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<p>With the target marathon (Boston) 4 wks away, I decided to run this half testing my pacing/patience and what I would have for the last 5k after 10miles of tempo effort. The mileage for the last 7days leading up to the race was a little lower than the previous weeks but at 51miles I knew my legs would suffer no matter what. My plan was to run the first 5miles at 8ish, then increase the efffort for the next 5miles to 7:40ish then whatever I could manage for the last 5k. My PR from 2yrs ago is 1:40 and change.</p>
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<p>My friend, 60-yrs old Mark, who used to run 2:50 marathon and still runs 3:20, was treating this race as a training at 8'ish pace. Being a great steady runner, I decided to stay with him. Though the 1st mile we ran at 7:30, after that it was the most consitent pace race I have ever run, all within 10sec of 7:46. The wind was consistent at 13-15mph and it seemed it was in my face constantly. So I didn't run the first 5miles at 8 pace. I averaged, 7:46 for the first 5, 7:48 for the second 5, then the last 5k at 7:46. Pretty close to dead even split. Now that is totally new to me! I couldn't hold onto Mark after 12.5mile when he started picking up the speed. I just held on to my dear life for the last 5k. </p>
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<p>In short, I didn't excecute my plan perfectly, but it was a great learning experience how hard to run even split, which means, how it was supposed to feel at the beginning. Honestly speaking, RPE was kind of high from the beginning and I was a bit surprised I was able to maintain the pace. This may be a good feedback of my endurance, I have been running well with tired legs. With a proper taper, my legs may come alive more come race day. One more week of 55+miles then taper time! </p>
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<p>Oh, my time was 1:41:58 in my watch. Good enough for 3rd AG. A small race but a solid competition for Boston trainers.</p>
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<p>Edited to add: official result: 1:41:56. </p>
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<p>My friend, 60-yrs old Mark, who used to run 2:50 marathon and still runs 3:20, was treating this race as a training at 8'ish pace. Being a great steady runner, I decided to stay with him. Though the 1st mile we ran at 7:30, after that it was the most consitent pace race I have ever run, all within 10sec of 7:46. The wind was consistent at 13-15mph and it seemed it was in my face constantly. So I didn't run the first 5miles at 8 pace. I averaged, 7:46 for the first 5, 7:48 for the second 5, then the last 5k at 7:46. Pretty close to dead even split. Now that is totally new to me! I couldn't hold onto Mark after 12.5mile when he started picking up the speed. I just held on to my dear life for the last 5k. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>In short, I didn't excecute my plan perfectly, but it was a great learning experience how hard to run even split, which means, how it was supposed to feel at the beginning. Honestly speaking, RPE was kind of high from the beginning and I was a bit surprised I was able to maintain the pace. This may be a good feedback of my endurance, I have been running well with tired legs. With a proper taper, my legs may come alive more come race day. One more week of 55+miles then taper time! </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh, my time was 1:41:58 in my watch. Good enough for 3rd AG. A small race but a solid competition for Boston trainers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Edited to add: official result: 1:41:56. </p>
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Sounds like a great race!!! Nice job on pacing...even though a little faster than planned for the first part. You're more than ready for Boston.</p>
