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| Post race with my age group third-place trophy. Photo courtesy of Craig. |
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Rehoboth Beach, DE
Rehoboth Beach, DE
Difficulty score: 2/10 (0 for weather, 2 for course profile, 0 for altitude)
Initially, I had planned to run the Jingle All the Way 8K (which was temporarily transformed into a 5K this year due to construction near Freedom Plaza) this weekend, but instead decided to register for the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Half-Marathon after learning that three other members of DC Front Runners were running the marathon. I had several reasons for wanting to do this race. I knew a weekend in Rehoboth Beach would be fun, even in December; actually, I prefer Rehoboth on "off" weekends when it is not inundated by beach-bound people from Washington, DC. But also, I wanted to do a half-marathon for some points toward my race circuit total score. DC Front Runners has a race circuit in which your score for a particular race equals the age-graded score according to USA Track and Field. However, by the rules of the race circuit, those that complete a half-marathon receive an additional 5 percent bonus on top of their age-grade score (i.e. their circuit score for that race equals the age-grade score times 1.05); as a result, half-marathons are one of the best race distances for maximizing your race circuit total score.
Initially, I had planned to run the Jingle All the Way 8K (which was temporarily transformed into a 5K this year due to construction near Freedom Plaza) this weekend, but instead decided to register for the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Half-Marathon after learning that three other members of DC Front Runners were running the marathon. I had several reasons for wanting to do this race. I knew a weekend in Rehoboth Beach would be fun, even in December; actually, I prefer Rehoboth on "off" weekends when it is not inundated by beach-bound people from Washington, DC. But also, I wanted to do a half-marathon for some points toward my race circuit total score. DC Front Runners has a race circuit in which your score for a particular race equals the age-graded score according to USA Track and Field. However, by the rules of the race circuit, those that complete a half-marathon receive an additional 5 percent bonus on top of their age-grade score (i.e. their circuit score for that race equals the age-grade score times 1.05); as a result, half-marathons are one of the best race distances for maximizing your race circuit total score.
I was not expecting to run a PR this time. I would not consider this half-marathon course a PR course; I knew from my first time running this course in 2012 that the half-marathon course is deceptively tricky, primarily because miles 7 through 11 take place entirely on trails of packed dirt and gravel. However, I did know I was probably capable of a 1:26:00 to 1:27:00 on this course, and that would have gotten me a score of 71 to 72 points, a high score for me. Plus, with a time like that, I would have a relatively good chance of placing in my age group; I finished in 1:28:12 in 2012 and had won third place in the Male 30-34 age group.
Thus, I set finishing in 1:26:59 or faster as my primary goal, hoping that was enough for me to place in my age group. Running a PR and finishing in the top 10 overall would have been bonuses. My plan for this race was to firmly stick to a 6:35 to 6:40/mile pace for the first six miles, before we reached the lengthy trail segment. I would allow about a five second per mile slowdown for the trail segment, and after the trails were behind me for the last mile and a half or so, I would pick up the pace to make up some time. Given perfect execution, I was expecting to just dip below 1:27:00. I was also hoping that the trails would help me overtake some runners by draining their energy, and I aimed to pass some people during my surge during the last mile.
I ended up finishing in 1:26:30 (6:37/mile), which translates into 71.89 points toward my race circuit total score. That time was also good enough for third place in the Male 30-34 age group. It was not a PR (my half-marathon PR was 1:25:12 at the Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon earlier this year), nor did I finish in the top ten overall. But I was happy with my 15th place finish; with 1400 finishers in this half-marathon, this was probably my highest overall placement in any race.
Training and the Days Leading Up to the Race
My preparation for this half-marathon was not particularly thorough. When I had registered, I had just finished recovering from the Chicago Marathon and had less than five weeks to get myself back into half-marathon racing shape. I probably would not have been able to get my weekly mileage much above 40 miles, but that would have to do.
This time, I made sure that I was a little more serious about my tempo runs and speed workouts. During my training for Chicago, I had turned my focus away from these toward increased mileage. But when I ran the Veteran's Day 10K four weeks after Chicago, I realized that this decision probably was not a particularly good one. Whereas I was able to run a 10K PR in the 2013 Veteran's Day 10K in 38:19 following the Wineglass Marathon and another 10K PR in the 2014 Pike's Peek 10K this past April in 38:10 following the Shamrock Marathon, I finished the 2014 Veteran's Day 10K in 38:55. Given that I had been able to PR in shorter distances following previous marathon training cycles, I concluded that I had indeed lost speed; my body simply could not go faster than the 6:16/mile pace I ran that day. Looking back at my workouts at garminconnect.com, I noticed that many of my tempo runs may have been too slow this summer; I knew I would have to slow down my tempo runs due to the heat and humidity here in Washington, DC, but I think I slowed them down a little too much. Also, I had done no track workouts, hill sprints, or hill repeats during my training for Chicago.
During the weeks leading up to Rehoboth, I ran five to six days per week, with a tempo run on Tuesdays, hill repeats on Thursdays, long runs of up to 13 miles on Sundays, and easy runs of four to six miles elsewhere. I made sure that I hit a 6:20 to 6:25/mile pace during my Tuesday tempo runs, until the two weeks before the half-marathon, during which I ran my Tuesday tempo runs at my target race pace. I was able to run one 35-mile week and one 41-mile week. I would have liked a string of weeks of mileage in the forties, but what I had was still better than nothing.
I drove with Brian to Rehoboth Beach the day before the race, arriving at around four in the afternoon. Our first stop was the expo, where we picked up our race packets and I picked up a visor in case it rained on race day morning; I had stupidly forgotten my visor back in DC. We then went to check into our hotel, after which we met Eddie, Thorne, and Jacques for dinner. Given the 7:00 am start of the race, that was pretty much the extent of our activities that day.
The Race
Race morning temperatures were great; when I arrived at the start line, it was 48 degrees. The weather forecast predicted that the temperatures would not exceed 55 degrees that day. However, the humidity was extremely high. I felt it when I was running; I could feel sweat just dripping down my body even as early as mile 3. Many of the runners agreed that the humidity was high enough to affect most people's race performances that day.
As I mentioned before, the Rehoboth Beach Half-Marathon is a deceptively tricky course. That would most likely not be evident to first-timers during the early miles; the first six miles are fast, being flat and on asphalt. Marathoners and half-marathoners start together in downtown Rehoboth Beach, on Rehoboth Avenue in front of the bandstand near the boardwalk and go through subdivisions of Rehoboth Beach before running along the shore down Ocean Drive. Near the terminus of Ocean Drive, half-marathoners go back down Ocean Drive toward the start while marathoners continue north along a trail. The remainder of the half-marathon is the last ten miles of the marathon; half-marathoners travel through another subdivision before crossing Route 271 and entering the Junction and Breakwater Trail. The next four to five miles are an out and back segment on this trail. The surface of this trail portion can be problematic, particularly when it is wet; often, you will slip backwards a little for every step you take. Also, I knew from my run on this course in 2012 that a seemingly never-ending trail segment could be very mentally draining, particularly for first-timers who did not know they would be running five miles on this packed dirt and gravel; I certainly was blindsided by this when I ran this course for the first time in 2012, and it took enough out of me that I slowed down during the last few miles. We then retrace our steps back toward downtown Rehoboth Beach, finishing right next to the building where Rehoboth Beach Running Company is located.
The start through 6 (splits: 6:37, 6:33, 6:37, 6:37, 6:36, 6:35): I used the first mile to ease into my target pace, being careful not to waste any energy weaving around people and trying my hardest to hit all of the tangents; after all, beating my competitors would be much easier if I covered 13.17 miles while they ended up covering 13.27 miles, a difference that could translate into more than 40 seconds at the pace I intended to run. From that point up until I arrived at the trail segment, I focused on staying within the 6:35 to 6:40/mile range. Since 6:36/mile felt relatively comfortable, I decided to run on the faster end of that target range for this portion of the race.
I was not really focused on passing people, although I found I was able to easily pass several half-marathoners and marathoners while running at my target pace. On Ocean Drive, a few other half-marathoners passed me, including one named Alex, who I formally met after the race, and another guy in green who looked to be about my age that I didn't really see again after we got off Ocean Drive. I spent most of the Ocean Drive segment trying to catch up to Alex and this other runner, only to have them surge right back ahead of me. I could not drop Alex; for the remainder of the race, we would be locked into a battle to beat one another. The other guy, on the other hand, I knew would not be a problem; his breathing was a little too heavy at that point in the race, and both Alex and I quickly dropped him.
Miles 7 through 11 (splits: 6:37, 6:50, 6:39, 6:38): The trail portion did not slow me down nearly as much as I thought it would. Other than my split for mile 8, I was still able to more or less maintain a 6:35 to 6:40/mile pace for this segment of the race as well. I still cannot figure out why my pace for mile 8 was that much slower.
Here, I focused on staying away from the patches of loose gravel and dirt and on running on the more packed-down parts of the trail, as well as hitting the tangents. I ran by myself for most of these miles. I was able to see a pack of three or four people several hundred feet in front of me. I was able to put a little distance between Alex and everyone else behind me. On the way out, I tried to maintain a steady effort; I did not focus too much on trying to close the gap between me and the runners in front of me. I felt this point in the race was too soon to begin making any moves. Besides, like I said before, I was trying to let the trails do some of the work for me in draining the energy of some of the more reckless runners in front.
I ended up finishing in 1:26:30 (6:37/mile), which translates into 71.89 points toward my race circuit total score. That time was also good enough for third place in the Male 30-34 age group. It was not a PR (my half-marathon PR was 1:25:12 at the Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon earlier this year), nor did I finish in the top ten overall. But I was happy with my 15th place finish; with 1400 finishers in this half-marathon, this was probably my highest overall placement in any race.
Training and the Days Leading Up to the Race
My preparation for this half-marathon was not particularly thorough. When I had registered, I had just finished recovering from the Chicago Marathon and had less than five weeks to get myself back into half-marathon racing shape. I probably would not have been able to get my weekly mileage much above 40 miles, but that would have to do.
This time, I made sure that I was a little more serious about my tempo runs and speed workouts. During my training for Chicago, I had turned my focus away from these toward increased mileage. But when I ran the Veteran's Day 10K four weeks after Chicago, I realized that this decision probably was not a particularly good one. Whereas I was able to run a 10K PR in the 2013 Veteran's Day 10K in 38:19 following the Wineglass Marathon and another 10K PR in the 2014 Pike's Peek 10K this past April in 38:10 following the Shamrock Marathon, I finished the 2014 Veteran's Day 10K in 38:55. Given that I had been able to PR in shorter distances following previous marathon training cycles, I concluded that I had indeed lost speed; my body simply could not go faster than the 6:16/mile pace I ran that day. Looking back at my workouts at garminconnect.com, I noticed that many of my tempo runs may have been too slow this summer; I knew I would have to slow down my tempo runs due to the heat and humidity here in Washington, DC, but I think I slowed them down a little too much. Also, I had done no track workouts, hill sprints, or hill repeats during my training for Chicago.
During the weeks leading up to Rehoboth, I ran five to six days per week, with a tempo run on Tuesdays, hill repeats on Thursdays, long runs of up to 13 miles on Sundays, and easy runs of four to six miles elsewhere. I made sure that I hit a 6:20 to 6:25/mile pace during my Tuesday tempo runs, until the two weeks before the half-marathon, during which I ran my Tuesday tempo runs at my target race pace. I was able to run one 35-mile week and one 41-mile week. I would have liked a string of weeks of mileage in the forties, but what I had was still better than nothing.
I drove with Brian to Rehoboth Beach the day before the race, arriving at around four in the afternoon. Our first stop was the expo, where we picked up our race packets and I picked up a visor in case it rained on race day morning; I had stupidly forgotten my visor back in DC. We then went to check into our hotel, after which we met Eddie, Thorne, and Jacques for dinner. Given the 7:00 am start of the race, that was pretty much the extent of our activities that day.
The Race
Race morning temperatures were great; when I arrived at the start line, it was 48 degrees. The weather forecast predicted that the temperatures would not exceed 55 degrees that day. However, the humidity was extremely high. I felt it when I was running; I could feel sweat just dripping down my body even as early as mile 3. Many of the runners agreed that the humidity was high enough to affect most people's race performances that day.
As I mentioned before, the Rehoboth Beach Half-Marathon is a deceptively tricky course. That would most likely not be evident to first-timers during the early miles; the first six miles are fast, being flat and on asphalt. Marathoners and half-marathoners start together in downtown Rehoboth Beach, on Rehoboth Avenue in front of the bandstand near the boardwalk and go through subdivisions of Rehoboth Beach before running along the shore down Ocean Drive. Near the terminus of Ocean Drive, half-marathoners go back down Ocean Drive toward the start while marathoners continue north along a trail. The remainder of the half-marathon is the last ten miles of the marathon; half-marathoners travel through another subdivision before crossing Route 271 and entering the Junction and Breakwater Trail. The next four to five miles are an out and back segment on this trail. The surface of this trail portion can be problematic, particularly when it is wet; often, you will slip backwards a little for every step you take. Also, I knew from my run on this course in 2012 that a seemingly never-ending trail segment could be very mentally draining, particularly for first-timers who did not know they would be running five miles on this packed dirt and gravel; I certainly was blindsided by this when I ran this course for the first time in 2012, and it took enough out of me that I slowed down during the last few miles. We then retrace our steps back toward downtown Rehoboth Beach, finishing right next to the building where Rehoboth Beach Running Company is located.
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| Map of the half-marathon, from the race website. |
The start through 6 (splits: 6:37, 6:33, 6:37, 6:37, 6:36, 6:35): I used the first mile to ease into my target pace, being careful not to waste any energy weaving around people and trying my hardest to hit all of the tangents; after all, beating my competitors would be much easier if I covered 13.17 miles while they ended up covering 13.27 miles, a difference that could translate into more than 40 seconds at the pace I intended to run. From that point up until I arrived at the trail segment, I focused on staying within the 6:35 to 6:40/mile range. Since 6:36/mile felt relatively comfortable, I decided to run on the faster end of that target range for this portion of the race.
I was not really focused on passing people, although I found I was able to easily pass several half-marathoners and marathoners while running at my target pace. On Ocean Drive, a few other half-marathoners passed me, including one named Alex, who I formally met after the race, and another guy in green who looked to be about my age that I didn't really see again after we got off Ocean Drive. I spent most of the Ocean Drive segment trying to catch up to Alex and this other runner, only to have them surge right back ahead of me. I could not drop Alex; for the remainder of the race, we would be locked into a battle to beat one another. The other guy, on the other hand, I knew would not be a problem; his breathing was a little too heavy at that point in the race, and both Alex and I quickly dropped him.
Miles 7 through 11 (splits: 6:37, 6:50, 6:39, 6:38): The trail portion did not slow me down nearly as much as I thought it would. Other than my split for mile 8, I was still able to more or less maintain a 6:35 to 6:40/mile pace for this segment of the race as well. I still cannot figure out why my pace for mile 8 was that much slower.
Here, I focused on staying away from the patches of loose gravel and dirt and on running on the more packed-down parts of the trail, as well as hitting the tangents. I ran by myself for most of these miles. I was able to see a pack of three or four people several hundred feet in front of me. I was able to put a little distance between Alex and everyone else behind me. On the way out, I tried to maintain a steady effort; I did not focus too much on trying to close the gap between me and the runners in front of me. I felt this point in the race was too soon to begin making any moves. Besides, like I said before, I was trying to let the trails do some of the work for me in draining the energy of some of the more reckless runners in front.
As I approached the turnaround near the mile 9 mark, I counted 20 people in front of me. I figured that if I finished in 21st place overall, I would probably have a pretty good chance of placing in my age group in this race. Besides, at least five of the people in front of me were not in competition with me for an age group award. Among the 20 people in front of me, I counted two women, including the eventual female winner and the Women's Masters winner, and two guys that were clearly younger than 30 years old. Remembering the awards structure from 2012, the male winner was not eligible for an age group award either.
I was actually closer to the pack ahead of me than I had thought. I changed my plan to speed up and start trying to overtake runners at the Mile 11 mark. However, I would not have cleared the trail portion yet at that point. But I figured I could probably classify this move as a little risky and not totally stupid; this new plan would have me running 0.7 miles of my end surge on trails, which was doable but possibly difficult. I did inadvertently speed up a little before I hit the Mile 10 mark anyway; that was probably a result of me getting excited as I got to see some other friends from DC also doing the half-marathon as I ran back toward downtown Rehoboth.
I ended up passing three people between the Mile 11 and Mile 12 mark, two of which I overtook on the trail portion. One of these people was the eventual Women's Masters winner. However, I did discover that Alex was not far behind me; I could hear his friends cheer his name as they ran past me in the opposite direction.
Mile 12 through the end (splits: 6:25, 6:18, 0:58 for the last 0.17 miles): At this point in the race, I just stopped looking at my watch and focused on passing as many runners as I could. I passed a few more people, and was now in 16th place.
With about half a mile left to go, Alex surged past me. He put in a hard enough move that I could not respond to it. Initially, I resigned myself to the possibility that he would beat me after all, but soon, I noticed I was catching back up to him. As I chased him toward the finish line, I passed another runner, positioning myself back in 16th place.
After running across the bridge over the canal and around the roundabout on Rehoboth Avenue, I then gave it all I had left. I passed Alex right back and started chasing the next runner in front of us. I could not catch him, though, but Alex was unable to catch me. I rounded that last turn and crossed the finish line, finishing four seconds in front of Alex.
Alex and I then talked a little after we received our medals and heat sheets. We both were very happy to learn that we were in different age groups. Even though I crossed the finish line before he did, he may have started far back enough that his net time, which would be the basis of age group awards, was faster than mine (his net time actually turned out to be a few seconds slower than mine). After seeing Joey, Chris, and Jason finish their races, I returned to the hotel to get my wristband, which I forgot that morning but needed to get into the finisher's tent. In my hotel room, I checked my phone; I selected the option of having my results texted to me after I finished, and there, I learned that I finished in 1:26:30, 15th overall, and third in my age group.
I returned to the finish line to watch some of the marathoners finish. Eddie won the marathon, and I was very happy to have witnessed that. Unfortunately, since the half-marathon awards ceremony would take place between about 10:00 and 10:30 am, about three to three and a half hours after the start of the marathon, I was unable to see Brian or Thorne finish. But I was able to catch them afterwards, and we did all get to attend the marathon awards ceremony and see Eddie receive his life preserver and box of wine.
I was actually closer to the pack ahead of me than I had thought. I changed my plan to speed up and start trying to overtake runners at the Mile 11 mark. However, I would not have cleared the trail portion yet at that point. But I figured I could probably classify this move as a little risky and not totally stupid; this new plan would have me running 0.7 miles of my end surge on trails, which was doable but possibly difficult. I did inadvertently speed up a little before I hit the Mile 10 mark anyway; that was probably a result of me getting excited as I got to see some other friends from DC also doing the half-marathon as I ran back toward downtown Rehoboth.
I ended up passing three people between the Mile 11 and Mile 12 mark, two of which I overtook on the trail portion. One of these people was the eventual Women's Masters winner. However, I did discover that Alex was not far behind me; I could hear his friends cheer his name as they ran past me in the opposite direction.
Mile 12 through the end (splits: 6:25, 6:18, 0:58 for the last 0.17 miles): At this point in the race, I just stopped looking at my watch and focused on passing as many runners as I could. I passed a few more people, and was now in 16th place.
With about half a mile left to go, Alex surged past me. He put in a hard enough move that I could not respond to it. Initially, I resigned myself to the possibility that he would beat me after all, but soon, I noticed I was catching back up to him. As I chased him toward the finish line, I passed another runner, positioning myself back in 16th place.
After running across the bridge over the canal and around the roundabout on Rehoboth Avenue, I then gave it all I had left. I passed Alex right back and started chasing the next runner in front of us. I could not catch him, though, but Alex was unable to catch me. I rounded that last turn and crossed the finish line, finishing four seconds in front of Alex.
Alex and I then talked a little after we received our medals and heat sheets. We both were very happy to learn that we were in different age groups. Even though I crossed the finish line before he did, he may have started far back enough that his net time, which would be the basis of age group awards, was faster than mine (his net time actually turned out to be a few seconds slower than mine). After seeing Joey, Chris, and Jason finish their races, I returned to the hotel to get my wristband, which I forgot that morning but needed to get into the finisher's tent. In my hotel room, I checked my phone; I selected the option of having my results texted to me after I finished, and there, I learned that I finished in 1:26:30, 15th overall, and third in my age group.
I returned to the finish line to watch some of the marathoners finish. Eddie won the marathon, and I was very happy to have witnessed that. Unfortunately, since the half-marathon awards ceremony would take place between about 10:00 and 10:30 am, about three to three and a half hours after the start of the marathon, I was unable to see Brian or Thorne finish. But I was able to catch them afterwards, and we did all get to attend the marathon awards ceremony and see Eddie receive his life preserver and box of wine.
Next Steps
I plan to start training for the Rock and Roll DC Half-Marathon (March 14) soon. I have begun sketching out a twelve-week training plan, in which I have been sure to also incorporate some intervals, hill sprints, and hill repeats. But my training for that does not begin until December 22. For the next two weeks or so, I do not really plan to do much running.
Finally, congratulations to Brian and Thorne for running marathon PRs in Rehoboth, and also congratulations to Eddie for winning the marathon.
I plan to start training for the Rock and Roll DC Half-Marathon (March 14) soon. I have begun sketching out a twelve-week training plan, in which I have been sure to also incorporate some intervals, hill sprints, and hill repeats. But my training for that does not begin until December 22. For the next two weeks or so, I do not really plan to do much running.
Finally, congratulations to Brian and Thorne for running marathon PRs in Rehoboth, and also congratulations to Eddie for winning the marathon.
