2011 Cowtown Marathon Race Report
I will summarize my 2011 Cowtown Half Marathon experience for you: the hardest race I’ve ever done. In hindsight, it is mostly my own doing, with a good mix of physical and mental challenges that I wasn’t able to overcome. Since almost two months have passed since this race, I’m going to post wrote in my running log:
In the days leading up to today's race, I came up with an A, B, and C goal. Truth be told, I also had an A+ goal, that would've been my A goal under better weather conditions. For some reason, I started today's race as if the A+ goal was realistic. Here were my goals:
- A+: Hang with the 1:50 pace group through the finish.
- A: Half Marathon PR (current PR is 1:54:57, set at the 2010 Cowtown).
- B: Beat my time from the Denver Rock 'n' Roll Half (1:58:07, but at a mile elevation).
- C: Come in under 2 hours.
Now, I've put in the training, I think, and I really did want to push myself, so I was stubborn and started with the 1:50 pace group. My goal this morning was simply to hang with them as long as could...hopefully to the bottom of the monster hill at the start of mile 10. Instead, I lost touch with them somewhere past the 10K mark (new 10K PR of 51:31—a 3:50 PR!). By mile 8 I was dying. I didn't want to run anymore, even though we were running downhill at that time. [note: into a 15 mph headwind]
I sucked it up, and kept going, though I eventually gave back all of the time I had built up in the first 10K, coming in 31 seconds off of my PR.
The weather was the biggest culprit. The last temperature reading I saw before the start was 65F, with 90%+ humidity, and 10 mph winds (gusting to 25 mph).
I will tell you, it doesn't matter what the conditions are like, when you bust your ass like I felt like mine had been busted, and then come close, yet short of a PR, it stings. I'll get over it.
I’m still a bit torn on how to feel about this race, and it all comes down to the primary goal…
If my primary goal was 1:50, then I gave it my best, and failed—there’s no shame in going for it and failing. The only shame in the race is how easily I gave in to the voices in my head that told me it was okay to ease up.
If my primary goal was to set a PR, regardless of time, then I failed all the way around. I failed to adapt my race day plan to the conditions. Had I not been so stubborn, and backed off for the first half, there’s no question in my mind that I would’ve come in with a PR of a couple of minutes.
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Bryan
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February 2011 Running Recap
The shortest month of the year, and one of the “lightest” running months in a while. February started off with a couple of severe winter storms, featuring ice, snow, and record low temperatures, which meant quite a bit of treadmill running. The month ended with unseasonably warm weather. Unfortunately my race was at the end of the month (more on that in a separate post). Despite the winter weather early in the month, I was able to get in most of my key workouts, and the ones I missed on were typically due to a busy schedule, not the weather.
Here are the stats:
- Total Miles: 151.4
- Total Time: 22:59:27
- Average Pace: 9:07/mile
Additional Notes
Reviewing my training log, the month looks pretty good, and I ran consistently. I even had a string of running 7 days in a row, which hadn’t happened in some time. If anything, I didn’t run easy enough, or take the time to rest and recover properly.
- Easy: 11
- Tempo: 2
- Intervals: 3
- Long: 3
- Race: 1
- Shortest Run: 4 miles
- Longest Run: 14 miles
You might notice that I didn’t do any hill workouts in February. That probably wasn’t the wisest move, given the hilly Cowtown Half Marathon course. Live and learn. Anyway, this month was the 19th consecutive month over 100 miles, and the 7th consecutive over 150 miles—barely.
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Bryan
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January 2011 Running Recap
Yes, I know this is seriously late—late to the point of why even bother. Yet, for some reason, I am going to bother, if only so that I have it for later.
As you may or may not recall, December was a trying month, with a stomach bug that made the rounds early in the month, and IT band/knee issues in the middle of the month. You might also recall that while the IT band/knee issue eventually got better, I was no longer comfortable continuing to train for a marathon, when I might be teetering on the brink of injury, so I switched my registration from the Cowtown Marathon to the Cowtown Half Marathon.
So now that I’ve jarred your memory, let’s talk about January.
Here are the stats:
- Total Miles: 176.2
- Total Time: 27:31:14
- Average Pace: 9:23/mile
Additional Notes
I ran 18 out of 31 days during the month. Doesn’t seem like much, does it? However, I obviously ran a lot, as the 176.2 total miles indicate. Three of my long runs were 16 miles each. I also did the longest tempo run I’ve ever attempted—8 miles at tempo pace, plus warm up and warm down. That was a tough run! I also added in some hills, working on both uphill and downhill running. Here are the number of times I did each type of run, as well as the shortest and longest run in the month:
- Easy: 7
- Tempo: 2
- Intervals: 2
- Hills: 2
- Long: 5
- Shortest Run: 3 miles
- Longest Run: 16 miles (3x)
January marked the 4th time I’ve gone over 170 miles, and the 176.2 total miles is the second most for one month. January is also the 18th consecutive month of running 100+ miles, and the 6th straight over 150 miles.
Next up: February 2011 Running Recap, which includes the Cowtown Half Marathon…
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Bryan
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