Tri Zones Training

Goals

The 3M Half Marathon was to be my 4th half marathon. The previous 3 included the 3M and the Motive last season and a never ending 13.1 at the end of a half iron. I wanted this to be my fastest. As my goal race for Tri Zones Running Program, I had picked a series of time goals. My base goal (which I normally forget) is to finish without breaking anything.

• < 2:00:00 - OK
• <1:55:00 - Good
• 1:51:43 - Not possible (this time)

The impossible goal comes from a running calculator. I used it to get a goal pace, but never tried to run that pace until the end of the race.

Pre-race

It was COLD at the start. My wife and I did the normal pre-race activities, dropped off our clothes, and did a very short warmup. It was too cold to start sweating and then stand around, so we opted for warming up during the race. The chute started to fill early as people jockeyed for position and warmth. There was 2:00 pace group, but not any other signs visible. We moved up into the crowd until people looked fast and scantily clad. With minimal delays the race started a little after 7. Our race started about 2 minutes later.

Nutrition

Nobody else cares about this, but I want to remember for next time.

• Breakfast - 1/2 bagel with peanut butter + 32 oz of gatorade (at 5:00 AM)
• Mile 3-4 - 3 Clif Blocks w/ water
• Mile 7-8 - 3 Clif Blocks w/ water

I did not stop at any other water stops. This seemed to work well for this length of race.

The Race

The actual race consisted of running.... Katy and I ran together until mile 2 when she started to leave me. We meet again briefly at mile 4; however, for the rest of the race I ran alone. Random points of interest included:

• The bagpiper on the Anderson Lane bridge was my favorite musical attraction on the course (the rest of the bands were not playing or playing slow depressing stuff).
• A lady fell on the curb 1/2 mile into the race, I saw her again at mile 9, I never passed her.
• Running down Burnet, I was passed by a muscular man with no shirt, pushing a 3-wide stroller that held 2 kids and a case of Coors Light. Coors Light is pretty much dirty water, so it could be considered a sport drink.
• Two women passed me near the 12 mile marker. They guessed their pace was "about 10:00/mile". I was tracking my spilts and ran 8:11. Since they passed me, I guess they were going to be pleasantly suprised when they finished.
• I passed several people walking up the small incline near the stadium. (Less than 1/2 a mile to go). It helps to preview the course.
• The sound of running feet persisted throughout the entire race. Nobody was talking much (including me).

Results

I finished without permanent injury in a time of 1:52:27. That works out to an average of 8:35/mile. Below are a comparision of my 2007 and 2006 3M results. (Click for a larger version).