2004 SF 1/2 Marathon
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| Some images from the race (click to enlarge) | |||
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| Kim near finish | Morgan @ mile 5 | Morgan near finish | Morgan near finish |
Jesse Lomask also ran the half marathon (Bill Curry and others did the 5K). Jesse and I started together, but he darted ahead in the first half mile. I saw him again as the course doubles back on itself on Great Highway. Jesse ran a blistering 7:30 pace to finish in 1h38m. I didn't catch him, but ran a respectable (for me) 1h45m (8:00 pace). Kim ran the sanest race, keeping to her prior plan and running an excellent 1h53m, for an 8:40 pace.
Looking back, I feel that I caved into the temptation to race, even though I wanted to stay disciplined and treat the race as a dry run for the marathon. Lots of people with inefficient paces passed me on the downslopes before mile 6. I stayed disciplined and ran an 8:30 pace. However, as the course hits the flats on Great Highway, the pack really slowed down, and I couldn't resist passing people. I made up a lot of time in the last 7 miles, and was running at a brisk clip (say, 7:30) by the end. This is not a viable marathon strategy, and I need to remember that going forward. Although I feel good now, I could not have sustained that pace for more than another few miles. Still, I did learn that an 8:30 pace is likely sustainable indefinitely, so if I can hold it in the marathon, I should be OK.
The start was crowded. I was dismayed when my first mile registered at a whopping 11 minutes. Since my plan was to run 8:50 for the first 5, I felt at a disadvantage. I quickly reset my strategy to the actual conditions. Plan B was to close the gap -- AT A REASONABLE PACE -- between my time and a 9 minute pace, since it was easier to calculate the time at each mile for a 9 minute pace, than an 8:50. I had the advantage of some downhill portions where I opened up my stride to accept the slope. It was 8 miles before I was in 8:50 range. At that point a lot of my compatriots were dropping back so it was easier to get into my zone. I felt comfortable and found myself trying to talk myself into taking it at a reasonable pace. It became easier and easier to pass people, and I tried to balance the temptation to keep passing with the strategy to run a marathon pace and see what that felt like. I selected people who I thought had good form and pace and tried not to pass them too eagerly. That seemed to work. At mile 10, I thought, OK, this is our usual backyard run starting now. That kept me from sprinting, which was I think a very good idea because that last 3 miles was not an easy 3. But I did go ahead and try to put some juice into in. At the 12 mile marker, I said, OK, it's now or never. Cruelly, ther was a slight incline up to the finish. I felt good, actually, but people who I had been keeping pace with suddenly disappeared behind me. The actual .2 miles to the finish was a nice downhill patch and I felt very victorious sailing into the chute. It wasn't the race that I thought I would run, but I felt like I accommodated my goals without sacrificing too much. I believe my final race pace was 8:40 or so. A little on the fast side. I mean, after all, we've got a lot of training to do before the marathon in one month!
I think I have a good idea of an 8:50 pace, and I think that aiming for that would be ambitious, but doable. A 9 minute pace is definitely within reach. So I'll see how the training goes and take it from there. Lesson learned: adjust your expectations to the actual race conditions, good and bad.
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Department of Geophysics Stanford University |
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