I didn't hit my goal of 1:25, but I knew that was very likely out of reach. But 1:28 felt very much within grasp. First, some stats:
- Overall: 66/2797
- Male: 57/1178
- Male 45-59: 3/137
- Male Masters: 11/512
I got up at 3:30 in the morning to have two slices of toast and make 500 mL of coffee. I took 1,000 mg of acetaminophen before heading out the door to make sure it was in my system before starting the race. When I got to the start line about 6 AM, I had a full banana and called it good on nutrition. I had a Maurten 100 gel with me for mile 8 as a safety net.
I started the first 4.4 miles to the spillway with the 1:30 pacer. It's very flat so I knew if I stuck with him, provided my HR and power weren't going into Z4, I would be okay. That seemed to pay off. The goal was to average 6:50 for those first 4.4 miles, and I averaged 6:51. Right on target.
Then when entering the canyon, I opened up. I got a good distance ahead of the 1:30 pacer and at mile 8, took my gel. The goal was to target 6:40 in the canyon to mile 9.5. Again, right on target with 6:39. I was on pace to hit 1:28. All I needed to do was average 6:35 the last 3.7 miles to the finish, and I've got it in the bag. This is when things started going wrong.
First, I forgot antiperspirant to prevent chaffing on my inner thighs. After exiting the canyon, it felt like my shorts were cutting into my legs. I really thought I was bleeding. The pain was incredible.
Second, I had caught up with the 12K racers who were all walkers. The Ogden River Parkway is not very wide, and plenty of 12K walker groups were taking up the full width of the path. I yelled "left" and "move" several times, to no avail. I had to move off to the grass and even got caught in a copse with four 12K walkers and 2 other half marathon runners. It was a nightmare.
Third, I pulled my hamstring yesterday doing chores around the house. I thought I might sleep it off, but that wasn't the case. It started cramping up around mile 10-11, and my pace suffered most due to this. As much as I wanted to dig in deep and finish strong, my hamstring had something else to say about it.
However, this course is longer than 13.1 miles. I've double-, triple-, and quadruple-checked this distance with Google Maps, Strava, and On The Go Map. It's 13.2 miles if you start at the intersection of 5500 East and 2200 North in Eden. But the start timing mat is further back from that intersection. 13.25 to 13.3 miles is a consistent distance I see from every measurement tool.
So, with that in mind, I ran the first 13.1 miles in 1:29:42. That doesn't mean anything for this race specifically, and plenty of races will have slightly longer distances than the agreed upon standard, but still.
However, despite not reaching my 1:28 goal, this course was tough. Pulling out 1:30, despite the challenges I faced late in the course, I'm still marking as a win. Stryd suggested I run the race at 303 watts for a predicted race time of 1:33:54. Instead, I ran at 308 watts for a race time of 1:30:40.
My fitness has improved, even if it wasn't as much as I would have liked. While I firmly believe I'm in BQ shape with time to spare, I still have a lot of work to do getting into sub-3 shape.
Thankfully, Coach Stazza is amazingly patient with me. He's helped me realize a lot of things about my training that I would have never picked up on my own. All my progress is thanks to him. 6:45/mile is likely my threshold pace. If I want to get to sub-3, I probably need to push that down to 6:25/mile. The question is, can I do it in less than 5 months?
Oh, one last thing. Super shoes are overrated. I ran in Altra Vanish Carbons, which have a half-length carbon fiber insole and a heel-to-toe rocker. I'm confident I didn't run any faster than if I would have run the same race in my Altra Provision 6. To be fair, the carbon fiber insole in the Vanish Carbon is only from the ball of the foot to the toes. The new Vanish Carbon 2 has a full carbon fiber insole from toe to heel, so that extra length might improve the snap on the kick, further reducing fatigue. But so far, I'm not convinced.
Also, the Ogden half marathon is prettier than St. George. Fight me.