Crushed it today .. long story short:Was in a 3 person pack (top3) for nearly 10 miles before I couldn't hang anymore. Nearly hit 10 miles in 1 hour, which is close to sub6 pace for 10 miles!! Fell off after an hour as expected, just don't have the fitness for 13.1 hard.
Was on 1:18:XX half marathon pace up until 10 mi .. then faded and entered safe mode, ended up getting 1:21:40 official (1:21:24 watch).**3rd overall** !!!!!!1st finished with 1:18:48, 2nd with 1:19:28.
It was a real race. The 1st place guy (someone i've trained with a few times recently), said we pushed him hard. I was expecting him to slow up at some point, but he just kept his foot on the gas and got it done. This was the 2nd place guy's first half marathon, so he had no idea what to do either. He's a former D1 collegiate runner (5k specialist). So the 1st place guy literally lead for the entire race. Props to him, that's a serious performance.
Oh also, I ran without looking at my watch until I faded (around mile 10) ... that's pretty awesome. I just said, no reason to look and even know how fast i'm running, just stick to them like glue and that's all you worry about.
The lead cyclist took this photo (with a potato-cam) at mile 8 with the caption: "Mile 8 from the lead and the front 3 racers are battling it out!!"
I'm third from the left.
Then he replied with:
"I was driving the lead out car and thoroughly enjoyed watching your race! The race radios were buzzing about the pace being kept by you guys!! Congrats!"haha!!! sick!!
edit: I made a decisive move about 0.5 mi in that probably changed this race a bit.. We had been a 5 person pack for about 0.4 mi, then the guy who won 1st just surged out (probably got to like 20 ft ahead), and no one followed. I stayed, 2nd place guy stayed, 4th/5th place guys stayed. I eventually ditched the idea of sticking with the 2nd pack, and went around them and surged up to hang with #1. Then 2nd/4th tagged along. 4th eventually dropped off fairly early. Then it was just us (1,2,3) for the rest of the way. That first mile was way too fast. So it makes sense that they would refuse to go with him. But I just didn't want to get dropped by #1 so early so, I said F that and caught up & stuck to him. That move probably changed the race considerably. Had I not done that, might have been a slower battle for #2/#3 via #2/#3/#4. Interesting how that stuff works. I guess I had some inside info tho, knowing who that guy was, I knew he wasn't going to hold that initial pace for the whole way. I mean I wasn't looking at my watch but you could just feel it was a major pace shift into something "too fast".
Also, a little running battlescar from clipping myself with my sharp af tread shoes:
?taken-by=andrewdarqui
^^ Strongman style!! lol.
Oh, and my previous half marathon PR was 1:27:11 .. So, 1:27:11 - 1:21:40 = nasty PR. lmao.
When you really care about a competition though, you can dig deeper. That was this race for me. You can't do it all the time, it's too draining. But for those competitions that are most important, hitting an entirely new level is possible. I entered that next level and tried to stay there. I mean, my 10k PR from 2 weeks ago was 37:13 official (37:04 watch), and today I hit 37:21 official (10k split) and kept going.
It was absolutely brutal but I just kept thinking about what I was running for (my mom who passed from cancer last year, and this was a women's cancer support race, which I told her I wanted to win for her when she was still alive & enjoying my race results).2 days rest works great for me before big races!
03/24/2018bw = 145
bw before bed last night = ?
soreness = none!
aches/injuries = right big toe/PF microscopic barely
cramping = none
morning quad flexibility = loose
morning hamstring flexibility = loose
morning calf flexibility = loose
feel = excellent!
hours sleep: 6.5
wakeup = 04:15 AM
log:04:30 AM: food: GU with 40mg caffeine, oatmeal + TONS of honey + TONS of pink salt, water
05:35 AM: workout: w/u @ race event for 20 minutes
06:00 AM: race!
race for women's wellness half marathon: 3rd OA!!! 1:21:40 official
(1:21:24 watch)
::: ran this for my mom who passed away last year, after a long battle with CLL (leukemia) ❤😍🏃💪
07:30 AM: food: 2 x rxbar, GU, tons of water
10:00 AM: food: rxbar, GU
10:30 AM: March For Our Lives Rally/Protest/March
- some miles: 4
01:30 PM: food: burger fi: fried chicken sandwich, cheeseburger, water
02:00 PM: food: kilwins: double peanutbutter milkshake with whipped cream
05:00 PM: food: black tea
06:00 PM: food: 3 x banana, water
08:00 PM: food: 3 x toasted sourdough rye w/ red pepper hummus, prunes, cashews, water
race:
race for women's wellness half marathon: 3rd OA!!! 1:21:30? ::: ran this for my mom who passed away last year, after a long battle with CLL (leukemia) ❤😍🏃💪- official results:
http://accuchip.racetecresults.com/Results.aspx?CId=16337&RId=211-
https://www.strava.com/activities/1468699610- previous half marathon PR: 1:27:11 !!!!
- half marathon official: 1:21:40
- half marathon watch: 1:21:24
- 20k effort (1:16:47)
- 10 mile effort (1:00:32)
so close to 10!!!!!!!
- 15k effort (56:09)
- official 10k split: 37:23 !! close to my official 37:13 10k haha.
- miles in one hour: 9.92
almost got 10!!!!!!!!
- vo2 max on my watch: 65!!! (+3, from 62)
will write more later.
jeff kahn, a volunteer on a bike, stuck with me when i died at mile 9.5. greatest sports experience of my life. we talked, he gave me support etc. he did this for all of us, but when i got dropped he stuck with me, other volunteers stuck with the top 2. just an incredible experience. also his son is a top triathlete! thanks so much man.
^^ great pacing by the winner hahaha!!
^^^ 4:09 min/mi kick at the end!!
Some more photos I posted on IG:
?taken-by=andrewdarqui
?taken-by=andrewdarqui
lol ^^
anyway..
city!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
a few people i rarely talk to, reaching out to say congrats on my race & express their happy-shock about how I dropped that result.
lots of people I frequently talk to, reaching out to say congrats and let me know this is just the beginning!! hah
but ya interesting stuff, people emailing me, somehow hearing about my result. IMHO, it's a bit watered down given how I finished .. but, just a sign of things to come hopefully .. and I think people see that. kinda cool.
Oh also someone yelled "LETS GO ANDREW!!!!!!!!" at mile 8.. someone I know from IG. First time I ever heard someone yell support for me during a race. That felt awesome!!!!
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