BDR Safety Harbor Half Marathon Race Report
What a race. I was excited to come back and recapture it in words, but I can't really do it justice. I wanted to break James O's course record today (1:13:48), and expected to be close, but didn't quite expect to have this effort in me.
Race prep: Have done high mileage pretty consistent (for me) and stuck to 5k specific/short rest workouts mostly. Very short taper this week, really starting on Thursday. The weather was in the 70s, windy, and sunny- which isn't ideal, but we'll take it here in Florida.
The race: I was expecting it to be just James and myself today, but a guy from England (Stuart) decided to crash the party to race on vacation. I was feeling good at the start watching my training partner dominate the 10k earlier in the morning, so I took out the race quite fast just to see if someone would call my bluff- I'd never run anything under 5:40 pace of this length. This guy Stuart called my bluff quite decidedly and took us out even faster. We were at 10:55 after two miles. Then we ran a 5:21 mile for mile three. Ouch.
I was tentative taking the lead back from him as we hit the hills at mile 4, but he had slowed (5:42 pace) and cadence, so I casually took it expecting to not hold it for long- he seemed very strong. I then dropped it back down once we crested the hill in mile five- 5:31 pace to try and establish control. From there on out, I was dictating and just tried to focus manage my breathing, cadence, and effort- especially on the hilly sections. Honestly, the mile I was most worried about was mile 11, which contains the last of a sucky set of hills in the neighborhood. Fortunately, right after that mile is where the 180-degree turnaround comes for the final 1.75-mile stretch, so I'd be able to gauge the distance from the field. My lead had grown to about 35 seconds and was growing- Stuart was slightly long striding and noticeably winded. I'm sure I looked like a real gem myself. From there I just pushed. Negatively, I noticeably let my breathing continue to slip a bit and fall off with its consistency, which was a mistake that I need to fix. I suppose I just get excited getting to that finish line, so I guess it's hard to beat myself up about that.
The finishing bend came- which is an ideal 150 meter stretch for racing. I was surprised I didn't have a finishing kick in me at the end because of all the work I've been doing at it, but I guess it's different than two weeks ago when no one is hanging on your shoulder. I crossed the line, broke the tape, and took the record! Even if the record stands for only a year, it's something I have never done. Course record. Very cool. And the PR is nice.
Me- 1:12:33, Stuart- 1:14:24, James- 1:14:46
Splits- 5:28, 5:26, 5:21, 5:43, 5:31, 5:27, 5:38, 5:34, 5:29, 5:35, 5:36, 5:39, 5:36, Finish- ~0:30
5:32 average mile, 17:11 5k pace.
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