First Half Marathon

On Sunday, I completed my first half marathon, the Houston Aramco Half Marathon, which was part of the Chevron Houston Marathon. So me and 25,000 other people raced that morning.

My race goals were like Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. First, don’t poop my pants. Next stay injury-free, then finish, then 2:15, then 2:10. Originally 2:00 was a stretch goal, but in recent training I realized that it was not achievable. I think I’ve actually gotten slower over the last year – less speed training, and less training volume overall. So my plan was to run at a 10 min/mile pace for about 9-10 miles and then try to speed up for the last 5k, which would put me at about 2:08. The plan began well: the first 5k was at 10:01, then 10:06, but at mile 7, my legs started getting heavy and my feet were getting sore. I just couldn’t keep up the pace. Come mile 10, I really wanted to speed up, but couldn’t. I wasn’t out of breadth but just couldn’t move my legs any faster. I’ve read this is because:  “When muscle glycogen stores fall low late in long runs, the muscles rely increasingly on breaking down their own proteins to provide an alternative fuel source.” Continued long-distance running will help train my body to conserve glycogen.

 

I got more long runs in compared to 10 for TX, where I got only two runs longer than 8 miles.  Since 10 for TX (October 11^th), I did following distances twice:  9, 11, and 13. So in 13 weeks, I got six long-ish runs in. The missed weeks were a combination of being out of town, awful weather, and being sick. One should expect that this training level would allow for a respectable performance, but not anything earth shattering. 

While I missed my goal, on the plus side, when comparing my first 10 miles to 10 for Texas, I shaved 7:52 off the time, which is pretty solid. I know I gave 100% both times.  My average HR of 178 validates that (when compared to a LTHR of 184 or a max HR of 195).

I’m interested. One thing I could do is lose some weight. I’ve put on about 10 lbs over the last 18 months. According to sources on the internet, 10 lbs  gain results in 20 seconds/mile slower pace.

Official Splits

GPS Watch (hit lap at each mile marker, withstanding #1)