Yesterday was race evening for me. HM in Lisburn 5 weeks after the crazy marathon in Luxembourg. The taper didn't go as usual, I felt tired the days before the race, with heavy legs. I am guessing I didn't fully recovery from the marathon in Luxembourg, and the many travels and the travel with very early starts over the weekend to Italy (with wedding) didn't help... At the starting line I met a friend from my running club who can run 90 minutes HM and was aiming for 1'40. I asked why on a flat course like this... and he simply said "false advertising, this is not flat and tonight is windy!". Ouch! And he was right!!!
But I started thinking back to why I was running tonight and the initial reason was to experience the 90' pace for at least a few miles, so I went for it! I introduced myself to the pacers and focused on them for as long as I could.
For the first 3 miles we had wind on the side and it was not an easy run, the road was waving up and down, nothing major, but definitely not flat. Mile 4 had a hill that broke the pace. We passed from 6:40 (faster than 1h30') to over 7:10... even the pacers were surprised, but wind and the hill... They said this was normal and we would go a bit faster than 6'50 per mile to compensate the hills. I was putting in more effort that I wanted, and I could feel the legs filling up with lactic acid; but I decided to keep up with the pace and see what my legs could give me. I stayed with the pacers for another 4 miles. Then they went for a bit of a negative split (finishing in 1h29') I went for a crisis... I expected that to happen as I know that my legs get full of lactic acid and become heavy every time I push over the edge of my comfort zone (90' pace is definitely out of my comfort zone for a HM for now), Between mile 8 and 9 the crisis happened. The strike shortened and the pace slowed down.
I passed mile 9 in 1h 1'30'', still on time for 90', but slowing down. Even mile 10 was not too bad in terms of time (1:08:38) but I was slowing down and not getting any faster...
I know now that this is my limit at that speed (and I will work on it for Belfast).
What I liked of my reaction is that I didn't stop trying after the crash, I slowly tried to stay with the runners around me (coming from behind and accelerating from their slower start as they were actually racing smart) and kept the 7'15-7'20 for the next couple of miles.
The last mile was up hill again, and this time everybody else around me was slowing down, I tried to keep the pace, but I had to slow down as well to the point that I was probably running at 8' at the end of the hill. I managed a 7:40 between mile 12 and 13 and finished with a very good (considering the evening and the last month) new personal best of 1 hour, 31'37'' (chip time, gun time at 1h 31'42'' so not much of a difference between the two). This is 3 minutes improvement from last year PB in the half marathon in Belfast (actually flat). Looking at the race overall, they won it with 1h 10'26'' and the third place was at 1h 15' 38'' so I can consider my time more than good. I finished 99th (in the 100 for the first time ) with a field of just below 1300 runners. On a side, I also noticed that my position was 22nd in the M35 category
Below my splits. Overall I am very happy with the race and the time. I have done what I wanted, experienced the 90' pace. I am now convinced that I can train to go below that in a flat HM. So I will now take a few weeks of recovery (considering these the weeks after my marathon) and then write down a plan to prepare for the Belfast Half marathon in September. I need to find a way to get over the lactic acid and the heavy legs (intervals and tempo runs I guess), but I feel back where I left 15 years ago (when I could run faster on 800 mt. but could not run a HM) and I am motivated to compete with my old times on longer distances. Let's see I can do over the summer
mile - time per mile - total
1 - 6:42 - 6:42
2 - 6:46 - 13:28
3 - 6:40 - 20:08
4 - 7:12 - 27:20
5 - 6:38 - 33:58
6 - 6:34 - 40:32
7 - 6:52 - 47:24
8 - 6:54 - 54:18
9 - 7:09 - 1:01:27
10 - 7:11 - 1:08:38
11 - 7:15 - 1:15:53
12 - 7:20 - 1:23:13
13 - 7:40 - 1:30:53
13.1 - 0:44 - 1:31:37
have a nice day
Marco
Written by
marco83
Marathon
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Well done Marco!!! I'm glad you're happy with this result, because it seems to me that you most definitely earned it - that was a tough race. Unless I've misunderstood, you were aiming for a sub 1:30:00 time, and you got round in 1:31:37, which seems pretty darn close, and on a windy day too.
That's amazing!!!!!!
I'm really looking forward to seeing how you get on at Belfast. And I have to say it: When you're taking part in an endurance sport, it's gonna hurt! You can work on your strength and fitness to improve your muscular metabolic processes, but I suggest you also think about mental strategies to work through those painful bits. Definitely remember how well you worked through that crash to keep going, and capitalise on that You can do it, I have no doubt.
Again, really well done, and thank for the report, it was so an exciting to read!
thanks! I was not actually aiming for a sub 1:30 yesterday, I just wanted to experience the pace, so keeping up for 8 miles was a good result. The fact that I managed to keep up a decent pace after the crisis was also good and the 3' PB is a nice bonus. You are right endurance sport is going to hurt, my problem is not really the pain, is the fact that when I push too hard I get stiff and I find it difficult to keep up. I hope to manage training for that over the summer
Wow! Congratulations on a new PB and a super speedy time!! Hope you are recovering well and have a few 'easy' weeks before training for Belfast. Good luck🙂
Well done Marco, you certainly deserve to be happy with that. Bit naughty with the fake advertising, happened to a friend recently. Then again, maybe better not to know. Time to rest up now.
Lovely detailed race report. Sounds like you had a cracking run and a great finishing time. Those pacers are amazing. I am sure with your extra planned training the 90 minute HM will be yours.
What you need is a really good plan, with lots of boxes to tick, preferably in different colours...I am getting carried away again.
thanks, I am glad the report was not too boring. It was fun! I agree I have no idea how the pacers can do what they do, i guess they can run faster though... I am starting planning this week, I will take a couple of down/rest week (between 20 and 30 miles without fast runs) and then I will try to keep the 40 mile per week with some speed-work over the summer. Hopefully this will be enough to give me the 90' in September. I have just checked and the runners I used to train with over 15 years ago ran a half marathon in 2008 in 1h27'. It would be awesome, if I could run a that pace next year (one step at a time though...)
Amazing!!! That pace is something I reach fleetingly in the "10" part of running the 30-20-10 intervals - and then probably only twice. Super fast and super impressive!!
And actually it was even more amazing considering the less than ideal prep in terms of travel and early starts. It sounds (and is) so easy - get to an airport, check in, sit round, sit on a plane, get off, but it's all just that little bit stressful and more tiring than you might expect. So without such a busy lead in to a race, and with a kinder wind, I'm sure you'll smash through that 1:30 barrier!
you are right about the flights... i live in Belfast, so most of the time I need to go to London to fly anywhere... and in the 5 weeks before the race I took off 16 times... I went to Luxembourg for the marathon (4 flights in total) Baltimore and Raleigh (North Carolina) for work (6 flights in total) Amsterdam for work (4 flights) and Italy for the wedding (2 flights + 2 hours drive to Dublin) ...
Hopefully I will have a better period leading to September
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) with a field of just below 1300 runners. On a side, I also noticed that my position was 22nd in the M35 category 
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