2008 New Bedford Half Marathon Race Report

Whenever the New Bedford 1/2 rolls around, it signals the beginning of the spring.... even though the times I've run this race, the conditions have been decidedly un-spring-like. At least the fish chowder is good enough for seconds (although many of my fellow runners detest this post-race tradition). I've run well here in the past, although in the interest of full disclosure, this race has never been a good indicator of future performance at Boston:


2006 - 1:28:54/3:30:07
2007 - 1:26:54/3:12:35
2008 - ?/?

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I had a race strategy and the weather seemed to be holding up, so no reason to make any game time changes. After last week's 23 miler, an old anterior tibialis tendinitis injury flared up, so I spent most of the week diligently cross training and trying to stay off my feet. I went out for short test run Saturday morning and emerged pain-free. I may end up paying for racing on top of an overuse injury...

As the starting time approached, the forecasted snow/rain mix seemed to be staying away, so the conditions were as close to ideal as we were going to get. It was time to take another crack at a half marathon PR! I took a brief warm-up jog with Flash, then squeezed my way to the front of the pack as the national anthem started. I found Pat in the crowd and we decided to work together. We cruised along for the 1st two miles, generally hiding behind packs to stay out of the wind. The first hill was relatively easy and we ran by John Barrett, who seemed to be moving along comfortably. I was also trying to keep GCDavid in sight, as I knew from past races he was slightly faster. We took the 2nd hill starting at mile 3 a little harder, but I still felt under control when we crested the hill and turned into the neighborhood section.

I was starting to feel warm and had untucked my shirt just to get some extra ventilation. Around mile 4, Pat started to pull away ever so slightly, but with the mile 12 hill looming in the back of my mind, I decided I wasn't ready yet to push the pace. He picked up about a 50m advantage on me, and the gap would stay the same for much of the race. I was averaging just under 6:20 at this point and wondering how much the pace would drop on the downhill miles. GCDavid was still rolling along looking very comfortable, and I focused on trying to hang with him. My tibialis tendon started to uncomfortable around mile 6, but it was more pressure than pain and my gait was unaffected, so I decided to press on. I took my GU here and downed it with water. I think I saw a girl with a pet rabbit on a leash, although I could have been hallucinating... Things were feeling pretty smooth when we swung a left on Cove Rd and hit our first unobstructed headwind of the race. I tried to pull up on GCDavid to get some shelter, but the wind made it very difficult to make up ground. I decided to hold off until we hit the peninsula and hope I could use a tailwind to my advantage. As we hit mile 8, I was comforted by the fact miles 5-8 had been in the low 6:00s and I still felt reasonably fresh with the headwinds and finishing hill still to go.

I still can't figure out what happened from mile 8 to 9. My plan was to pull even with GCDavid and work with his pack through the tough portion from mile 9-11. But for whatever reason, I found myself losing focus and running my slowest split of the day for mile 9. This would be my biggest tactical mistake of the day. Now I had the tough job of making ground into a headwind. I felt strong throughout the tough headwind stretch and passed a lot of runners. However, I wasn't making up any ground on GCDavid's group. A BAA runner from his group had gradually dropped back and as I passed him, he decided to hitch up with me. He turned out to be a really disruptive running "partner." At the next water stop, he veered off to get water, then veered back and cut right in front of me. His breathing was pretty ragged, so I couldn't figure out why he didn't tuck in behind me. As he slowed, I moved to pass him, but he responded by surging and cutting me off again. I couldn't believe the lack of teamwork this guy was showing, especially another BAA runner! I moved to pass yet again and this time he sidled up beside and threw a couple light elbows in my direction. This pissed me off and I surged to gap him and was eventually running solo into the wind. Soon, I heard footsteps, but it turned out to be a different runner who was happy to use me as windshield. At the least, the episode had kept me occupied until reaching mile 11. Miles 10 and 11 had been just under 6:20, so I was in good shape for a PR.

I still hadn't made up the gap on GCDavid and I think he started pulling away at this point. I focused on reeling in Pat so that hopefully he was within striking distance on the last finishing stretch. When I hit mile 12 and the finishing hill, I tried to shift to another gear but found that I couldn't. Instead, I could only manage to maintain the same effort level. I felt low on energy, and wasn't sure if it was because I needed another GU, or that I had expended too much energy fighting the headwind. I probably would have been fresher if I had made contact with GCDavid's pack, but now it was a moot point. A PR was still well within reach and it was time to put the finishing touches on the race. As I crested the hill, I stretched out my stride to try to catch a couple more people, and do the same going through the final downhill stretch. Rounding the last right turn leading into the finishing stretch, I spotted Pat and another runner about 50m ahead. I ramped up to a finishing kick and started reeling them in, but ended up about 2 strides short of the next runner and about 8 sec. back from Pat.

So another half marathon and another PR! My half marathon times seem to be much more consistent than my marathon times, which may just point to the unpredictability of the longer race. Here are the race results. Today's effort was good enough for a 1:21:46 (a PR by exactly 1 minute) and 164th place. I have to hand it to fellow BAA runner GCDavid for a strong effort and stronger finish. Overall, I'm ecstatic about the time, although I'll be the first to admit I could benefit from better race strategy in the future. My tibialis anterior is a little tender today, so I'm going to closely monitor it this week. Oh, and the fish chowder was excellent as always.... I needed to exercise some self control to keep from having a third bowl.

Splits:

Mile	Split	Lap	Avg	Max
1	06:19	6:18.6	153	169
2	12:35	6:16.6	166	168
3	18:55	6:19.9	169	172
4	25:16	6:20.7	172	177
5	31:18	6:02.6	169	173
6	37:21	6:02.6	168	171
7	43:28	6:06.8	166	171
8	49:24	5:56.6	170	173
9	55:47	6:23.1	167	170
10	1:02:03	6:15.7	171	173
11	1:08:23	6:19.9	171	173
12	1:14:43	6:20.1	169	171
13	1:21:06	6:22.9	169	172
13.1	1:21:46	0:40.0	168	171
Total	1:21:46	6:14.2	168	177