Took a shot at a fast half marathon attempt this week @ Pittsburgh. Very competitive race with a huge prize purse. Tapering all week.
Monday: 4 Miles- Westerly, RI
Champlin trails loop with roads to/from.
Tuesday: 8 Miles- Westerly, RI
Avondale/Ice Pond/Misquamicut loop, felt really relaxed on this on this one. Last 8 mile run until the race.
Wednesday: 8 Miles- Charlestown, RI
Went to Ninigret for a tune-up workout of 2xmile on 2 mins rest, what I did before Philly and Gate River. Felt great on the warm-up. Did the first one of the crit and started struggling early into a rough headwind. Ended up hitting 5:25- not bad for the wind. Second one was just bad- legs and breathing quite off from the start and could only manage a 5:41 while wheezing at the end. Pretty disappointed to be gassed from such a easy effort. Confidence took a small hit, although mostly didn't matter and I forgot about it by race time. It was strange given how easy the warm-up felt and the last two workouts went. Difficulty: 3/5.
Thursday: 6 Miles- Westerly, RI
Misquamicut loop into champlin trails. Breathing felt a little off. I feel like I always get really anxious that I have sudden breathing problems heading into races when it almost always turns out to be nothing. Fell on the blue trail which is my first fall since April 2022 I believe.
Friday: 6 Miles- Westerly, RI
Moonlight loop. Caught up on sleep and felt much better than the past two days. Did a 3x1 min pickups to prevent the legs from getting stale.
Saturday: 4 Miles- Westerly, RI
Misquamicut loop that I've stuck with for pre-race runs. Felt good and ran 6:34 pace. Felt smooth and no problems. Didn't feel quite as effortless as the one I did before philly but my knee also hurt that run.
Good travel day- I had been worried about the flights getting delayed and missing the expo the last 6 weeks but no delays fortunately. There was a little bit of nervousness catching the second flight and it was close, but made to PGH okay. Got to the expo and hotel just fine, but bad experience with rude hotel employees and a bad dinner. Slept okay- took a few hours to fall asleep as it was hot but slept through the night after that.
Sunday: 18 Miles- Pittsburgh, PA
Woke up at 4am having no difficulty getting up (probably helps that I have an earlier schedule now) but feeling really bloated. No breakfast issues, got my oatmeal down and a clif bar just fine. But quite worrying to spent long periods of time sitting on the toilet with a lot of gas and diarrhea. It's not uncommon that I have either before a race, but it's never been this bad. I was worried my stomach was going to be an issue today and it was hard to put away this thought until just before the start.
I had been worried about potentially hot for this one and was really excited to see early forecasts showing mid 40s. It ended up going up to upper 40s later in the week and then final forecast going to bed was 53 degrees at start. Disappointed it went up, but still pretty good weather with no wind. Ended up waking up to 58 degrees (at 4AM), not bad weather but no longer excellent. Felt very warm and sweaty warming up and was expecting a hot one. My confidence felt a little down with the warm weather and stomach issues, but neither ended up being a problem. Got to the bag drop okay- no lines. Tried to use the bathroom a final time and did strides. Went over to the start line maybe 20 minutes before. While the zero bag drop or bathroom lines was nice, getting into the corral was terrible. Had to sort through a massive amount of people just to get to the corral then was dumped behind over 1,000 people at the end of the corral. Took quite a while of uncomfortably moving through crowds to eventually get to the start line- but still behind 40ish elites and at an angle where I could easily get cut off. I feel I was not treated well at this race in that regard- with the super packed corral while the elites were out doing strides, had plenty of room and had a separate entrance so they could bypass all of it.
They pulled back the separating line between corral A and elite and I was fortunately able to get right up in the third row and start just behind the top women. The time went by quickly and I didn't feel nervous at all.
The air horn started the race and I pushed up some more to get in a good position. I tried to get out at a fast yet sustainable effort. I was able to see Jared Ward ahead who immediately did not go with the lead pack. We went under a tunnel and fireworks went off. This wasn't that cool as I couldn't see most of the fireworks and the noise was extremely loud. Sounded like we were being bombed. I settled into what seemed like the third pack- Wesley Kiptoo, last year's and this year's eventual winner leading a group out. Jared Ward in the chase pack well ahead and then a third pack with the top Marathoners. Plenty of stragglers in between 2nd and 3rd pack. I got right into the center of the pack and unintentionally boxed myself in a bit. I ran pretty much none of Philly, Detroit or Gate River in a pack so I was excited to have people to run with, especially as it seemed they were running my goal pace. My goal was to run GPS/watch splits inbetween the 5:16-5:19 range to give myself a shot at sub-1:10 (5:20 pace, so likely 5:16-5:18 on the watch). I had felt very fit the last 6 weeks or so and felt confident I could at least hold this for a while, but certainly confident I could PR (1:11:18). The first mile didn't feel effortless but felt mostly controlled and sustainable- 5:15 on the watch, 5:17 on the clock. Seemed about right as I went through Philly in 5:20 and was looking to be about 3s faster per mile today.
The first 5K is very easy- pancake flat and only 3 turns. So it was easy enough to maintain pace. Except 1.5 miles I found myself co-leading this marathon pack and feeling like the effort felt a bit too hard for 1.5 miles in. As I'd check my watch I'd see low 5:10s for pace or even 5:00s- definitely a bit fast and approaching risky/blow up territory. I pulled the side to try to fall back a bit but the easy terrain kept me running the same effort. Mile 2 still came fairly quickly and without too much difficulty- 5:11.
I kept the same effort in the pack down the long straightaway on Penn Avenue. We'd finish up this first part and turn onto the first of 3 bridges pretty soon. I looked ahead at the UPMC skyscraper and realized it probably meant University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. We turned on the bridge and began a slight incline/climb onto the cement surface. I immediately went to the back of the pack as these guys did not slow down at all. I was quickly dropped. Still hit Mile 3 in 5:16, and 5K seemingly in the 16:10s. My legs definitely felt the fast pace into the hill and were not how I'd want them to feel at 5K. I was also worried about getting dropped- now I didn't have anything to latch onto and would surely slow down.
I went around the Commons and noticed there was quite a bit of cement on the course. There were plenty of tight turns in the sections and for some, I'd have to watch a biker on the course who was escorting a wheelchair racer which was really annoying as I couldn't take the turns exactly as I'd want. It had rained very briefly/lightly in the first mile and some of the surfaces were a little slick/lacking grip. I definitely had some negative thoughts during this section- I was running solo and clearly was in for a big positive split- I had gone out too fast and could maybe hope for 5:30s at best the rest of the race. After thinking about having a great race for the last 6 weeks, I felt like just pulling off and dropping out rather than go through the inevitable slowdown and sufferfest that would ensue, but thought better of it as I'd be in a tough place to get back to downtown easily. Plus I didn't want to go home with a DNF, whatever result I'd finish in would surely be better. 4-6 was a little bit of struggle but I didn't feel terrible, just significantly worse than I should be feeling at this point. Low point was struggling to take my gel just before Mile 6. Long cement stretch and I got passed by Zach Hoagland (2017 Blessing winner) who was doing the full, plus a group of 4-5 lead women in the half which was much more demoralizing. I had a lot of difficulty getting down my gel- not as bad as Detroit although the last bit I did have a gag reflex and had to force it down. No trash cans or visible aid stations and I didn't want to litter (although I did litter the top tear off) so I awkwardly put it back in my pocket. I find the whole process of pulling out a gel and consuming it part of racing to be quite difficult when running so hard. I've also never seen anyone else in my 3 half marathons (although I wasn't around a lot of people) consume gels so I'm wondering if those faster than me in the half do it. I also struggled to open the gel as my hands were sweaty and/or wet and I had to bite it off. Despite this, I still managed a 5:24-5:34-5:19.
No official 10K split, but based on GPS data I believe this was a PR and slightly faster than Philly. Philadelphia's was officially 33:38- 10 seconds faster than I ran on the track. My watch 10K was slightly slower here but I had less extra distance so I'd estimate around 33:30 officially. The split sounds nice- technically not out of it for a PR yet but Mile 7 was the beginning of the end with the first one over 5:40. Really not blow up territory yet though as my Mile 7 split was around 37:50- slightly slower than Philly but still much faster than Falmouth. I was able to laugh (in my head) at this split at Philly being so much faster than Falmouth but definitely not today as I wasn't too confident about the next 6 miles. I started to visualize myself running 7 minute miles at the end and finishing in the 1:16-1:18 range. Mile 8 was a nice mental boost hitting it in just under 44:00, reminding me I was still sub-5:30 pace and sub-1:12 pace.
My new goal was to run sub-1:13. While not what I came for, this would be a decent result in a race that fell apart early. But Mile 8 was the last "good" mile I'd run. Every time I'd look at my watch I'd see low 6s and was thinking Mile 12 up the final bridge would be a disaster. There were some cool skyline views here which was a nice distraction from the suffering. Pittsburgh has a enormous skyline given its' "small" (compared to cities with big skylines) population of 300,000. The bright side of fading so much was now the people passing me were not instantly gapping me so much. I was struggling so much on the uphills that I couldn't keep pace with those passing me, but would cut back on gaps or even repass on downhills. In Mile 9, I was happy to actually repass someone who passed me for good- a nice feeling after getting dusted by anyone who had passed me at this point. 5:49 for mile 9 and found it mentally too hard to calculate the pace I was at as 9 miles doesn't divide evenly. Mile 10 went through what felt like a second downtown area with excellent crowd support. I got passed by another woman and a group of two guys who were talking like they were out for an easy run. Not sure whether they were in the full or half. I passed them back on the downhill, but was quickly repassed and dropped on the following uphill. Hit Mile 10 in 55:10-55:20 range, still on pace for low 1:12. I believe I hit the 15K at 52 low, a minute faster than gate river.
Thought I still had a chance at sub-1:13, but had the toughest stretch of the race coming up with a 100ft climb up a cement bridge. There were signs for the marathoners to split off in another direction- quite glad I wasn't out for another 16 miles. These next two miles were a real struggle up the bridge as I was passed by a few more and would see upper 6s on my watch. Really just nothing in the tank at this point- 6:04 and 6:16 for splits. Yikes.
I still was checking the clocks and had a shot at sub-1:14. The last mile was a big downhill with -80ft, but it felt long as I was completely cooked at this point. My achilles was also starting to hurt as my entire lower body was really strained. I was fully expecting Andrew to pass me somewhere in the last half mile as he usually closes strong (and paces much better). I made the final few turns and saw 1:13 on the clock. I managed a decent kick to get past one guy and ensure a sub-1:14 finish. Good to be done- 39th in 1:13:46. 5:28 close with 4:55 pace for last .19. Didn't get as much bonus distance on the watch which was nice as I'd be over 1:14 with that. Actually closed the last mile about the same as Philly and better kick but both were downhill and compared to uphill at Philadelphia. Andrew came in shortly after just over 1:15. Huge field with 10,156 finishers although similar to Philly and Gate River.
Race assessment: this was not a good race and I was expecting much faster than that. I paid a decent amount of money to come do this in hopes that I was in great shape and could at the very least run a new PR and take time off Philly- 1:11:18. But the hope was to do something really special and run sub-1:10. So to come away a full 2.5 minutes off of what was essentially the B goal is far from a success. I don't need to wonder much what went wrong- I went out too hard at an unsustainable pace and blew up by the end because of that. I do think I was in great shape for this- but went out at roughly 1:09:00 pace for 5K. I think dropping back, allowing the marathon group to go and running low 5:20s (1:10:30 pace or so) would have more sustainable and put me in a position to run to run sub-1:11 with a potential for sub-1:10 if I felt fantastic. I've never been one to negative split but was definitely setting myself up for too much of too much of a positive split to run a PR. In Philadelphia I went out on pace for about 1:10:30 and fell off slightly to run 1:11:18. Here I went out on pace to run 1:09 and completely blew up for 1:13:46. With all that being said, I didn't know for sure I wasn't going to run 1:09- I went for it and it didn't work out. In retrospect, I should have run more conservatively but it seemed like a good strategy at the time. With a Boston Marathon 2023 analogy- I took the Conner Mantz approach over the Scott Fauble. Mantz went for it- ran with the leaders for 16ish miles then blew up at the end and ran slower than his PR and outside the top 10. Fauble ran more conservatively, didn't go with the leaders and was never in the contention for the win but didn't blow up and held on for 7th and top american. I took the Mantz approach and didn't have it- but at I least went for it. I was probably too overconfident with really no results or training indicated I could run 1:09:00 and should have went out easier.
Oh well- disappointing as I expected a big day and had put in some quality training for this, but at least I still have a good result from Philadelphia and at the very least, built a lot of fitness and endurance this block that will come in handy later on. And it wasn't a complete disaster- still 90 seconds faster than Detroit. Ended up not pooping myself or overheating, a few small successes there. Next time out I'm certainly not looking to run 1:13. Will probably try to pick a faster course versus the many turns and constant rollers here and at Philadelphia and run a little more conservative- 5:20 instead of 5:15 to potentially crack 1:10. Probably looking at December/January for a good half marathon attempt as late summer/early fall will be too hot plus I probably won't be in good enough shape coming off a trail focused season. Potentially Jacksonville or Houston.
Half-Marathon (road) History:
1. Surftown 2013 (RI)- 1:27:53, 6:42 pace, 25/1615
2. Surftown 2014 (RI)- 1:26:14, 6:34 pace, 16/1560
3. Detroit 2022 (MI)- 1:15:10, 5:44 pace, 17/6376
4. Philadelphia (PA)- 1:11:18, 5:26 pace, 33/10122
5. Pittsburgh (PA)- 1:13:46, 5:37 pace, 39/10156
Other thoughts on the race:
Organization: Zero bag check lines and zero bathroom lines (the latter if you went to the right place) which was great. That being said I found it really confusing how to get to the general start area- although this may be the city layout rather than the race organization itself. Getting to the start was terrible having to sort through literally thousands of people to get up there and then being crammed still 5 or 6 rows back. I think they should have had a second section just behind the elite for people who run sub-6 minute pace with better access and more room rather than giving everyone sub-7 the exact same treatment.
Finish Line food: Fine- a little different than the usual bag of snacks. This time there was a cookie and bagels from Panera. Later found on social media there was pizza and panera sandwiches which sounds great but I completely missed that unfortunately.
Course: Also just fine. The course at Philadelphia was excellent- a lot of fun running through some great road/city sections with the iconic start/finish in front of Museum of Art- Benjamin Franklin Parkway, city hall, independence hall and last 4 miles in the great fairmount park system. Here, there were no parks, no cool iconic sections and a lot of cement. That's not to say the course was terrible- but just felt like a forgettable/mediocre urban course with the only thing that was pretty cool was skyline views mid way.
Course support: Pretty great. Cheering throughout with some sections very dense with spectators. Definitely better than Philly although the weather and having marathon the next day didn't help.
I wouldn't rule out doing this race again- great competition and well organized for the most part, but with so many other great marathons I probably would opt for something else.
City: First time in Pittsburgh- thought it was just okay/mediocre. Downtown was fine, but didn't think anything made it distinct/unique/interesting compared to other cities. The defining feature of the city- the many bridges/river felt exactly the same- probably because all the bridges were identical: same ugly yellow design. Philadephia and Detroit are rough cities, but Detroit's riverfront was nice and cool to have Windsor/international border just across it whereas Philadelphia's city hall, independence hall and the entire benjamin franklin parkway/fairmount park is quite nice. The only thing interesting in Pittsburgh was the geography- hills and cliffs in the background compared to the other two cities which were mostly flat.
Ran back to the hotel- noticeably less sore/muscle strain than Philly or Gate River. Interesting as the race itself I felt more strained, but I probably held back a little bit when I realized when I wasn't going to PR'd. That's not to say I let up/stopped trying- but just didn't go to the well to get everything out. Post race went to the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium. Kind of out of the way, but had 3ish hours to kill before the flight back. Also seemed like there really wasn't much to do in the downtown area at all. The zoo was limited, the exhibits were mediocre and overall the whole thing was disappointing especially coming from the far superior Jacksonville Zoo and even the free Lincoln Park zoo was better. Few photos below:
Happy to get home at a reasonable hour, and onto trail racing season through Mid-July. Here's a little schedule graphic I made for that.
Weekly Total: 54 Miles
Weekly Highlight: Successfully getting through a long aerobic block with injury or burnout.
Weekly Lowlight: Target race for the last 6 weeks didn't go my way. Disappointing to make an effort to put myself in a big race and not have it pay off.
Movies Watched: Without Remorse
TV Watched: Ted Lasso S2/3
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