Turns
out I'm still a terrible blogger. It's been many months since I posted
anything. Catching up a bit here.
The first significant race of my
2014 was the Track Half: 52.5 laps around a 440-yard track, equaling 13.125
miles (about 5-6 seconds longer than a true half marathon). Unlike a road race, I'm going to say the so called “short course prevention factor” of 1/1000th the race distance – 21.1 meters in the case of a half – really doesn’t apply on the track. The track we used (Duniway) has even been wheeled to confirm it’s a true 440 yards/1320 feet.
Because the impetus
for this event was a number of mis-measured and mis-managed local half's in
recent years that resulted in inaccurate courses and whacky times, the name
that stuck was the "Bill Aronson Track Half To Insure
Measurement Exactness" - or B.A.T.H. T.I.M.E. (although I think 'insure' should
technically be 'ensure', shouldn't it? oh well, it's as good as we could do).
After the injury last summer, and
the subsequent lack of base leading into Berlin and the XC season, I ran a road half
barely under 6:00 pace in November '13 as a benchmark (78:10). This told me I had a
long way to go to shave off over 4 minutes for the sub-74 I thought I was capable
of (I'd run low-74's twice on the roads in 2014). There was a lot of work to do.
So I trained my butt off, doing half-specific-training for 7 weeks,
with 2 workouts per week, for a total of 58 miles at-or-near
HMP, and mileage at 85-90 mpw. I've copied a summary of that training below. I'm self-coached and there's not a lot of science nor complexity behind my workouts, but at my age and general ability, I thought the best approach would be just practicing the goal pace, basically doing a lot of tempo runs at HMP, both while fresh (early week workouts, mostly on the track) and while tired (the final miles of weekend road long runs).
So I did the training, and most of it went well, including a proper taper, and on race morning worked with others to hit mile splits that ranged from 5:34 and 5:43, with the majority right at 5:36 and 5:37 (74:00 is 5:38.7 pace). I finished in 73:44.8 (about 73:40 if adjusted), which equates to 84.28 per lap and 5:37.1 per mile. I doubt I could have hit my goal running solo. Three of us worked it together, trading off every two laps, so I only led 2 laps out of every 6. The laps really went by quickly via this method.
RESULTS:
Name
|
Age
|
Time
|
Distance
|
Pace/Mile
|
Tony Daguanno
|
36
|
1:13:30
|
13.125
|
5:36.0
|
Josh Kaplan
|
27
|
1:13:35
|
13.125
|
5:36.4
|
Bill Aronson
|
42
|
1:13:45
|
13.125
|
5:37.1
|
Dan Bartosz
|
37
|
1:15:37
|
13.125
|
5:45.7
|
Dan Lenski
|
32
|
1:16:55
|
13.125
|
5:51.6
|
Dan McDowell
|
32
|
1:19:18
|
13.125
|
6:02.5
|
Brian Strohl
|
43
|
0:59:22
|
10.000
|
5:56.2
|
Noah Megowan
|
41
|
0:29:54
|
05.000
|
5:58.8
|
Dan Sheil (at end of 21 miler)
|
40
|
0:19:59
|
03.250
|
6:09.1
|
Some excellent photos from the race, taken by our good friend Jeremy Bauer, can be viewed here:
I can say definitively these are the BEST race photos from any event I've ever done.
Perhaps we’ll make this an annual event. With prize money. And medals. And some other stuff. Well, maybe no medals (I’ve always thought those should be reserved just for marathons). But it was definitely a good event, and seemed to be enjoyed by most if not all. I was very happy to get that sub-74, a new master's PR.
# of wks before Half
|
Workout
|
Type
|
Mileage
(week ending) |
6.5
|
1 x 2 in 5:47, 5:45 (road)
|
during Tues run
|
|
6.0
|
3 continuous: 5:51, 5:50, 5:40 (Springwater)
|
miles 15,16,17 of Sat run (21)
|
W/E
12/22: 82.0
|
5.5
|
2 x 2 w/1 rest: 5:37, 5:36 | 5:37, 5:37 (Springwater)
|
during Tues run
|
|
5.0
|
4 continous: 5:48, 5:47, 5:43, 5:38 (Springwater)
|
mile 14.0-18.0 of Sat run (21)
|
W/E
12/29: 88.4
|
4.5
|
2 x 3 w/1 rest: 5:44, 5:42, 5:40 | 5:50, 5:53, 5:50
(Sauvie)
|
Tues road workout
|
|
4.0
|
5 continous: 5:38, 5:43, 5:38, 5:43, 5:39
(Springwater)
|
mile 13.5 to 18.5 of Sat run (21)
|
W/E
1/5: 88.9
|
3.5
|
1 x 6400 in 22:28 (5:39/mi); 1 x
3200 in 11:25 (5:44/mi); (1 mi rest))
|
Tues track workout
|
|
3.0
|
6 continous: 5:47, 5:36, 5:37, 5:39, 5:41, 5:46 (first 3
road, last 3 track)
|
mile 13.4 to 19.4 of Sat run (23)
|
W/E
1/12: 91.5
|
2.5
|
2 x 3200 in 11:16, 11:14 (1 mi
rest)
|
Tues track workout
|
|
2.0
|
5 continuous: 5:55, 5:47, 5:48,
5:57, 5:47
|
mile 14.7 to 19.7 of Sat run (23)
|
W/E
1/19: 90.2
|
1.5
|
1 x 12,000 (30 laps): 42:12 (5:39.5/mi)
|
Tues track workout
|
|
1.0
|
hard up Saltzman; tempo down
Leif/Thurman; 1 x 2400 on Lincoln track – 2:53,2:53,2:51
|
Sat long run (road, trails, hills,
track). Track ~18 miles into run
|
W/E
1/26: 83.2
|
0.5
|
4 x 800 w/400 rest: 2:48, 2:48, 2:44, 2:44
|
Tues track workout
|
|
Track Half 2014
|
73:44.8 (5:37.1/mi)
|
Sunday race
|
W/E 2/2: 62.8
|
