Race Post-Mortem: Cherry Blossom 10-Miler 2017

The DC Front Runners Mercury team after the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, with representatives from the DC Front Runners Diamond and DC Front Runners Sapphire teams.  Photo by JR.

Sunday, April 2, 2017
Washington, DC
Difficulty score: 1/9

The last (and only other) time I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler was in 2015, when the course had to be shortened to 9.39 miles; less than two hours before the start of the race, an accident had occurred on Independence Avenue, causing that portion of the course to be blocked off.  When I first started planning my Spring 2017 racing season, I initially was not going to run the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler; my original plan had the Rock and Roll DC Half-Marathon in addition to some February 5K races that I actually ended up not running.  After all, Cherry Blossom was only 15 days before the Boston Marathon, and I was not sure that racing a 10-miler so close to a marathon was a good idea.

But nonetheless, I entered the lottery.  I thought that if I actually got in, I could transfer my bib to somebody in my running club who did not get in (and yes, there is a legal bib transfer procedure for this race).  When I learned that I did get in, I decided to just go for it.  This race was a very good opportunity for a 10-miler personal best and some points toward the DC Front Runners Race Circuit.  The course was very flat, with the only real uphill segments occurring right before the Memorial Bridge and at the very end.  Given good weather, which has happened most years on race day since I have lived in DC, this race was very conducive for some fast times.  Plus, Hains Point and the Tidal Basin were pretty underneath the cherry blossoms, even if their peak bloom had already passed.

Map of the course (same as the 2015 course pre-shortening).

Training

As of race day, hay --> barn, essentially.  I had essentially repeated by training plan for the Richmond Marathon this past November, with a basic weekly structure of six days of running, with:

• Monday: five to seven miles easy (sometimes slower than 9:00/mile) to recover from the previous day's long run.
• Tuesday: tempo run days.  These would typically consist of six to eight miles with four to six miles at 10-miler to half-marathon pace.  I ended up covering the tempo portion between 6:15/mile and 6:30/mile most of the time.
• Wednesday: four to five miles easy to recover from the previous day's tempo run.
• Thursday: longer mid-week run between eight and eleven miles, some of them with progressions to target marathon pace (7:00 to 7:05/mile) or faster.
• Friday: OFF
• Saturday: seven to nine miles easy (7:42 to 8:24/mile pace).
• Sunday: long runs of up to 19 miles.  Typically these miles were covered at the same pace as Saturday's runs, but some of them involved progression to target marathon pace.

Other than a few weeks where I had to skip a few training runs due to minor ankle and calf issues or travel, I was able to run six days a week consistently.  I was able to get several 50+ mile weeks under my belt, with a maximum of 58.5 miles several weeks before.  One notable change during this training cycle was the complete lack of any runs longer than 20 miles; my longest runs this time included two 19-mile runs (including one the week before Cherry Blossom), two 18-mile runs, and several 16-mile runs.  But I'm not terribly concerned given that my weekly mileage was probably adequate for my purposes.

Race Day

The race expo was noteworthy in that I got to meet Kathrine Switzer in person.  She was running the race, and will also be running Boston with Bib 261 (her bib number in 1967 when she ran it for the first time).  I talked to her briefly about Boston before getting her autograph and a picture with her.  It was great to meet her and definitely worth the lengthy wait in line.

Me with Kathrine Switzer at the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler expo.

Weather was perfect on race morning; 43 degrees and clear with low humidity.

But what was not perfect was bag check.  I took an Uber with Mick and Justin down to the start area near the Washington Monument (in previous years, Metro would open early on race day to accommodate participants, but this year, due to their SafeTrack program, Metro was opening at its regular Sunday morning time of 7:00 am, much too late to make it to the start on time).  We got to the Washington Monument at around 7:05 am, 25 minutes before the start of the race.  Already, the bag check lines were longer than the lines to meet Kathrine Switzer at the expo and for the porto-potties combined, and they were progressing at a glacial pace; apparently, they were trying out this new system that involved getting a ticket to check my bag that was more complicated than it needed to be.  I was actually surprised to see this from the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler; I did not remember any problems with bag check the last time I did this race.

But even at 7:28 am, we were still in line.  Mick and Justin agreed to check my jacket along with their belongings, which would allow me to start with the Yellow (first) Corral.  After thanking them profusely, I ran over to the start line.  In my complete frenzy of trying to find an opening to enter, I accidentally entered the Red (second) Corral.  As runners in the Yellow Corral were starting, I suddenly realized my mistake.  I squeezed my way through the runners in the Yellow Corral approaching the start line, past the 7:00/mile pace group, and took off along the sides of the course once I crossed.

Miles 1 and 2 (6:29, 6:23): So according to the clock, I had started 45 seconds after the gun went off.  I spent the entire first mile weaving around people.  I had repeated the phrases "Coming between you", "On your left", and "Sorry" so many times during this mile that I lost count.  Evidently other people were also doing the same thing; I assumed they also started late because of bag check.  Because the first mile was downhill or mostly flat, and partially because of the adrenaline, I still managed to cover this mile in 6:29, right about where I wanted to be at this point in the race.  I was also pleased that even with all that weaving, I still managed to cover almost exactly one mile; my Garmin indicated that I had finished one mile right at the mile marker.

By the time I had crossed the Memorial Bridge, I had finally found people that were going at a pace that seemed appropriate for me.  I noticed I was breathing a little heavy and I was a little tense; now that I did not have to weave around people, I tried to calm down, settle into a good pace, and enjoy the energy of this race.  At this point, the only way that my late start could affect me now was if I let it continue to frazzle me.  I covered the second mile in 6:23; I was very close to my Army 10-Miler pace.

Miles 3 through 8 (6:22, 6:09, 6:14, 6:17, 6:12, 6:17): The relatively straight and slightly downhill third mile along Rock Creek Parkway to the Kennedy Center was a good opportunity for me to get closer to 6:20/mile pace, so I decided to push just a little.  I sped up slightly for the third mile, but I may have overshot during the fourth mile; the fourth mile (mostly Ohio Drive toward the Tidal Basin) was even faster, and I covered this mile in 6:09, about ten seconds faster than I wanted.

As soon as I rounded the hairpin turn on Ohio Drive, I now tried to keep my pace under control.  My plan was to hold this current effort level until the Mile 8 mark and then take off from there.  As I was running down Independence Avenue back toward the Tidal Basin, I caught somebody running behind me wearing a blue DC Front Runners T-shirt out of the corner of my eye.  I could tell from the running style that it was Jeff; we were both training for Boston and I had done several training runs with him during this cycle.  For the next few miles, he pulled head slightly at some points, whereas at other times, I ran in front of him.  I planned on keeping with him for now, but not if I felt like I had to significantly push the pace.  I would keep my effort level the same as it was now, but if he started speeding up, I would let him go and stick to my plan; if he beat me, then I would be happy for him.

But having Jeff behind me for these few miles really helped; there really is nothing like having a teammate right behind you to help you get into that uncomfortable zone and stay there.  I probably would have run these next miles quite a bit slower if he weren't there.  Also helping me suck it up and push the pace a little during these miles were the drummers and the DC Front Runners cheer squad; Mile 6 right before runners enter Hains Point is always full of energy, and this year was no exception.

Hains Point is typically a little more desolate, but at least it is flat and straight.  At this point, I focused on targeting a runner or a group of runners in front of me, catching up to them, passing them if I had the energy, and then repeating with the next group.

Mile 9 to the end (6:16, 6:08, 0:16 for the last 0.07 miles): After crossing the Mile 8 marker, I realized that all I needed to do for a PR was to stay under 6:20/mile pace for the last two miles.  Not wanting a sudden implosion, I held back a little, even in spite of my original plan to speed up during these last two miles and in spite of Mile 9 (still along Hains Point) also being flat and fast.  Plus, there was that last hill leading toward the Washington Monument waiting for me at the end, and I wanted to save a little energy for that.  And I had covered some of the middle miles noticeably faster than I had originally intended.

It wasn't until I turned back onto Ohio Drive for the last half mile that I started to speed up a little.  Once again waving to the DC Front Runners cheer squads, I pulled myself up that last hill, which actually was not so bad, and then gave whatever I had left on the last downhill toward the finish.

I had my splits texted to me, so after waiting for other members of DC Front Runners and New York Front Runners to finish, I retrieved my jacket and phone from bag check and got my time: 1:03:08 (6:19/mile), which was a 34-second PR over the Army 10-Miler last fall.  According to the unofficial results, I was 226th overall out of 17397, 218th male out of 6989, and 33rd out of 1113 in the 35-39 age group (first race in the new age group!)  The infographic that comes with the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler results also indicated that in the first six miles, I passed 787 people and eight people passed me (it felt like so many more than 787); meanwhile, in the last four miles, I passed 65 runners whereas three passed me.  A 1:03:08 for a 10-miler would get me 71.45 points toward the DC Front Runners Race Circuit (an age graded score of 70.14 times 1.02 for a 10-miler in accordance with DC Front Runners Race Circuit Rules).

I was happy to learn that many DC Front Runners members had strong times today, including Jeff, who also bested his own PR by 51 seconds for a time of 1:03:59.  Other members for my five-person team for this race, DC Front Runners Mercury, also had some strong showings (the 10-Miler allows people to run on four- or five-person teams, where teams are ranked within each division according to the three fastest times); team results would be posted later this week, but hopefully, we had beaten the New York Front Runners Open Men's team.

Next Steps

My next steps are to recover as quickly as possible for Boston.  This time, I probably will not be able to do much target marathon-pace running during the taper period, unlike in taper periods preceding other marathons.

A 1:03:08 for a 10-miler would indicate that I am capable of a 3:01:49 (1:03:08 times 2.88 given my maximum weekly mileage of 58.5 and my string of 50+ mile weeks during this training cycle).  However, that might be a bit aggressive given how fast this course was.  Meanwhile, my 1:26:02 from my half-marathon a few weeks ago on a more difficult course would indicate a 3:04:58 (1:26:02 times 2.15 given my training).  So based on this, I could probably conclude that:

• I may be able to get a PR (3:03:47 or better) if I run smart in Boston.
• 3:04:59 or better is definitely feasible.  That would be great since it would give me a BQ-5:00 or better, allowing me to register for Boston 2018 during the first week of registration.  Even though my time in Richmond would probably be good enough to allow me to run Boston 2018, it would be very nice to be able to get my acceptance notice early.

Again, all of this is contingent on the weather.  If it is more than 60 degrees on race day, then I plan to slow things down and just enjoy my first Boston.

Other Thoughts and Observations

• Yey, I can run tangents again.  According to my Garmin, I covered 10.07 miles total during this race, even in spite of having to weave around people in the beginning.
• I think the best approach for this course is a slight negative split.  Even in spite of the hill at the end, the second half is faster and easier than the first; the first has the Memorial Bridge and a few hairpin turns that could slow you down slightly.
• Lesson learned: starting late does not necessarily spell doom for your race.  Stay calm; it will ruin your race if you continue to freak out about it.  But then again, maybe the leftover adrenaline from all that panicking enabled me to run the middle miles a little faster?
• Once again, I owe a big thank you to Mick and Justin for letting me check my jacket along with their belongings.  

Race Post-Mortem: Army 10-Miler

Justin, me, and Mick post-race.  This was our last tune-up race before the Richmond Marathon.  Photo by Justin.

Sunday, October 9, 2016
Arlington, VA
Difficulty score: 2/10 (0 for weather, 2 for course profile, 0 for altitude)

The Army 10-Miler, the second of two tune-up races for my upcoming marathon, was to be my first 10-mile race ever.  People ask me why I have never run a 10-miler, in spite of having run eight marathons and more than a dozen half-marathons.  It seemed like good opportunities for a 10-miler for me never really surfaced these past several years; all the 10-mile races in the DC area took place close to or right after a fall or spring marathon.  And last year, when I finally got to run the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, it needed to be shortened to 9.39 miles due to an accident on the course.

I was excited to finally have the opportunity to run a 10-mile race.  I had reason to believe that I could achieve a very good time for my 10-miler debut so long as I didn't screw up the pacing.  The weather in DC on an October morning was usually better than the low seventies and high humidity under which I ran the Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon last month, and this course was considered as fast, if not faster, than the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler.  Starting near the Pentagon, we would head north on Virginia Route 110 to Arlington National Cemetery and then across the Memorial Bridge and down Constitution Avenue.  After less than a quarter of a mile on Constitution Avenue, we would then turn left onto 20th Street Northwest and then a left on Virginia Avenue.  Virginia Avenue would then spit us out onto Rock Creek Parkway, which we would follow back south toward the monuments.  After merging onto Independence Avenue, we would do this out-and-back segment before turning onto the segment that most runners dread: the 14th Street Bridge.  The 14th Street Bridge would take us back to Arlington, where we would complete the last mile of the race through the streets of Crystal City.  All in all, this was a relatively flat course with a few hills to make things interesting.

Thus, I had set my bare minimum goal to be 1:04:20, the slowest I could run in order to score 70 points toward the DC Front Runners Race Circuit.  My primary goal was sub-1:04:00, and my "if everything went right" goal was sub-1:03:00.

Map of the Army 10-Miler (from the race website).

Training

My training this past summer was very much like my training for Chicago and Hartford: six days of running per week, with a very similar weekly structure.

• Monday: OFF
• Tuesday: a two-mile warm-up plus 25 to 40 minutes at tempo effort (between 6:18 and 6:36/mile, with adjustments for the weather) followed by a cool-down
• Wednesday: 30 to 40 minutes very easy to recover from Tuesday's tempo run
• Thursday: mini-long runs lasting between one hour and one hour 30 minutes, with most of these miles being easy (7:48 to 8:24/mile); I did occasionally throw in some marathon effort miles
• Friday: 30 to 40 minutes very easy to recover from Thursday's mini-long run
• Saturday: 50 minutes to one hour 20 minutes easy (7:48 to 8:24/mile), with hill sprints
• Sunday: long runs of one hour 30 minutes to two hours 30 minutes at 7:48 to 8:24/mile pace, with some of these being fast finish

So far, my mileage most weeks have been in the fifties or high forties, with a maximum of about 56 miles.  Training was made a little more difficult by an unusually hot and humid summer here in DC, but overall, I was able to remain very consistent with my training up to now.  Following the Army 10-Miler, I planned on two more weeks with mileage in the high fifties or low sixties, and then a taper before my marathon.

The Race

The night before the race, I had a dream that I woke up on race morning and it was 9:14 am.  After panicking and realizing that it would have even been too late to get down to the Pentagon and start with the last wave, I then decided to check my phone to see the angry messages from Mick and Justin, whom I promised to drive down to the start.  But for some reason, my phone kept crashing.  When I finally was able to get it to work, my alarm went off and I woke up.

Had that actually happened, I would have started to believe that the 10-miler was really a cursed distance for me.  But actually, getting to the start actually proceeded quite seamlessly; after a quick breakfast and my typical pre-race preparations, I picked up several other members of the DC Front Runners and made it to Arlington at 6:45.  Traffic was nowhere near as terrible as I thought it would be, and neither was parking.  I thought it was strange, though, that everyone parked in one of the parking garages suggested by the race website when there was plenty of parking on the side of the street.  I found a very convenient parking spot near the Ritz Carlton on the side of South 15th Street, while just about all of the other cars were waiting in this very long line to get into the nearby parking garages.

Temperatures were also much better for this race; high fifties with less than 80% humidity, and the latter was expected to drop substantially as time went on whereas the former would not increase too much.  When I woke up, there was a steady light rain, but that subsided by the time we all arrived at the starting area and changed into an 18-mile-per-hour wind from the north.  I was not terribly concerned about the winds; I had run a half-marathon and a marathon PR under similar conditions. Given the course and the temperatures, I went into the starting corrals thinking that a sub-1:04:00 was very achievable today.  My plan was therefore to ease into a 6:20 to 6:25/mile pace over the first two miles or so, hold that until about Mile 7, and if I felt I had something left in me at that point, I would try to bring the pace down closer to 6:15/mile.

After running into other members of the DC Front Runners and wishing them a good race, I lined up in the Yellow Corral and waited for the start.

Miles 1 and 2 (6:28, 6:22): Initially, I was running at more like half-marathon pace.  The race began on a slight but relatively steady uphill, but about 0.6 miles in, we got a pretty noticeable downhill, which I took advantage of to bring my pace to faster than 6:30/mile.  According to my Garmin, my first mile was 6:28, exactly where I wanted to be.  However, I did notice that my Garmin indicated the one mile mark a little before the actual one-mile mark sign.  I attributed that to the weaving and dodging I did during this first mile.  Halfway through this first mile, I realized I probably lined up too far back; I was passing people left and right with very little effort.

During the second mile through Arlington National Cemetery and across Memorial Bridge, I settled into a 6:22/mile pace.  This felt very controlled, I was glad to have gotten on target pace a little earlier than I thought.

Miles 3 through 5 (6:31, 6:18, 6:20): For me, Mile 3 was the most difficult mile of the entire race.  The relatively lengthy uphill on Virginia Avenue threw me for a loop; after hearing how fast this course was, I wasn't expecting anything like this.  Nonetheless, I looked at my watch and noticed my pace was closer to 6:40/mile.  I kept myself calm; knowing that if I pushed too hard up this hill, I would regret it later; after all, I still had seven more miles to go.

After we crested the top of the hill, we were treated to a brief downhill as we went through an underpass.  After another brief hill, we had a much longer and more gradual downhill segment.  I was able to take advantage of this and bring my pace down to 6:31/mile.  This was slower than what I would have liked, but I knew I could still manage sub-1:04:00 nonetheless.

For the fourth and fifth miles, I focused on getting back to 6:20 to 6:25/mile pace.  This part, in which we turned onto Rock Creek Parkway and followed it toward Independence Avenue, was flat and fast and featured very few turns, although some relatively strong winds were still coming off the river.  I ended up doing the fourth mile a little faster than what I wanted; I finished this mile in 6:18, but I still felt like I was in control of the pace.  During the fifth mile down Independence Avenue, I continued trying to hold back; I wanted to push a little, but I knew that I had some more somewhat difficult segments up ahead.

The DC Front Runners cheer squad, waiting for us at the top of the hill on Independence Avenue.  Photo from Adam.

Miles 6 through 8 (6:16, 6:17, 6:16): After the halfway mark came one of the more difficult segments: a hill leading up past the Washington Monument.  Some members of the DC Front Runners were at the top with signs, which gave me an extra boost of energy up this hill.  After this came a slight downhill and another long, flat, and straight out-and-back segment down Independence Avenue.  I enjoyed this part: in addition to it being fast, spectators were lining the course and I got to see the faster runners on their way back.  After rounding the corner at the turnaround loop and passing the Mile 6 marker, I noticed that I had indeed brought my pace down closer to 6:15/mile already.  But since I was still feeling strong, I decided to stay with it.

But one thing that I was not happy about was that my Garmin indicated 6.07 miles at the Mile 6 marker.  I had no idea how I managed to cover 0.07 extra miles given how few curves and turns there were on these past few miles, but I really preferred not to cover more than 10.10 miles today.  After all, that extra 0.1 miles could mean as much as 45 to 50 extra seconds.  For the seventh mile, I focused on maintaining my pace while trying not to weave around runners anymore.

I then turned left onto 14th Street to start my journey along the infamous 14th Street Bridge.  Most people who talk about this bridge say that not only are runners already tired at this point, but this long expanse of bridge across the river, on which there are almost no spectators, could be mentally draining.  But I myself actually did not find it to be as bad as many people have made it out to be.  It was by no means easy, especially compared to the previous miles; this bridge has some noticeable rolling hills.  But I found the third mile of this race to be far more difficult.  Meanwhile, I was able to keep my 6:15 to 6:20/mile pace with little problem.

Mile 9 through the end (6:13, 6:10, 0:32 for the last 0.1 miles): I then approached a rather unexpected difficulty in this race: the exit ramp leading to Crystal City.  Right before the exit ramp was a very sizable hill; it was not as long as some of the others I had encountered on this course, but it was substantially steeper.  In addition, I was now faced with a powerful headwind.  As I pulled myself up this hill, trying not to charge up it, I asked myself why I was encountering this kind of headwind; I was heading south and the weather forecast indicated winds were to be coming from the north.

After the exit ramp was behind me, I just focused on getting to the finish line.  Some other runners behind me had capitalized on the downhill of the exit ramp to accelerate past me.  I just decided to let them go and just run at my own pace.  I was able to catch back up with most of them and eventually drop them again, though.

Nina and her mother were cheering on members of the DC Front Runners at the Mile 9 mark, which was very much appreciated.  After waving back to them, I looked at my watch and did the math.  Sub-1:04:00 was definitely within reach; I just needed to maintain this pace and not do anything stupid.  I did find myself speeding up even more during this mile; after noticing that my Garmin indicated I was going at 5:55/mile pace, I decided to hold back a little just so I would not implode during the last half mile.

As soon as I rounded that curve back toward the Pentagon and saw the finish line, I just gave it all I had left.  I was very happy when I crossed the finish line when the first three digits of the gun (cannon) time clock were 1:03; my Garmin, meanwhile, indicated a finish time of 1:03:43.

I wanted to wait for the other members of DC Front Runners to finish, but I was told to keep moving.  As I headed toward the finisher's area, I saw Justin behind me; he had just run a 10-miler PR by more than two minutes.  We then walked to the finisher's area together, sharing notes about the race.  We decided to wait for the other members of DC Front Runners doing this race near the food area.

It was not until that afternoon when I got my official results (Army 10-Miler does not do real-time runner tracking): 1:03:42 (6:22/mile), which translates to 70.727 points toward the DC Front Runners Race Circuit (age-graded score of 69.34 times 1.02 in accordance with Race Circuit rules).  I was 383rd human out of 24014, 362nd male out of 12716, and 78th out of 1880 in the Male 30-34 age division.

Next Steps

I felt that my performance during this race was more indicative of my fitness for Richmond, since the Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon was run under less-than-ideal conditions and was probably run before I was anywhere near peak fitness.  So given my mileage, which was less than what I ran for Hartford last year but not by much, I would take my 10-miler time of 1:03:42 and multiply by 2.88 to get a projected time for my marathon: 3:03:28 (approximately 7:00/mile).  If I ended up with a time like that, I would be very happy; that would be a PR and a BQ by more than six minutes.

Thus, my plan for Richmond is to target 7:00 to 7:05 for the first 30K, with the first two miles a little slower than that, and then gradually speed up at the 30K mark for a negative split.

Other Thoughts and Observations

• I like this race a lot.  The race has a great atmosphere, is quite fast, and is executed very well.
• Metro is often accepted as the best way to get to the starting line, but it may take longer than driving to get there using Metro, particularly if you need to transfer lines or if the nearest Metro station is quite a walk from where you live.  It looks like driving can get you down to the start line relatively quickly, particularly since I-395 Southbound, the best way to get to Arlington, still remains open before the race.  Parking is also not difficult as it will be 6:00 am when you (should) arrive.  However, getting out of Arlington is a whole different story if you're driving due to all the road closures and the closure of I-395 Northbound, and this is where the advantage of Metro really comes into play.  If you drive, consider hanging around Crystal City for a bit (I would have, but I had to return to DC to prepare for a friend's birthday brunch).
• I like the finisher coins a lot (photo below).
• Winds from the north my foot.  I have always maintained that the winds are always blowing in one direction when you are running: against you.  I rarely felt any tailwinds, but headwinds were very frequent throughout the race, even when I was running southwards.

The Army 10-Miler finisher coin.

Race Post-Mortem: Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon

Some of the DC Front Runners who ran the Philadelphia Half-Marathon.  Can you see the humidity in the air?  Photo courtesy of Marcel.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Philadelphia, PA
Difficulty score: 1/10 (0 for weather, 1 for course profile, 0 for altitude)

This past Sunday, I ran the Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon as a tune-up for the upcoming Chicago Marathon.  My intentions in running this race was not only to get back into the racing mindset as my last race was the Pike's Peek 10K this past April, but also to get a half-marathon time to serve as a basis for determining a realistic goal for Chicago.

I finished the half-marathon in 1:25:12 (6:29/mile), an improvement over my PR on the same course last year by 13 seconds.  This came as a pleasant surprise for me as race morning weather, 68 degrees and 88 percent humidity, was far from ideal for a PR.  I was prepared to finish this half-marathon one minute or two slower than my half-marathon PR.  Initially, I thought that was going to happen when I finished the first mile in 6:41.  But during the next few miles, I settled into a 6:30/mile pace and was able to maintain that pace until mile 10, at which point I accelerated to a 6:25/mile pace.  I cannot say exactly how well I would have done had race day weather been the ideal racing conditions of this race last year.  But my ability to run a half-marathon in this warmth and humidity faster than I did last year in temperatures in the low fifties gives me hope that I will be able to run a marathon PR in Chicago.

Training and the Days Leading Up to the Race

In preparation for Chicago, I had increased my mileage quite a bit.  During my training for Shamrock, my weekly mileage was in the high forties and low to mid fifties for most weeks.  But during this cycle, my weekly mileage was in the high to mid fifties and low to mid sixties for most weeks.  I had hoped the increase in mileage would help me improve my marathon time even more.  My weeks consisted of one tempo run on Tuesdays, a mini-long run of eight to fourteen miles on Thursdays, an easy run of six to ten miles on Saturday, a long run on Sunday, and recovery runs of five to six miles on Monday and Friday.  I had to sacrifice one tempo run each week in order to be able to achieve this kind of mileage; whereas during my training for Shamrock, I did two tempo runs per week, during this cycle, I only did one tempo run on Tuesdays.  The remainder of my miles for the week were easy or recovery runs, which meant that most of the time, more than 90 percent of my weekly mileage was run at 7:40/mile pace or slower.  The mileage itself was strenuous; I could not imagine running a second tempo run each week.

The Philadelphia Half-Marathon took place the week after a 61-mile week, my last truly high-mileage week for the entire cycle.  After a tempo run on the Tuesday before the race and a recovery run on Wednesday, I began a brief, four-day taper for the half-marathon consisting of an eight-mile run at around 8:00/mile pace on Thursday and a slow, four-mile shakeout run on Friday.

Before the half-marathon, I had been checking the race day weather obsessively.  The forecast at the beginning of the week indicated sub-optimal conditions; 62 degrees at the start of the race and relatively high humidity.  As the week passed, the forecast progressively got worse; by the day before the race, most weather sites predicted the temperature at the start of the race to be 68 degrees and the humidity to be in excess of 80 percent.  What was especially annoying was that the weather on the morning of that Saturday before and on the morning of that Monday after were both predicted to be much better; lower humidity and temperatures in the high fifties.  I adjusted my goal time for this half-marathon from running a PR to a time between 1:26:00 and 1:27:00.  This was somewhat annoying, but this was not my target race.

The Race

The morning of the race, I told myself that I should just power through the unpleasant racing conditions.  Warmth and humidity should not have had as drastic effect on my performance in a half-marathon as it did on my performance in a marathon.  Even if I was unable to run a PR this time, I should have been able to run a 1:27:00 or faster on this course.  Besides, the Frederick Half-Marathon in 2012 took place under similar weather conditions, yet I was still able to run a PR there.

Philadelphia is a fast course, and I knew that I at least could use that to my advantage on race day.  During the first four miles, we weave through Center City, down Broad, Market, and Arch Streets, before returning to the start near the Art Museum and heading north on Kelly Drive along the Schuylkill River.  We run along the Schuykill River for about four miles before crossing a bridge to the other side.  We the run south on Martin Luther King Drive along the other side of the river before the uphill finish near the Art Museum.  For the most part, this course is flat, aside from a gradual but long downhill segment between miles 5 and 6, a gradual and long uphill segment before the bridge crossing the river, and the relatively steep but short uphill finish.  Not only was more than half of this course adjacent to the Schuylkill, but much of it was also shaded and surrounded by trees; I anticipated the river and the trees to be very helpful in staving off overheating during this race.

Map of the Philadelphia Half-Marathon course with mile markers from the website.

Originally, I made a plan to take the first two miles a little slower and settle into a 6:35-6:40/mile pace, which I would sustain until after the bridge across the Schuylkill at around mile 9, at which point I would reassess and decide whether to accelerate or hold that pace for the remainder of the race.  My first mile was indeed my slowest at 6:41; many people flew by me during this first mile, but I ended up passing many of them back later in the race.  After training through the hot and humid DC summers for the past four years, one thing I had learned about my body was that in order to run my best on hot and humid days, I needed to start slow.

The second mile was somewhat faster at 6:36 and the third mile was significantly faster than my original target pace range at 6:28.  I finished the fourth mile, meanwhile, at 6:19, which would turn out to be my fastest mile during this race other than the last mile.  This was mostly an effect of adrenaline; as the runners starting in the earlier corrals return to the start during this mile, they get to see those in later corrals starting their races.  Many of the runners from the later corrals were quite enthusiastic, and this had an energizing effect; due to this, together with the flat and straight course in this segment, this mile has been fast for me all three times I ran this race.

Me at around the 5-mile marker.  Photo courtesy of Lavar.

As I headed toward the river, my pace slowed slightly to a 6:28/mile pace.  Lavar was on the side of the course near the mile 5 mark, watching the race; the photo to the right is of me at this point in the race.  Over the next three miles, I focused on maintaining about a 6:30/mile pace and on running the tangents.  Surprisingly, even in a race of more than 15 thousand participants, I had plenty of room around me throughout most of the race and I was able run most of the tangents.

Mile 9, not surprisingly, was the slowest mile aside from the first one.  This mile consists of a long, gradual uphill leading to the bridge across the Schuylkill, and many finishers of the Philadelphia Half-Marathon would agree that this one is one of the more difficult miles.  But having run this race twice before, I knew what to expect during this portion of the race, and told myself not to panic when my Garmin indicated a slower pace than the preceding miles and to conserve energy for the remainder of the race.  After all, the last four miles down Martin Luther King Drive were very fast and perfect for a late-race kick.

After I crossed the bridge, I began to accelerate, aiming for faster than a 6:27/mile pace.  However, this was where I began to really notice the effects of the humidity.  I felt like I was working; I was able to go a little faster, but I struggled to go much faster than 6:27/mile pace.  Miles 10 through 12 were all between 6:22 and 6:27.  Even though these miles felt difficult, I was happy to find that I was still passing plenty of people during this part of the race.

When I crossed the 12-mile marker, the clock read a little over 1:18:00.  I then realized that I actually had a chance at a PR during this race; I needed to run the thirteenth mile in about 6:15 to 6:20 and cover the last 0.1 miles in about 45 to 50 seconds.  After doing the math, and seeing Lavar again near the mile 12 mark, I picked up the pace, completing the thirteenth mile in 6:18.  At the hill leading up to the Art Museum and the finish line, I gave it everything I had.

I waited in the finish area for the other DC Front Runners to finish their race.  I was happy to report that even in spite of the warmth and humidity, several other members also got half-marathon PRs.  We all walked around the finisher's area before we returned to our hotels to shower.  Since Thorne and I were leaving at around 7:30 pm that evening, we decided to have lunch with some of the other DC Front Runners and explore Philadelphia a little.  We got to visit the Reading Terminal Market and the City Tavern, supposedly one of the most haunted places in the United States.  But otherwise, we really did not do much because we were so tired.  Note to self: if I want to explore a city, I should spend at least one more day there following the race, since I will not have the energy to explore the day of the race.

Next Steps: Chicago Marathon Time Prediction

As mentioned before, I had intended to use my time in this half-marathon as the basis of a prediction for an appropriate marathon pace in Chicago.  Since the weather was not ideal and hopefully was much warmer and more humid than the weather in Chicago would be on race day, my performance in this race may not have as much predictive power for my marathon.  I could adjust my race time for temperature and humidity and use the corrected half-marathon time, which would most likely be a minute or more faster, as the basis for my prediction, or I could be conservative and use the 1:25:12 as the basis.

I decided to do the latter.  Not only do I believe that being conservative in marathon pacing would hurt much less than being aggressive, but I do not know how reliable calculators to adjust for temperature such as Daniels Running Calculator are.  I cannot imagine anyone has actually validated these calculators; I actually am having trouble thinking of a study design that would be able to help assess whether the adjustments for temperature and humidity are anywhere near the true effect of these conditions.  The last thing I want is to believe a calculator that tells me I should have been able to run a 1:23:30, for example, in optimal racing conditions and pursue a goal based on that, only to have that adjusted time actually be an overestimate of my current fitness.

According to the Maclin calculator, a 1:25:12 on the Moderate setting of aggressiveness translates to a 3:02:04, or 6:57/mile.  I selected the Moderate setting given my mileage throughout this cycle.  If I did manage to run that time in Chicago, I would be very pleased.  I had qualified for Boston by 13 seconds during my last marathon, but due to the number of applicants exceeding the available number of slots in the Boston Marathon, only those who ran more than 62 seconds faster than their qualifying standards will be able to actually run Boston in 2015.  If I were to finish about three minutes faster than my 3:05:00 qualifying standard, then my chances of being able to run Boston in 2016 will be so much better.

So in Chicago, I will plan to target a 6:55 to 7:00/mile pace.  I will reassess at the 30K mark, and if I have the energy, I will accelerate at that point.