LVTC Holiday Half Race preview

The 1^st annual LVTC Holiday Half Marathon takes place on December 21, 2013. Here’s a little race plan and preview.

The Course

Although the course is an out-and-back originating at Equestrian Park in Henderson, it’s certainly no walk in the park, even if you completely bonk at mile 10 and roll down the hill to the finish line. I mapped it out on MapMyRun.com so I could get the elevation profile, which was unnecessary since I used to ride my bike there three or four times per week.

Throw in the fact that I work less than five minutes away, running the course was no problem. It starts at Equestrian Park and goes up hill for 2.2 miles. Not a crazy up hill, but steady and relatively steep. It then heads down for 4.35 miles, at which point one must turn around or risk running up the Three Sisters, which could lead to extreme pain.

The course begins at 2083 feet, goes up to 2310 at about 2.2 miles, shoots down to 1717 at the turnaround and then goes back.

The Plan and the Goal

There are some steep hills—up and down. My uphill pace needs to be 8:30. My downhill pace needs to be 7:30 to reach my goal time of 1:45. I actually think I can do it faster.

I did a practice run a couple Saturdays before the race, attempting to mimic the last 6.55 miles. I did a three mile jog downhill and then started a 4.35-mile climb, followed by a 2.2-mile descent, finishing in 52:15. If I could run the last half of the race in 52: 15, I’d shatter the 1:45 mark.

However, I ran part of the course twice, and the hills on the actual course are steeper than the hills on my practice course. I did a 6.5-mile run on the course last Friday, giving a decent effort over what would be miles 10, 11, 12. I ran a pretty steep mile 10 in 8:17. It was a steady, straight steep. Mile 11, on the other hand, was much more difficult. I ran it in 8:53. Mile 12 was fun. I did it in 7:00 flat.

The grade was 3% on the two uphill miles, although the second one seemed a lot steeper. There is a stretch, the first 1.5 miles after the turnaround, that’s steeper.

I’m going to shoot for an 8:45 pace on the 4-mile uphill stretch at the turnaround and a 7:15 4-mile stretch on the same downhill.

The Training

I have done 51 long runs this year (10 miles or more). I’ve done 24 long runs since September 1. I did nine in November and three in the first 10 days of December. The half marathon distance, therefore, is not at all intimidating. For that reason, I’m focused on finishing fast.

I usually go out conservatively and cruise to the finish line, passing hundreds the last half. I negative split my last half marathon and my last marathon. I enjoyed those two races, setting prs in both. I’m not going out conservatively this time. I’m starting fast and finishing fast. If I crash and burn, I crash and burn. I need to really see what I’m capable of doing.

Final Thoughts

I’d like to point out I’ve set prs in the 5k, 5-mile and 10k distances over the past month-and-a-half. I fully intend on shattering my prs in the 10-mile and half marathon distance, despite the crazy hills.

By the way, happy holidays from my clan!

Some Benefits of Getting Old

There are some benefits of getting old.  Here are my top two.

1. I'm not dead.
2. I no longer "need" to prove I'm a man by doing some great athletic feat, which is good because I'm not really capable and never have been.

There was a time, however, when I felt it was necessary to prove my manliness while running.

My wife is a runner. She's fast. She's also injured, which means I no longer run with her. And we have five kids. When we were first married, we ran together almost every Saturday, and by together I mean she'd wait up for me.  I, on the other hand, was racing. I beat her twice.  The first time I beat her, she thought I was hurt and ran back to look for me.  I had taken a shortcut.  The second time I chased her down at the end of a five-miler.  She didn't know we were racing...and she was seven months pregnant. 

I used to occasionally enter local races.  One such race occurred on New Year's Day. I don't recall the year. I do recall feeling a tweak in my calf muscle about half way through. I kept going. About six really old guys passed me. I couldn't hold back any longer. I just had to beat the octogenarians, so I sprinted the last mile, injured my calf, and couldn't run for another several months.

Then there were all those morning or afternoon runs in the park or on the streets where I just had to "race" everyone I saw. That's just stupid.

Those people behind me eventually passed me.

Now, I don't care. Maybe it's that completing a marathon gave me the self assurance that I'm good enough or maybe I'm an adult now.  Of course, that doesn't stop me from swimming in alpine lakes for no apparent reason. Looks like I might need to do an Ironman.

Sweat Your Thorns Off 5-k Race Report

The concept is to train slow to run fast. I'll admit it sounds stupid...at least I thought it did until I set a 5-k pr on a hilly course in 95-degree heat.

Result: 23:42 (Technically, it's five seconds slower than the first half of a 10-k I ran back in January on a flat course in 60 degree coolness.  I used that as part of my 10-k pr though.).

Average Heart Rate: 171

Maximum Heart Rate: 194 (I didn't know my heart could beat that fast)

There were two options for the race: (1) Hang out in the back of the pack with my virtual friends; (2) Set a pr against my virtual friends.  Because I didn't get out of the house until 9:40, it looked like option 1 was the choice.  In fact, when you're doing aerobic base training, you're not supposed to do any anaerobic runs.  When my feet started moving, the plan was to run it slow.  About .1 miles in I changed my mind.

I have three months until the Really Big Free Half Marathon in Henderson and I plan to do only aerobic base training until then.

I Am the Fastest Man Alive and a Big Fan of Hyperbole!

There's no magic bullet for running faster.  It doesn't happen overnight.  It does happen, but it takes work.  It's the results of an accumulation of doing the little things daily.

+++++

10 kilometers, 6.2 miles, the perfect race distance.  It's long enough to make you work.  It's short enough that there's no risk of bowel-movement-while-running syndrome.  I'm not much of a racer.  The last 5 races I have entered, not including Ragnar, have been between 6 and 6.2 miles.  I finished near the end of most of them.

Up until last summer, the best time I'd raced at the magic distance was around 55 minutes.  Last summer, I raced it in just over 53 minutes.  I then lowered it by a minute-plus, 52:19 at the beginning of the year, over five minutes less than the year before.

++++++

I have a magic mile pace as well.  It's eight minutes/mile.  I'd never actually run that pace for more than a 5-k.  That did not, however, stop me from calculating all my race/fast run goals for that pace for the last 10 years.

This is what makes the Qualify for Boston Goal so ridiculous.  It's four times longer than my favorite distance at 45 seconds/mile faster than my magic-mile pace that I've never achieved...until now.

+++++

I headed for the park after work on Friday and rattled off a 48:02 10-k.  That's a 7:45/mile pace.  I ran on a 1.5-mile track at the Sunset Regional Park in Henderson/Las Vegas.  As I finished the first lap, I peaked at my Garmin.  It read 11:38.  I nearly soiled myself in surprise, which would have negated my previous theory on running 10-ks.  I was under 23:00 after the second lap. The first 5-k was run in 23:38, the fastest 5-k I've ever run by nearly a minute.

At this point, I had a pretty good notion it was going to be a good, fast (in relative terms) run.  I slowed a little, running the second half in 24:24, the second fastest 5-k I've ever run.

I AM THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE!

So the question is, how can someone take nearly six minutes off a 10-k time in a little over six months?

Here's what I did:

1. Improved conditioning.  I did this through cross-training.  I began with P90X.  I then went with Insanity.  I ran five times between July and December.  The fifth time led to a strained soleus.  There was a little Plantar Fasciitis mixed in.  I love cortisone.  I didn't really start running as a primary exercise until January 2.  Happy New Year!
2. Lost weight.  It helps not lugging around an extra 20 pounds.
3. Ran hills.  I really have no choice.  If I'm going to run near my house or near my work, there will be hills.
4. Ran fast.  I've only actually done three speed workouts, mostly mile repeats.  I hate them.
5. Did double workouts.  Getting up at 5:00 a.m. kind of sucks.  Working out again at 2:30 in the afternoon kind of sucks.  Setting a PR doesn't suck.

Going Forward

I enjoyed my accomplishment for a day or two, just like I enjoyed the half-marathon I ran under 1:50 last week, but as I said then, There's work to do.  Running a 10-k at 7:45/mile is no where close to running a marathon at a 7:15/mile pace.

• Speed work.  This is where the money is.  In addition to doing mile repeats, I'm going to add some 800 and 400 intervals.  I need to get more serious about these workouts if I'm going to get faster.
• Long runs early.  Technically my marathon training doesn't begin until the end of February. I've already run 13.1.  I plan on going 16-18 by the end of this month, slow.  I want to get the distance up and maintain it, so I can concentrate on speed.
• Double workouts.  Running at 5:00 A.M. twice per week followed by Insanity workouts in the afternoon have paid dividends.
• Rest on Sundays.  As always, give the Lord His due and He'll give you all the strength you need.

For the first time, I believe I have an unrealistic chance at this (unrealistic is a step up from impossible).