First, I wasn't tapering for this race. It was a "train-thru" situation. Additionally, I had been doing a lot of work travel in the days and weeks leading into the race and lastly, I was sick for most of the week leading into the race.
That said, I had been hoping to run a 1:14 or 1:15 but apparently I had also forgotten how hilly the course was. I had it in my head that it was a 'fast' course, but word from everyone in Austin was that it was anything but that.
The morning of the race I felt good and we all had IDEAL race conditions! 40-ish degrees, clear, and light winds. I couldn't have asked for better. I felt pretty fresh and was hoping to run a controlled effort (though splits would be all over the place due to the varying terrain) and see what I still needed to work on over the final 4 weeks of training.
Here are my splits:
Livestrong Austin Half-Marathon
5:33, 5:36, 5:54 (17:45 5K)
6:02, 5:51, 5:50 (35:58 10K)
5:32, 5:42, 5:42, 6:04 (57:54 10mi)
6:07, 6:04, 6:29 (1.1mi)
1:16:26 (5:50/mi avg)
Overall, I am pretty happy with the results. The course has a long uphill section from mile 3 to 6. From mile 6 to 9 it's mostly downhill and then at about 9.5 miles on home it's really hilly with a couple really aggressive pitches. For almost the entire race I barely noticed the effort aerobically. The issue was with fatigue in my muscles. Additionally, I did have some GI distress at about 9.5 miles, which was luckily very short-lived. By Mile 10, I was feeling fine again but the muscle fatigue was certainly an issue.
I'm encouraged by my level of fitness and the fact that I did train thru the race but I am nervous for LA none-the-less. The idea of running twice the distance at only 10-15 seconds slower per mile is daunting but I am hoping that my leadup into the race will be much better next time around and I will come in much more relaxed and ready. 4 weeks to go (actually 3 at the time that I write this now..!)!
Happy Training to anyone reading this!
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