I almost didn't run this race because I had a very stressful week of work and travel last week to the east coast. Plus, I haven't done any "key" workouts since the last race that I ran - the Carlsbad Half, where I posted one of my slowest half marathon times to date. A few running buddies eventually prevailed in talking me into it.
I ran the race last year, and it was fantanstic - professionally run, easy parking, big warm up area, waiting area inside, lots of bathrooms. The course is great too - most of it is along the ocean (Del Mar, Solana Beach, and Cardiff by the Sea) and flat. There are two noticable hills - one early and one midway through the race. I love the last two miles, which start with a short but steep downhill, and it's then flat all the way home.
My goal was to match last year's time - 1:09:55 (7:00 av pace). This felt like a big ask, given aforementioned lack of up-tempo workouts and the slow time I ran at Carlsbad (7:15 av pace). To my surprise, I ran an awesome race and beat last year's time by over 60 seconds - 1:08:44 (6:52 av pace).
What happened?
First, strategy-wise, I went out a lot faster this year (-40 seconds in first two miles), and I ran the two hill miles slower (+20 seconds). Saving energy on the up hills allowed me to run the last two miles faster (-15 seconds). The miles in between were overall a little bit faster too.
A second factor was that I ran with another runner basically the whole race. He was trying to run 6:50s...the elusive 6:50 pace (-->sub 1:30 half marathon)...I said I'd run 6:50s with him. We stuck together the whole race, and I put the hammer down a little more in the last mile, narrowly beating him. I might not have decided to run 6:50s without him.
The biggest difference between this year and last is my stride. I've been working on my running form, almost weekly, in a clinic hosted by my ART person. We do sprint drills, and he evaluates our strides. I've been working on strengthening and/or stretching areas to improve my stride power and efficiency. The benefits of changing my running form have been enormous. I am getting faster without even working very hard for it, and I am hoping that better biomechanics will mean a reduced injury risk.
| Split |
Time |
Elevation Gain |
Elevation Loss |
Avg Pace |
| 1 |
06:35.9 |
-- |
-- |
6:36 |
| 2 |
06:50.8 |
-- |
3 |
6:51 |
| 3 |
07:09.7 |
78 |
26 |
7:10 |
| 4 |
06:53.6 |
7 |
13 |
6:54 |
| 5 |
06:48.7 |
-- |
46 |
6:49 |
| 6 |
07:01.6 |
14 |
21 |
7:02 |
| 7 |
07:06.6 |
34 |
-- |
7:07 |
| 8 |
06:50.9 |
29 |
-- |
6:51 |
| 9 |
06:33.7 |
18 |
74 |
6:34 |
| 10 |
06:28.7 |
-- |
-- |
6:29 |
| 11 |
:27.2 |
-- |
-- |
5:59 |
| Summary |
1:08:47 |
180 |
182 |
6:50 |
| 