Mission Inn Run-Half Marathon Race Report

I have been looking forward to this local race in Riverside, CA for weeks now as a test to see exactly what kind of shape I am in. I have been struggling with injuries for the last few years that keep setting me back, but for the last few months I have been able to run with near full health and it has made a big difference. In fact I have not been 100% myself since early 2004. That is a little over 9 years since I have been in my best running form. The frustration of coming back, then getting hurt (not always running injuries) has played with my psyche to the point of wondering if it is all worth it. Bottom line is, I love running and while they are nice, I don’t need PR’s to keep me going. Still there is something about wanting to perform at one’s best possible self that drives me to keep on trying.

Earlier this year I had a 7-week layoff from injury and a 3-week layoff prior to that. That is significant time off especially since they both came after a significant improvement in racing form.  For the last 2 months I have been able to really up my total weekly mileage from around 35 a week to 50 and 60 a week. I have also been doing intervals and repeats on Tuesdays and Tempo runs most Thursdays.

Two weeks ago I tweaked my right shoulder and had to curtail my running, both pace and distance. A week ago Saturday I decided to try and run a fairly hard run at HM pace for 5 miles of an 8-mile run. While running downhill, at a 6 minute pace on a steep section, I tweaked my shoulder again but continued running anyway at HM pace. After the run I knew I had hurt my shoulder even more and as a result took the next 5 days completely off. I was tapering anyway this week but I did not plan on this steep of a taper. I ran 2 miles Thursday and 4 miles Friday, taking Saturday off. Both runs my legs felt quite refreshed, but I still had some shoulder pain, however, significantly reduced.

Sunday morning race day is here: November 10, 2013, about 53 degrees and mostly sunny. Almost perfect running conditions. It would warm up about 10 degrees during the race but the dew point was so low that it did not matter much.

My plan was to run at an average HR of 157 beats per minute for the whole race. I knew that it would take nearly 2 miles for my HR to ramp up and that I would mostly have to go by feel the first two miles of the race. Partway into mile two we started the only significant hill in the race. I kept watching my Garmin to make sure that I did not go too far above my target HR. It was hard to keep it below 160 on the uphill, but for the most part mission accomplished. Then came a short but very steep downhill section where I passed about 5 runners. As we turned the corner it mostly flattened out and I found myself settling into a pretty steady stride.

Just past the two-mile mark someone in a gold colored top went past me with grayish hair. A possible age group contender I thought to myself. I tried to listen to his breathing as he went by to get an idea of his effort. I couldn’t really tell for sure but I did get the impression that he was just a little labored for this short distance into the race. I let him go and continued running my own pace. As we came around the backside of Mt Rubidoux, onto the bike path and finishing mile-3, two more runners passed me that I thought could be in my age group. The first one’s breathing seemed fine but the second one did seem a little labored. Again I let them both go but asked the second one what his age group was. He either didn’t hear me or ignored me.

After about mile-6 another runner passed me who could be in my age category and I was thinking looks like I may not place like I was hoping for. Still I wanted this to be a test of my condition. By this time into the race I was running quite well and had been on my second wind since about mile-3. I was doing well at maintaining my HR, right around 157, but did occasionally dose off and fall down around 154. This only happened a few times and became apparent when I was passed by someone I didn’t think should be passing me.

Soon after the mile six marker I came up on one of the guys who I thought had been breathing a little harder than he should earlier and asked him his age group. This time he responded, “50-54. And you?” “60,” I replied as another guy running next to us laughed. Then the runner in the 50 category said, “Oh man that hurts,” to which the man who laughed replied, “I shouldn’t be laughing, as I’m only 41.”

The levity provided me with a little bit of a lift and the next time I looked at my Garmin I was at a 160 HR. Whoa!  I slowed it back down to a steady 157 HR. I was almost right on my pace as we hit mile 7 at 7:59 average pace. But my Garmin was also reporting me as having gone .07 miles farther than the mile marker, which meant that I was actually a little slower than that if the mile marker was correct.

I wanted to increase my pace but I felt I should keep on track with my plan. Soon we made the turn a round, and shortly after hit the mile 8 marker. Once again my watch read that I was at 8.08 miles. It would be mostly downhill to mile 12 from here but it would only be a very slight downhill and there was a slight breeze in my face. The breeze actually felt good as it was beginning to warm up just a little by this time. I had now passed all of the possible age groupers I had spotted earlier except for one, including the first one in the gold colored top. I was then passed by one of my friends, Tom Kenefick. I wanted to try and keep up with him but continued to maintain my HR. Every time we went under an overpass he seemed to gain a little more on me until by mile 12 he was at least a minute ahead. At mile 11 I had increased my HR closer to 160 and tried to keep it there the rest of the way.

By mile 12 I knew I was not going to reach my goals. I had two goals in mind; one of setting a new PR, which was now over 10 years old, and the other was breaking 1:45:00. Still I wanted to do my best. Soon we came to the next most significant hill, which was only about 150 to 200 yards long, but at the end of a race it seemed gigantic.

After finally hitting the top of the hill and turning the corner I again increased my HR up to about 162. I did not know if I could hold it the rest of the way but I was going to do my best. With about .4 miles left I kicked it in and pretty closely maintained about a 7:15 pace to the finish getting my HR up to 167.

I crossed the finish line and my Garmin said 13.2 miles and a time of 1:46:18. My official time was 1:46:22. I was just 34 seconds from my previous PR of 1:45:48, and that was on a course with a net downhill while this one was about a 0.0 net. I also placed 3^rd in my age division. When I say my previous PR, I mean on a fairly normal course. I did have a 1:35 at Fontana in 2003 but that is about an 1800-foot drop in only 13.1 miles so I don’t count that as a PR.

I am very pleased with my result and it should translate into a Boston qualifying time at Tucson on December 8^th. I need a 3:55 to qualify for Boston and feel I should have no problem getting 3:50 or better.

Run Through Redlands Half Marathon Report

Race day was pretty much what I expected given the weather predictions. The race started at about 60+ degrees and just a light breeze with bright sunshine and finished in the low 70's with bright sunshine. I was definitely looking for shade to stand in at the end of the race.

I got to the start line about 15 minutes before race time and the 10K had just started. As soon as the 10k all got across the mat they announce that the Half Marathon runners could line up for the race. Our starting line was about a block further back than the 10K. At first it didn't look like there were very many runners but as we got closer to the start time the street began to fill. I got to see quite a few runners that I knew from the Loma Linda Lopers and Redlands Runegades, as well as other runners I have made acquaintance with. We were all talking about how warm it was going to get and how we were doing. All of this began to build up excitement and add to the adrenaline rush that hit as soon as the horn sounded.

I started about 10 - 12 feet from the actual start line and did not have any problems trying to run around or past other runners, which was great. I did pass a few and a few passed me in the first quarter mile. By then the spread between runners had fanned out pretty well and any passing or being passed was no problem at all. After about 3/4 of a mile I began to look around for those I thought might be in my age group and size them up. I think anyone who is serious about trying to place in a race does a little of this whether they admit it or not! I saw two runners that I felt were probably in that category and tried to keep them in sight as long as I could. I know that most runners, I am competitive with, are faster on the uphill than me and I am generally as fast or faster on the downhill than they are. My objective was to try and keep them in sight. I did a pretty good job of that until about mile 5 when I began to lose sight of both of them.

The race was pretty flat for the first two miles but than it began to head uphill, almost 600 feet of total gain over the next 4.6 miles. I had to watch my heart rate (HR) monitor on my Garmin to make sure that I did not push too hard trying to keep up with my competition. My goal was to stay within 155-157 beats per minute. I did find myself at about 160 a couple of times and had to back off just a bit. At 7.1 miles we reached the highest point of the race and I was so relieved to know that it was mostly downhill for the next 4 miles.

As I crested the top I had the urge to just relax and rest a bit as the last hill was really steep, but I kept up my intensity at the same HR as on the uphill and let my body carry me as I tried to relax and just let gravity pull me down the hills; running as smoothly as possible trying not to put on the breaks. I seem to be a pretty natural downhill runner and began to pass quite a few people as I made my way down. This made me a little nervous at first wondering if I might be pushing to hard but a quick glance at my watch showed that my HR was just a little lower than my target so I picked it up a little more. I only got passed by two people on the downhill sections and they were much younger than me, one of them I later passed again toward the end of the downhill sections. Mile 11 was the straightest and most natural grades of downhill, and I was amazed to see later that I had run it at a 7:07 pace. Even though it was downhill it was still 11 miles into the race.

As we got to the bottom I knew that we had 1.9 miles of flat, to slightly uphill, left to the end of the race and about 0.2 miles of downhill to the finish line. I was definitely beginning to feel that fatigue after those eleven miles and could feel it getting harder to maintain my pace but I sucked it up and started to run at the upper limits I had set for myself at around 157 HR. As I approached 12.7 miles a friend, Jim Glick, came along side of me to run me in. This gave me a big lift and I increased my HR up to around 160. As I rounded the corner Jim patted me on the back and gave me some words of encouragement. I then began my kick to the finish line and found that I had more left in my legs than I thought! I crossed the finish in 1:50:35, beating my previous best in this race by almost 4 minutes on what runners consider a pretty warm day. On top of that I finished 3rd in my age group about 3 minutes behind 2nd place runner who happened to be one of the runners I had my eye on at the beginning of the race. I never saw who got number one in our age group but I presume it was probably the other guy I had my eye on.

I am very happy with my result and credit my new way of eating as helping me get back to this condition. I am nearly back to the shape I was at the end of 2002, and through the early part of 2004. All because I can run more without the nagging pains I was having. I still have a little pain but it is minimal compared to what is has been.

I am looking forward to being able to continue to build my mileage even more. I know that I still have room for improvement as I have yet to peak to my potential. Where that is remains to be seen but I will definitely keep you posted.

Happy Trails,

Russ