Of Mice and Marathons

Blues at the Crossroads

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Location:

Lake Orion,MI,

Member Since:

Dec 28, 2011

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

PRs

16:52 Phillies Charities 5k (2016)

35:52 Beach to Beacon 10k (2015)

58:10 Broad Street 10 Mile (2016)

1:16:02 Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon (2015)

2:46:54 Philadelphia Marathon (2015)

Personal:

I live in Michigan with my wife, Megan, and our boys, Charlie and Sawyer. I started running in September 2010.

(Please note that Strava links might contain blog inappropriate langauge)

 

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 17.80 Month: 188.40 Year: 510.50
Miles With Megan Lifetime Miles: 613.75
Nike Zoom Streak LT2 White/Orange Lifetime Miles: 189.95
Saucony Kinvara 5 Viziglow Lifetime Miles: 530.45
Kinvara 10 Lifetime Miles: 186.30
Kinvara 10 II Lifetime Miles: 137.80
Miles With The Boys Lifetime Miles: 99.90
Nike Zoom Streak LT4 Mr. Pinks Lifetime Miles: 21.60
Saucony ISO Freedom 3 Lifetime Miles: 609.15
Saucony ISO Freedom 3 #2 Lifetime Miles: 154.30
Altra Rivera Lifetime Miles: 337.95
Altra Rivera (Dark Blue) Lifetime Miles: 121.50
Saucony Kinvara 5 (2023 Vault Shoe) Lifetime Miles: 263.15
Saucony Kinvara 5 (2023 Vault Shoe II) Lifetime Miles: 228.00
Saucony Kinvara 13 Lifetime Miles: 188.90
Saucony Endorphin Pro Lifetime Miles: 170.00
Saucony Freedom 5 Lifetime Miles: 43.70
Saucony Kinvara 13 #2 Lifetime Miles: 20.30
Race: Blues at the Crossroads (13.08 Miles) 01:25:27, Place overall: 11, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.100.0013.080.0017.18

Got up about 5, hotel coffee and Cliff bloks. Relaxed for a while as I am not sure why I got up so early. I did get a good deal of TV watching done, including Mr. Fred Rogers helping his young audience deal with divorce ("Just because mommy and daddy don't love each other doesn't mean they don't love you..."). Got ready around 6:30 and got my gear, and drove to the starting line around 6:45, getting there just before 7 to run a bit (1.76 mile warm up, strides, dynamic stretching). Did the strides going down Ohio, looking in shop windows to make sure I was fast AND looking good while doing it. My foot felt great, which was a relief. They had some water at the starting line, which was great because my mouth was dry from the coffee. Temps were just around 48-50 degrees.

The announcer asked people to get ready, did some announcements, but it seemed no one wanted to toe the line . . . because we were several yards from it (diffusion of responsibility I take it). I thought people would move toward the line eventually, but we stayed where we were. Okay. I guess this little gem is going to have a running start (this race at least had timing mats and the big blowup arch things). It was like they had never raced before. We went when the starting, eh, err . . . voice . . . went off. Seriously, can I get a gun? My first race had a cannon fire, which was awesome except it was 10 or 15 seconds early. The next year some guy couldn't get his musket to fire and we had at least one false start. Anyway, off to our running start we go.

Miles 1 & 2: 6:45, 6:41 were straight down Ohio. I started out fast (about 5:30, 5:45) before settling in. The lead guys were out in front and I was in a pack of heavy breathers in gym shorts and cutoff T-shirts. First mile was good, and second was good. Right on first half pace, feeling very comfortable. I passed a guy just before mile 3. He seemed tired, but I talked to him after and he did a marathon race/training run the weekend before around 3:18 pace. He's doing Chicago, hoping for sub-3.

Miles 3-6: 6:39, 6:39, 6:44, 6:34 We started on the trail that we would be on for most of the race. I passed the Chicago guy and asked him what he had on his distance because I hit mile 3 early. Say 2.75ish early. Not good, especially since 1 and 2 were as close as the certified courses I have run (.01-.02 difference). He reported similar findings, sounding like in fact he had run a marathon the previous weekend. 4, 5, and 6 were all on the mark. I picked up two guys during these miles and ran with them. One of them I stayed with until mile 11. We saw the lead guy around mile 6 or a bit after (he had hit the turnaround). He was about a minute and a half ahead (and finished almost five and a half minutes over the second place finisher). No sense telling the chase guys. The guy went on to run a 1:10. We went over some timing mats at the turnaround, which as near as I can tell were just to keep people from running through the woods or taking a bus and popping up at mile 13 to set a world record (I don't see any half splits and I'm guessing the turn was the halfway point).

Miles 7-10: 6:33, 6:31, 6:22, 6:35 : Put down a gel around the turning point and picked up the pace a bit. One of the two guys I was running with fell behind.  We started to see the crowd of people who started behind us on the way back. Trail was a bit crowded, but not bad. I talked and joke a little with Chris, my unofficial pacer who was running with me (I wish I had got that guy a beer or six). Got s sip of water at one point to wash my mouth out. Watched some of the interesting running gaits of old folks (bless them for keeping up the running). I felt great the whole time. Chris stopped for more water around 10 or 11 and I took off.

Miles 11-13.08: 6:30, 6:20, 6:10, 25.7 seconds I saw a guy up ahead and put a target on his back around mile 11-11.15. Wasn't sure if I would catch him. I tried to tell myself, "you're running a huge PR, keep it steady until you can see the 13th mile marker." Mile 12 I was starting to feel it, but usually I feel like that around mile 10, so things were looking good. I stayed on the guy's back until I could hear the announcer and see mile 13 and I went. I hit 5:01 going into the finish, seeing the clock about 1:25:24ish. Stopped my watch a few seconds after I went over the mats, which means the partial was shorter than .08 and I was moving at 5 minute pace for longer than the average pace reflects on the partial. Still, the distance is good on my watch to make the equivalent time of 1:25:27 a 1:25:35 and that's going to be my new PR of over 5 minutes. 8 minutes off my PR in late April. 14 minutes off my PR from last October. Sub-1:20 was my "some day when I peak" goals, but even though the minutes are going to come off harder and harder, I know sub-1:20 is possible. I'd like to see what lies beyond that.

The official time had me at 1:24:57.6. Glad we had the running start or it would have been about 13.05!

2.34 mile cool down.

PM: Easy shakeout in the hotel pool :)

Foot was fine during the race, and a bit angry during the cool down. Off to the podiatrist to make sure I can get it straightened out.

This puts 30+ seconds between current half marathon pace and goal marathon pace, which seems reasonable.

Legs are strong PR sore today. Would love to run, but I'm not sure about that foot.


Newton MV2 (Black) Miles: 17.18
Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Bam on Sat, Sep 15, 2012 at 09:11:17 from 213.191.245.92

What can I say? Superb. Well done Jason. I'm looking forward to reading the full report. Top man.

From Jason D on Sat, Sep 15, 2012 at 09:43:54 from 64.134.196.192

Thanks for your advice and encouragement, Bam. I will post more when I get to a computer. I will say it was one of my best races, certainly my best half. Started out at what I wanted to run (about 6:38-6:42) and hit the second half slightly faster with a 6:10 13th mile (6:10 was my 5k pace but I imagine it's much faster). Hit the last .08 at 5:23. I looked at the pace chart and my performance is a legitimate 1:25-range. The guy who won ran a 1:10. He smoked the course record by about 5 minutes. The "old" folks took it today. Cheers to many healthy years of running for everyone.

From SlowJoe on Sat, Sep 15, 2012 at 10:31:12 from 69.131.141.92

Wow, what a breakthrough! Looking forward to the details. I don't think your BQ is in much doubt now! Congrats.

From Bam on Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 15:21:02 from 89.204.255.230

My internet crashed over the weekend and this is my first chance to read your full report. As usual, a great read.

Everything is looking great for your marathon. If you keep going like this, you'll have no problems. You right to be pleased with smashing your PR - it's the hard work and your approach to your training that's making the difference. 1:20 is well within your capabilities.

Tell me something, why do you take gels in a half? I thought they were for marathons/long races. Surely you'd have enough glycogen for a half. Am I missing something here?

From Jason D on Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 15:55:46 from 24.1.80.94

Thanks, Bam. I am really happy even if it beat me up for the next day and this week, but I decided to get my half tune up earlier than 4 weeks out this year (14 minutes faster though!)

As for the gels. . . Well, out of habit My first half I took one at mile 10 but didn't need it even though I ran a 1:41. I can run for 2+ hours or longer without needed anything. I keep asking myself, how much faster do you need to get at the half to ditch those darn dirty things? Sub-1:30 is probably the as good a time as any if not before. For super fast folks it doesn't make sense because they are looking at 65-75 minutes. The gel may have helped on Saturday, but I am not sure how much (I think running with someone, the flat course, smart pacing, and a strong negative split made more of a difference). For the marathon I will bring 3 and probably take two unless things start to sink. I can't remember how many I took last year. I think I just kept eating :)

From SlowJoe on Tue, Sep 18, 2012 at 19:32:03 from 69.131.141.92

Hey, great writeup. I think the moral of the story is don't do anything stupid between now and Nov 3 and you'll be golden!

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