The Richmond Half Marathon

I left work early Friday to drive down to Henry and Liz’s place in Richmond, Virginia. I’d had Chipotle for lunch, as you do, and was settled in for the traffic I was sure to encounter, passing through Washington DC during Friday rush hour. Sure enough, it was terrible. Fortunately, Henry had picked up our bibs and race packets at the expo, so I didn’t need to worry about that.

I’ve often extolled the virtues of pad thai as an effective carb loading meal, so Henry gave it a go Friday night. The rice noodles are about the purest form of carbohydrate you can get (nothing complex or fibrous), and of course it tastes pretty good too. Liz had picked up donuts for Saturday morning, and inexplicably, also picked up a sheet cake, so we had a piece of that before going to bed Friday night. A short and quiet evening.

I didn’t sleep all that well Friday night – race jitters always seem to get me. But I was feeling pretty fresh Saturday morning when the alarm went off. I went downstairs, had a donut and some more cake, and got ready. Henry belongs to a club in downtown Richmond, a short walk from the starting line, so we took advantage of the private parking lot, lockers, and gym to warm up. It was in the low 40s, and it looked like it would stay in the 40s for the duration of the race. It was clear, with a slight breeze. Perfect running weather!

We made our way to the starting line without incident, and Henry managed to get through the porta-potty line before our wave started. Our goal was to beat last year’s time (1:55:52). We were about 40 feet behind the 1:50 pace group (there was no 1:55 pace group), and decided we’d try to keep them in sight for at least the first mile. Technically speaking, if we wanted to get 1:55 exactly, we would want to be 23 seconds behind the 1:50 group at the end of the first mile. There’s not much to do on long training runs if you’re not listening to music, so I’ve gotten really good at pace math; I can pick these numbers out easily. The rule of thumb is that 23 seconds per mile = 5 minutes per half marathon = 10 minutes per full marathon.

We were both feeling pretty good, so we actually managed to keep the 1:50 pace group in sight for about 4 miles. Henry mentioned that the pad thai was giving him wings. He kept pulling ahead too, but I was responsible for the pace, so I just kept it at around 8:35-8:40, which was ahead of our goal (8:46), but felt right.

Mile 1: 8:32
Mile 2: 8:42
Mile 3: 8:33
Mile 4: 8:34

At the end of mile 4, I ate my first gel. I think it was the key lime one. I was starting to feel the miles already, which wasn’t good, but a few minutes after taking the gel, I felt better. Henry ate one too. We lost a little time on mile 5 while we were trying to restore our energy.

The race enters Bryan Park at mile 5.5, which is the hilliest portion of the course – and it’s not that hilly. But it does start with a downhill with the faster runners exiting the park going back the same way (uphill for them). I told Henry that we’d crush the hill when we were coming out, because it looked like going back up the hill would be kind of tough. The park is kind of peaceful once you get in, and the path was covered in leaves. Unfortunately, my legs were starting to get pretty tired at this point. The course leaves the park at about 7.5, and I was struggling to maintain pace (and keep up with Henry, who had gotten about 30 feet ahead).

Mile 5: 8:58
Mile 6: 8:38
Mile 7: 8:31

After leaving the park, the course enters a really cool neighborhood, with people in their front lawns cheering, and even a group of hashers with beer cups. I… may have taken a beer cup. One of the DJs playing music started playing Love Shack by the B52s, an old favorite of mine and Henry’s, and that’s when I realized he had gotten so far ahead of me that I couldn’t see him any more. I was struggling pretty hard at this point. There’s a long straightaway from mile 9 to mile 11.3, and I gradually felt my goals of a new PR, and then beating last year’s time, slip away. My last remaining goal was to at least finish in under 2 hours.

Mile 8: 9:08
Mile 9: 8:49
Mile 10: 9:05
Mile 11: 9:52

In the past, I’ve been able to pick things up around the end of mile 11. With just 2 miles left in the race, sometimes I can find a little extra gas in the tank. But there was just nothing there. Fortunately, the course goes into a flying downhill in the last half mile.When I ran the Richmond Marathon two years ago, I kept having to yank my shorts up on this downhill. Fortunately, that wasn’t a problem this time. Crowds line both sides of the course, there’s music playing, and the downhill kind of makes you want to dance (as if you’re keeping yourself from falling over – it’s pretty steep). I do this kind of jazz hands thing to maintain balance:

Aliens.

Mile 12: 9:53
Mile 13: 9:42
0.17: 1:26

My official time was 1:58:24, which is still my 3rd best half marathon, but it didn’t feel like a top performance for me. Oddly, reviewing and typing in the mile splits in this post made me appreciate how fast I went for the whole race. I rarely run that fast for that long. Maybe if I did more often, I’d be able to sustain that pace for a full 13.1 miles. To put it in perspective, my average pace over the first 7 miles would have gotten me a PR (1:53:05) if I’d maintained it.

[Update 11/21/15: I forgot to mention Henry’s finish. He did very well, finishing strong and crushing last year’s time of 1:55:52 with 1:52:15!]

After the race, Henry and I went with his son Will to an adventure/obstacle course type place, where I climbed up a telephone pole, walked across a slack line, and generally got my upper body as worn out as my lower body. It was a full and fulfilling weekend. I’m going to sign up for next year’s Richmond Marathon this week, so I can run with Henry for his first full.

In three weeks, I have the Rehoboth Beach Marathon, and then in January, I’ll be visiting my brother in Baton Rouge to run the Louisiana Marathon. Busy times ahead!