Well, I knocked out a tough Half-Marathon yesterday. The course profile is above - click on it for a better view.
This was an EnviroSports event and was run down in the Skyline Open Space Preserve, just south of “Alice’s” on the peninsula. This was a challenging course with plenty of hills. The field was limited to 200 participants, some of which ran a shorter 10k race, which just the first of two out-and-back sections.
Last weekend I raced in the heat, this weekend it was unusually cold. It was very cold, windy and overcast at the start. The sun came out later, but it was still surprising cold all morning.
The course consisted of an out-and-back of approximately 10k and then a 2nd out-and-back for the balance of 13.1 miles. The course was quite hilly, with the first 10 minutes of the race a steady climb. This helped sort out the runners pretty well.
I intended to run a conservative race, considering this more a training run than a competitive event…
As it turns out I ran the first 10k quite quickly as did a few runners around me. I completed the 1st 10k leg in ~ 1:02:23. Not a particularly fast time if it had been a flat course, but it felt fast considering the hills. A quick look at the course profile and it looks like we had a total of over 1000' of elevation change - just in the first 10k. If I had run the 10k event and finished with this time I would have placed 25th out of 89 runners! But I still had 7 miles to go…
At about the 8 miles mark I started paying the price for having gone out so quick. My legs were trashed and I was already started feeling fatigued. I had committed to running all the hills in this event, but at mile 8 my calves were in pain. Since I injured my left calf last year I decided to walk the steepest of the remaining hills to prevent injury. I walked/hiked as quick as I could up these hills, so I didn’t really give up any time. I probably walked a total of ¼ mile of the steepest hills and probably gave up 1 minute of time at most…
The last 3 miles I felt pretty trashed. I kept thinking that others runners that I had passed earlier would come past me, but only 1 runner passed me in the last 3 or 4 miles. I guess they were hurting as well.
Out and back runs on narrow trails are interesting. The course running both ways on the same trail means that you get to see the runners ahead of you pass you on their way back and of course you get to see who’s behind you as well. The leader was so fast and smooth and relaxed when he came past me – kind of amazing – he was definitely in a different league…
So I finished this challenging Half Marathon with a time of 2:21:41 – nothing special. This was a training event so I didn’t have a finishing time goal. It looks like we had over 2000' of elevation change in this event - so the equivalent of running from Ocean Beach to the top of Mt. Davidson, the tallest hill in San Francisco, and back - twice. For reference last year I ran my first Half Marathon on a faster, relatively flat course and finished in less than 2 hours. I placed pretty well in this event: 32nd of 104 runners, with only 5 runners my age or older ahead of me. I was, of course, totally whipped after this event, but I think it was good training for the upcoming East Bay Triple Crown Trail Championship series events starting next month…
Last weekend I raced in the heat, this weekend it was unusually cold. It was very cold, windy and overcast at the start. The sun came out later, but it was still surprising cold all morning.
The course consisted of an out-and-back of approximately 10k and then a 2nd out-and-back for the balance of 13.1 miles. The course was quite hilly, with the first 10 minutes of the race a steady climb. This helped sort out the runners pretty well.
I intended to run a conservative race, considering this more a training run than a competitive event…
As it turns out I ran the first 10k quite quickly as did a few runners around me. I completed the 1st 10k leg in ~ 1:02:23. Not a particularly fast time if it had been a flat course, but it felt fast considering the hills. A quick look at the course profile and it looks like we had a total of over 1000' of elevation change - just in the first 10k. If I had run the 10k event and finished with this time I would have placed 25th out of 89 runners! But I still had 7 miles to go…
At about the 8 miles mark I started paying the price for having gone out so quick. My legs were trashed and I was already started feeling fatigued. I had committed to running all the hills in this event, but at mile 8 my calves were in pain. Since I injured my left calf last year I decided to walk the steepest of the remaining hills to prevent injury. I walked/hiked as quick as I could up these hills, so I didn’t really give up any time. I probably walked a total of ¼ mile of the steepest hills and probably gave up 1 minute of time at most…
The last 3 miles I felt pretty trashed. I kept thinking that others runners that I had passed earlier would come past me, but only 1 runner passed me in the last 3 or 4 miles. I guess they were hurting as well.
Out and back runs on narrow trails are interesting. The course running both ways on the same trail means that you get to see the runners ahead of you pass you on their way back and of course you get to see who’s behind you as well. The leader was so fast and smooth and relaxed when he came past me – kind of amazing – he was definitely in a different league…
So I finished this challenging Half Marathon with a time of 2:21:41 – nothing special. This was a training event so I didn’t have a finishing time goal. It looks like we had over 2000' of elevation change in this event - so the equivalent of running from Ocean Beach to the top of Mt. Davidson, the tallest hill in San Francisco, and back - twice. For reference last year I ran my first Half Marathon on a faster, relatively flat course and finished in less than 2 hours. I placed pretty well in this event: 32nd of 104 runners, with only 5 runners my age or older ahead of me. I was, of course, totally whipped after this event, but I think it was good training for the upcoming East Bay Triple Crown Trail Championship series events starting next month…
