Race Report: Flying Pig

Stats/Goals
Distance: Half Marathon (13.1 miles)
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Current PR: 1:38:26, (11/28/2014,Thanksgiving Half Marathon, Atlanta GA)
90% Goal: 1:40;00
50% Goal: 1:35:00
10% Goal: 1:32:30 (BQ Pace @ Half Distance)

Result: 1:31:34 (http://pig.onlineraceresults.com/individual.php?bib=14776)
GPS: (https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1719858979)
Mile Splits: (5/4/2014 Relative in parenthesis, last run of Flying Pig)
7:09 (7:48) -0:39
7:00 (7:19) -0:19
6:59 (7:40) -0:41
7:03 (7:34) -0:30
6:58 (7:44) -0:46
6:47 (7:18) -0:31
7:15 (7:59) -0:44
7:11 (8:00) -0:49
6:57 (7:39) -0:42
7:10 (7:49) -0:39
6:22 (7:19) -0:57
6:45 (7:01) -0:16
6:33 (7:30) -0:57

Summary
I really wasn't sure to expect from myself at the Pig this year.  I hadn't really raced a Half Marathon since November 2015 (Savannah R&R) which was rough and my training has been really hit-or-miss since last summer due to various injuries/illnesses but the past two months have gone really well.  Fortunately, decent preparation combined with absolutely perfect weather to yield a huge PR.

Training
I haven't updated this blog since Peachtree of last year.  The biggest reason being that I pulled my hamstring two days afterwards and have rotated sickness and injury ever since.  It was a nice parade of hamstring, calf, ankle issues along with a stomach bug or two plus bronchitis (probably from daycare).

I had a bright spot in September/October where I did the Cartersville and Chicago 5k.  Cartersville was a cross-country race, so I used it as a tuneup for Chicago, but ended up running 20:58, which was a nice confidence booster.  I ran well at Chicago, but ran out of gas at the end and later realized I was in the early stages of bronchitis (20:13, 18s off PR).

All in all, #yearofthe5k was a success.  I hit my biggest goal of breaking 20 in the 5k and crushed my 10k PR at Peachtree.

January this year saw me shaking off some lingering injuries.  I had some calf tendinitis that took 6 weeks of consistent PT exercises to clear up.  That lead me into the spring training programs a little unprepared (since they start a little more intense due to the compressed schedule of Publix).  I ended up dropping back in pace a bit, which was probably the best thing I could have done.

I was determined to make March/April my injury-and-sickness-free months.  A stomach bug in March put the kibosh on that idea, but I only missed out on 5 days or so of training.  Otherwise, I was still able to get in a speedwork day on most weeks and was able to peak out at 14 miles three weeks ahead of Flying Pig.

Race Weekend
We drove up on Thursday so we could take the whole weekend at a relatively easy pace.  The family had races Friday night, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon while mine was a 0630 start on Sunday.  I love that Flying Pig starts early, but it's still a rough wakeup.  Temperatures were supposed to be chilly (low-40s overnight lows) but lower humidity made it feel a lot warmer than 40s in Atlanta.

Shortly after arriving, I quickly realized I hadn't packed any running socks.  Bad for the oversight in packing, but good for laying out my outfit on the first night to verify.  Unfortunately, no one at the expo carried my brand, so we made a quick trip out to REI.

Bouncing my race-day choice of attire off Angelina, she was skeptical about my lack of sleeves (I usually dress a layer or so warmer than her).  I had an Under Armor, but didn't want to overheat, so she broke out the pair of arm warmers she wore at Chicago last fall.

I also made the call to leave my handheld in the room.  This is the second time I've attempted a half without a handheld.  The first was awfully hot Savannah.  Regardless, I've never run what I'd call a successful half without my handheld.

"Nothing new on race day" checklist for those following along at home:

• First time wearing the pair of socks I just bought
• First time ever wearing arm warmers of any variety
• Second time ever running a half without carrying hydration (had 3 GUs though)

Pre-Race
Staying at a downtown loft made race-day travel so much easier.  In the past, I've gotten up at 0400 for Peachtree for a 0700 start.  I was able to sleep in (lol) until 0445!  This gave me plenty of time to eat a Clif bar, get dressed, forget the bottle of water I was going to carry (doh), and get in the corral by 0600.

The water wasn't a major concern.  Just wanted something to sip and possibly something to wash down a pre-race GU if I had wanted it (I didn't).

Last time we did the Pig, it took a while to figure out the start locations.  We were thrown off by the fact the Saturday 5k/10k events started at a slightly different location.  I was prepared, this time, and had no issues getting my gear onto the bus.

Quick aside:
Flying Pig has an *amazing* gear check system.  They have about a dozen school buses parked with bib number ranges taped to the windows.  You walk up to your window, hand them your clear bag with your stuff in it, and walk away.  They drive the buses to the finish area (which is probably about a mile from the start), and you pick it up out of the same window you dropped off.  No lines, no waiting, really, really, easy.
End aside

I had two hat options with me (ear band or full hat) and had a throwaway jacket I ended up feeling comfortable just leaving in my checked bag.  Weather at the start was nothing short of perfection.  Wind was calm, it was crisp and chilly if you were just standing around, but running around for 5-10 minutes before hand was plenty enough to warm up.

One of our friends racing stopped by at the corral to say 'hi' before the race, which was nice.

I had finally settled on a plan: stick with the 3:10 pacer until we hit the base of the hills, then try to push ahead a bit, hopefully getting the 3:05 pacer within view before the course split at mile 8/9.  Unfortunately, there wasn't a 1:35 half pacer.

I was caught completely off guard by the National Anthem and all of sudden we were off and running.

Race
I spent mile 1 calming myself down.  I had a huge mental dichotomy going.  I really felt no pressure in hitting 1:35 on the day; I would have been completely happy with 1:40 and finishing healthy.  On the other hand, I had near perfect running conditions and the last half I raced (a year and a half ago) went very poorly.  Redemption.

The first mile felt easy and I tried to keep 4 strides per breath.  That got us to the base of the first bridge.  I edged my way to the front of the 3:10 group and took the downhill off the bridge a bit faster.

The Kentucky side of the course had a few road changes due to construction and had a few road surface issues (mainly loose rocks/gravel) that bothered my feet, but it didn't last long.  I was going to write about how I slowed down a bit climbing the two bridges to go back into Cincinnati, but the splits look pretty even in the data, so go me?

I let the 3:05 group pull away through the next few miles.  I could still just see them.  I have no concept of how close the 3:10 group was.  I made a concerted effort to not turn around once the entire race.

It was great turning back into town, especially now that I knew the layout of the city a lot better.  our loft was actually just off the course and I knew pretty much exactly where Angelina would be spectating.  Mile 6 would be my fastest mile until the end (downhill+kick) which I attribute mostly to a bit of excitement seeing them.

Racing to see the family

Mile 7 starts the biggest of the climbs on the course.  It also has some of the biggest and most supportive crowds (at least on the Half portion).  There was a guy with a pink cardboard F (probably 18 inches tall) with a megaphone right at the base of the hill saying, "You're not anywhere close to the top, so get the F up the hill" (like, literally saying the letter "F", not actually swearing, because that would not be cool).

Other cool spectator story was that there was a Clemson family hanging out at the first little crest of the hill around 6.5.  They had two boys (around 5/6) in Clemson gear.  I didn't have the breath to start a Cadence Count, but I pointed at them (since I was in my Clemson shirt), which confused them a little, but their dad cheered a bunch.  More on them later...

I did my best to let my pace fall a bit, but keep an even effort through the hills.  Atlanta training was clearly my savior, as I slowly passed people while still feeling like I was moving comfortably.  Miles 7/8 were, understandably, my slowest of the race, as those two miles featured 270 of the 690 feet of elevation gain on the whole course.  There was a single quarter split that had 80 feet (steep stuff for a road race).

One awesome part of this section of the race is that all this climbing eventually leads to a beautiful view over the whole city.  It was a clear, crisp day, the sun was out, and it was a stunning view of the city.  It's always great when tough parts of the course lead you to little rewards like that.

Still feeling good.  Arms at a good angle

I lost sight of the 3:05 group around some of the twisting and turning in the park, but saw they were a lot closer when we got to the final straightaway before the half and full courses split.  I didn't catch them before the split, but I was closing in.

At the split was where I made my biggest mistake.  I started eating GU #2 around 8.5, which there was nothing wrong with itself, but I managed to miss the water stop at mile 9, which meant I would have to wait until another mile to wash it down.  Not huge, but it was uncomfortable and completely avoidable with better preparation.

The half course takes you back to Cincinnati where it loops back on itself.  In my typical fashion, I picked up a lot of time flying downhill (clocked a 1:30 quarter split at one point).  Remember the Clemson family?  Well, they had moved to the other side of the road (so they were cheering on the "front of the pack" going downhill rather than those still going up it) and they started going crazy when I went by.  They moved over to cheer for MEEEEE (at least that's what I told myself and made me feel really good in a moment my body was starting to not feel so well).

It wasn't until the downhills that I actually had the spare mental time to start projecting out finish times.  I hit mile 10 at about 1:10;30 and was able to quickly eliminate finishing under 1:30 (one of my long-term goals I have, but had no plans on even coming close to it this race), bit my 10% goal (1:32:30) was certainly within reach.  I had done the first 5k faster than the 22:00 I needed to close, so I knew it was within reach, I just needed to keep my legs moving under me.  Plus, 11/12 are the most downhill miles on the course.

I had my first "bad" pain during mile 11.  I had some light shooting pains through my fascia (tendons connecting heel to your toes via bottom of your foot).  In retrospect, this might have been due to hitting the downhills as hard as I did.  The pain dissipated within a few minutes.

I managed to keep some semblance of the downhill speed into the final (flat) leg of the race.  Instead of seeing me at 12.5 as planned, I had family waiting to cheer me on right before the finish line.  I'd find out later I was far enough ahead of my pacing on the first half that they weren't sure they'd get to 12.5 in time.

The very end of the race was borderline agony.  I pushed myself to a pace close to what I was keeping on the downhills and managed to hold it for about half a mile before slowing a bit in the last quarter just to squeeze out the last seconds of the race.

My form was definitely compromised by the end and I was very glad to be able to finally stop.

Running into the finish.  Arms super tight, form starting to fade.  Clearly exhausted

Post Race
After grabbing a medal and Mylar, I sat on a curb just before the water stations for a few minutes coughing and generally catching my breath.  Even now, I'm still in a bit of disbelief at my result, besting my 10% goal by nearly an entire minute; a pace 0:30 per mile faster than my previous PR.

A nice volunteer walked a water to me, which I gladly took and a second checked in on me a minute later asking if I needed medical.  I guess I looked like I was struggling.  I politely declined, and started progressing through the water/banana lines to the (lightly used) port-a-potties.

After 30 minutes or so post-finish, I think I felt about as good as I'd ever felt at the end of a race.  I haven't run yet (it's on the schedule for tomorrow) but I'm also feeling a lot better than I have recovery-wise.


Conclusion
I think the biggest factors in my finish were:

• Familiarity with the course
• Solid race plan
• Solid gear choices (with a good amount of morning-of flexibility)
• Adequate training
• Minimal expectations

I've always felt I perform best when I put myself under a lot of pressure.  I wanted to perform, but I truly didn't care if I did or not.  Amusingly enough, these were the exact same time goals I had for Savannah.  I didn't even realize that until I sat down to write this blog.

I think the name of the game for me this weekend was options.  I knew where I wanted to start and generally wanted to do.  If things went south, I had plans.  If things went well, I had plans.  When presented with a day like we had for that race, though, you have to snatch it.  I would have loved to have trained up to run the full for this race, but I'll just have to hope for similar conditions somewhere this fall.