YES!
What a ride. I successfully set a new personal record for the half marathon this morning. Here's a mile-by-mile breakdown:
Getting Started
The weather was overcast, but plenty warm. As I finished stretching and prepared to set out, I noticed a few drops of rain. I headed back upstairs and got my rain jacket. I took a swig of raspberry lemonade-flavored Gatorade before setting my forerunner at 9:08 / mile -- at this pace, I'll finish in 01:59:39. Off I go!
Mile 1 - 8:35 (0:33 ahead of the pacer overall)
As the few drops of rain turned into a small drizzle, I felt okay out of the blocks. I'm sufficiently warmed up, and I don't feel too hot or too cold. So far, so good.
Mile 2 - 9:31 (0:10 ahead overall)
Right before reaching the two-mile mark, my forerunner skipped a beat. One moment, I was almost 400 feet ahead, and the next, I was only 50 feet ahead. The problem is that the excessive clouds and rain are keeping the forerunner from being as accurate as it usually is. I'm fairly certain that I ran this mile faster than 9:31. These kinds of tracking errors usually work themselves out over time, so I'm not worried. I'm still ahead, and I still feel great.
Mile 3 - 8:48 (0:30 ahead)
The rain is getting a bit heavier now, but nothing close to slowing me down. My head is getting a tiny bit wet, but my rain jacket keeps me plenty dry. It also helps that I'm wearing my Nike "dri-fit" running shorts. Onward!
Mile 4 - 8:39 (0:59 ahead)
The downpour arrived! As I started to feel the moisture seeping in to my shoes and my hair getting wet, I suddenly remembered that my rain jacket has a hood zipped inside the collar. My pace dropped just a tiny bit as I pulled the hood out of the collar, put it on, and adjusted it to keep it from falling off. I'm still feeling pretty good with almost one third of my run completed.
Mile 5 - 8:29 (1:38 ahead)
One minute it was pouring, the next it was just a drizzle, and the next it was pouring again. Now perfectly comfortable in my rain jacket AND hood, I didn't have any problems. I was thrilled that I was building a signifant lead over my virtual pacer without any fatigue. However, was I going too fast? Most of the run was still in front of me. I didn't feel like I'm going too fast. Hmmm.....
Mile 6 - 9:00 (1:46 ahead)
The rain eased up at this point -- yay. I wasn't feeling tired at all. Double yay.
Mile 7 - 8:57 (1:57 ahead)
The halfway point! My forerunner showed me reach 6.55 miles (half of 13.1) at about 58 minutes. I was doing great, and the weather continued to improve.
Mile 8 - 8:46 (2:19 ahead)
No signs of trouble at all. My lead was about a quarter of a mile. I started to wonder if I was going to burn myself out before the finish. The question I began asking myself was: Should I try and build more of a lead while I feel okay, or should I just keep the pace steady?
Mile 9 - 10:32 (0:55 ahead)
What happened here? The forerunner hiccuped again. One moment, I was ahead by 0.27 miles, and the next, I was only ahead by about 350 feet (about 0.06 miles). This mile did not feel significantly slower than any of the others. It's possible that some of the earlier miles were reported a little quicker than I actually ran them. Regardless of the reason for this setback, I was still ahead of the pacer, and nothing was going to slow me down!
Mile 10 - 8:51 (1:12 ahead)
Back on track. I started to feel a little bit tired at this point, but I was still able to keep the pace.
Mile 11 - 9:16 (1:04 ahead)
A little bit of slow-down, but nothing to worry about.
Mile 12 - 9:04 (1:08 ahead)
Mile 13 - 9:13 (1:04 ahead)
The fatigue slowly built up during these two miles. This is to be expected after running so long at a faster-than-usual pace. The good news -- no blisters or sharp pain in any of my joints. I'm guessing that a lot of family members might be worried about my knees, as most of my running is done on either concrete or asphalt. Let me all assure you that my knees feel great. Never been better.
The Finish - 1:00 (0:58 ahead)
The final tenth of a mile was a little bit slower than the pacer, but not by much. I finished the half marathon in one hour, 58 minutes, and 41 seconds.
What's Next?
I'll be taking it easy for the rest of the week. The following week is the first week of my 18-week program to train for the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon on October 2. Just to make sure I'm fit for such a task, I have a doctor's appointment set up for this week so that my physician can give me the green light.
Time will tell how the training goes, but I'm setting an agressive goal. I'm going to try to run the marathon at the same pace at which I just ran a half marathon. This would put me across the finish line in four hours or less. Can I do it? Only with encouragement from you, my loyal blog readers.
Getting Started
The weather was overcast, but plenty warm. As I finished stretching and prepared to set out, I noticed a few drops of rain. I headed back upstairs and got my rain jacket. I took a swig of raspberry lemonade-flavored Gatorade before setting my forerunner at 9:08 / mile -- at this pace, I'll finish in 01:59:39. Off I go!
Mile 1 - 8:35 (0:33 ahead of the pacer overall)
As the few drops of rain turned into a small drizzle, I felt okay out of the blocks. I'm sufficiently warmed up, and I don't feel too hot or too cold. So far, so good.
Mile 2 - 9:31 (0:10 ahead overall)
Right before reaching the two-mile mark, my forerunner skipped a beat. One moment, I was almost 400 feet ahead, and the next, I was only 50 feet ahead. The problem is that the excessive clouds and rain are keeping the forerunner from being as accurate as it usually is. I'm fairly certain that I ran this mile faster than 9:31. These kinds of tracking errors usually work themselves out over time, so I'm not worried. I'm still ahead, and I still feel great.
Mile 3 - 8:48 (0:30 ahead)
The rain is getting a bit heavier now, but nothing close to slowing me down. My head is getting a tiny bit wet, but my rain jacket keeps me plenty dry. It also helps that I'm wearing my Nike "dri-fit" running shorts. Onward!
Mile 4 - 8:39 (0:59 ahead)
The downpour arrived! As I started to feel the moisture seeping in to my shoes and my hair getting wet, I suddenly remembered that my rain jacket has a hood zipped inside the collar. My pace dropped just a tiny bit as I pulled the hood out of the collar, put it on, and adjusted it to keep it from falling off. I'm still feeling pretty good with almost one third of my run completed.
Mile 5 - 8:29 (1:38 ahead)
One minute it was pouring, the next it was just a drizzle, and the next it was pouring again. Now perfectly comfortable in my rain jacket AND hood, I didn't have any problems. I was thrilled that I was building a signifant lead over my virtual pacer without any fatigue. However, was I going too fast? Most of the run was still in front of me. I didn't feel like I'm going too fast. Hmmm.....
Mile 6 - 9:00 (1:46 ahead)
The rain eased up at this point -- yay. I wasn't feeling tired at all. Double yay.
Mile 7 - 8:57 (1:57 ahead)
The halfway point! My forerunner showed me reach 6.55 miles (half of 13.1) at about 58 minutes. I was doing great, and the weather continued to improve.
Mile 8 - 8:46 (2:19 ahead)
No signs of trouble at all. My lead was about a quarter of a mile. I started to wonder if I was going to burn myself out before the finish. The question I began asking myself was: Should I try and build more of a lead while I feel okay, or should I just keep the pace steady?
Mile 9 - 10:32 (0:55 ahead)
What happened here? The forerunner hiccuped again. One moment, I was ahead by 0.27 miles, and the next, I was only ahead by about 350 feet (about 0.06 miles). This mile did not feel significantly slower than any of the others. It's possible that some of the earlier miles were reported a little quicker than I actually ran them. Regardless of the reason for this setback, I was still ahead of the pacer, and nothing was going to slow me down!
Mile 10 - 8:51 (1:12 ahead)
Back on track. I started to feel a little bit tired at this point, but I was still able to keep the pace.
Mile 11 - 9:16 (1:04 ahead)
A little bit of slow-down, but nothing to worry about.
Mile 12 - 9:04 (1:08 ahead)
Mile 13 - 9:13 (1:04 ahead)
The fatigue slowly built up during these two miles. This is to be expected after running so long at a faster-than-usual pace. The good news -- no blisters or sharp pain in any of my joints. I'm guessing that a lot of family members might be worried about my knees, as most of my running is done on either concrete or asphalt. Let me all assure you that my knees feel great. Never been better.
The Finish - 1:00 (0:58 ahead)
The final tenth of a mile was a little bit slower than the pacer, but not by much. I finished the half marathon in one hour, 58 minutes, and 41 seconds.
What's Next?
I'll be taking it easy for the rest of the week. The following week is the first week of my 18-week program to train for the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon on October 2. Just to make sure I'm fit for such a task, I have a doctor's appointment set up for this week so that my physician can give me the green light.
Time will tell how the training goes, but I'm setting an agressive goal. I'm going to try to run the marathon at the same pace at which I just ran a half marathon. This would put me across the finish line in four hours or less. Can I do it? Only with encouragement from you, my loyal blog readers.
2 Comments:
Benj,
There is no doubt in my mind that you will successfully finish in less than 4 hours. You can do it, just like everything else in life you try. You are the best!
Love, Mom
By
Anonymous, at Sun May 22, 01:53:00 PM CDT
Wow, congrats Ben! I love keeping up with you guys via weblog. I think what you are doing is amazing. Send my best to Jenelle!
~Diana (J's pledge sis)
By
Diana, at Mon May 23, 08:48:00 AM CDT
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