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Hey all:<br><br>
Weighing in here with a Philly Distance Run HM report. This is my second time running this race (and my second HM).<br><br>
Short story: 1:16:14, 131st overall, 14th AG<br><br>
I ran 1:25 here last September so this was a 9 minute PR. My goal this year was to run a hard race and hopefully get a 1:16-7 finish. I had a shot a 1:15, but made a few tactical mistakes that cost be a little bit.<br><br>
The weekend was fun - my daughter and I hooked up with fellow KR'er <b>Larry</b> and his wife & kids after the expo for a trip to the dinosaur museum. The kids had a blast.<br><br>
I told my wife at dinner on Saturday that I wasn't all that worried about the race and I was feeling confident. I then proceeded to run and rerun the race in my head all night and sleep very little. But if there is anything parenthood prepares you for it is performing on little sleep, so I don't think this hurt me too badly. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Smile"><br><br>
Sunday we had an early morning and I met up with <b>Larry and Solar/Lora (& sis)</b> prior to the race. Larry and I did a little warmup together and found a secret I'll have to remember - there are no-line porta-johns at Lloyd Hall and the rec center bathrooms were wide open. Nice!<br><br>
The start was a little crowded - not unexpected with 16K+ runners in the race.<br><br>
Miles 1-3 take you from the Art Museum down to Washington square. I it took out a little slow just to make sure all the parts were working. I wasn't happy with my split for mile 3 (which involved a lot of turns around city blocks) so I settled down and started working. 5k split was 18:17.<br><br>
Miles 4-6 take you back up to the Art Museum and through the start crowd again, and out onto the river. By this time the pack had thinned out considerably and when I wasn't careful about keeping touch with other runners I would end up alone. I joined up with a small group here - including a guy from the Army team who spent a mile waving his arms and pointing at his shirt trying to get people to cheer for him. The cheering was nice but the narcicism was a little over the top so I dumped him.<br><br>
I really focused these 3 miles on picking up runners who were faltering and sticking with those who were moving. 10k split was 36:10.<br><br>
Miles 7&8 were tough. I went through a water stop and must have lost focus - I came out and the small pack I was in was 10m ahead. I tried a few times to make up the gap, but never succeeded and ran mostly alone these 2.<br><br>
At the end of mile 8 you cross the Falls bridge and in my mind this is where the race to the finish really starts.<br><br>
Miles 9-11 I ran with one other guy. We were pushing each other and kept trading back and forth. Looking at the splits I'm a little surprised these weren't faster, but I was starting to feel fatigued here and my right hip flexor was getting tight. My mile 10 split was 58:15. I knew at that point I would need a 17:45 (5:42s) last 5k to get under 1:16 so I tried to start picking it up.<br><br>
I was able to pass a few people in the last 5k but didn't have enough juice left for 1:15. I ran run 17:58 for the last 5k (5:48, 5:51, 5:44 pace).<br><br>
The finish involved a hard turn and a short sprint, which I thought I wasn't going to like, but the energy of the crowd was so high that I didn't even notice.<br><br>
The finish area right after the line was just awesome. Philly is a great running town and there were a ton of guys in the chute that I have traded finishes with over time. There is this really awesome bubble in there, in amongst the shouting announcer and the bells ringing and the crowd yelling where you get a few minutes to walk around and check in with the people you ran with and look for the ones just behind you before you are outta there.<br><br>
My splits went as follows: 5:51, 5:50, 5:57, 5:43, 5:44, 5:49, 5:47, 5:48, 5:50, 5:50, 5:51, 5:48, 5:51, 5:44, 0:35<br><br>
Amazingly to me, this whole race went down at a faster pace (5:49) than my 2006 5k PR pace (5:52). Now that's a good year!<br><br>
Lessons learned:<br><br>
- I need more experience racing at this distance. I lost focus a few times and wasn't as confident in my abilities as I should have been.<br><br>
- I started slower than I probably should have. These times are very close to the edge of my ability right now and if you give up 15 or 20 seconds with an easy start it is very hard to get those back.<br><br>
- I need to focus more on racing tactics, particularly with staying with groups. I tempo well on my own but you can pick out the miles I ran alone or outside of a pack just by looking at the numbers. Running in a pack is worth a few seconds a mile to me I think.<br><br>
- I ran a lot of tempo runs (30-40 minutes) in training at HM pace. This was a huge help and I felt very comfortable at that pace. Next time around I will mix in a number of shorter tempos (like 20 minutes) at goal pace -10 seconds or so. From mile 7 or so I could see a pack that I figured was the 1:15 group and I got within 30m or so a few times but was never able to find the gear to move up to them.<br><br>
Overall, I'm very happy with the results. I had a goal and a plan to get there and I was very happy to hit it. This race is a blast and I hope to be able to keep coming every year.
Weighing in here with a Philly Distance Run HM report. This is my second time running this race (and my second HM).<br><br>
Short story: 1:16:14, 131st overall, 14th AG<br><br>
I ran 1:25 here last September so this was a 9 minute PR. My goal this year was to run a hard race and hopefully get a 1:16-7 finish. I had a shot a 1:15, but made a few tactical mistakes that cost be a little bit.<br><br>
The weekend was fun - my daughter and I hooked up with fellow KR'er <b>Larry</b> and his wife & kids after the expo for a trip to the dinosaur museum. The kids had a blast.<br><br>
I told my wife at dinner on Saturday that I wasn't all that worried about the race and I was feeling confident. I then proceeded to run and rerun the race in my head all night and sleep very little. But if there is anything parenthood prepares you for it is performing on little sleep, so I don't think this hurt me too badly. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Smile"><br><br>
Sunday we had an early morning and I met up with <b>Larry and Solar/Lora (& sis)</b> prior to the race. Larry and I did a little warmup together and found a secret I'll have to remember - there are no-line porta-johns at Lloyd Hall and the rec center bathrooms were wide open. Nice!<br><br>
The start was a little crowded - not unexpected with 16K+ runners in the race.<br><br>
Miles 1-3 take you from the Art Museum down to Washington square. I it took out a little slow just to make sure all the parts were working. I wasn't happy with my split for mile 3 (which involved a lot of turns around city blocks) so I settled down and started working. 5k split was 18:17.<br><br>
Miles 4-6 take you back up to the Art Museum and through the start crowd again, and out onto the river. By this time the pack had thinned out considerably and when I wasn't careful about keeping touch with other runners I would end up alone. I joined up with a small group here - including a guy from the Army team who spent a mile waving his arms and pointing at his shirt trying to get people to cheer for him. The cheering was nice but the narcicism was a little over the top so I dumped him.<br><br>
I really focused these 3 miles on picking up runners who were faltering and sticking with those who were moving. 10k split was 36:10.<br><br>
Miles 7&8 were tough. I went through a water stop and must have lost focus - I came out and the small pack I was in was 10m ahead. I tried a few times to make up the gap, but never succeeded and ran mostly alone these 2.<br><br>
At the end of mile 8 you cross the Falls bridge and in my mind this is where the race to the finish really starts.<br><br>
Miles 9-11 I ran with one other guy. We were pushing each other and kept trading back and forth. Looking at the splits I'm a little surprised these weren't faster, but I was starting to feel fatigued here and my right hip flexor was getting tight. My mile 10 split was 58:15. I knew at that point I would need a 17:45 (5:42s) last 5k to get under 1:16 so I tried to start picking it up.<br><br>
I was able to pass a few people in the last 5k but didn't have enough juice left for 1:15. I ran run 17:58 for the last 5k (5:48, 5:51, 5:44 pace).<br><br>
The finish involved a hard turn and a short sprint, which I thought I wasn't going to like, but the energy of the crowd was so high that I didn't even notice.<br><br>
The finish area right after the line was just awesome. Philly is a great running town and there were a ton of guys in the chute that I have traded finishes with over time. There is this really awesome bubble in there, in amongst the shouting announcer and the bells ringing and the crowd yelling where you get a few minutes to walk around and check in with the people you ran with and look for the ones just behind you before you are outta there.<br><br>
My splits went as follows: 5:51, 5:50, 5:57, 5:43, 5:44, 5:49, 5:47, 5:48, 5:50, 5:50, 5:51, 5:48, 5:51, 5:44, 0:35<br><br>
Amazingly to me, this whole race went down at a faster pace (5:49) than my 2006 5k PR pace (5:52). Now that's a good year!<br><br>
Lessons learned:<br><br>
- I need more experience racing at this distance. I lost focus a few times and wasn't as confident in my abilities as I should have been.<br><br>
- I started slower than I probably should have. These times are very close to the edge of my ability right now and if you give up 15 or 20 seconds with an easy start it is very hard to get those back.<br><br>
- I need to focus more on racing tactics, particularly with staying with groups. I tempo well on my own but you can pick out the miles I ran alone or outside of a pack just by looking at the numbers. Running in a pack is worth a few seconds a mile to me I think.<br><br>
- I ran a lot of tempo runs (30-40 minutes) in training at HM pace. This was a huge help and I felt very comfortable at that pace. Next time around I will mix in a number of shorter tempos (like 20 minutes) at goal pace -10 seconds or so. From mile 7 or so I could see a pack that I figured was the 1:15 group and I got within 30m or so a few times but was never able to find the gear to move up to them.<br><br>
Overall, I'm very happy with the results. I had a goal and a plan to get there and I was very happy to hit it. This race is a blast and I hope to be able to keep coming every year.
