3M Half Marathon PR! Race Report

I was up at 2:45 a.m., out the door by 3:15 a.m. and at the race site in northwest Austin right around 6 a.m. to pick up my packet for the 12th annual 3M Half Marathon. I've been wanting to do this event for the last two years since I had heard that it was a "downhill" course.

I knew that RTW regulars Russell Meyer (who took the picture) and Debbie Tripp, Striders Tim and Karen Bowler and fellow HRB member Steve Bezner were all going to be there today -- and I saw them all at one time or another.

Packet pickup went smoothly. (If you need 3M paper products, this is the race to do. Heaviest packet I've ever picked up as there was one of those heavy-duty tape dispensers in there.) I checked my personal timing chip to make sure it came up as me and went back to the truck to stay warm. It was close to 60 degrees when I left Spring; however, I decided to wear my long sleeved Penn State running shirt - and I'm glad that I did.

En route, the temperature on the truck - going across 290 - went to 38 degrees and then "Ice!" I know better about racing in central Texas that the temps dip like this. I decided to wear a pair of socks as gloves and then at about 6:35 a.m., I got out of the truck and headed to the start area. I saw Calvin and Joyce Stout of Brenham - who posted times of 1:48:55.1 and 1:53:32.3, respectively - as we all were waiting in the pre-race bathroom lines. (We also saw Ben Harvie of Kemah, who ran 1:26:43.2 to take 3rd in the 55-59 age group.)

I started way in the back as I really didn't have a plan but to just try and run well. I was using this as a gauge to see if I could handle more marathons this spring. There turned out to be 3,107 finishers and it took about 4 minutes to cross the start line. The whole race was fairly congested until the last 2-3 miles, but the start - like other big events - was no different. In the first mile, after I passed Debbie, one lady moved to the left in front of me and slowed down while I was getting a stride and I sort of said, "S***!" (not in a mean way) and she apologized. (I said I had no plan, huh?)

Mile 1 - 10:05.45
Mile 2 - 9:59.55 (20:05.00)
Mile 3 - 9:50.98 (29:55.98)
Mile 4 - 10:09.57 (40:04.55)

The first four miles, according to the elevation map, is where you go from about 800 feet above sea level, peak at 900 at mile 2 and then stay at about 880 feet before you hit the biggest descent in mile 5 and 6. I almost broke my ankle in the first mile as I think that I inadvertently stepped on one of those highway reflectors.

During this uphill portion, I think the reason why I was able to positive split in mile 2 and 3 is that I had sneaked a peak in the bookstore a couple of weeks ago at the book on Chi Running. And I had read about lining your body up almost to where you were leaning forward a bit. I employed this technique on the uphill and almost found myself running as if I were snow skiing (not that I ever had) and I found that I could move through the hill a bit faster without seeming as winded.

Mile 5 - 9:45.09 (49:49.64)
Mile 6 - 9:36.06 (59:25.70)

We had crossed one of the highways at mile 5 and then began a bit of a descent in the first part of mile 6. I had passed up the first water stop, but hit the second one around mile 3.5. During this time, I hadn't seen Debbie at all so I thought that she was staying behind me. She had run 2:30 two weeks ago at Houston so I wasn't sure how she was going to do on this day. As we made a left hand turn into a straightaway that led to the mile 6 marker, I, all of a sudden, came up along side of her and said, "Where did you come from?" I pushed on past her and picked up my pace as I saw the mile 6 sign ahead and cups in the road - a sign that I needed to get fluid in me to fight off being dehydrated (even in the cooler temps).

Debbie and I enjoy some friendly competition, but once I got home I e-mailed her worrying that I sounded rude. (Yes, I'm a little competitive out there when I have the gas in me.)

.2 to 10K - 2:21.19 (1:01:46.89)
.35 to Half - 3:56.86 (1:05:43.75)

The two-tenths of a mile included the water stop so it reflects an 11-minute per mile pace. I was taking four minutes off of the display clock so I knew that my time for the 10K was about 1:01 (which I was OK with). I was feeling pretty good until I hit the half way point at 6.55 miles. Even though I crossed it in 1:05:43.75, Debbie and a pacer that she had passed me at that point.

I got a little discouraged. We made a right, a left and another right that put us on a long street that was an incline that passed the mile 7 marker. After making the turn, I saw Debbie about 50-70 yards ahead of me and I thought to myself, "Maybe this isn't going to be my day." I started to question whether I had it in me to try and go catch her (since I didn't look at the course map to know where I maybe could have caught her.) But since I didn't expect to race anybody, I wouldn't have done this.

.45 to Mile 7 - 2:40.45 (1:08:24.20)
Mile 7 - 8:58.50 (short)

Finally I decided to mount an attack and there was the little voice inside of me going, "Not today." So I used the forward lean and really mowed down the incline to the mile 7 marker. The mile came through as 8:58.50, which was possible I guess but I think it was short. (So did a couple of runners to the right of me.) Many of Austin's streets have a noticeable camber. I tried to run in the middle of a two-lane street as much as I could.

Mile 8 - 10:13.65 (long; 1:18:37.85)
Mile 9 - 9:59.51 (1:28:36.36)
Mile 10 - 10:20.15 (1:38:58.51)

I was still running strong in these miles even though my mile 10 is where I started to slip a little bit. However, I knew that at 10 miles that it was just a 5K to go and that the 1:38:58.51 was about three minutes better than Pearland almost two months earlier.

Running in the middle of the street, I also realized from a racing perspective that I gave Debbie the opportunity to see where I was the entire time without me knowing where she was.

Mile 11 - 10:59.65 (1:48:58.16)
Mile 12 - 10:30.04 (1:59:28.20)
Mile 13 - 10:48.88 (2:11:17.08)
Last .1 - 53.22 (2:12:10.30)

The last three miles I started to fatigue. Even though this was a "net downhill" course, there were also a lot of long steady inclines. After the mile 10 marker, you had a quick downhill burst, but when you turned the corner to the left there was a steep hill (much like the 11th St. hill in Parkersburg, West Virginia). I walked through a quarter of it and then slogged through the rest.

Also my back began to hurt, especially right in the middle down low. This has flared up on Thursday when I was running the trails at Huntsville State Park with Ken Johnson.

I didn't walk that much, but I thought about the comment that Lance Collins has always made about not being in condition to run the pace that you chose when you have to walk. And again, I didn't intend to hammer it today but when I saw Debbie having a great day, I followed suit. I took on a little bit more fluid and it was really more of being dehydrated to the point that it started to sap my strength a little bit.

Near 12.8 miles, after going up a slight hill crossing 15th St. all the way to 12th St. where you made the last right hand turn towards the downhill finish, I saw Steve Bezner, who was waiting on his brother, Justin, to come in. I gave him a "high five", turned the corner and then tried to pick up the pace the last .3 of a mile as I didn't know where Debbie was.

I had fully expected her during the last two miles to come out of the blue and pass me.

There was one block that had a downhill, then it was flat as you crossed the street and then another downhill where you passed the mile 13 marker, turned right and then made a dash to the finish line.

I waited until I got in the middle of the second downhill before I looked over my shoulder to the left to see where Debbie was. Regardless of whether I saw her, I ran as fast as I could towards the finish line so that she wouldn't catch me down the stretch (a la Cassie, Stacy and Whitney).

I succeeded! I had a 2:12:06.5 PR! (2:12:10 on my watch) Debbie crossed the line 34 seconds later and I ended up with about a 45-second chip time edge. However, in the last three miles, I gave away that elusive 2:10:59, which represents just under 10 minutes per mile for a half!

Yes, I PR'd, but I really didn't feel like I deserved it because of the "net downhill" course. The uphill stretches often left you wondering, "Where in the hell is this downhill course?" In the early parts of the run, it felt like I was running on May 1st in Lincoln, Nebraska the day after I set the PR that I broke today.

I was expecting more of a pronounced downhill and to be honest, I feel better about my 2:20 at the Huntsville Half in October and 2:21 at Motive Bison Stampede in Austin in November then I do about this one.

I got my medal, got some food (banana, cookies and water) and I saw Russell (who was second overall of all Clydesdale runners), Tim, Karen (who took first in the 55-59 age group) and Steve (who hadn't found his brother yet).

While standing in line for the bus to take the shuttle back to the parking area, I had an excellent conversation with San Marcos' Gina Moore, who was wearing a 50 States Marathon Club hat. When I saw it, I asked her if she had gotten it or was working on it. She responded that she had done it once and was 27 states into her second round. I told her that I remembered her being featured in the Dallas Morning News last year. She explained that she moved to San Marcos for family reasons and that she was really getting involved with the San Marcos Running club (which puts on the nice Country Roads 10K in September). We had a "great" conversation on the bus and she indicated that she was lining things up to be able to run her 110th marathon at the 110th running of the Boston Marathon in April.

On the drive home, I learned a lot driving through Manor as I gleaned information off of two (2) display signs. I didn't know that it was the Chinese New Year as the Manor HS sign told me and then I pondered the meaning of February being Dental Month on the sign at the Veternarian. Do the animals know that it is? (Perhaps running 13.1 miles causes you to think of such things.)

Good day, solid performance, great time around friends! It's 11:30 p.m. and I have until midnight to sign up for the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans next Sunday.

What will I do? Come back later and find out.