Race Report - 2022 Plano Balloon Festival Half-Marathon ***NEW PR***
Goal: 2:20-2:25 (~ 10:40 to 11:05 per mile)
Actual: 2:23:46 (10:59/mile) **PR**
I'm very happy with this result! This was almost 13 minutes faster than my old PR (2:36:05) and right in line with my expectations, despite punishingly high temperature and humidity.
Lead-Up
As I mentioned in my last update, I was on vacation in SoCal for the few weeks before this race. Other than my accidentally-fast 5k, I was fairly consistent about following my taper plan for the first week.
I was much less consistent in the week leading up to the race -- in part because I was also walking 4-6 miles/day while on vacation, and in part because I was lazy. I only got about 6 miles of running in, but with all that walking I really felt like I was more likely
overdoing it versus
underdoing it, so I decided to call it a wash.
The day before the race, I tried out a real carb-loading protocol. This probably wasn't really necessary for a half-marathon distance, but I wanted to use this as a trial-run before the WDW Marathon to make sure my body would react well to that protocol. I consumed 10.5g of carbs per kg of bodyweight, including 60% (553g) from Maurten 320, and the rest from solid foods. I definitely felt very tired (I was pretty exhausted from coming back from vacation the day before), and had to pee constantly.
I got to the race site at around 6AM for a 7AM start. Coming from two weeks in CA, the jet lag made that feel more like a 5AM start. I still had to pee constantly from the day before -- I think I did so 3-4 times before 7 AM, and twice more during the race. I was pretty tired, but excited.
The race was a combined 10k/Half with a split at the 3-mile mark. There were only 490 runners in the Half, and just under 1,000 altogether.
In the back of my mind, I was still holding out hope that I would be much faster than my target pace. My cardio fitness has improved so much that some of my recent runs could point to a sub-2:20 or even sub-2:15 finish. But given the high temp (77° at start) and the cautionary tale from
@Baloo in MI, I was determined to pace myself, aiming for no faster than 10:30-10:40 through the first 6 miles.
The Race
It was an annoyingly hot day with a 77+66 start and an 81+69 finish. Thankfully there was scattered cloud cover for the first hour or so.
My left ankle started to twinge almost immediately. I just powered through, and the feeling went away after 2 or 3 miles. Normally my right foot is the one giving me problems, so I'm not sure what happened there.
We ran through some very nice residential neighborhoods, and then had an extended jaunt through a lovely park.
Since this race was attached to the Balloon Festival, we saw a hot air balloon, and a paraglider. Unfortunately most of the balloons were grounded due to the heat.
I started to feel the heat after mile 8, and really began to lag around mile 10 or so. I kept going, but took a few walking breaks, and moved slower through the water stations.
In hindsight, I should have brought my own water: when my head stops sweating and my arms start to feel tingly, that usually means I'm running dry.
Once I passed the 12-mile marker, I just powered through, picking up speed to the finish line. I was still slower than I was for the first 5 or 6 miles, but after doing the math that a sub-2:25 was within reach, I was determined to get it.
I crossed the finish line absolutely drenched in sweat, but really very happy with my time.
Analyzing the Results
As I said, this was a new PR for me, and was almost exactly what I'd predicted based on my training plan (notwithstanding my dreams of glory). Especially given the 150 T&D to finish, I'm very very happy with this result.
I am amused that I finished 146 out of 490, which is
exactly below average. (I was only 29/42 for M35-39 though.)
Ignore the pace/runtime numbers below, as they exclude stationary time (pee/water breaks), so the official time is more accurate. (Strava's elapsed time was only 5 seconds different than the official time, as I tried to stop/start very promptly). I was very careful to take inner corners of turns, and tracked very close to the actual marked distance through the whole race, which was nice.
Other than feeling
salty in mile 5, I was pretty consistent and on-target through the first 8 miles of the race. I maybe came out a little bit fast, but stayed pretty close to my goal pace.
After 8 miles, the clouds cleared, the tree cover disappeared, and I started to struggle with the heat. I took a caffeine chew and dumped cold water on my head at the beginning of mile 10, which helped for a bit, but it was just a real slog in the back half.
My HR was fairly consistent for the first half, then rose fairly sharply even as my pace declined.
I can push my heart rate into the high 180s for shorter runs -- you can see it was up to 186 at the finish -- but I didn't want to do that with 5 miles left in the race and burn out.
Could I have pushed a little bit harder in miles 9-12, or would that have hurt my overall finish? Did I lack mental toughness, or was I just bumping against the limits of my sustainable performance? I don't know. But I'm pleased with how I did.
Recovery
I'm bad at recovering from races. My family came to meet me at the balloon festival -- which was underwhelming, as the balloons were grounded due to heat -- so I ended up standing around in the heat for ~2 hours after the race was done. I was able to take a shower, ice my feet, take ibuprofen, and put on compression socks only after I got home at 12. I got a 20-minute nap in the afternoon while the girls watched Disney+, before the baby woke up and I had to attend to him. By 9PM, I was ready to collapse in bed.
I'll take the next few days off my feet, then do short, slow recovery runs through the end of the week. (Infuriatingly, after yesterday's scorching temps we have mid-60s mornings forecast every day for the next week!)
Next Phase
I'll also take the next few days to review the next phase of my marathon training plan. This finish predicts a ~4:55 marathon time, and I would
really love a sub-5:00. I'd feel more comfortable with a ~4:50 estimated finish to allow more buffer against my goal. I feel like my short-distance cardio is strong enough to support that (and still improving!) but my endurance really needs some work.
