2019 INDEPENDENCE DAY HALF MARATHON RACE REPORT

At the finish!

Year two of the Independence Day Half at Champoeg Park started at 6:45 with my alarm blaring. Unlike last year, I wasn't second guessing my decision to wake up early on a holiday and run my butt off. I was excited to see where I was with my training. It would give me a good baseline for my current fitness level and inform me for the second half of my marathon training.

Breakfast was a Clif bar and a cup of coffee. I've been doing a cup of coffee before my longs runs as well and it seems to really help out. Luckily I was able to "go" this time around at my house and didn't spend the whole run with a slightly rumbly tummy. Getting there was a breeze traffic wise and I parked my car with about a half hour until gun time. I had picked my bib up the day before, so there was nothing to do but wander to the start line and wait.

THE FIRST 10K (7:36, 7:59, 7:52, 7:58, 8:03, 7:50)

I ran into a couple people I knew at the start line, so that was fun to chat with them and pass time until the race started. Eventually I wandered toward the front of the chute and before I knew it the race was off! For whatever reason I wasn't a ball of nerves, I think this time around I was much more sure in my abilities compared to last year. I had to weave around some people at the beginning but nothing too hateful. Within the first quarter mile or so I was in a pocket of people going just about the same speed.

The split times you'll see aren't necessarily accurate. For example, that 7:59... that was not my mile time. It was more like 7:45. This course has some twists and turns in the forest, and when you couple that with all the trees, sometimes the splits aren't quite accurate. Some probably are... the 7:58 is the turnaround with the hill and I can totally believe that time. 8:03 on that next mile though? No way. I was being very steady all all these miles were in the 7:50 range. I was keeping tracking of how far off the mile markers were, so when it said I was running 8:03 but only recorded .96 between the mile markers, I knew not to panic.

Luckily I do have a pretty good sense of pacing so I relied on that a lot since this course just isn't the best in terms of accurate GPS results. It's not terrible, far better than being in a big city with buildings, but just not the best. Anyways, for this first half I was running my target of 7:50s and feeling pretty good. It felt like the correct half marathon pace... you never really know until the later miles if that is true, but I was feeling pretty good about things. If I could just complete the first lap at 7:50ish, then I only needed to average 8:05ish on the next one to stay under 8:00/mile, which was my ultimate goal.

THE SECOND 10K PLUS (7:50, 8:14, 8:02, 8:19, 8:13, 8:16, 8:06)

Again, these splits don't really tell the whole story. I did not run an 8:14 8th mile. That was more like 8:00... again, it missed a lot of back and forth in one area like the lap before. I did slow down though. So while the splits might not be correct, they are instructive in that I slowed by about 20 seconds per mile the last four miles or so. Perhaps I went out a little hot.

Sunstone peeps!

Not much to report on this second loop, just trying to hold on. Some of these lap times were concerning when they flashed, but again, I was keeping track of the beeps in relation to the mile markers and adjusting accordingly. Toward the end the average pace on my watch climbed above 8:00/mi (it actually finished at 8:02), however, I knew this was inaccurate and didn't let it deter me. I was going to end about a quarter mile short on my watch, which translated into something like 8/sec mile. Yes, I was doing this math in my head as I ran, it was good distraction!

As with last year, the second loop is extended a little bit to help us hit 13.1, and that extension is basically a giant hill you have to go up and down. So that's the 8:19 mile. By the time I had finished this part I was ready to be done. My legs were officially tired. In terms of the lung/leg debate, it was my legs letting me down. Maybe I would have felt a little better if I wasn't running this in the middle of marathon training. Who knows. All I knew was that I had to grind those last few miles out.

And grind I did. Based on my math, I knew I would finish below 8:00/mile as long as I could finish them out in 8:15 or less. So that's what I focused on. The final part of the course leaves the shade of the trees and it was actually kind of hot with the sun beating down on me. Regardless, I just kept trucking. In a way this part of a race is kind of fun. When you are struggling a bit but just focus and grind it out. Maybe I'm just weird like that.

THE FINISH AND AFTER PARTY

I rolled through the finish and stopped my watch. Probably a shade under 1:44, meaning I was for sure below 8 per mile. Score! My total distance was also something stupid like 12.89 or something. The course wasn't short, my watch was just cheating me, as expected. Anyways, I was tired but not in terrible shape. I was able to walk around and be normal. Exhausted, sure, but feeling very accomplished.

The after party was fun, because unlike last year, I knew a bunch of people there and we were able to hung out and eat our burgers and drink our beers. I didn't check my results until after I got home, but it pretty much confirmed everything I suspected. 7:46 on the first lap (look at my splits again, I told you they weren't accurate) and 8:04 on the second lap. So even better than I thought. Overall a 7:55/mile pace. Sweet! Not quite the 7:49 of Boring last year, but still early enough in the cycle after a really lazy winter.

Official Results: 1:43:58, 7:55/mile. 21/127 overall, 15/61 male, 5/7 M30-34.

INDEPENDENCE DAY HALF MARATHON YEAR TWO

Will I win the race? Answer: no.

Thursday, I am running the Independence Day Half Marathon again at Champoeg Park. I ran this race last year for the first time and generally enjoyed it, so I signed up again for another round. I have not had a dense year of racing, only three races so far, so it'll be good to get out there again. I wanted to sign up for more, but it is hard to fit them into my marathon training schedule without blowing out an entire week.

Since I've built this one into my schedule and want to make sure it counts, I'll be "racing" it. Like last year, running a half during marathon training isn't ideal, but with today and tomorrow off my legs should be in reasonable shape. It will be a good baseline for my fitness after running 1:47:33 a year ago. Obviously, I will want to beat that time at minimum. While my winter was really poor in terms of maintaining my fitness, I do feel like I am a touch faster than last year. So it will be good to run this to the best of my abilities and see how that shakes out.

Weather this year looks pretty decent. It is going to be a sunny day but it should be high 50s when the race kicks off at 8am, and low 60s by the time I finish. The course also has a decent amount of shade, so while not ideal, the weather shouldn't be a factor. The course also isn't the fastest, but also isn't too bad. There are a couple rolling hills and one decent climb on the second loop, but overall these will maybe add a minute or so over a completely flat course. Besides, it will be a good "apples to apples" comparison to last year.

As for an update on training in general... it is going well! I have been very good about my new "easy or fast" distinction, and if I am not doing speedwork, all my runs have basically been truly easy at 9:30 or slower. Last week I did a 5 mile tempo run on a HILLY course and got 7:41/mile overall. I was shocked I was able to do that given the route. Regardless of course, it was my fastest tempo run in training since August 2015. Almost four years! So that was a shot of confidence. I am also able to run my long runs (17 miles last week) without any issue. They don't even really feel hard. So I'm feeling like I'm in a good spot.

I've thought about my goals on Thursday and I basically have two. The first, and most important, is to beat last year. If I don't do that, I am going to be feeling pretty down on myself. So that's the goal at minimum. However, I would also really like to get under 8 minutes a mile. I feel like that is back in me (after losing it over the winter and spring), so that will be my main focus. I'm going to pace myself at 7:50/mile and try to hold onto it as long as possible. I feel like with race day adrenaline I can hold this for at least 8 or 9 miles. We'll see about the final few as it will depend on my how legs feel.

So that's the update! As always, I will post a race report with the results. Really hoping I can get under 8:00/mile. That would put me ahead of last year, and the main goal at Portland will be to beat my time at MCM, so that would mean I'm on track.

FIRST INTERVALS IN NEARLY FOUR YEARS

Oh, hai. Just a quick post about the workout I did last night. I was feeling a bit rickety after my run Monday at PRC. It ended up being just over six miles and I accidentally wore the wrong shoes. Without noticing I put on my "everyday" sneakers, which are a retired pair of Nike Structures with 430 miles on them. Oops. About halfway through the run I was wondering why my legs felt like garbage and I looked down and was like... "Oh, that makes sense."

Anyways, I still felt a little out of sorts yesterday, not bad, but not great. Regardless, I wanted to get my four mile "speed" run this week out of the way. When the Sunstone route came out and it was a journey up the hilliest part of Beaverton, I knew that wasn't a good option for a tempo run. For whatever reason I got a wild hair and started to think about doing intervals on the track at Southridge High. I knew I wanted to vary my speed runs this training cycle, they can't all be four or five mile tempo runs, so I thought this was a perfect opportunity to get some variety in.

This time around I had the right shoes on and after a warm up lap my legs were actually feeling pretty good. So I went for it. The plan was 8 x 400m with 400m rests. A workout I had done numerous times in the past. It would be a good baseline to compare my fitness back against 2013-2015 when I was significantly faster. I remember my 400 times usually being around 1:35 back then, so I was a little surprised when my first 400 clocked in at 1:32.5. Huh?

Interval times: 1:32.5, 1:33.9, 1:33.1, 1:34.5, 1:34.9, 1:34.7, 1:35.1, 1:32.6
Overall Average: 1:33.9 (6:16 per mile)

Every lap I was blown away at the times. There was no way. I was expecting like 1:42 or something. Needless to say, my first set of intervals in almost four years was a success! Looking back at my training log on Garmin Connect, this was the fastest I had averaged on 400m intervals. Even beating back when I was in my best shape. What gives?

I'm almost certain the reason I was able do them so quickly was because of my wholesale embrace of the "run slower to run faster" running theory. Basically, do your easy runs TRULY easy. Too many runners, the vast majority I would say, run their easy runs too quick. It feels "easy" but it isn't necessarily the easiest on your body. I used to do this all the time. I would run an "easy" 8:45 pace and then call 7:45/mile a tempo run.

While I was aware of this theory back in the day, I would kind of "yeah, yeah" poo poo it. Now, if I was sore and I truly needed an easy run, I would do it, but basically the majority of my "easy" runs were really "moderate" runs. Also, looking back at my old intervals, my "rest" laps were done at like a 9:00/mile pace. That's not resting! No wonder I wasn't able to hit the actual intervals harder. I shake my head looking back at my historical data sometimes. My recovery laps were 10:30-11:30ish this time around and I started to walk parts toward the end. Frankly, I could have walked the recovery laps and hit the intervals harder and it would have been a better workout.

Anyways, I am a huge subscriber of the "actually easy" run now. It works, people! Sometimes I miss chatting with people at run group because of it. You are going to run 9:00s? Sorry, see ya. I'll be back here doing 10:00s. I think this workout shows tangible result of that restraint though. I'm building mileage and hitting my speedwork hard when I do it. Speedwork on tired legs is not nearly as effective. So onward with this training style I go! I will sing its virtues from the hilltops.

Now watch me run a 5:15 marathon...

MARATHON TRAINING TWENTY NINETEEN

Tomorrow, by resting and doing absolutely nothing, I will have completed my second official week of Portland Marathon training. However, as you can see by the calendar off to the right, I actually got in the groove a few weeks back. With the weather officially turning over to "nice," it has not been hard to motivate myself to get out there. And, with a running group almost every night I want to run, they are usually pretty fun too!

My long run distance is already up to 16 miles. My last four weekends have been 13.1, 13.5, 15, and 16. None of those were particularly hard either. The sixteen mile run today was a breeze. So that's really cool. I think after all these years my legs are adapting well and remembering distance after some time off. My legs also being treated for psoriatic arthritis helps. Who knows how long I had it at a low level affecting me. My knees never bug me anymore. Nary a complaint.

Last year, I basically did no speedwork. A couple of races during the training cycle and maybe like three random tempo runs? Nothing structured though. That was on purpose. The whole point of last year was to build mileage and see if my knees would hit a limit at some point. Everything last year went off swimmingly. I honestly think my knees are better than ever. I could do a 100 mile race and I don't think they'd be any worse off than anyone else's knees (I am NOT going to do a 100 miler btw!).

Group long run last Saturday for 15 miles

So, with that said, I am determined to do speedwork this year. Once a week I will do a speed run of some sort. Probably a lot of tempo runs, because that is still something I can do at run group and sometimes even have someone run with me. But I would also like to break off to the track and do some intervals at some point. We'll see. While I am dedicated to one speed run a week, I'm going to just play those by ear. Maybe sometimes I'll feel like doing it on Tuesday. Maybe some weeks I'll wait until Thursday. Just as long as I get it in.

In addition to the speed runs, I plan to do a couple races too. Nothing in stone yet, but a half marathon around the Fourth of July weekend and then probably another half in there somewhere. I meant to do more 5Ks and 10Ks, but those are hard with long runs on Saturday. If I do a lot of tempo runs though, I will basically be doing the same thing, so maybe I can distract myself with shorter races once the marathon cycle is over.

Anyways, that's the update! Can't believe I am in the middle of a training cycle again. At the same time though, it just feels right. What would my summers be without waking up at 6:45am on a Saturday on run for hours on end?

THOMAS THE HUMAN METRONOME

Early on when the group was larger. Notice there isn't a cloud in the sky.

A quick report from pacing the Hippie Chick Half Marathon... it was a lot of fun! Getting there as a bit iffy as the roads were really backed up trying to get to Hillsboro Stadium. Once again, traffic lights not adjusting to the crush of people trying to get to one spot. After nearly sitting in place for fifteen minutes I called an audible and eventually found my way to an official "secondary" lot at Intel that was a breeze to get into. Very glad I did that otherwise I would have been late!

We all met at the start line at the designated time. I just happened to be wearing a bright yellow shirt, which ended up working well because all the "pacer" indications were bright yellow as well. We each wore a bib on our front and back with our mile pace and then also had a balloon with it as well. No sign to hold up the entire time! Yay! Each time had two pacers. There was a group for 8:00, 8:30, 8:45, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, and 15:00. I was assigned the 10:00/mile pace, which was perfect, as that was my normal long run pace.

The start was a little congested but nothing too horrible. Within a quarter mile or so we had enough room and were able to hit our pace. It was interesting being under pressure to hit a certain pace. Because it wasn't just enough to average 10:00 over the course of the race, we were trying to hit 10:00 each mile! Plus, when there are two watches and they are saying different things it can be a little concerning! Luckily, I have been known to be a "human metronome" so I instinctively know that pace pretty well. So a couple times when one of our watches was saying 10:30 or 9:30 or whatever the hell, we didn't panic and just kept on trucking.

Mile 9ish. Our numbers have dwindled.

Now, a 10:00 mile in a half marathon is a 2:11:05, which is a weird time. So not a lot of people were hanging out with us. Overall time group might have made more sense. 1:45,1:50, 2:00, etc. While we had a decent group with us at the beginning, they gradually spread out. Not many people had a 10:00 mile as their goal. This race also had a Quarter Marathon, and it was funny because a woman asked which one of us would be breaking off to pace the quarter. She was quite disappointed with the "neither of us, sorry!" response we had. By the time the half split off we were basically only leading two runners.

Those two runners though, their goal was under ten. And they were using us as a measuring stick on their progress. Honestly, I didn't think they were going to make it. Because they seemed to be grinding by about mile 8 or 9, and when I've been in that situation before, I've always fallen back (to be fair, that was in marathons though). However, they both dug deep and did not let us pass them! If we caught up to one of them, they'd kick it up a little and get a bit of distance. It was a tough race because the course had NO shade and it was warm, in the sixties, during the race. Even I was grinding a bit toward the end.

My final chip time details.

Overall we did a really good job. We were targeting 9:55 miles to account for a long course and we hit that each mile within about 5 seconds either way. We did notice the mile signs getting further and further away at each mile. By mile ten our watch would beep about .07 miles too early. I did the quick math and an extra .10 at 9:55/mile would still get us under 10:00/mile on the clock. Well, while mile 12 beeped .08 early, mile 13 beeped .12 early. Crap! By then our two gals were sprinting toward the line though. We continued at the right pace and crossed at 2:11:14. NINE seconds over the goal time. First of all, that's really fucking good. Second of all, the gals we were with finished at least ten seconds ahead of us, so they were good. So despite our watches saying 9:55/mile our official pace was 10:00.

It was a really fun experience! Not only was it nice to run a race and get that race day energy without having to haul ass, it was cool to help those two gals stay on pace and get their goal. And, despite being a "ladies" event, a lot of the pace team was male, so it wasn't too awkward. If given the chance, I would definitely do it again!

UPDATES AND PACING A HALF MARATHON

So, I finally have my target marathon for this fall. After trying for Chicago and New York, and failing, I figured I would wait to see what the new organizers of the Portland Marathon would come up with. By the time May Day rolled around there was still no announcement and I was getting a little antsy, but BAM, May 2nd the new race was announced!

It will be put on by Brooksee (they put on the "Revel" series of downhill marathons), which we knew. What we didn't know was the course and whether the City of Portland was actually going to play ball to get a first class event up and running. Thankfully, the new course looks GREAT and it appears Brooksee will take over the historic "Portland Marathon" name. I've heard great things about the Revel series, so I'm sure they'll do a fantastic job with the Portland Marathon. So I'm excited! It will remain on the traditional first Sunday of October.

New Portland Marathon course!

They were having a deal so I already signed up. $105 for the full, not bad. Unfortunately, that means I'm going to have to start officially marathon training soon. I'll need to mock up and plan and this time around I'm going to include speedwork. As usual, I'll run four times a week... two easy runs, one speed run, and then the long run. My main focus will just to be faster than last year (3:55), so I'll be working toward that this summer. Hard to believe I'll be facing twenty mile runs in the heat here soon. Oh well, bring it on.

Lately I have been really good about getting my runs in. As predicted, the turn in weather made it a lot easier to motivate myself to get out there. So I've been pretty good about the three weekday runs and then the long run on the weekend. Since I'm already in that routine, marathon training will just be increasing the mileage and getting a speed run in. Easy enough. For my long runs, I've basically only been doing ten miles, which seems like the right distance to (sort of?) stay in half shape. Which brings me to...

I'll be pacing the Hippie Chick Half Marathon tomorrow. This is a woman-centric event that I actually volunteered at with Libbie many years back as a flagger. This time, I have been recruited as a pacer though. They were trying to get me to do a faster pace time but I basically said I'll volunteer if I can do 10:00 or slower. I mean, I could probably pace 9:00/mile, but my actual half marathon time wouldn't be much faster than that. Plus, I'm trained for ten, not thirteen, and while I know I can do thirteen, the question of whether I could be consistent and not slow down toward the end isn't something I wanted to find out.

Anyways, I'm confident I can provide a solid, consistent pace at 10:00/mile so that's what I'll be doing! That's around what I do my long runs at, so the pace should be very familiar. The course is really flat and I'm good at "locking" into a pace, so I'm hoping I'll be a pacer that people will appreciate and not one that is all over the map! Looking at the results from last year, about 500 people ran it and about 10 would have been in my "area." So I won't likely be leading a large group. Luckily, I also have a fellow pacer, so it's not all on me, and many of the other pacers are male, so it won't be too awkward. Let's hope!