2024 Advanced Training and Racing Thread (still competitive jerks) (Read 205 times)

Christchurch Half Marathon - Race Report

As everyone knows I've been trying to finally run a good marathon and Christchurch was the place to do it until Covid came along 6 weeks ago.  I made the call to downgrade and had a month of grind where every run felt hard.  Luckily 2 weeks ago it started feeling better so I had time to get excited about a half, but I'm happy it was the right call.

My goal was sub 1:29 which would make it a Christchurch PB.  My coach was confident I could do that and we decided on a plan of about 4:10/km for the first half then kick down to 4:05/km if I had it in my legs.  He wasn't keen on me burning myself completely if I was within reach of a PB but I didn't see that being an issue and the plan was to just push as far as I could.

The weather was absolutely perfect - 7 degrees at the start with cloud cover for the whole race (I think the sun only broke through at around the 2:45 mark of the marathon) and barely a breeze.  I booked an Air BnB 10 minutes walk from the start when I was planning on the full, and shared with a mate of mine down from Auckland to have a crack at his first sub 3.  I went for a 20 minute warm up down to race HQ where there was already a great buzz even though it was still dark.  Then at about 7:05am after a shirt and shoe change we walked/shuffled down to the start.  No need for bag drop, just an annoying wait with race briefing and a Maori prayer which is a new one at the start of a race.  I took my maurten gel, gave my mate a hug, then I saw Jennie my occasional training partner and joined her.  She said her plan was 4:15 per km.

The gun goes and it's a slow shuffle for 20 seconds over the start line - all races start together which is good to give the marathon runners some early pacers but makes it a tight squeeze especially in the first lap.  We get underway and the first km is a bit chaotic but all 3 of us hit 4:15 which is perfect.  Me and Jennie slowly ramp it up so I lose my mate - he knew my pace plan so I was quite firm with him not to come with me.

Into some nice rhythm for the first 5km:  4:15, 4:07, 4:08, 4:10, 4:09.  Jennie has slowly moved away from me and I see her get to up to 50 metres in front, so I figured she must be feeling really good.  For the next 5km I'm feeling okay but not amazing and I start negotiating with myself about just planning to hold 4:10 pace all the way.  I had to pause and review how I felt - I wasn't puffing, I didn't feel fatigued so stop being so negative.  There's great support through the course with music, dancers and the volunteers all giving words of encouragement.

Each lap ends with 3.5km in the park, which I've run a million times.  One side is quite narrow and I do get stuck behind people a few times but my splits are still nice and consistent: 4:10, 4:10, 4:09, 4:09, 4:11 and the official 10km split is 42:07 which is 4:12 pace - I'm already a few hundred metres over the official km markers.  There's lot of noise and excitement from 10-10.5km through the start/finish area and when I start the second lap I find myself lifting the pace.  This was exactly the plan but it almost doesn't feel like a conscious decision, it just happens.  I can see Jennie coming back to me now before I pull up next to her at around 14km.  I ask how she's going and just says "I'm going" which I take to mean she's hurting a bit.  She stays with me for about a km, falling off and fighting back a few times, making me think we can really push each other to the finish, before she says "I have to drop back" at about 15km.  My splits are 4:06, 4:07, 4:12, 4:04, 4:05.  I'm still feeling a bit negative so remind myself I'm still barely puffing and compare how I feel now to how I felt at this stage in the Motorway Half when it was really heating up.  I'd held even pace in those conditions so told myself I'm in a position to do even better this time.

I just want to get to the park now and when I get into the park I can tell myself it's less than a lap which I've done so many times.  I forget any ideas about being conservative and give it what I have left.  I'm counting down the kilometres which tells me I'm not going easy and working as hard as I can.    The next 5 splits are 4:04, 4:06, 4:04, 4:04, 4:01 so I'm somehow running exactly to plan.  I work out I'm probably sub 1:28 but don't waste time working it out in the last km.  There's a 90 degree turn then we're heading to the finish line - I feel some cramp in my toes on this turn which is a new one but it quickly goes away.  With about 1km to go I'm not wasting time worrying about that.  For the whole second half I've been passing people until a guy flies past in the last km.  I pass him back with 400 metres to go so I wonder if he misjudged things...the 21st km is 3:56 (and Garmin tells me my last 5km is 20:05) then it's a wide 180 degree turn into the finishing chute.  I see the clock ticking towards 1:28 so I push really hard to go under, forgetting this is the gun time.  I cross the line feeling strong in 1:27:34 official.  I'm calling this my NZ PB and second best race ever, even though I went 2 seconds faster at Southern Lakes on a course that measured slightly short.  Jennie finishes in 1:28:37.

Recovery is swift and I quickly make my way back to the apartment to change my shirt and grab my phone to try and find my mate and others including my coach.  The next hour is great fun, seeing Andy at the 38km mark with a big lead he never loses, winning the marathon in 2:21.  The way the laps are set up allows me to do my cool down and see my mate 4 times, speeding up to hand him a powerade each time I see him, and I stay with him for about 500 metres the last time which probably wasn't the best cool down.  He holds on for 2:58:34 and is probably now done with marathons.

I feel really happy with my race but it's also a weird feeling.  I've just beaten my Christchurch best by 2 minutes, and that day was one of the happiest of my life but no matter what I do now there's that nagging voice "what about the marathon...".  And yes, 6 weeks until that main goal and I feel really motivated now, not just by a good race but also seeing so many people smash their goals.  16 people in my coaching group got a PB - I'm one of the 3 who didn't but I got my second best time ever and considering I've now done 31 half marathons, that's a pretty good result.

Dave - LOL damn right it's a cult!
It's always a nice sign when we manage to do a workout slightly faster than expected.

Andy - Awesome job at the 5k, shaving 20 seconds from your 5k is hard!
That said, I'm fairly sure you can go sub 20, just keep doing what you're doing and be consistent.

Mark - great way to put it, gotta find joy in the process.
To me not running is not an option as I'm already at the door of diabetes (glycated hemoglobin at 5.6 😖) and high blood pressure as it is.
I guess I need to find a superman costume with UPF 50 protection 😁 to spice up some of the races again.
Like Calbears said, it's all about finding a good balance at this point.
Sleep well, eat well, shit well. Also improve single leg balance and grip strength.
I've been working on my retirement fund as well with some growth-based ETFs based in Ireland so that I don't have to depend on governments in my old age.

Lastly, I might be one of the few who truly enjoy the last mile in a 5k heh. I just love it!

Steve - great job! That's an excellent result to show for your consistency.
Re: the marathon. The marathon is like a 20 year old gorgeous girl. The more you desire her, the lower your chances 😀

DWave - I just finished reading your most recent blog post - that was a great read. I'm glad that you have no plans to rest on your laurels.

Thanks all for the kind words.  Here's a short video from the day including my coach celebrating winning the marathon with a face plant...

https://www.facebook.com/ChristchurchMarathon/videos/425101723475550

Flavio - Don't worry, I'm playing hard to get this time round.

Dave - Definitely one of the more healthy cults around.

Mikkey - Sub 3 is definitely something I will think about after I finally nail a good solid race.

Mark - Very nice 5km.  That last km is over so quickly you'll forget the pain in seconds!

Steve - great race report and great execution!

Merkle - your race report was a good read, and a helpful reference.  One thing that really stands out to me is needing to pee late in the race, at mile 18 and again a mile 21.  That strikes me as REALLY unusual - by then it's completely normal and expected to be slightly dehydrated, not carrying extra hydration that you need to shed. I'm not sure exactly what that means, so I don't have anything further to offer.

Andy - nice improvement in the 5K.  Steadily whittling your 5K time down is the shortest path to sub-20.

Marky_Mark- nice Parkrun!

Fishy- great run for you at Boston - very impressive.  I ran Boston in 3:41:17.  The 10K was officially 46:44 for the win, but I honestly wasn't counting it as a race, since I didn't race it.

And it's good to see Jmac, Calbears, and Mikkey back on the forum.

DKTrotter - you are up this weekend, right?  Good luck!

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Hi all - I am finally trying to catch up on this forum after having to spend a lot of time focusing on non-running life/family stuff.  I did finally manage to get around to writing up my Boston Marathon race report.  It is extremely long (much of it explains the para-athlete classification process) so I totally understand if others don't care to wade through it.

Well, I'm TRYING to run...: Race report: Boston Marathon 2024, April 15, 2024 (wellimtryingtorun.blogspot.com)

Steve, thanks for your report as well. As Mark said, it helps to have near-perfect weather conditions, but you were clearly well-prepared for the race and executed it well. It probably solidified your decision to drop down to the half after Covid. At 6 weeks out from the marathon, you're fine-tuning from what you've done the last few months. It also seems like you can trust your coach (congrats to him as well!), so just try and stay healthy!

Andy, I hope I didn't come off too negative about your 5K. That's a huge PR, and congrats again. If I'm completely honest with myself, I think/thought we're at about the same capability level, and reading that you could cut off 20 seconds off a time that it took me 9 years to achieve (with on and off specific 5K training) probably brought out a side of me that I don't like as much. But it also makes me wonder if maybe I could do that too. I'd be really curious to know how much effort you put into each mile.

Flavio, I need an updated marathon-metaphor for the women on this thread. 20-year-old men don't operate the same.

Keen, good luck to your daughter this weekend as wel!

Re: hanging performance on how others do... I think it's definitely a thing in ultra running since it is more about placing than getting a distance-PR. Road races have fairly similar conditions, even if some are hillier than others or have different weather. Good luck at your race this weekend too, Krash! 

Keen - I'd love to get to know that region of the US. Maybe someday.
I imagine arriving at JFK's immigration and telling the immigration officer that I'm here as a tourist and I'm going to visit a certain town in Oklahoma LOL that should ring some alarm bells.
I should probably tell them I'm in the country for some aviation classes instead 😁

Darkwave - Your way with words is your gift to the world. That was a very entertaining and pleasant to read report. Thank you for that.
I would imagine they ask if the person needs help out of habit.
Imagine if some Boston runner sit next to you and was bragging about their marathon time, then you just accidentally drop that wreath on their lap. Ultimate boss move!

Steve - Good boy! Interesting, the other day I was curious if what your coach did also counted as a face plant, it seems it does.
So not all face plants are literal face plants.

Mark - your training has been excellent of late, I have a feeling you will run very close to your PR.

Dorothea - I'd argue 20 year old gorgeous men operate about the same but CommanderKeen came up with a much better metaphor "I'm gonna work on myself and it'll come to me".
Also, I told you that you will run sub 20 the first time you run a 5K outside of the sauna you live in.