El Floppo said:
Dunno which to count. Strava has me a minute faster. I vote strava.
That first mile...
... there were only like 15 of us in the HM race. The rest were 5&10k runners. I was on a guys heels out of the gate...combo of race excitement, feeling great, and wanting somebody to pace off of. I looked at my pace- yeah, 6:45. Ruhroh, let's slow this down. I asked the guy on front what his target was...he had no idea- had never run a hm before! I asked again, and he threw out...maybe 1:50? I actually loled at that. Him- "What?" ...me- "you're going just a
tad hot for that".
At that point the real front runner passed us doing 7s. I jumped on to him but realized it was still too hot, so settled into 7:05-10s for as long as I could.
More later..
Ok... This was three loops, out and back along the river and under the Verrazano. Slight tailwind on the out- which you can see on my strava with the pace dipping up and down slightly depending on which way I was heading. There was a 5k and 10k that started 10mins after us and followed the same course, but with a shorter turn around point.
M1-2 see above. Once I realized I wasn't going to hang with the winner, it was a bunch of open mileage with nobody to pace off of. But I felt good and settled into a pace that felt pushed but comfortable- 7:05-7:10. I didn't want to blow up my first time back. Wasn't far off the winner after he made his turn.
M3-4. This is where I realized there was a wind, however slight. upped the effort a little to keep the pace going (even though the pace slowed slightly). I was still in eye sight of the winner, so also tried to use that to keep things going. Got to see the rest of the pack after the turn- I had already opened distance to the rest of them. A woman was in third, looking strong. We hit the 5&10k crowd on the way back. I ended up getting passed by a couple guys going 7-7:10s and tried to tag along.
M5-6/7 after the next turn back with the wind, I checked my pace and even with the wind at my back, and those 10k runners pacing me, I was already starting to slow below 7:10. Told myself to htfu and keep seeing those single digits after the 7. The time checking of the pace made this leg feel long, especially after the 10k crowd hit their turn leaving nobody in front of me to pace from. Saw the winner had stretched out a longer lead and was looking strong- no blowups likely for me to take advantage of if I somehow had the legs to push the last loop.
M7-9.. back into the wind again and starting to feel it. Breathing felt fine, but the legs were feeling tight and just wouldn't turn over the way I wanted them to. Nobody to pace from, even further on, as the faster 10k people had all finished already. This leg was a slog.
Oh...
...decided to take a gel and water here. Haven't had a gel in 15 years. Haven't trained with even drinking water the last year, let alone a snack. Also a big proponent of racing how you train.
M10-11... Back with the wind behind me and onto my final loop, but also realizing I had a gel and water in my system and the legs are feeling worked. Nobody in front of me but the slowest 10k Told myself the gel was going to fuel me for a giddy up I needed any minute now (when I wasn't wondering if every hitch in my side wasn't a result of the damned thing). Saw the pace start rising over 7:20 into the 7:30s occasionally. Nfw was I going to mess this up by losing the plot at this point...dug deep (or maybe it was the gel) to make sure I was keeping it in the 7-teens or quicker. And maybe the winner looked to be slowing at the last turnaround?
M12-13.1... back into the wind again, but with the knowledge it was in striking distance. Gave the winner a big thumbs up and shout when I saw him at the turn and made sure to thank all the volunteers on the course (I always do). Put the head down and kept telling myself I had tempoed faster than this and could push the legs to go just a little faster for the last couple. Third place woman seemed to be closing the gap on me too...I better make sure to giddy the f up so I don't get passed. Legs were really feeling it, even though the breathing was still strong. It's usually the opposite for me.
I passed by an overpass and slight curve where I could finally see the finish line. Pushed it here... And saw the HM 6:45/m = 1:50 newb not far from the finish as he was walking out to start his third loop. He yelled out that I was looking close to the 1:35 I told him I was shooting for, which helped fire that last stretch. Got to the tape and they yelled out my name as the second place finisher. I've only ever finished top 10 once (when I PRed at 1:32 something) so this felt pretty cool...even if there wasnt anybody yelling or clapping for me at the finish line.
Interesting race. Perfect conditions- light wind (usually blowing pretty good there), high 50s, flat. Not many racers, so didn't have to zig zag around people...but also lacked anybody really to push me past my pace.
I feel like I could have used a better/longer taper. The couple times I've had to back off training a week or two due to the back or hams, I've felt super frosty when I got back in. Here, the legs felt just a little heavy and tight- couldn't turn them over the way I was hoping heading into this.
I know it's topical the last few days, but also feel like some yoga and strength/flexibility work would really help open things up for me. The hip flexors were just super tight.
But that's a quibble and a goal for future days. Honestly felt like a raced my utmost the race I had trained for. I might have hoped the legs would magically keep burning @ 7s, but looking back, my training doesn't really support that. And I'm genuinely happy and content with the result..especially if I count the full 1 min faster Strava HM time (1:34:21) as official.