Running Fit Trail 1/2 Marathon
Yes, Pam, we had snow. Lots of it. I woke up to about 3 inches on the ground and hurricane force winds blowing the rest of it in. We had about 4-5 by the time the race was over. Remember all that winter training in -40F windchill, uphill, with timber wolves chasing me? Well, that all came into play today. Minus the wolves. Not quite so cold.
And all those folks that trained on the treadmill, while I was out running in the yucky snow, paid for it today. Ha! Ok, that’s not very sportsmanlike, but I am happy that all that running in the snow actually turned out to be worth it. And you know all those treadmill people were ahead of me anyway. :D
This race was done purely with chip timing and they sent us out in waves, which turned out to be actually just start when you feel you are ready. I started with the 9:30 group, which seemed about right based on the training runs.
I was pretty surprised just how crowded the trails were. We spent alot of slow times waiting for a place to pass. I think it wasn’t until mile 9 that I was finally alone on the trail. There were one or two folks around me, but not like the big slow line at the beginning. What was really frustrating was that everyone liked to slow on the downhills, and I like to go faster. It hurt to put on the brakes like that. Maybe that saved my energy for later though.
The woods were pretty full of snow and the branches were all slung low over the trail in parts. One area I ran bent over for about 50 feet before a clear spot opened up. Not so easy to do. Made me think of the ChiRunning class because this was a demo exercise to show you how much energy you waste running like that. I get it, I get it.
The aid stations were well manned (personed?) and they had them every 2-3 miles or so. I grabbed some water at the second one and gatorade at the next. Around mile 8 I had a power gel and washed it down with water at the 9 mile aid station. Lots of folks out cheering the runners! Yea!
Some good things: That “serious hill” that was such a big killer for me? Didn’t even notice I had gone up it until I came down the other side. I remember thinking that I needed to be careful not to burn it up on that little hill before I get to the big one. Ha! Burned right through that baby. Even the sand pit seemed smaller than I remember although it was still tough getting through the sand.
I tried to regain some strength on the flat areas by trying to relax my form again. The hills really hit my breathing hard. I walked only once on the trail, on a long hill near the end. I took about 10 steps walking once at the top to catch my breath. This was a big deal for me because the guy in front of me and I passed another big-time runner looking dude who was walking and kept telling us “Its a long hill you know.” and “Its about 1/2 mile, you’l want to stop.” We didn’t stop on the hill, he can keep on walking if he wants, and keep his stupid comments to himself.
I did walk through the aid stations too. Can’t run and drink to save my life, and the break there is always needed.
So here are my splits:
1 - 9:53
2 - 8:44
3 - 8:24
4, 5 - 19:27
6 - 10:08
7, 8 - 16:27
9 - 8:35
10 - 8:11
11, 12 - 19:41
13 - 8:45
.1 - 0:52
Unofficial time 1:59:13, which puts me 20 seconds faster than my 1/2 Marathon PR last October (uh, in Hell). It was too damn cold after the race to wait for the official times, so I’m hoping that I’m close. Usually, I’m within 10 seconds so I’m very hopeful on this one. Who’d a thunk it?
This race came out miles ahead of where I thought it was and I’m just delighted with the results. The trail was such a damn hard thing to do and I am in complete awe of the people who run all their races this way. They just amaze me.
Ok, now I’m ready for Detroit. :)
April 24th, 2005 14:15
Congratulations, Jon! The conditions don’t sound like they were that great, but you handled it like a champ. PR’ing in a trail race is awesome - you are ready for Detroit!
April 24th, 2005 15:21
congrats! Trail runnign sounds interesting…..
April 24th, 2005 15:36
Congrats Jon!!!! I’m glad to see that all the training in the snow really did pay off. Doesn’t make you feel good to know that “the hill” didn’t seem like much anymore?
April 24th, 2005 15:59
wow. Way to go Jon. I am soooo happy for you!! You deserved a great run this week, and it does show that all that training paid off. A PR on a trail. Wow:) Congratulations!
April 24th, 2005 16:24
lol, there you go again, doing awesome,, and I thought you were sore, tired and in agony.. what a tropper lol,, congrats
Heather
April 24th, 2005 16:43
HOLY SHIT!
Good job!
April 24th, 2005 16:44
Congratulations! That seems like such a long distance to me and running it on trails is just amazing. It’s snowing here and I’m dreading going outside long enough to get to my car! My hat goes off to you.
April 24th, 2005 17:13
Yay Jon! I always hate it when slower runners get in my way on downhills, too. USE the gravity, don’t fight it! I’m very impressed that your hills are getting smaller, and that you PR’d in a TRAIL race! Keep on truckin’, man.
April 24th, 2005 18:02
Wow - what a great race. you descibed it so well. I have never seen snow so running in it sounds awesome. Well done on the PB.
And thanks for you notes, they were really encouraging to me and made a big difference =)
April 24th, 2005 18:35
Congratulations! What a race! ~ How do you feel today?
April 24th, 2005 20:19
Great race, Jon! And great job on the “serious hill”…that’s when we know our training is really paying off. Way to kick bootie!!
April 24th, 2005 21:51
A PR in those conditions is insane! Chocolate Friday will be well-won this week.
April 25th, 2005 05:41
Great race, Jon! I can’t wait to get my two little ‘o’ marathons out of the way this year so I can start doing some trail runs! The way you and Chris talk I’m definitely missing something in my life!
April 25th, 2005 10:49
Groovy run! I like how they set up the start! That seems like a great idea.
April 25th, 2005 18:08
jon, that is so awesome. how cool to be running on trails, with snow and racing all at the same time!
April 26th, 2005 07:13
Awesome job! Very impressive. :) I hope you let yourself have a chocolate reward for that great race.
July 23rd, 2005 11:31
[...] he had run in just about all the same races I had, and was even wearing the shirt from the Trail Half Marathon. Not surprising I didn’t recognized him from the race though, [...]