Hartford Half Marathon Race Recap, Part 1
At looooong last, here's the race recap from that race I ran over a week ago.
So allow me to preface the race recap with a few things:
1) I mentioned my heart issues way back when I posted my 10K race recap, but I don’t think I ever talked about the results of all my tests and my diagnosis. I wore a Holter monitor last summer, and had an echo, and after my cardiologist looked at everything he discovered I have a very slight mitral valve prolapse. This was causing my occasional heart palpitations that “flip-flopping” feeling I was getting. It’s a very common thing, apparently, and my symptoms really aren’t severe enough to medicate. But it happens every once in a while, especially at times when I have extra adrenaline in my body (a hormone that can excite muscles in your body, which obviously includes the heart).
2) My unspoken time goal for this race was somewhere between 2:15 and 2:16. My time for my first ever half marathon last March, if you remember, was 2:21:49, when I was just trying to finish the distance. I thought 2:15ish was a reasonable time goal that was consistent with the pace of my training runs (which happened on a much more hilly course than the Hartford Half).
3) According to most of the reading I’ve done, the recommended technique when you’re racing is to “negative split”-- meaning you take a conservative pace for the first few miles, and then pick it up in the last leg. The idea is that you don’t wear yourself out early in the race. However, this strategy never really works for me, especially for the longer distance. I always find it hard to pick up my pace after I’ve already run 10-ish miles, no matter what my pace has been before that. However, if I set a quick tempo for my feet from the get-go, I find it more easy to sustain than if I try to start up a faster pace late in the race. So... my strategy on training runs has been to push myself a reasonable amount for the first 8 miles (anywhere between a 9:15 to 10:00 pace depending on the grade) and then allow myself to relax a little in the last few. I was hoping to employ this in the race as well.
Okay, on to the race!
We came down to CT Thursday evening and spent the day Friday doing regular homeschool activities with the girls and enjoying some play time with Grandma and Grandpa, who had the day off. M worked remotely from the house in CT. After he finished work for the day, we headed into Hartford to pick up our race packets and bibs (there was no race-day pickup). We got caught in some traffic but were able to drive part of the course. It was moderately hilly but really pretty manageable.
M and I had been checking and re-checking the forecast in the days leading up to the race. The precipitation potential wavered up and down, but by 9 PM the night before (when I wrote this post) it seemed pretty definite that we would be running in rain of some form or another. We debated over what to wear, wanting to stay as dry as possible without weighing ourselves down with too much gear. I focused on drinking a lot of water that evening so that my body would be well hydrated and I wouldn't have to drink anything but coffee in the morning (yes, I'm so addicted that I have to have coffee before I run or else I get a major headache before the race is over). We put the girls to bed after a wonderful spaghetti dinner made by Grandma, I put overnight oats in the fridge, and we chatted with Mom and Dad a bit before crashing around 10. Before we went to bed I decided on long running spandex pants and my pretty blue race shirt (long-sleeved) as my apparel for the race. I would bring my raincoat and decide at the last minute whether to wear it.
I set my alarm for 6 AM, and in the morning we rolled out of bed, turned on the coffee, threw on running clothes and took our oats out of the fridge. We left by 6:30 and ate our oats as we drove.
We made it into the city with minimal traffic and managed to find a parking spot before all the roads closed at 7:15 AM. Hooray!
Now comes the part where we enjoyed the last of our coffee in the car
while trying to decide whether to wear our raincoats, and pretty much waiting until the very last minute before venturing out in the rain.
As the rainy drizzle continued to fall, I decided that I would wear my raincoat, despite the fact that it was somewhat heavy and dressy and not really a "sporty" raincoat... but it was what I had, and hopefully it would keep me a bit more dry than just wearing regular running gear. The temperature was hovering around 45 degrees, so given the cold and wetness combined I knew I would want another layer to keep me warm, even while running.
At about 7:30 we ventured out so we could find the porta-potties before lining up to start. By the time we found the starting line we were already quite wet. It just couldn't be helped.
All of the information we had read told us you needed a seed card to place yourself in a certain time bracket, but we walked right up to the 1 hour 50 minute sign and nobody stopped us. I figured it was a good place for me to start if I wanted to set myself a good clip to begin.
We took our selfie as the announcer gave the five-minute warning.
I stuck with the pace and halfway through mile 1 I started to wonder whether this heart thing was going to be a legitimate concern. I had a moment of panic but then my stubbornness took over-- I had run this distance lots of time in training, at this same pace, I told myself. There's nothing different about today. Just enjoy the crowd, the people around you who love this sport as much as you do, take a deep breath... relax...
I managed to get myself calmed down as I ran, and my heart settled into a normal rhythm. Phew! I started to smile as I noticed the spectators and felt the energy of the runners around me. Mile 1 marker read 10:35 as I passed it. Again, I didn't remember at the time how long it took me to cross the start after the gun, so I had no idea what my actual time was. I checked my GPS-- 9:45 pace. Awesome. Just what I was shooting for.
Just after the mile 1 marker I suddenly remembered that I needed to watch for the turn for the half marathon (the full and half marathons start together in Hartford). I did NOT want to find myself on the full marathon course accidentally! I watched like a hawk and forgot about everything else for that whole mile... luckily they had volunteers on the side of the road for about 1/4 mile before the turn holding huge signs and shouting "HALF MARATHON THIS WAY!!! HALF MARATHON THIS WAY!!" I guess they knew that we runners really get in the zone and don't pay attention. Thank goodness for that.
I made the turn. Okay, now nothing directional to worry about-- just focus on running.
I knew the pace wasn't too fast for me, but things still felt a bit hard because of my heart and nervous legs. I could feel myself holding back a little, because at the least little push in pace (or any time we went up a small hill) I would feel a flip flop in my heart and have to slow down for a minute. I kept pep-talking myself, though, working hard at controlling my breathing and staying mentally calm and positive. Whenever we had a downhill stretch (and gladly, it seemed like there were more of those than I expected) I took the opportunity to stride my legs out a bit and really slow down my breathing.
We passed the mile 2 marker and there was no timer. I remember wondering why, and guessing that it had short-circuited in the rain or something. As we went on, though, I realized that they only had clocks at every other mile marker. I started to rely on my GPS for pacing a little more.
Just past the mile 3 marker (which I passed as the clock on the mile marker read 29:45) I thought, whoa, okay, this pace is starting to feel a little fast. I didn't think I had sped up, but suddenly I saw the pace leader for 2 hours 5 minutes (they wear bright orange shirts that have their pace written on the back). Remembering my goal time of 2:15, I thought to myself, "Okay, so I have some room to slow down a little here."
So I did slow down juuuuuust a little, and that's when I really started to feel comfortable, and like this was just a normal run. I started really enjoying myself (as much as I could in the rain!) and miles 4 and 5 flew by. There were a few small hills but nothing like the ones in my neighborhood. Honestly, it felt like there was more downhill than uphill, and I always took those opportunities to pick up a little speed. Although I didn't feel thirsty, I tried to stay on top of my hydration needs by taking one of the Gatorades from the water station around mile 4, but it turned my stomach so much that I vowed I wouldn't drink any more until the end of the race.
Halfway through mile 5 I got a good luck text from my sis (thanks!!!) and a few minutes later, another one from a friend. These gave me a little boost and I sailed past the mile 6 marker with a smile. I had my raisins in my pocket that I usually eat around the 1-hour mark of running, but my stomach still felt off from the Gatorade, and I didn't feel like I needed it too badly so I decided to just keep going without a re-fuel.
We passed under the arch for the halfway mark
So allow me to preface the race recap with a few things:
1) I mentioned my heart issues way back when I posted my 10K race recap, but I don’t think I ever talked about the results of all my tests and my diagnosis. I wore a Holter monitor last summer, and had an echo, and after my cardiologist looked at everything he discovered I have a very slight mitral valve prolapse. This was causing my occasional heart palpitations that “flip-flopping” feeling I was getting. It’s a very common thing, apparently, and my symptoms really aren’t severe enough to medicate. But it happens every once in a while, especially at times when I have extra adrenaline in my body (a hormone that can excite muscles in your body, which obviously includes the heart).
2) My unspoken time goal for this race was somewhere between 2:15 and 2:16. My time for my first ever half marathon last March, if you remember, was 2:21:49, when I was just trying to finish the distance. I thought 2:15ish was a reasonable time goal that was consistent with the pace of my training runs (which happened on a much more hilly course than the Hartford Half).
3) According to most of the reading I’ve done, the recommended technique when you’re racing is to “negative split”-- meaning you take a conservative pace for the first few miles, and then pick it up in the last leg. The idea is that you don’t wear yourself out early in the race. However, this strategy never really works for me, especially for the longer distance. I always find it hard to pick up my pace after I’ve already run 10-ish miles, no matter what my pace has been before that. However, if I set a quick tempo for my feet from the get-go, I find it more easy to sustain than if I try to start up a faster pace late in the race. So... my strategy on training runs has been to push myself a reasonable amount for the first 8 miles (anywhere between a 9:15 to 10:00 pace depending on the grade) and then allow myself to relax a little in the last few. I was hoping to employ this in the race as well.
Okay, on to the race!
We came down to CT Thursday evening and spent the day Friday doing regular homeschool activities with the girls and enjoying some play time with Grandma and Grandpa, who had the day off. M worked remotely from the house in CT. After he finished work for the day, we headed into Hartford to pick up our race packets and bibs (there was no race-day pickup). We got caught in some traffic but were able to drive part of the course. It was moderately hilly but really pretty manageable.
M and I had been checking and re-checking the forecast in the days leading up to the race. The precipitation potential wavered up and down, but by 9 PM the night before (when I wrote this post) it seemed pretty definite that we would be running in rain of some form or another. We debated over what to wear, wanting to stay as dry as possible without weighing ourselves down with too much gear. I focused on drinking a lot of water that evening so that my body would be well hydrated and I wouldn't have to drink anything but coffee in the morning (yes, I'm so addicted that I have to have coffee before I run or else I get a major headache before the race is over). We put the girls to bed after a wonderful spaghetti dinner made by Grandma, I put overnight oats in the fridge, and we chatted with Mom and Dad a bit before crashing around 10. Before we went to bed I decided on long running spandex pants and my pretty blue race shirt (long-sleeved) as my apparel for the race. I would bring my raincoat and decide at the last minute whether to wear it.
I set my alarm for 6 AM, and in the morning we rolled out of bed, turned on the coffee, threw on running clothes and took our oats out of the fridge. We left by 6:30 and ate our oats as we drove.
We made it into the city with minimal traffic and managed to find a parking spot before all the roads closed at 7:15 AM. Hooray!
Now comes the part where we enjoyed the last of our coffee in the car
while trying to decide whether to wear our raincoats, and pretty much waiting until the very last minute before venturing out in the rain.
As the rainy drizzle continued to fall, I decided that I would wear my raincoat, despite the fact that it was somewhat heavy and dressy and not really a "sporty" raincoat... but it was what I had, and hopefully it would keep me a bit more dry than just wearing regular running gear. The temperature was hovering around 45 degrees, so given the cold and wetness combined I knew I would want another layer to keep me warm, even while running.
At about 7:30 we ventured out so we could find the porta-potties before lining up to start. By the time we found the starting line we were already quite wet. It just couldn't be helped.
All of the information we had read told us you needed a seed card to place yourself in a certain time bracket, but we walked right up to the 1 hour 50 minute sign and nobody stopped us. I figured it was a good place for me to start if I wanted to set myself a good clip to begin.
We took our selfie as the announcer gave the five-minute warning.
Although I really wasn't too nervous about this race, I started to feel a bit of flutter in my heart and the "jelly legs" sensation, just from regular old race-day adrenaline. M gave me a little pep talk and we high-fived each other good luck. Then the gun went off!
We weren't too far from the starting line so it only took us about 30 seconds after gun time to cross. Looking back, I wish I had noticed that at the time, but I didn't. I had my iPhone prepped to track the run with my GPS so I hit the start button just after we crossed the start and put my phone in my raincoat pocket.
As soon as we started running in earnest my heart started really fluttering and my legs felt pretty weak. I had never experienced this in training runs so I wasn't really sure how to handle it. It was crowded and I was sort of forced to run at the pace of all the other people around me, but their pace felt fine, and I could tell that it wouldn't have been too fast for me under normal circumstances. The adrenaline exciting my heart was the only problem.
I stuck with the pace and halfway through mile 1 I started to wonder whether this heart thing was going to be a legitimate concern. I had a moment of panic but then my stubbornness took over-- I had run this distance lots of time in training, at this same pace, I told myself. There's nothing different about today. Just enjoy the crowd, the people around you who love this sport as much as you do, take a deep breath... relax...
I managed to get myself calmed down as I ran, and my heart settled into a normal rhythm. Phew! I started to smile as I noticed the spectators and felt the energy of the runners around me. Mile 1 marker read 10:35 as I passed it. Again, I didn't remember at the time how long it took me to cross the start after the gun, so I had no idea what my actual time was. I checked my GPS-- 9:45 pace. Awesome. Just what I was shooting for.
Just after the mile 1 marker I suddenly remembered that I needed to watch for the turn for the half marathon (the full and half marathons start together in Hartford). I did NOT want to find myself on the full marathon course accidentally! I watched like a hawk and forgot about everything else for that whole mile... luckily they had volunteers on the side of the road for about 1/4 mile before the turn holding huge signs and shouting "HALF MARATHON THIS WAY!!! HALF MARATHON THIS WAY!!" I guess they knew that we runners really get in the zone and don't pay attention. Thank goodness for that.
I made the turn. Okay, now nothing directional to worry about-- just focus on running.
I knew the pace wasn't too fast for me, but things still felt a bit hard because of my heart and nervous legs. I could feel myself holding back a little, because at the least little push in pace (or any time we went up a small hill) I would feel a flip flop in my heart and have to slow down for a minute. I kept pep-talking myself, though, working hard at controlling my breathing and staying mentally calm and positive. Whenever we had a downhill stretch (and gladly, it seemed like there were more of those than I expected) I took the opportunity to stride my legs out a bit and really slow down my breathing.
We passed the mile 2 marker and there was no timer. I remember wondering why, and guessing that it had short-circuited in the rain or something. As we went on, though, I realized that they only had clocks at every other mile marker. I started to rely on my GPS for pacing a little more.
Just past the mile 3 marker (which I passed as the clock on the mile marker read 29:45) I thought, whoa, okay, this pace is starting to feel a little fast. I didn't think I had sped up, but suddenly I saw the pace leader for 2 hours 5 minutes (they wear bright orange shirts that have their pace written on the back). Remembering my goal time of 2:15, I thought to myself, "Okay, so I have some room to slow down a little here."
So I did slow down juuuuuust a little, and that's when I really started to feel comfortable, and like this was just a normal run. I started really enjoying myself (as much as I could in the rain!) and miles 4 and 5 flew by. There were a few small hills but nothing like the ones in my neighborhood. Honestly, it felt like there was more downhill than uphill, and I always took those opportunities to pick up a little speed. Although I didn't feel thirsty, I tried to stay on top of my hydration needs by taking one of the Gatorades from the water station around mile 4, but it turned my stomach so much that I vowed I wouldn't drink any more until the end of the race.
Halfway through mile 5 I got a good luck text from my sis (thanks!!!) and a few minutes later, another one from a friend. These gave me a little boost and I sailed past the mile 6 marker with a smile. I had my raisins in my pocket that I usually eat around the 1-hour mark of running, but my stomach still felt off from the Gatorade, and I didn't feel like I needed it too badly so I decided to just keep going without a re-fuel.
We passed under the arch for the halfway mark
I remember one guy running near me saying, "Big whoop, halfway mark. That's like saying, Congratulations, you're.... not even close."
(I think a lot of people were feeling pretty grumpy about the rain at that point. It wasn't bothering me too much, actually. I had expected my feet to be really wet and blistered and painful by that point, but they weren't at all. Hooray for my Asics-- they really stay dry.)
To be continued...
(Read part 2 of the recap here.)
Comments
Post a Comment