Run 10:54 [1] 1.4 mi (7:47 / mi)
Warm up jog in New Bedford. Cold, not too windy where I was running, ready to head out on the course. Lots of other stuff going on.
Run race 1:25:53 [3] 13.1 mi (6:33 / mi) +122m 6:22 / mi
NB! If I hadn't preregistered I probably wouldn't have run and driven to ski somewhere. But I did, and sunk costs, so here I go. Not tapered, not trained, but that hasn't stopped me from running well here before. Goal: 1:22:59 as a NYC qualifier.
Everyone packed in at the start, cold, but not frigid. Not in shorts, long sleeve t-shirt under the singlet. This race: fast field, always windy. Lucky race directors chose this weekend 40 years ago and since it's four weeks before Boston, they're always guaranteed a crowd. Really well-organized race, too. Plenty of room at the Y, well marked and patrolled, good water and cheer stations.
Gun went off and I went out pretty hard but not uncontrolled. The first mile is always fast, slightly downhill, and I hit it in … 5:46. Good? Well, fast. But to fast? HR was in the high 150s, so I should be able to hold that. Legs felt okay. And this was in to the wind. So I felt good.
Then we went uphill. In to the wind. My motor was okay, I think, but my legs weren't. I was able to coax my legs up the hills reasonably well, but when I hit the downhill I just couldn't put enough energy in to my legs to really push the downhill. Even with the wind at my back. I was in struggles, heart rate going down towards 150, and legs just unwilling to go faster. It turned in to a bit more of a tempo run. Once we turned back in to the wind I was able to push a little harder and salvage a decent time, and the positive view is that I ran a 1:25 half on a hard course with minimal training, was able to hold under my marathon time the whole way, and had some push at the end.
More realistically: I need to do some speed and distance in the next couple of weeks.