Philadelphia Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon – Race Report 2012

Philadelphia Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon Pre-Race:

With the race just a short 20 minute drive over the Ben Franklin Bridge, not much race prep was needed. The expo was in the Philadelphia Convention Center which is common and convenient for the big Philly races. I drove in on Saturday and walked a few blocks to the expo. I got into the registration area, picked up my bib and headed in to the expo to check out the vendors. As soon as I left the registration area I found myself in what had to be one of the largest race-related apparel shops I have ever seen, it was huge! Competitor, which took over the race a couple of years ago, is a for-profit organization so I wasn’t terribly surprised but the amount of apparel was quite impressive.

It was great to be able to meet up for a bit at the expo with a Daily Mile friend (don’t worry Marcie, I won’t put our picture on the blog ). We had a great conversation about marathon training, race day strategy, and the overall chaotic state of our lives. It’s funny how you tend to be more conservative in your advice to others than you give to yourself, and Marcie caught me on this when she asked me, “OK, now how are YOU going to run the race?”. We had a good laugh because she’s seen my training and past race reports and knows I tend to have one speed on race day. I did have in the back of my mind that I wasn’t going to put myself in a position to jeopardize NYC in November and if I had any warning signs during the race I’d shut it down. That being said there was no reason given good weather that a PR wasn’t possible, in fact I was expecting it.

Race day morning was uneventful. Got up, got out the door and found a good parking garage about a mile from the start. I wanted to get in about a 2 mile warmup and 2 mile cool down so I figured if I parked far enough away it would force me to get the mileage in for the day to count as a long run. It worked out perfectly as the garage was right next to a Holiday Inn which allowed me to use a proper restroom before heading to the start.

Pre-race tip for Big Philly races: Don’t line up at the first porta-potties you see on the Ben Franklin Parkway, walk further down toward the art museum. I saw the lines at least 20 or 30 deep at the first set while the potties by the art museum had no line at all. This was true last year at the Philly Marathon as well. This is because 90% of the runners are heading west on the Ben Franklin Parkway and usually line up at the first row they see.

Philadelphia Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon Race Start:

It was nice to be in corral 1. While it wasn’t a seeded placement and only based on the estimated finish time I submitted, it was cool to be upfront. The elites were just in front of us and it seemed that most of corral 1 was filled with running teams from NYC. I counted a good 5 or 6 teams from Brooklyn, Central Park and the like. The weather was really nice, there was a cool breeze and the temperature was comfortable. If I was greedy I would say I would have taken another 10 degrees cooler but after the summer we had I wasn’t complaining. The gun went off right on time and we took off headed into the heart of Philadelphia.

Miles 1 thru 4

Only the first four miles take you through the city and the rest of the course takes you up and down the Schuylkill. As long as you can get out in front of your corral as you head into the city you’re OK. If you get caught in a large pack of runners (or the dreaded pace groups) you can get stuck and spend some time and energy navigating around runners and avoiding getting bumped or tripped up. I had planned going out at about a 6:30 pace but I felt good and let my legs dictate the pace a bit. First four splits were 6:20, 6:23, 6:29 and 6:21.

Miles 5 thru 9

At the mile 5 marker you pass the Art Museum where the Rocky statue stands arms raised to cheer you on. The course is very flat and the only flatter course you’d find in the area are probably down by the shore where the only elevation you get is when you pass over bridges. Heading north on Kelly Drive is very scenic, there weren’t a lot of spectators on this part of the course but I was pretty ambivalent about it. I was just enjoying the shade, cooler temps and locking in my pace. The only split that wasn’t in the 6:20′s was mile 9 as we hit the only elevation on the course as we crossed over Falls Bridge to head south on MLK drive.

Miles 10 to Finish

Had less shade, warming temps and splits in the mid 6:20′s as I came around the corner of the Art Museum toward the finish. Knowing I had a PR in hand I just maintained my pace rather than fight off any runners who had spent the last 12.9 miles saving themselves for their finish line photos. I crossed the finish at 1:24:30, 44 secs off my previous best. I knew in my heart that had this been my ‘A’ race I probably could have dialed it up and got in under 1:24 but it wasn’t worth the injury risk or the risk to my training schedule for extra recovery time (see Marcie! I was conservative!). I’ll save a sub-1:24 for next year…

Philadelphia Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon Post Race:

Got a solid PR, some good confirmation of my training and a chance to push myself hard in the heart of my NYC training schedule. As of 9/23 I’ve got six weeks of training left with two of those being recovery weeks. Still a lot of wild cards are out there but a day doesn’t go by where that sub-three isn’t on my mind so the next six weeks will be very focused.

Wild Half Marathon – Race Report 2012

Wild Half Marathon Pre-Race:

It took 16 months but I finally ran this race. I originally registered in April 2011 for the then 2011 Wild Half Marathon. Unfortunately Hurricane Irene had similar plans for a weekend trip to Wildwood, NJ and decided to pay a visit on race day resulting in a cancellation of the race and our family weekend getaway. Fortunately all of the 2011 entrants were given a free entry into the 2012 race and our motel had a nice hurricane friendly deferment policy so we were all set for our in-state vacation this year.

In the interest of full disclosure, this was originally planned as a race weekend masquerading as family fun time (now wipe that look off your face, like none of you have ever done that). After waiting for almost a year and a half I can honestly say I was looking forward to the fun more than the running. This summer my schedule has been completely bonkers, sleep has been at a premium and I had fought a bad head cold all week so I needed some downtime. Add to that my oldest son is entering into his last year of High School so at this time next year we’ll be saying goodbye to him at some college campus. All of that made for a perfectly timed trip for all of us.

We drove down early on Friday afternoon. Part of the race package included free weekend admission to Morey’s Piers which are three large piers with rides and a waterpark. We arrived at the hotel, dropped off our bags, made a quick trip to the expo and then ‘hit the boards’. I don’t want to make this into a vacation report so I’ll try to sum up the non-race part quickly. The rides and waterpark were fun for all of us (even the teenagers), we had a blast. We also spent some time exploring the boardwalk and parts of that were fun too. On the downside, once you spend a couple of days in Wildwood you’ve seen pretty much seen everything. Also some of the boardwalk shops (and their clientele) were… how would my boys say it?… a bit ‘sketchy’. While we had fun I can honestly say we probably won’t return. There are plenty of better beaches, better rides and more family friendly towns in NJ to visit. Glad we went but been there, done that.

While the hurricane activity remained in the Gulf Coast region, this race weekend still had some eventful weather. We experienced the most intense lightning and torrential rain storm I’ve ever seen. Saturday night starting at about 8PM until about two the next morning was unreal. It sounded and felt like the strikes were hitting the motel sign outside our window. The thunder wasn’t making a ‘boom’ sound but instead a sharp, loud ‘CRACK’ along with a blinding light. We were honestly afraid to go too near the windows. Needless to say trying to get to sleep for a 7:30AM gun time was a bit challenging. Also having to reset the hotel alarm clock very 20 minutes or so due to the power going out kept me occupied between midnight and 2:30AM. Things eventually quieted down and I dosed off for what turned out to be a 3 hour nap.

Wild Half Marathon Race Day:

When you can see the air, that’s usually a bad sign.

My loving, supportive wife got up with me at about 6AM and we walked to the start together (did I mention she was loving AND supportive). We knew better that to wake the dynamic duo so we slipped out quietly. First thing that hit me as I opened the hotel door was how thick the air was. High humidity and barely a cloud in the sky… lovely. Temps in the mid 70′s were of little comfort as I thought “Again! Really?!?!”

This race was put on by CGI Racing which holds a couple of Half’s and Tri’s in the NJ/PA area. This is a for-profit company and while I’ve done one other race with them I noticed more this time how frugal the race seemed. The expo had maybe six vendors if that and while some of you may see that as a good thing it felt a bit weird. There were plenty of volunteers and a good crowd at the start though as we lined up and the gun went off promptly at 7:30AM.

Start to Mile 2

The course takes you over the boardwalk for the first mile and a half. I was a bit concerned that morning about traction but it had rained so hard the night before that the boards had a decent grip to them. The biggest problem with that first part of the course was as you came off the boards and onto the street there was an ankle-deep, 20ft diameter puddle you had to run through. Made for a steeplechase feel for the next mile as the water drained from your shoes. What made this it even better was that we ran though that same puddle again around mile 9 (Woo Hoo!).

Middle Miles

Around mile 3 I really started feeling the humidity and a pace that started out in the 6:30′s moved up to the 6:40′s. As I anticipated I was back in heat management mode as the weather made for the limiting factor on my pacing for the rest of the race.

The course was well marked with a good number of water stops (with Gatorade!). As I flew through one stop with the huge G-Bolt logo on my singlet I heard one of the volunteers call to one of his buddies “Oh Yeah! That guy’s taking the Gatorade!” Overall the course was fairly flat and puddle free. There were two bridges we crossed over twice on the out and back but the elevation was trivial.

Mile 11 to 13

By mile 11 I had passed the last runner in reach of me and I settled in on my pacing for the final two miles. There was one runner I saw up in the distance but I didn’t have any realistic chance of catching him, he had a good 30 seconds or more on me as we were approaching mile 12 and I wasn’t about to risk injury or increased recovery time in an attempt to catch him. In a ‘B’ race I was willing to just finish strong and keep runners off my tail.

With about 3/4 of a mile to go we turned into the final stretch where the course went over a cement bike path that wasn’t very runner friendly and that along with navigating around the back end of the 8k finishers made for a less than ideal finish. I did take note that the runner in front of me was getting a little closer. Then he did something you should never do, he looked back…several times. I really had no desire to try to catch him with less than a 1/2 mile to go but there was blood in the water and I felt myself unconsciously picking up the pace.

Coaching Tip: Resist as much as you can the urge to look behind you late in the race. While I’m guilty of this on occasion it results in giving the guy behind you a mental boost because it sends a signal that you’re in trouble or that you want to slow down. Either way you don’t want to give up a mental edge late in the race. Just tough it out and slam the pedal down and you won’t have to worry about who’s behind you.

The Finish

The final 200 yards was over wet mushy sand which made for an unceremonious end to the race. I had closed the gap to about 8 secs but I ran out of course before I caught the runner in front of me and crossed the finish with a official time of 1:28:30. Good for 2nd place in my age group and 17th overall in the official results.

Wild Half Marathon Post Race:

Not the race performance I was hoping for but we all had a fun weekend and any time you bring home some age group hardware you really have no right to complain. So after downing my recovery beverage along with some serious post-race hydration, I received my award and we headed back to the hotel to hop in the car and head home. My wife made the obligatory stop to pickup a Christmas ornament on the way back to the car. Memento in hand, our weekend trip was now complete and it was time to head back to the realities of soccer practices, lesson plans and long weeks. So how many days are there until June 2013?

Caesar Rodney Half Marathon – Race Report 2012

Caesar Rodney Half Marathon Pre-Race:

This one was the yard stick. I wanted to go out there and see where my fitness level was so I can start putting my race plan together for Boston. There’s a lot to cover and dissect so let’s get to it.

As I’ve mentioned in a previous race report, being a Masters runner means you’re always dealing with some minor tightness/injury/pull/fatigue on race day. It’s going to be there so just plan for it. Today’s surprise was a twinge in my right glute I woke up with that felt more like a nerve issue than a pulled muscle. I might have slept in a funny position because if I moved or turned a certain way it would get my attention. As the morning wore on it felt better and I went through my pre-race warm up with no issues so I wasn’t too concerned (but just concerned enough to make it interesting). The older issue, the cramp/numbness on the outside of my left knee I mentioned last week, has improved and it’s really a non-factor at this point thought I’m still paying attention to it to make sure it continues to heal.

I brought my photographer to the race today (Mrs. Designed-to-Run) so you’ll have some better pictures. We got down to Wilmington, DE about an hour prior to get good parking and get a jump on the port potty lines. I ran Caesar Rodney last year so there wasn’t much to scope out but I wanted to get my photographer oriented so she could get some good snaps. Since I was running this as a member of a team (Moorestown Distance Running Project) I had gotten my packet on Friday from our team president so that was covered.

Caesar Rodney Half Marathon Race Start:

Caesar Rodney Half Marathon start

Wasn’t sure what to expect from myself today considering where I am in my training (heavy miles) and the one day taper (solely for injury prevention). Based on my last Half Marathon time of 1:26:36 at the Hersey Half and the more severe hill profile of Caesar Rodney, I was hoping to get under 1:26 but I wasn’t willing to take big risks to do so. Since we’re talking hill profiles let’s take a look at Caesar Rodney:

Caesar Rodney Half Marathon hill profile

Nice hill huh? It’s got about 402 feet of elevation gain over the entire course. By comparison Boston has about a 550 ft gain (but a 994 ft loss) over twice the distance. As you can see you’ve got a pretty steep down hill right out of the gate and the fun starts as you’re approaching mile 7 and go through Brandywine and Rockford Park. If you’re not making adjustments for these hills you will get burned. I’ll be giving some examples later in the post.

Since my goal was to see where my fitness level was I ran mostly on perceived effort but I was checking my splits to make sure I was getting under 6:36 on the flat portions (based on my 1:26:36 time at Hershey) but not overreaching on the downhills. Here are my splits:

Caesar Rodney Half Marathon Splits

There’s almost no way you can dial it back enough on that first mile considering the adrenaline at work and that steep down hill. Keeping it at about a 6:20 was an accomplishment. I felt good on the flat section and held back a bit. I’m really pleased with my hill splits. Considering the relentless 3-mile climb I was really happy clocking 6:47′s. I had anticipated going over 7:00 during that stretch. After cresting the peak you’re grateful for the down hill on the way in until you revisit that hill near the finish and start cursing the name of the race director. My official tag time was 1:25:14, a new PR by 1:22.

Caesar Rodney Half Marathon Finish:

After crossing the finish I found my photographer, gave her a kiss and posed for a few pics. Saw a lot of familiar faces including my good friend John Murray.

Legs are trashed but we're still smiling...

Even though he just crossed the finish line he was more than willing to pose for a quick pic. Note my blue Inov-8′s which are now two-for-two regarding races and PR’s. They felt great and performed well on the wet and slick pavement. I attribute my race performance to a lot of hard work and preparation but I have a buddy who has a different opinion. What are your thoughts Mars?

I heard Mars is now working for the Natural Running Store but I can’t confirm it and Patton’s not talking…

Post Race Analysis: How Not to Run Caesar Rodney

When I was looking over the race results I couldn’t help but notice that in my age group male 45-49 I finished 4th and the next two finishers were in my age group so we finished 4th, 5th and 6th right behind each other. I’ve cropped out the results and covered the names to protect the innocent, but see if you can look at their splits and see how our different approaches impacted our performance:

What jumped out for me is they were right out front at the start (one second difference between tag and gun time) and they went out too fast (3 mile split). Considering the hill profile of the course this is good example of where being out in front with the rabbits at the start can hurt you big time.

Bib 1558 had a 1:20 lead on me at mile 3 and a 55 sec lead at mile 10. He fell back about 19 secs per mile over that last three miles which allowed me to catch him and beat him by 3 seconds at the tape. Bib 1264 wasn’t as aggressive but made the same mistake. He had a 50 second lead at mile 3, I was 6 seconds behind him at mile 10 and I wound up with a 45 second lead at the finish.

Lesson: Going out too fast will doom you. You can’t bank time!!! Have a solid race plan and stick to your plan unless circumstances dictate you make a change. Ninety nine percent of the time the change will be to slow down.

Next week I’ll have a post up where I break down this race and compare it to races from last fall so I can get a good gage on how I’m going to handle my pacing for Boston. Stay tuned!

Hershey Half Marathon Race Report 2011

Hershey Half Marathon Overview:

This was more of an event than a race. The Hershey mascots were on hand at the hotel and at the start (I even got a picture taken with the Reese’s Peanut Butter cup!). Walkers had a 7AM start and runners a 8AM start on the same course so there was the predicable congestion on the course and around water stops. The course began and ended around Hershey Stadium so there was plenty of parking nearby. The course was hilly but the inclines were manageable and not that long. Most areas were well marked; the volunteers and support staff were friendly and helpful. Overall a good race and a great family weekend (and a PR didn’t hurt either…)

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup mascot and me.

Feel the love!!!

Hershey Half Marathon Pre-Race Sign up and arrival:

This was planned as a family weekend so I purchased the Overnight Package which included race entry, Hershey Lodge room for one night with two queen size beds, two Hershey park In The Dark tickets and some other freebies for about $340 including tax. I purchased another two tickets for $22 each (discounted from $30) and we were all set. The package was purchased through Active.com and the only issue was that on Hershey’s site they said that the package included 4 tickets and Active.com stated 2 tickets.

Checking in was a breeze. We got to the hotel about 3:30PM and our room was ready. No lines/No waiting. I picked up my race packet in the lobby which contained my bib, shirt, all four tickets and other do-dads. Minor point here is that Hershey originally stated that our packet was going to be in our room but I thought the lobby pickup worked better since it gave you the chance to ask questions and it also gave you your park tickets even if your room wasn’t ready.

Rooms were very nice and Hershey themed

Hershey Half Marathon Race Morning:

Left the hotel a little before 6:30AM for an 8:00AM gun time. I usually like to get to the start an hour prior just to plan for the unexpected (car won’t start, getting lost, etc…). The trip to the park was only about 10 minutes from the Hotel but we decided to leave early when I heard about the road closures. The Hershey folks said that the road closures would start between 6:30 and 7:00AM so I thought if we left before 6:30AM, we should be good. Also the walkers had a 7AM gun time so I wanted to get there early enough to get a good parking spot and this paid off when it was time to leave.

As I mentioned the walkers had a 7AM start so when we got to the start there was a lot of activity in the hour prior. There were a good number of clean porta-potties at the start but as the race start got closer 10 and 20 runner deep lines were forming (another reason to get there early). The start area was well marked and well organized but there was no water at the start.

Mascots at the Hershey Half Marathon Start

Now it's a party!!!

Hershey Half Marathon Race Start:

Race start to mile 2: Gun went off a little after 8AM. The first two miles or so (and the last two) were in the parking lot of the park. Not very exciting scenery. One thing I noticed right off the bat was there were orange cones every tenth of a mile with the distance marked on them. This gets a big thumbs up as there was never a doubt where you were along the course. Some turns in the parking lot could have been better marked, there was one section where you had to stay to the left but were turning right and there was no cones or barrier to tell you how much of the turn you could shorten. I always try to run the tangents since that’s what the USATF uses to measure the course, but there wasn’t any way to know how big a cut I could make.

Race mile 2 to 6: At about 2.5 miles you entered the park. For those that have been to Hershey you know that the walking paths are not wide so while I didn’t run into any runner congestion issues it’s easy to see that others may have. At mile 3 you were out of the park and on the road, plenty of neighborhoods scrolled by with tall trees and green grass.

Race mile 6 to 10: You ran across a bit of grass and on to a road adjacent to the golf course at mile 6. As far as water stops they seemed to be spaced out every few miles and there were plenty of volunteers. There was an inflatable arch at the halfway point which was a nice marker to gauge your pace (and pain level). It was around this point that I started dealing with the walkers. I must say all the walkers were considerate and did their best to let the runners pass. I tried to return the favor by calling out (on your left/right) before I passed so they knew I was coming. There’s nothing more obnoxious then folks whizzing by right off your elbow with no warning. It was unavoidable though on most turns to have to go to the outside because there were walkers side by side on the inside track. Walkers were instructed to stay to the right during the race so they can’t be faulted for that. Mostly nice neighborhoods until you reentered the park at mile 10.

Race mile 10 to finish: Reentering the park for a brief ¼ mile and then back through the parking lot retracing the start to the stadium. The finish was really the highlight as you entered the stadium to all the screaming spouses and kids from the runner’s families. Gave you a real shot of adrenaline. When you crossed the finish your time and name were shown on a big monitor which makes a really nice official finishing photo for those that decide to purchase one. I was really stoked to when I saw my time on the big screen 1:26:36! I was shooting for a sub 1:30 but I just had a great race where everything clicked. It seems that most of my break out races occur in the fall. I’m thinking this is due to the mileage buildup over the summer and training in 90+ degree temps.

At the finish you receive a really fun finisher’s medal and a little reusable lunch sack keepsake (with logo) that had chocolate, a big cookie, a regen recovery drink along with other snacks.

Hershey Half Marathon, my wife and I at the finish

Me and my Crew Chief (Most Awesome Wife EVAH!)

Overall I would definitely do this race again. We all had a blast at the park and the race was fun with great weather to boot!

Hersheypark in the Dark, Storm Runner photo of me and my boys

Most epic park ride photo ever!

Designed to Run

Endurance produces character, and character produces hope

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