Time: 1:34:49.6
(Average 4:30/km pace)
239 out of 7,945 participants
31 out of 446 M25-29 age group
217 out of 3,412 men
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There was no PB to be had this race; it was a particularly challenging race, with the weather being humid, despite morning temperatures being 15-16 degrees celsius. The morning started off reasonably well – woke up 2 hours before the race to have a nutella/almond butter sandwich and some fruit juice. However, I must have had too much water because I felt bloated by the time I jogged from the apartment to the start line.
0-10km – 44 mins and 39 seconds (4:28/km)
This was an interesting, interesting split. The reason I say this is because I usually hit 10km in 42-43 minutes in a half marathon, so that’s when I knew it wasn’t going to be my day. I had fueled with a gel at around 7km, which did not sit well, and the (big) breakfast had given me an abdominal stitch for the first 40mins. I was running reasonably well, with my HR pretty low, in the 160s. I thought I was running in a pack that really didn’t run with much continuity and consistency with regard to pace – at some times, I felt we were going too slow.
10-21.1 km – 50 mins and 9 seconds (4:31/km)
I really struggled by the time we hit 13km – it was a case of “hanging on for dear life” – it might not have looked like it, given the superb (was it really THAT superb, lol) even pacing of my race. I took another gel at around 13-14km, and another one at 18km when I started to feel lacking in energy. The sprint up Bay street was particularly difficult, and I worked extra hard in the last 800m to ensure that I came in under 1:35, which was my goal for this race.
Where to go from here
I am running the Toronto Half Marathon in 3 weeks time, aiming for a personal best (faster than 1:31:33. The weather will be much cooler and the race is more downhill, with two significant climbs at 4-5km and the last km. I need to focus on shorter, faster runs in the next two weeks to really get that leg turnover going…. I’m putting away the heavier training shoes and bringing out the racers now!
One thing I’ve noticed is that it’s really difficult to be a great runner if you’re focusing on triathlon. I’ve hit the ceiling given my time constraints – I had trained 15 hours per week for Ironman this year, with most of my runs being highly aerobic and way below lactate threshold. Unfortunately, this kind of training did not prepare me for a PB at the half marathon distance. I will focus on running next year!
Thanks for reading!
Arthur
http://timetotryharder.blogspot.com
