Grete's Half Marathon Plus Seven

I finally took the plunge and signed up for the Philadelphia Marathon on November 23rd. I've been using a training program for the last two and a half months and have been feeling pretty good so far. This weekend was the first 20 miler on the schedule (and my first one since training for NYC in 2006) and I was ready to give it a try. The Grete's Half Marathon was this weekend, so I decided to add another 7 miles (approx.) to it for a total of 20 miles. I originally planned to run a 9:00-9:10 pace for the entire run, but as I thought more about it, I realized that this would be a good opportunity for me to try running at a "marathon" pace. The more runs I do at my goal pace, the easier it will be to do during the marathon. Therefore, I had a goal pace of 8:45-8:50 for the half marathon portion, and a little slower for the 6.7 miles prior to the race. No reason to tire myself out. If this went well, then I felt that this could be a good race strategy for the marathon.

Today showed me what could happen when there is a combination of great weather and a consistent, controlled pace (finally). The weather was in the low-mid 50's which is what I like and there was a slight drizzle, but nothing heavy. As for the entire 20 mile run, I felt as good as I could have hoped for. My pace for the half marathon was very consistent and I was able to hit the same mile pace (within 10-15 seconds) for nearly the entire race. Other than my hips and ankles, which got sore by the end of the run, I felt really good and made sure to make a mental note of what this felt like. So if I start to struggle a bit in the coming weeks as the mileage increases, I want to be able to think back and remember that it is possible to feel strong on a 20 mile run.

My run before the half consisted of starting at the 72nd street transverse, running north to Engineer's Gate, then running 3 loops of the reservoir, and then running back to the start of the race on 70th street. I was able to go out at a 8:55-9:00 pace and it felt good and I stayed calm and relaxed throughout. It allowed me to loosen up well and remain only a little bit above my overall goal pace. I timed it perfectly so that I could just continue into the start of the race without any stopping. As for the half marathon, I started out at a 9:03 pace for the first mile and it turned out to be a good idea, forcing me not to go out fast. After weaving around some people traffic for the next mile, I tried to settle into my goal pace which I was able to do around mile 4. I made sure to stay relaxed and try and keep up the 8:50 as long as possible. I was in a good groove for the rest of the race and kind of had the "autopilot" feeling that I had at the Queens Half last year. While I was starting to get sore by the last few miles, I was able to pick up the pace a bit for miles 12 and 13. Although I was happy for the race to be over, I did not feel "spent" or exhausted.

I will continue to practice my race pace on upcoming runs, and try and hone the strategy that I used today since it seemed to work well. I also need to remember to ease into a race (which happened today) and gradually pick up the pace. It will come. Next up on the schedule is the Staten Island Half Marathon. Not sure yet if I will race it or not.

Below are the splits from today:

Prior to Half Marathon:
-About 6.7 miles: 58:16 total time

Grete's Half Marathon:
Mile 1 - 9:03
Mile 2 - 8:49
Mile 3 - 8:39
Mile 4 - 8:51
Mile 5 - 8:46
Mile 6 - 8:49
Mile 7 - 8:41
Mile 8 - 8:54
Mile 9 - 8:57
Mile 10 - 9:08
Mile 11 - 8:35
Mile 12 - 8:36
Last 1.1 miles - 9:10 (mile pace of 8:20)

Overall time for the half: 1:55:02; pace of 8:46
Approximate pace for 19.8 mile run - 8:45-8:46 (total time of 2:53:18)