I'd heard about "The Other Half" in Moab. I knew it was a very popular race and assumed it must be flat since it's held in the Southwestern canyon country, and since it's so popular. After I booked a hotel and registered for the race I wrote out my training plan and it looked like I would have more time to train for this HM than I had in 2009 when I ran a remarkable 1:36 on only 35ish days of training. I looked at the race results for the 2011 Other Half and decided on 3 goals for the race.
1) 1:35 or faster.
This would be a conservative goal but my top secret goal was 1:32. That would be a huge PR on my second ever half marathon. Someone on a running forum acted like I was delusional to assume that I could best a time from 3 years ago with little preparation. I'm getting older after all. They don't know me though.
2) Top 5 in my age group.
Given my goal time of 1:35 that should put me right there based on the 2011 results.
3) Top 50 overall of about 1,500 runners.
My 1:35 put me right on the cusp of this one. It would be close.
About another week passed before I stumbled upon the elevation profile for the course and I think I still have a lump on the back of my head from falling out of my desk chair.
Training: Heh, heh, heh. Well...
Training started off nicely and I didn't run into any injuries from my quick start up.
My first run was on July 31st and the weekly totals and average paces went like this:
Week 13 and prior: Zero miles.
12: 13.3 miles at an 8:44 average.
11: 27.3 miles at an 8:36 average.
10: 33.3 miles at an 8:26 average.
09: 26.2 miles at an 8:21 average.
08: 19.9 miles at a 10:06 average. A 3 mile jog up a mountain pulled the ave down.
07: 15.7 miles at a 10:01 average. A 6 mile jog with friends pulled the ave down.
06: Zero miles
05: Zero miles
04: 5:01 miles at a 7:40 average.
03: 11.05 miles at a 7:45 average.
02: 17:34 miles at a 7:38 average.
01: 3.12 miles at a 7:47 average.
So is that messed up or what? The 10th week out from race day wasn't supposed to be in the 30s but I had to switch my days around and ran an extra day instead of taking a day off. This effectively had me peaking way too early at 10 weeks from the race. Looking further I even inadvertently tapered down like week 6 was race week. What actually happened is that I was getting busy with search and rescue missions and had to take several running days off. Then I was traveling for weeks 6 and 5. I finally ran one day in the middle of week 4 and I could tell that I was primed right then for the race...way too early. The next week I only ran 1 day for 11 miles, my longest run of this training cycle. Having done the 11 miler at a fairly comfortable 7:45 average pace I felt that I still had a good shot at my goal time of 1:35 or faster. Only one thing...
Injured!! On the 11 miler, 3 weeks out from the race, my left arch began experiencing dull pain about 3/4 into the run. My shoes were broken in having over 100 miles on them and I'd done all of my training for this cycle in them. That said, I suspect the Asics DS Trainers were the cause. Just not the right shoe for my feet. Not PF, this injury is on the side of my arch, feels 100% fine in the morning and gets worse as the day goes on. Wearing shoes made it worse but it felt fine while running. I took days off and tried healing up but carried this injury all the way to race day.
In Moab the night before the race I met friends for dinner and drinks, then went back to the room that night elevated my left leg and took some Advil. I only did one run this week because I knew resting my foot would be more important than running. The last thing I wanted was getting 6 or 8 miles into the race and having to stop. It was on my mind though. I'd done no race pace running and wondered what would happen when I pushed the pace down to 7:10 per mile.
Race Day:
The weather was perfect. 50ish degrees with a very slight tailwind. Not a cloud in the sky. After being bussed up to the start I began my warm up routine. It seems the course photographer may have had a crush on me. The pre-race photos show only one person singled out of the massive crowd, me. There are 5 or 6 shots of me going through my warm up.
Race strategy: Given the tough later half of this race, I decided that I would do one or two miles at 7:10 if that pace was comfortable, then either hold that pace or go a little faster, then try averaging 7:15 over the later miles. We'll see.
My warm up was timed perfectly for the scheduled 0830 start. Too bad the race didn't start until 0845 or 0850. For some reason a shuttle of about 10 runners was very late to arrive.
The gun finally went off and we were underway. The top of my head is visible above the white hat of the girl over on the left side. The start was smooth.
Mile 1: 7:10 - Somehow I nailed that pace. The 1st mile is always too soon to tell unless you're running a shorter race.
Mile 2: 6:58 - Watching my effort but this felt fine and by the end of this mile I planned on holding this level of effort until the hills.
Mile 3: 7:01 - The crowd of fellow racers is becoming thin. I'm feeling really strong and it surprises me.
Mile 4: 7:05 - Within this mile a couple of guys come up in front of me and they look strong on the rolling stuff but I suspect I'll be saying goodbye to them once the real hills start.
Mile 5: 7:08 - I'm conserving here a little as this is the first mile which is all uphill, but not significantly so.
Mile 6: 7:01 - Within this mile I start thinking 1:34 is a sure thing. I feel like I'm taking it pretty easy and plan to have a lot left for the last few miles.
Mile 7: 7:04 - Past the half way point and couldn't be feeling stronger.
Caught out on the course at 0650 pace according to the watch readout.
Mile 8: 7:44 - No need for alarm. Here we start up the biggest hill and the two guys that caught me on the flats drop like stones and I never see them again. After I get to the top of this hill I'll drop the hammer to balance the pacing out.
Mile 9: 7:13 - Bad news. The plans to drop the hammer at the top of the hill are met with 20+ mph headwinds. I had to press hard to pull out this 7:13. This wind will need to die down soon or it's going to be trouble.
Mile 10: 8:02 - All times are out the window. The wind is crazy. Uphill into an insane headwind, downhill into an insane headwind. At this pace I'm expecting to see groups of runners passing me left and right but it doesn't happen. The runners I was seeing way up in front of me are still the same distance away. We're all going slower now.
Mile 11: 7:54 - This was supposed to be a really fast mile but the wind is writing the story now. I'm putting out a huge effort just to salvage my race.
Mile 12: 8:21 - All uphill into the wind. I'm digging beyond deep. I long ago said goodbye to all of my time goals and doubt that I'll even PR but one thing keeps me pushing as hard as possible: "top fifty, top fifty, top fifty" It's playing over and over in my head and this helps me to fight on.
Mile 13: 7:44 - Within this mile the last of the climbing is behind you. Once it turns flat I try summonsing something close to a 7 minutes flat pace but I've payed too high a price in the battle. I lose two positions and one to a fellow age group guy while covering mile 13.
Mile .1 - In every race I've done I've always had something left for the kick to the line but I'm not sure what's going to happen today. I've never been this hammered coming into the finishing area. Shortly after I see the 800 meter sign I put it all out there and somehow bring myself to a sustained 5:56 per mile pace.
1:37:23
44th of 1,459
6th in my AG
Not bad for 28 days of training I guess. I put out an effort easily equivalent to a 1:34 or faster and the 44th overall backs this up. In 2011 44th was a time of 1:34. It is what it is though. A hard fought race for 44th place and a 1:37:23.
Good running to you!!
