Race: Anheuser Busch Colonial Half-MarathonDate: Sunday, February 22, 2009
Location: Williamsburg, VA
Race Type: Run - Half Marathon
Age Group: Male 30 - 34
Time: 1:28:53
Overall Place: 63/ 735
Age Group Place: 5 / 43
Comment: A Great Season Opener and Solid Run
Race Report:
This is a special race for me and Karolina for a number of reasons. The start and finish are on the campus of my Alma Mater and it has marked the opening race of the season for us two years in a row. It's a well run event on a challenging course with a convenient 1:00 PM start time.
Like last year, Karolina Mikey, and I drove down to Williamsburg on Sunday morning after a quick breakfast. We left Reston a little after 9:30 AM and after a few potty stops arrived at packet pickup shortly before noon. We got our packets, checked out the expo and went back to the car for some final prep before warming up.
The goal for this race was to test my fitness and 'dry-run' my marathon race execution. I had not raced since the first week in December and was excited to see what I could do after 10 weeks of high quality run training. I was also stocked to run in my new compression racing socks and racing flats. I'd become a big fan of compression gear over the past 6 months and Mikey got me a pair of 2XU Compression Race Socks for Christmas. I'd trained in compression tights all winter and was excited to test out the race socks. This was also my first race in my new Nike Lunar Racers. I'd selected these shoes back in late December and after some lengthy searching, secured a pair from the Running Warehouse. The shoes are racing flats with maximum cushion in a super-lite package. They weigh a little over 5 oz. which is less than half the weight of my current Asics Gel-Nimbus. In addition to this gear, I wore my Craft tri shorts and Team FeXY shirt. This is as close as possible to what I will wear on marathon race day.I felt that given my performance in training, I should be able to run under 1:30 for a half marathon. This is also in accordance with the 'Matias-Scale' for marathon time prediction -- take your half marathon time, double it, and add 10 minutes. To qualify for Boston (3:10), I'd need to run 1:30. The only other item to consider was the course. The Colonial Half is one tough rolling/hilly run!
Karolina and did our final prep in the car and took off on our warm up. Conditions were windy in the low 40s. I wanted to make sure my legs were warm and loose given the cold. Warm up included a steady jog to the start line plus some strides. I got in a little over a mile and felt solid before the gun. The race was a shotgun start (no chip time) so I tried to get near the line with Karolina. A final kiss to Karolina and then we were off.
The start is a fast down hill with some immediate turns. I saw Mikey at the first corner and gave him a shout as I ran by. The first mile was fast (6:14) but I felt relaxed and steady. I was amazed how fast people took off. This is one of the more competitive half marathons in the areas and I was amazed to see how far ahead the leaders were after the first mile. They must have took off at 4:45 pace! The next couple miles were mostly downhill so I tried to stay relaxed and not go too hard too soon.
My execution plan was to control my effort over the first half and not push the hills. I'd done very little hill training (Shamrock is a flat course) and I was afraid that I might strain my calves if I ran too hard uphill. The first major climb came shortly before mile 4 and I was careful to slow things down and shorten my stride. Lite fast feet was what I repeated in my head as I watched the people around me pound up the hill. It was a little disheartening to see people pulling away but I tried to remain focused on my individual effort. I yo-yoed with a couple of guys over the next few miles out to the turnaround. I felt really solid running in the 6:30-6:50 range. I didn't check my watch much during the race and focused on feel.
I hit the turnaround following a length climb and tried to relax during the gradual decent through Kingsmill. As I ran through the neighborhood, I felt the wind for the first time and even had a slight chill. This seemed odd since I rarely felt cold during races given my high body temp. I spotted a few runners ahead of me and tried to rachet things up a little as I made my way towards mile 8. Around mile 8 we rejoined the country road path and made the trek back to Colonial Williamsburg. I slowed down again as I hit the hills again and started to feel some fatigue. I tried to stay comfortable and settled into 6:5x pace.
I hit the 10 mile mark in 1:06.10 which was a full minute faster than my PR from last season. I knew I was running well so I tried to stay focused and maintain my pace. Like last year, things were going well until the final climbs at mile 12 and 13. I hit the climb and knew I couldn't push the pace. In fact, I was hurting so I backed off. Looking at my splits, I really slowed down running 7:22 and 7:12 over the final two miles. I wish I'd had more in the tank to finish stronger, but the hills took too much out of me and I was spent. In hindsight, I might have benefitted from a Gu or HammerGel at the 10 mile mark. I was clearly out of gas and I only had a few cups of water during the race.
I ran strong through campus towards Willam & Mary Hall. I thought about all the times I'd walked around the campus and how nice it was to back at W&M. I powered into the stadium and saw the clock read 1:28:xx, an 8 minute PR. I was so happy to see a sub 90 minute time on the clock given my goal to run 3:10 in March. I walked through the finish chute and grabbed some drinks from the volunteers. I caught up with Eddie Valentine, (a former coworker and super-fast marathoner) who ran a solid 1:19 despite stopping to re-tie his shoes a couple times. It was great to see him and some other old acquantences in the finishing area. I found Mikey in the stands and he through me my recovery bottle. I few moments later Karolina came across the line in 1:41! She was nervous about her form going into the race -- but it didn't stop her from running a PR by 3 minutes!We collected our gear, showered up in the W&M locker room, and grabbed a couple beers courtesy of the race sponsor. Per tradition, we stopped at the Cheese Shop on our way home to have a couple sandwiches with world famous house dressing. It was another perfect end to a great season opener.
Below is the data from the race.
| Miles | Split Time | Total Time | Heart Rate | Pace | Notes |
| 1.00 | 0:06:14 | 0:06:14 | 153 | 0:06:14 | Quick start, mostly downhill |
| 2.00 | 0:06:27 | 0:12:41 | 163 | 0:06:20 | |
| 3.00 | 0:06:17 | 0:18:58 | 163 | 0:06:19 | Long downhill |
| 4.00 | 0:06:48 | 0:25:46 | 164 | 0:06:26 | Long uphill |
| 5.00 | 0:06:31 | 0:32:17 | 165 | 0:06:27 | |
| 6.00 | 0:06:45 | 0:39:02 | 166 | 0:06:30 | |
| 7.00 | 0:06:36 | 0:45:38 | 164 | 0:06:31 | Cruising - felt great |
| 8.00 | 0:06:52 | 0:52:30 | 166 | 0:06:34 | Hills again |
| 9.00 | 0:06:41 | 0:59:11 | 166 | 0:06:35 | |
| 10.00 | 0:06:59 | 1:06:10 | 167 | 0:06:37 | A PR for 10 miles! |
| 11.00 | 0:06:57 | 1:13:07 | 163 | 0:06:39 | Hills - tried to stay relaxed |
| 12.00 | 0:07:22 | 1:20:29 | 164 | 0:06:42 | Brutal hills - turned it off |
| 13.00 | 0:07:12 | 1:27:41 | 164 | 0:06:45 | Held steady - hurting |
| 13.11 | 0:00:59 | 1:28:40 | 168 | 0:06:46 | Finished strong |
| Final | 1:28:53 | 0:06:46 |
Some key points and lessons learned from the race:
- I'm on target for my BQ attempt at Shamrock
- I should carry a gel for my next half marathon
- Don't push the hills during a race without proper training and preperation
- The racing flats and compression socks worked great and will be used at Shamrock
Thanks for reading.
