11: 5:58

Mile 12: 5:57

Mile: 13: 6:00

Time - 1:14:39 (5:42/mile) - Personal Record by 44 seconds!!

Place - 7th overall, 3rd in the M20-24 Age Group

The family! Kurt, Kathy, Trish and Jess. Thank you for waking up at 4:00am to watch me run!

Running a PR is great, and I am definitely excited that I was able to accomplish the aforementioned endeavor, though I know there is always room for improvement. I did identify three factors that I am fairly certain will facilitate a faster race next time.

Laura, my "Official" Photographer :)

1) Hydrate early in the race. By mile 11 I could tell that I was dehydrated and had trouble maintaining a fast pace. My face was hot, my head hurt and I was a little delirious. I finished the race without taking a single cup of water or Gatorade... I have done it before so I knew I could do it again, though not in these temps.

2) Start slower, get faster. Getting out too fast escalates the heart rate too quickly, which in turn burns more carbs (long-term energy storage) than fat (quick-use energy). By hitting the 6:00/mile pace for the first few miles instead of the last three, I would be using more efficient storages of energy and not running into any "walls."

3) Different shoes. I used the Asics Hyper Speed 4 - they work for track workouts and shorter races, though when used for 13 miles on solid concrete, they don't do so well. The lack of cushion and constant pounding was painful and bothered me for the latter half of the race.

Kudos to my roommate, Luke, who accomplished a huge feat of running 13.1 miles in under 2 hours! (1:56:40 to be exact) For someone who only ran 7.6 miles prior, he managed to throw together a very remarkable time.

Lax Half Marathon

Due to another unforeseen circumstance I finished 2nd at the La Crosse Fitness Festival Half Marathon.

It is actually quite humorous as to why I came in second place. I will elaborate more on that below, but first I need to highlight my previous races to illustrate why this race today ends with a laugh.

2010 Maple Leaf Half: 1:15:23 2nd place (lost by 5 seconds)
2011 Oshkosh Half: 1:19:13 8th place (38 degrees and raining)
2011 La Crosse Half 1:19:24 5th place (was winning, took a wrong turn at mile 13)
2012 La Crosse Half: 1:16:42 2nd place (unforeseen circumstance below)

I groggily climbed out of bed at 4:00am to eat my pre-run meal consisting of a slice of toast with Parker's PB, half a banana and a bite-size Snickers. As I was waking up I realized that it was raining... I very much dislike running in the rain. Of course, no one enjoys racing in the rain (well, maybe a few individuals), but I always have a difficult time staying warm and mentally getting into the race when the weather is constantly fighting against you.

After checking the weather forecast several times, the Fitness Festival Officials posted that the Half Marathon had been delayed until 8:30am from its original start time of 7:00am. The Full Marathon had been canceled, though they did allow the marathoners to participate in the Half. Great for them, not so great for me.

"Runners take your mark, get set, GO!" the starting official shouted into her microphone. A few of us darted from the starting line, attempting to get ahead of the pack, vying for a front position. Ramon (a great guy I met in La Crosse through running) and I decided to hold a steady pace for the first mile (6:00/mile), which was perfect. My goal was to slowly drop my pace until I was running 5:30/mile for the last four miles.

Mile two did not go as planned. Two runners took off at a pretty good clip and I made a decision to stick with the front runners instead of trying to reel them in later on in the race. Our second mile came in at 5:30/mile - way too fast. I knew I would pay for that later on. We held steady for a few miles thereafter though one runner picked up his pace and edged away. Looking back, I should have gone with him, but I made another mistake here. I misjudged him due to his apparel. He was clad in conventional running shoes (instead of racing flats), longer shorts (not splits like my Jubilees or Puzzle Box), crew socks and a backwards mesh cap. Nothing out of the ordinary for a runner, in fact he looked just like someone participating in a marathon. But not someone who would be leading the pack of a half. It just did not add up in my head. I let him go and thought that I would be able to catch him in a few miles. That never happened.

He slowly but surely widened the gap between first and second, eventually creating a gap big enough where I lost sight of him. This was tough mentally, as there was absolutely no one ahead (or behind) that I could compete and pace with. I did my best to push ahead as fast as I could, and with the encouragement and support of my girl throughout the course, I surged ahead to the finish.

I came in at 1:16:42 (5:51/mile), 2 minutes and 41 seconds after first place. Here is the funny part: the first place finisher was supposed to be running the Full Marathon, but due to the severe weather I had mentioned earlier, the marathoners ran the half instead.

If mother nature had not decided to throw a torrential storm our way, I would have most likely finished first. Hah. There's always another race to run (like the Madison Half Marathon and the Maple Leaf Half Marathon) so I'm not too upset about it. He ran a better race than I did and deserves to take the trophy.

In addition to Laura providing phenomenal support throughout the race, she managed to capture quite a few quality photos of the race and most importantly, provided me with my Castle Rock Organic Farms Chocolate Milk. At $2.79 for a half pint, plus a $2.00 deposit on the bottle, it can be a little expensive but let me tell you, IT IS WORTH IT!

Happily clutching a cold bottle of chocolate milk with Ramon

I was late to the awards ceremony, where I received a potpourri of prizes. From blue flip-flops to a mesh cap, socks, trophy, cinch sack and water bottle, it was interesting. The best prize, awarded to top finishers, was a brightly colored vase adorned with flowers. That went straight to my girlfriend.

Excited about our top finisher prizes

My motivator, milk-carrier, photographer and best friend

Post-race we both devoured some tasty Sweet Potato Pancakes that Laura discovered not too long ago. She didn't think they turned out well, which may have been the case due to my mixing/mashing of the sweet potatoes, but I thought they were delicious and consumed about 2/3 of them.

Venison bacon and sweet potato pancakes. Perfect post-run meal.

Shout out to my sister, Trisha, who completed her first half marathon last Tuesday in FRANCE, of all places. My uncle completed his first half as well, a day before turning 50! Congrats to both of you!

My experience today is not necessarily negative or upsetting, rather a motivation to increase my mileage and intensity of my workouts. I have two more half marathons this summer, as well as an 18k trail run coming up, which I plan to attack with renewed vigor.