Prairie State Half Marathon Race Report
Oh, my. That was shockingly successful! I thought I was SandingTM the first mile; in fact, I Sanded the entire race.
1:31:32 .. 6:59/mile* ..avg HR - 170
1st of 23 in AG (by 8 minutes); 27 of 691 overall
I was a little unsure of the event heading into it. I've been so busy lately, and when things let up a bit on Thursday, my body just crashed midway through the morning. I was still a little 'off' on Friday, but I slept well and this morning's routines were fine. I drove 45 minutes north to the course in plenty of time. "No excuse weather" - the sun rising to the east, a sharp breeze coming out of the west (north/south course), and crisp, cool weather. I got my swag and bib and did some warmup running. After a last, quick, pitstop, I stepped into line 2 minutes before the start. Other than the first and last mile, the course was on a tightly packed, gravel path through woods and fields. It was ideal with very little elevation change. It was an out and back course. They were very smart at the start to have a tight shoot. It slowed the field getting on the course, but nothing was backed up once we started.
Mile 1: 6:59 ..159 HR
Mile 2: 7:03 ..164
Mile 3: 7:05 ..164
Mile 4: 7:09 ..166
Mile 5: 6:58 ..167
Mile 6: 6:58 ..170
Mile 7: 6:58 ..172
Mile 8: 7:03 ..173
Mile 9: 7:07 ..174
Mile 10: 7:03 ..175
Mile 11: 7:00 ..177
Mile 12: 7:14 ..178
Mile 13: 7:00 ..179
*I showed an average pace of 7:02. However, my distance registered as 13.0 miles. I was
very deliberate about running the tangents as the course curved back and forth.
As the pace remained steady and HR under control, I ran with some measure of disbelief. In April, I had PRed this distance at 1:35. Today, I knocked off
almost 4 minutes from that spring race! I kept thinking I was banking time, but as I got into the back half, I realized the times were holding steady. The field was rather spread out, but I did pass several runners over the back half. I ended up right behind (or alongside for the last mile) the #3 female over the last few miles and I think that helped us both to hold pace pretty well.
What clicked? I think the key, versus the spring race, has been the lighter, lower-heeled shoes (Asics DS Racers). It allows a better stride and puts less cumulative strain on the legs from lifting an extra 4 oz's every step (which I figure is about 500 lbs/mile). While training has been spotty, I had some strong, long runs a month ago, then raced a hard 5K and the 17 difficult miles of Dances With Dirt two weeks ago ..race your way into shape, right (2Young, I talked to a DWD runner after today's race ...comparing notes with her on f'n bridge, this sucks, stripper pole, and other legs). Anyway, what a thrill! I'm well aware that using the rule of thumb (HM x 2, plus 10 minutes), my 3:37 marathon time is probably soft.
For now, I'll try to take this momentum into my featured 5K in two weeks.
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I could just be overly paranoid about this, but I'm not going to take it lightly since it feels so different. We'll see how it feels on the warmup run. The odd thing is it doesn't hurt to the touch at all. I can dig into my quad and not feel a thing. Hell getting down with the foam roller didn't hurt. I only feel it walking and don't feel it at all going up steps. We'll see. 
Fantastic!
eta: fantastic time, btw. 
Hard to get my brain around would you pulled off Tri-Man. Congrats, that is impressive as hell. Looking at your schedule, I think a sub 20 5K would cap this season nicely.
