Whenever I've run half marathon races or longer, there has rarely been any competition. Although I ran awesome over the winter with a PR half marathon, I ended up finishing 20th in that race. I basically ran miles 5 to 13.1 on my own. I figured that I could've run faster with someone to pull me along.
That led me to signing up for the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Philadelphia. I figured that I would be faster by this time and the competition plus a super fast course would be a big help. Being that it was late September, I also expected decent weather.
Of course that wasn't the case. It was quite nice earlier in the week, but it went back to crappy today. Although the temperature wasn't bad and it was cloudy out, it was also super humid. I knew I was in trouble when I barely got to warm up and was already breaking a sweat.
I started off in corral number 1. That is all of the faster runners. We started with the elites. I knew that there would be some very fast people in the front of our group, so I hung in the middle of the group. That was almost a mistake.
One reason I don't like big city races is because it gets too crowded at the start and there is nowhere to go. I figured that that wouldn't be the case in corral number 1. I thought we would be flying. While I can't say it was slow, it definitely was much slower than I expected or wanted. I had no choice but to run the pace of everyone in front of me. I couldn't waste energy weaving through people.
I was sweating a lot in the first mile and breathing heavy. With the buildings around, my Garmin was already off by .2 miles within the first mile. After that, it at least stayed rather consistent. I came through mile 1 somewhere around 6:44.
I wasn't enjoying this run at all. I couldn't breathe well and knew it was going to be a long day. I tried to back off, but it was tough because there were so many people around me. They sort of just pulled me along. In mile 2, I ran past my friend Phil. I told him it was going to be a struggle. He was happy with how he started.
I continued to plug along. I made sure to drink at every water stop. I also took a few GU Chomps. Both of those seemed to help briefly. Mile 2 was a fast 6:22. Since my cheaper watch didn't show the pace, I had no idea how fast I was going. I had to either guess or calculate it in my head. I'm not used to that.
I continued to try to keep it up. Things were really falling apart and I wasn't even back to the Art Museum yet. It was quite frustrating. Even the great crowd didn't help. They were cheering plenty, but I was too frustrated. They probably would've been awesome if I was running well.
I was passing some people here and there, but by now more and more people were going by me. Looking at my time as I faded, I realized that I was already dropping to around a 1:30 pace. It was going to be a super terrible day.
I didn't quite give up yet. It was nice to get back to the Art Museum and mile 4. I did live in this area for years, so it was good to run in my old stomping grounds. One thing I could say is that even with my struggles, the miles seemed to be flying by. It was much easier running with so many people around me I guess.
I saw an elite woman who apparently dropped out. At least I wasn't having the worst day, even if I wasn't doing good. I continued to struggle to breathe. The even more frustrating part was that my legs were well rested and felt awesome. They could've run a much faster pace.
It was good to at least be done with mile 5. Still, I knew it would be a long day. I was backing off little by little, trying not to completely fall apart. Mile 5 was a 7:01.
Somewhere around mile 6, I was passed by the 1:30 pacer and Phil. That was the final nail in the coffin. I was doing so poorly. I started to wonder if I would even break 1:40. Mentally, I completely quit and shut it down at that point.
Mile 6 had been a 7:05. After shutting it down, mile 7 was a 7:25. I was now on cruise control. On the plus side, slowing down got my breathing back under control. I tried to merely focus on getting to Falls Bridge. Then, I'd be on the way back.
I started to feel better as I slowed down. I kind of enjoyed the run now. Mile 8 was a 7:34. There was a slight uphill to Falls Bridge, but I didn't mind it. I was thrilled when I was heading back. After a short downhill, it felt like we had a slight uphill again. I struggled a bit with this part.
Now, I was running consistent at least. Mile 9 was a 7:33, mile 10 a 7:35 and mile 11 a 7:41. I had no clue of my overall pace and actually didn't care one bit. I just focused on the next mile and cruised along. It was great to have less than 2 miles to go.
Finally, I did start to tire a bit around mile 12. I didn't really fall off though. I still wasn't running with much effort. Mile 12 was a 7:41.
I ate all of my GU Chomps and continued to drink. I felt a little better in the final mile and it was great to see the Art Museum up ahead. That was big boost. I was going to just coast on in.
There was a guy running with an American flag. He had passed me late. I was right behind him. I had no desire to race him. However, I saw the clock and it was closing in on 1:36. Mile 13 was a 7:35.
I sprinted in and passed the American flag guy in the final few yards. I made it just under 1:36. I was glad to be done with such a terrible race. All race, I had been waiting for Angie to pass me. I figured she wasn't running well or she would have done just that. Neither her or Phil did well either, but they didn't fade as bad as me. My friend Megan finished ahead of me and struggled too.
I guess my biggest downfall today was that I refuse to adjust my pace and goals based on the conditions. I knew that the humidity was too much for me to handle, however, I still crashed and burned. I don't quite regret that though. My goal was to PR and that was it. I don't care about running a good, smart race. I'd rather push and crash and burn than run a smart, but slower race.
I knew I was terrible at hot and humid races, but this summer really opened my eyes even more to that. I need cool conditions or I just destroy myself. From now on, if I do decide to run more road races, I'll probably just wait until the last minute and the weather forecast before I sign up. That will be expensive, but at least I won't completely waste money. I also should probably try working on my breathing.
After today, I'm not sure if I'll ever run another road race again. I just no longer enjoy them. The passion is gone and I want to stick to trails. I want to challenge myself in different ways and also enjoy my races again.
Tomorrow, I'm hoping to run again and try out the new Garmin. It has a longer battery life and is made more for outdoors. We'll see how it works.
13.1 miles - 1:35:56 (7:19 pace)
No comments:
Post a Comment