Cd'A Half: When the Faster Guy takes 2nd

On 31 May, I have my A race for the year. I've been so busy with work, that it's been very difficult to peak for an early season race. Normally I have trouble peaking before August. It's a good thing I've had so many years of experimentation to determine how I best adapt to training and peaking. So, although some may consider racing a half marathon a week before my A race a bad idea, years of experience leads me to believe otherwise. At least it does for me. Now that it's out of the way, I have an easy week of recovery without work.

As for the race, I had a nice little surprise on my last day of work. Friday night, just before I headed out to my post, I checked the weekend roster, just for curiosity sake. Saturday and Sunday night were my nights off. It's never a good idea to assume I have my days off. Sometimes they don't tell us when we are given extra shifts. This was one of those times. I was scheduled for both days. Considering my reservations at the Coeur d'Alene Resort, dinner plans with Amanda and a preview of the Ironman bike course, there's no way I could still do any of this if I worked Saturday. I try to be a good sport when I have to work long hours or extra days, so they did me a favor and gave me Saturday night off. Sunday was going to be a long day, but I can suffer through it without a race to follow.

After sleeping until 2 PM, I was up early to get on our way. We stopped in Spokane for a small family get together, then headed to get our race packets, have dinner and enjoy a relaxing evening. In fact, the only workout I did that day was a 2-mile run. That's the least I've worked out this year. The short workout was more about spending some quality time relaxing than preparing for a race. My legs were pretty tired from a couple key workouts, but I still considered shooting for a sub 1:15:00. I know I'm capable of it, but the effort rarely fits into my plan. Going in tired makes it a tough goal to achieve. With over 1,000 people racing the half, there was certain to be plenty of competition for me.

Race morning came too quickly, but I stayed in bed until shortly before we had to leave. Amanda was doing the full, so I wasn't going to miss my start a half hour later. It was fun to be able to take care of her right up to the start and watch her on the very spectator friendly first mile, seeing her three times. I wasn't fired up, so I wasn't getting much done. When I arrived at the porta potty line, they called out "five minutes to the start." Well, considering my definite need to get the lead out, if you know what I mean; this, on a scale of good to bad, was bad. Leaving the line was tough, but I did and worked my way right to the starting line.

After a good clean start, I settled into my pace, which had me running in 4th. Like in Vegas, where I was certain to go sub 1:15:00 if I didn't get sent onto the marathon course, I locked onto a 5:43 GPS pace. The race was in the top 2 with a good gap to third and a gap to me in 4th. We quickly separated from the field. My GI issues were bothering me a bit, but I resisted every urge to stop at a porta potty. Third place came back to me around four to five miles, but I had no ilusions of moving up past that. I was slowing a touch from the hills, turns and wind, but doing pretty well with an average pace that would stay below 5:47 for the entire race. At the turn, I was almost 1:30 out of the lead. In my mind, that's to say winning is out of the question. Mile markers were off by about a tenth, which came in the first mile, then stayed constant. The 10K point was a lot closer to 6.7 miles, so the splits are mostly useful in determining gaps and place.

On the way back, I did the only thing I could do, which was to keep the pace up and skip every porta potty. It was a bit tough, but I made it to ten before I started to have trouble holding it in. If you've ever encountered that, you know just how fun it can be. On the other hand, 2nd place was catching first and I was catching 2nd. The gap was about :15 and I was another :30 behind. I really didn't think I'd be able to catch them, but my goal was about time, not place. On the other hand, reeling them in encouraged me to keep pushing. Running 5:43 really isn't that hard for me, but as a training race with GI problems, it isn't easy either. As we came into the finish area, I was about :20 back of the lead as 2nd place just about took over 1st. The leader hit the wall and faded badly, losing a few minutes in a mile to finish 4th! Second place was running strong, but Brian Hadley was out there riding along. I was content to finish second, but he rode up along side me and said "you've got this." I'm not sure what made him so confident. He said it in a calm and quiet voice like it was a matter of fact. On the other hand, I had been running at 5:32 pace for a couple miles and wasn't feeling as good as he was. He said that with about .4 miles and :10 to the leader. Not wanting to look weak for something that was apparently such a given, at least to him, I cranked it up to 5:08 pace for the final quarter and actually won by :04. Thanks Brian!

My time was 1:15:54, but the course was .1M long. That would have put me at 1:15:19 (5:44.74/mile). That's :10 shy of my PR, but still well short of what I'm capable of. The odd thing about this race was that I won when I wasn't the fastest guy. Evan Sims would have beat me soundly, but he was too aggressive in the start. His first mile put a gap of about :20 on the field. He extended it to around 1:30 before his efforts started catching up to him. I stick to what I know I can do, despite what the rest of the world does and how easy it feels. The race almost always sorts itself out. Racing smarter and harder is the only way to go. Next time we race, I expect he'll prove that I'm right about him being faster. In addition to Sims, Michael Bresson was there running with his wife. He would have beat me easily if he wanted to. On a side note, it was great to see Jay and Michelle. They're about as nice as people get. Michelle helped me out by holding my things for me as I made my emergency trip to the porta potty. Amanda finished a short while later and I got to see her come into the finish area and then around the mile loop. Now it's time to rest up and get ready for the big one. No pressure.