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Austin 3M Half Marathon

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Location:

Kingsbury,TX,USA

Member Since:

Jan 10, 2011

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

 

Some day I will not be able to do this...today is not that day!

Started Running (6/1/10) @ 50 Yrs Old

  • 5K:
    • 22:26 (7:14 pace) McAllister Park 8/14/10
    • 22:24 San Marcos (7:13 pace) 10/19/10
    • 21:09 San Marcos (6:49 pace) 11/20/10
    • 20:19 San Marcos-Faith Run (6:33 pace) 5/26/12
    • 20:06 Fentress (6:26 pace) 10/20/12
    • *19:21 Gruene (6:20 pace) 11/22/12 (*Short Course)
    • 19:42 San Marcos-Faith Run (6:21 pace) 5/25/13
    • 19:42 San Marcos-Faith Run (6:21 pace) 5/24/14 (Not a Typo, exactly same time as last year)
    • 21:38 New Braunfels Orange Leaf (6:58 pace) 7/19/14
    • 19:33 Gruene Turkey Trot (6:18 pace) 11/27/14
    • 19:43 Kyle-For the Love of Go (6:27 pace) 2/14/15
  • 5 Miles:

    • 34:03 (6:48 pace) Hillsboro, Ill 7/4/11
  • 10Ks:
    • 43:24 (7:00 pace) Gatesville, Tx 6/4/11
  • Half Marathons:
    • 1:42:16 (7:48 pace) Austin Livestrong  2/20/11
    • 1:36:23 (7:21 pace) Moe's Better Half  3/6/11
    • 1:35:55 (7:19 pace) Chosen Half Marathon for Adoption 10/29/11
    • 1:30:10 (6:53 pace) Austin 3M 1/2/12
    • 1:43:13 (7:54 pace) Orange Leaf  7/14/12
    • 1:33:44 (7:08 pace) Chosen Half Marathon for Adoption 10/27/12
    • 1:32:23 (7:03 pace) Austin 3M 1/13/13
    • 1:35:16 (7:16 pace) Marathon for Adoption 10/26/13 (Ran off-course .3 miles)
    • 1:36:48 (7:23 pace) SA Rock-N-Roll 11/17/13
    • 1:37:06 (7:25 pace) Chosen Half Marathon for Adoption 10/25/14
    • 2:00:28 (9:11 pace) Long Beach Half Marathon (Paced Callie) 10/11/15
    • 1:39:29 (7:35 pace) Marathon for Adoption 11/21/15
    • 1:34:06 (7:11 pace) Marathon for Adoption 11/19/16
    • 1:37:43 (7:37 pace) Marathon for Adoption 11/18/17
    • 1:36:30 (7:22 pace) Marathon for Adoption 11/17/18
    • 1:45:10 (8:01 Paced Callie) Surf City Half Marathon 2/2/20
  • Marathons:
    • 3:38:09 (8:19 pace) Oklahoma City Marathon 5/1/11
    • 3:30:16 (8:01 pace) Ft. Worth Cowtown 2/26/12
    • 3:30:53 (8:03 pace) Oklahoma City Marathon 4/29/12 
    • 0:00:00 (DNF) Ft Worth Cowtown Marathon 2/24/13 (Ran off-course)
    • 3:22:56 (7:44 pace) Temple Army Marathon BQ 4/21/13
    • 3:27:24 (7:55 pace) Boston Marathon BQ  4/21/14 
    • 3:18:40 (7:35 pace) CIM Marathon BQ 12/7/14
    • 3:33:07 (8:08 pace) San Antonio R&R Marathon BQ 12/7/16
    • 3:25:32 (7:51pace) The Woodlands Marathon BQ 3/3/18
    • 3:26:17 (7:52 pace) The Woodlands Marathon BQ 3/2/19
  • Triathlons:
  • (1:12:23) Martindale (Sprint) Tri For Old Glory 7/1/12
  • Ragnar Relay:
  • (28:24:24) SoCal Ragnar 4/6-7/18 

Short-Term Running Goals:

  • Running Boston Marathon with Callie 2020 ...!!!
  • Break 19:00 in the 5K
  • Break 1:28 in Half Marathon
  • Hit 3:16:00 in the Marathon

Upcoming Races: 

  • Boston with Callie...!!! (my daughter)

Long-Term Running Goals:

  • Win 1st in the World Series Team Roping Finals Dec. 2020
  • Run Boston with Callie, My Daughter
  • Run Sub-18:00 5K (Ouch)
  • Run Sub- 3:10 Marathon  Run 3:16 Marathon
  • Compete in a Full Iron Man (Not sure since my two major bike accidents)

Personal:

Married, two kids  Kirby (Baylor University, Married not a a Runner), Callie  (TCU University, Married and Runner).

My main sport is Team Roping, I've been doing that all my life. 

I started running in the spring of 2010.

I Just Run               

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Brooks Racer ST 5 (Race Shoes) Lifetime Miles: 146.57
Saucony Kinvara 2 (Race Shoes) Lifetime Miles: 430.23
Swim Time Lifetime Miles: 26.00
Trek (Road Bike) Lifetime Miles: 989.00
Altra-Instinct-Blue Lifetime Miles: 551.67
Altra Instinct Black Lifetime Miles: 520.10
Altra Paradigm Black Second Pair Lifetime Miles: 7.00
Saucony Kinvara 2 Green (Race Shoes) Lifetime Miles: 145.70
Race: Austin 3M Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:32:23, Place overall: 261, Place in age division: 18
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.0013.100.000.0013.10

Sometimes you just feel human!

Ha ha…I’m having a hard time writing this Race Report. I can’t decide if I’m happy or disappointed about the results. A month ago I really thought I would be able to run around a 6:45 pace. My training was going well and I was feeling really strong but then my knee started giving me trouble. When that happened I had to scale back on my training and my confidence started to fade.

Even so, I went into this race with the intention of running a PR and started out on a pace to set myself up for that. (More details on that later in the report.)

The morning of the race was cold and windy but luckily dry. It was about 35 degrees with wind gust between 15-20 miles per hour. With my Reynolds Syndrome I am always afraid of getting too cold but I quickly realized I overdressed. I wore all of my heavy Underarmor, heavy beanie another shirt and shorts and two pair of gloves. I was sweating after only a couple of miles and halfway through the race I felt like I was completely soaked with sweat.

Here’s how the race played out:

Mile 1: I started out the race near the 1:30 pace group. As the gun went off I kept pace with the crowd feeling pretty good. The entire crowd seemed to move in unison with very little jockeying for position. As I ran along in this first mile I was trying to just relax and breathe. I was feeling good in this mile and somewhat confident I could keep up a good pace. The first mile came in exactly where I wanted at 6:51.

Mile 2: Was even a little better at 6:45. I didn’t mean to run that fast on the second mile but I was happy to see the time.

Mile 3: Came in at a smooth 6:46 and I was feeling good.

Mile 4 & 5: I slowed slightly on these miles to 6:52 and 6:53 but felt like I was right where I wanted to be at this point in the race.

Mile 6: I dropped to a 7:03 but I wasn’t alarmed since I had stopped and gotten a good drink of Gatorade (this probably took 10 seconds). My plan was to stop and walk a couple of times in the race to make sure I refueled properly. (This seems to work best for me instead of trying to run and drink at the same time.)

Mile 7: I was back on pace at 6:53 and now feeling like I might really be able to pull off a PR.

Mile 8: For some reason I started to fade in the second half of this mile. I remember feeling very disappointed when I saw my Garmin flash 7:11 at the end of the mile.

Mile 9: Going into mile 9 I started to get a little concerned as suddenly I was feeling very tired and fatigued. I decided to slow to a walk, eat a Gu and drink some Gatorade in hopes this would revive me and give me a boost to finish the race. After doing this I just couldn’t seem to get my legs moving and the mile came in at 7:25. Oh no, I’m in trouble!

Mile 10: I tried to push but just didn’t seem to be gaining any time. The mile came in at 7:06 L

Mile 11: This is the mile when my heart really dropped. The pesky 1:30 pacers came running past me chanting something like “longer than 1:30 is way too slow”. Ahhhh I’m beginning to hate pacers! I think I gave up on this mile and my 7:24 time reflected that. I’ve never had so many runners pass me as did in this mile.

Mile 12 & 13: I just cruised along feeling sorry for myself and watching more runners pass me by. Ran a 7:09 and a 7:08

Last .1: At this point I got sick and tired of being passed so I kicked in another gear and pushed to the end. I passed about 7-8 runners before I crossed the finish line. Time for the .01 (Garmin read .15) was 0:56.

Official Time: 1:32:23

Age Group: 18th / 215

Overall: 261 / 5025       

Little Details:

My knee didn’t really bother me at all during the race. I took several Ibuprofen the night before and then again before the race. After the race and gradually throughout the day my knee began to hurt more and more. Today it is finally getting better. I believe by tomorrow it will feel good enough to run but this is the cycle I’ve been going through for a while. I am starting to worry that I may fall too far behind in my training for the Ft Worth Marathon in six weeks.

More Information:

Below is a chart showing my six half marathon races. One thing I noticed is that my overall HR was lower in this race than any of the others. As I look back at the details of the race I see that my HR actually started dropping after mile 5. So what does this mean? Maybe I just wasn’t putting out enough effort? In all my other races my HR continued to climb throughout my race to the end. Also, this was the first half marathon that I did not run a negative split on the second half of the race.

Date

Race

Pace

HR

2/20/2011

Livestrong Half Marathon - Austin

7:48:24

165

3/6/2011

Moe's Better Half Marathon - San Marcos

7:20:57

164

10/29/2011

Marathon for Adoption - Gruene, TX

7:19:19

166

1/29/2012

Austin 3M Half Marathon

6:52:36

165

10/28/2011

Marathon for Adoption - Gruene, TX

7:08:33

165

1/13/2013

Austin 3M Half Marathon

7:03:08

161

  Here is my full spreadsheet with splits and HR:

Austin 3M Half Marathon

1/13/2013

Mile

Time

HR

HR %

 

1

6:51:00

148

78%

 

2

6:45:00

159

85%

 

3

6:46:00

164

89%

 

4

6:52:00

164

89%

 

5

6:53:00

164

89%

 

6

7:03:00

162

87%

 

7

6:54:00

161

87%

 

8

7:11:00

162

87%

 

9

7:25:00

161

87%

 

10

7:06:00

159

85%

 

11

7:24:00

159

85%

 

12

7:09:00

163

88%

 

13

7:08:00

164

89%

 

0.1

0:56:00

173

95%

 

Total

92:23:00

161

86%

 

Pace

7:03:08

 

 

 

35Âş - 15-20 mph wind

263 out of 5025 runners

 

 

 

18th out of 215 in my age group

 

 

Final Thoughts:

Lastly, as I look at all my half marathon times (including this one), I realize that I should be able to run below 3:20:00 in a full marathon with ease and probably closer to a 3:10:00 with the right training and execution. I should be and am grateful God has given me the health and ability to run and accomplish these goals!

Psalm 150:1-6

   Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy house of worship,
    praise him under the open skies;
Praise him for his acts of power,
    praise him for his magnificent greatness;
Praise with a blast on the trumpet,
    praise by strumming soft strings;
Praise him with castanets and dance,
    praise him with banjo and flute;
Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,
    praise him with fiddles and mandolin.
Let every living, breathing creature praise God!
    Hallelujah!

Brooks Racer ST 5 (Race Shoes) Miles: 13.10
Comments
From flatlander on Tue, Jan 15, 2013 at 14:21:41 from 198.207.244.102

Congratulations, that is a very fast time. Hard to believe a time like that is good for only 18th, I wouldn't think there are that many guys in the state that can run that fast at 50+ -- that must be a loaded field out there. For what it's worth, my heart rate has been dropping as well late in the race. I think it is a glycogen thing, I am not well enough conditioned. But I'm not sure how to fix it, other than going back to slow running (which I know you don't want to hear). When I run a good race my heart rate climbs all the way to the finish line.

From SlowJoe on Tue, Jan 15, 2013 at 14:24:24 from 155.219.241.10

So, even with the setbacks and tricky conditions, you were able to run a pretty good race - congrats. I know that helpless feeling at the end, but once you are at 100%, you'll be the one whizzing by everyone else. Get a good recovery and you'll be golden at Cowtown. Nice race!

From Rye on Tue, Jan 15, 2013 at 15:41:36 from 75.174.55.191

Loved the report Preston! Glad the knee held up ok. Training and execution..... A great combo...when you figure that one out let me know:)

From DLTheo on Tue, Jan 15, 2013 at 15:44:35 from 155.130.107.41

ibuprofen may have been the culprit. Taking a lot of it before and during a race can have some negative effects on runners, including increased inflammation, impaired kidney function and other things. I doubt it is the whole explanation, but it may have contributed.

Given the knee problems you've experienced the last couple weeks, it looks like this was a victory. Deep down in your heart you know you're faster than everyone of those 1:30 pace groupies!

From JG on Tue, Jan 15, 2013 at 18:50:23 from 174.49.78.66

6:50 is a fast pace to maintain, long distance. Think how wasy Cowttown will be .... 13 miles @ 8 to get warmed up & then progressively faster by a few seconds to the finish.

Nice job, take care of that knee.

From Tom K on Tue, Jan 15, 2013 at 20:59:48 from 108.9.33.153

Great Race! Great Report! 6 weeks is plenty of time toget ready. It sounds like you have the mental aspect of your prep work taken care of. You sound very motivated. Great Job!

From I Just Run on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 08:33:49 from 67.79.11.242

Flat,

I do think a lot of "fast" people run the 3M. I've heard a lot run it to improve their PR. There is about 300' drop on the course but still there are some nice hills. This race had 222/5025 run under 1:30, Houston had 165/10117 run under 1:30. With my time I would have been 6th at Houston.

Joe,

Yeah I guess "pretty good" must not "feeling" pretty good about it. Now I just need to get over this knee issue and back to running.

Rye,

Thanks, I'm going to figure it out :-)

DL,

Thanks for the insight on vitamin-I. I read up on what you said and am now swearing myself off of it! I do think it could have been part of the problem.

JG,

It's funny how 6:50 was impossilbe a couple of years ago and now it's pretty easy :-) Hope I'm saying 5:50 is easy in another couple of years :-) I just hope I don't run out of time to build back up before Ft Worth.

Tom,

Thanks, I'm still hoping for a "good" marathon but I would not call it "motivated"...I would call it "aggrivated"! :-)

From JG on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 09:50:55 from 174.49.78.66

Ahhh yes ... The magical 5:50 number! Well it is actually 5:47 for that sub 18 5k. I would predict we are a year off from that pace & it would definitely have to include some specific 5k training. Perhaps we should create a friendly wager to see who runs a sub 18 5k first? Anyone is welcome, although we may exclude Slow Joe from the official results. :)

From derhammer on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 09:58:35 from 64.245.52.2

Nice job, IJR. I wouldn't be too discouraged. This course is easily a minute or two slower than last year's. Considering the hills at the end your paces are very respectable. You could have been over heating a bit, too.

I have found doubling your half time and adding 10 minutes is a pretty accurate indicator for the marathon.

From SlowJoe on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 10:13:30 from 155.219.241.10

IJR - interesting stat about the # of 1:30 finishers - they should advertise that on the 3M webpage!

JG - don't worry about me hitting sub-18, ain't happening anytime soon!

From I Just Run on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 13:41:38 from 67.79.11.242

JG,

Ha ha...sub 18, I'm probably just kidding myself on that one but I would be interested in some intense 5K training come late spring and summer. The last two summers I backed off running and basiclly just biked for 2-3 months becaues of the heat. With the shorter 5K training distances I might be able to endure the heat. Let's talk about this in April or May...?

DH,

Thanks for continuing to remind me that based on all my other race distances I should easily be able to qualify for Boston at 3:30. That's why I posted "Aggrivated" in response to Tom's comment.

Joe,

I agree. I heard there were more sub 1:30's this year than any other. How about a summer 5K training session to see how fast we can all get?

From flatlander on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 13:54:23 from 198.207.244.102

JG, IJR, SJ and DH -- 5K smackdown time. I will be at the finish line yelling out times.

From SlowJoe on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 13:58:52 from 155.219.241.10

Can I put down $20 on DH?

From I Just Run on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 14:02:57 from 67.79.11.242

Joe,

Age graded?

From derhammer on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 14:11:16 from 64.245.52.2

Having come 5 seconds away from breaking 18:00 (only because of a hard slowdown at a u-turn at the half way point!), I can say we can all do it. That last mile all comes down to will, IMO. There is no other way that I could have thrown down a 5:35 last mile without the willingness to suffer - and suffer a lot! One great thing about the 5k it is all over very quickly.

The shorter the race the less heat will affect you. However, even in a 5k it will make a difference - could be 5 seconds, could be 20 - but there will probably will be a negative effect.

From flatlander on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 14:11:32 from 198.207.244.102

Nope. Straight up. You don't need it, Preston. I, on the other hand, might bring a wheelchair.

From I Just Run on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 15:20:48 from 67.79.11.242

I think I'm way out of my league talking about 18 minute 5K but I would be up for the challange to do the best I could do :-)

From JG on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 15:26:02 from 174.49.78.66

Have you forgotten Preston ... There are NO Impossible Goals.

From I Just Run on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 15:31:03 from 67.79.11.242

I love that quote but you have to add the last part ...with God!

From JG on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 15:38:50 from 174.49.78.66

Absolutely ... But not asking you to walk on water ... Just bust a nut for 18 minutes. :)

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