Hoosier Half Marathon - April 5th, 2014

2014 Hoosier Half

Here it is, a much overdue race report from April.  This was my first half marathon in 5 years.  It was time for me to run one again as last time was during triathlon training and I knew I should easily be able to best my old PR (1:26) on this same course.  It's a hilly course, but I'm used to the terrain as it runs all over my hometown streets and roads here in Bloomington.

I knew this would be a great race to run fast.  The early April temperatures in Bloomington are idea.  This race is also the NIRCA (collegiate club running) championships so lots of fast young guys are typically racing it.  In addition, numerous guys from our Quaff On team were running so I would have plenty of guys looking to run about the same pace as me to go with.

Looking back at my training, I pretty much ran a lot of hilly tempo-ish runs of around 10 miles so probably had been doing more specific half marathon training than I realized. 

Often in small town races I end up with a gap from the very front and off on my own having to push myself with sparse competition.  This wouldn't be the case here.

From the start I went out exactly on goal pace with the other Quaff On guys.  My friend Ted also ran with us so it was great to have a group to push with.  As we ran around the square and down Kirkwood everything felt great.  We all easily clicked through 6:10 miles and made our way through the campus up Fee Lane.  As our pace stayed even climbing up Fee Lane I started to redline a little.  I warned the other guys that the big climb of the Jordan Extension was coming and we all held back a little.  We still split 6:05 for the mile including the Jordan climb so perhaps pacing was a little aggressive here.

After we climbed the extension and hit the downhill mile 5 at around 5:55 pace I was suffering a little more than expected.  Finally, at the 6th mile I let the other guys go and backed off to a 6:20 pace with Ted.  We held on though and kept the group within ten seconds but ran our own pace up and down the rolling hills.

I gradually lost sight of the other Quaff On guys.  In the meantime, Ted and I kept picking off college runners from various school club teams so this was good fun.  At the big "Winslow Hill" I gave it all I had and sprinted up the hill to hopefully make up some time since I was feeling quite good.  I caught more college guys getting beat down by the hills.  I saw the Quaff On guys ahead and started to give chase.  Ted was suffering and I unfortunately lost him at this point.

As we cut through the suburban neighborhoods we reached Indiana Avenue / Henderson and I started to cut into the Quaff On guys lead some more.  I saw Katie at the corner yelling for me to catch the next guys.  I resolved to keep trying.  Over the next few miles I stayed steady at a pace of 6:13 and was ready to make the catch.  Alas at the end of Indiana, when we turned right they still had a few seconds on me and we all started kicking.  Danny and Joe had no idea I was there and I wanted to surprise them with a pass.  I kicked to a 5:30 pace through the finish but could never quite catch them.

Regardless, I don't think I would have broken 1:22 without them there to inspire my strong finish!  It was good to run with a team even when they didn't know it in this case.

1:21:55 / 55th Overall / 5th Age Group

This was a good time for me on a tough course.  My low overall placing is a definite indicator of the high quality and caliber of runners at this event.  In a smaller race this effort could have landed me on the podium, so even at 55th it was a solid finish for me.

That being said, just steady consistent training and running plenty of hills seems to be leaving me with good fitness this spring.  Maybe I will run another half marathon at some point, with some good speed work leading up to it and a faster (flatter) course.  I'm not sure if I can break the elusive 1:20 barrier but I would sure like to try!