Last week was a good training week. I had a good workout and a solid race at the Air Force Half Marathon for the conditions given. New Jersey was hot again last year, and it’s been hard to crave anything pumpkin when it’s also 90 degrees outside. That being said, you can’t control the weather and only adjust.
| Monday: | 6.5 miles easy with Alana (8:32 pace) |
| Tuesday: | Easy 60 minutes |
| Wednesday: | 3X1 mile with 1 mile jog in between (total miles 10) |
| Thursday: | Rest |
| Friday: | Easy 60 minutes |
| Saturday: | Air Force Half Marathon 13.1 (1:31.12) |
| Sunday: | Easy 60 minutes |
| Total: | 49.1 |
Thoughts:
My easy runs were easy, as usual. On Monday, I ran with a friend, Alana, who was in town. She has run under 3 hours in the marathon and is a bit faster than me. I didn’t charge my watch, but she said we ran 6.5 miles at 8:32 pace. It was faster than I would typically do an easy run alone, and I enjoyed catching up.
The rest of my runs were easy. Both Friday and Sunday were in central PA, which is far more hilly than NJ.
In case, you were curious, all of my hour runs to be 6.5 miles. (It might be 6.2 or maybe 7 depending on the day…but the minimal difference all evens out and doesn’t matter).
Wednesday: 3X1 mile averaging 6:20 pace (6:18, 6:20, 6:21). (2 miles warm up/cool down)
The weather on Wednesday was hot, and the humidity was 100%. With weather that hot, and humid, I wanted to stay local and close to water. I did mile repeats, with a mile jog around a nice loop.
Before the workout started, I had written it off that it would be “bad.” Once I actually got into it, the weather wasn’t too terrible, and I was able to do what I wanted.
Air Force Half Marathon 13.1 (1:31.12)
I had bigger goals for the race, and I had hoped to run faster than last years 1:27.28. However, immediately when running, I realized how hot and humid it was, and that time was not going to happen. I know I’m in better shape than 1:31, however, you must race for the day. When the feels like temp are in the high 80s, and the course has no shade, you have to be smart with how you run to make it to the finish line.
Anyway, I’ll have a longer recap, but the shorter recap is I ran around 7-minute pace for the first 10 miles. That is what felt good in the weather and on the course. Around mile 10, I decided to hammer down the last 3 miles and ran 6:50, 6:42, 6:36. The last half of the course is harder than the first, so I know my effort was there. I didn’t warm up or cool down because you walk about 1.5 miles to the actual race start and it’s hard to do a warmup on the base itself (there isn’t a heck of a lot of room…I also just didn’t feel like it).
Around 11-11:30, a black flag was drawn due to heat and weather and many people were bussed off the course, unable to finish because it was dangerous. (Black flags mean the weather is dangerous).
I will say a few things about the race itself, every single aid station had the flag marking (I distinctly remember when it went from yellow to red), and there was EMT or personnel at least every ¼ of a mile. There were plenty of aid stations as well as well. It was just a hot day on a course with no shade.
While I would have liked to be faster at the half, I am proud of how I ran in the weather. You can’t control weather and racing is about running smart. Whether it means racing in the conditions, pacing yourself appropriately, or whatever.
Posts from the Week:
Exploring Wells State Park (Sturbridge, MA)
Questions for you:
Have you ever raced in an extremely hot race?
What is your favorite half marathon ever?
