sub-3 or blow-up trying

Philadelphia Half Marathon

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Location:

Mooresville,NC,

Member Since:

May 01, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

2007 Highlights: Litchfield Road Race (7.1) in 58:36

2008 Highlights: New Jersey Marathon in 4:12, Bay State Marathon in 3:10:30

2009 Highlights: Boston Marathon in 3:13:26, Litchfield Road Race in 49:30, New Haven 20k in 1:25:03, Bay State Marathon in 3:09:09

2010 Highlights: Bradley 10k in 39:58, Litchfield Road Race in 48:06, New Haven 20k in 1:23:59, Ghost Trail 1/2 Marathon in 1:29:12 (trail), Philadelphia Marathon in 3:06:59

2011 Highlights: Litchfield Road Race in 47:44, Ghost Trail 1/2 Marathon in 1:28:35, Goshen Turkey Trot in 40:46, Jingle Bell 5k in 19:05

2012 Highlights: Finished Boston Marathon in 3:41:59 in 89 degree heat, broke the top 100 in Litchfield Road Race (82nd), 1st Place (overall) in Solstice 5k, Hogsback 1/2 in 1:29:36, and bq'd in Bay State Marathon (3:14:20).

Personal Records

1-mile: 5:39/track (2008)

5k: 19:05/Jingle Bell (2011)

10k: 39:58/road race (2010)

20k: 1:23:59 (2010/New Haven)

1/2 marathon: 1:28:35 (2011/Ghost Trail)

marathon: 3:06:59 (2010/Philly)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Sub-3:05 marathon in Fall

Sub-1:23 in New Haven 20k

Sub-46 min in Litchfield RR

Sub-19 in 5k

Sub-5:30 in mile

Upcoming Races:

TBD

Long-Term Running Goals:

sub-3hr marathon

sub-5:15 min mile

become a competitive master's runner

win age division in smaller marathon

Personal:

Married w/six daughters (9 year age span)

Pastor a church in NC

Enjoy travel and recreation with family

Began running in November of 2007

Click to donate

to Ukraine's Armed Forces

Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	33.00	Year:	424.00
Barefoot Lifetime Miles:						114.25
K12- Black Lifetime Miles:						401.00
Kinvara 13 (blue 1) Lifetime Miles:						335.00
Kinvara 13 (blue 2) Lifetime Miles:						363.00
Kinvara 14 Neon Lifetime Miles:						384.00
Kinvara 14/teal Lifetime Miles:						334.00
Kinvara Blue/red Lifetime Miles:						98.00

Sun, Nov 20, 2011

Race: Philadelphia Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:30:24, Place overall: 223, Place in age division: 19

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.50	13.10	0.00	0.00	13.60

The plan was to run a marathon. I was lacking a bit of confidence going in- mostly due to low mileage training. Last year I ran Philly w/320 miles of running in October and a 1/2 marathon pr 2 weeks preceeding the race. This year I ran 205 miles in October and pr'd once again at the same 1/2 marathon preceding the race...Anyway, started off feeling great. Ran the first 10k in 41:46 (pretty close to my same time last year) and then on the second hill around mile 9 or 10 my legs started to stiffen. I switched to a 7min pace, hoping I could find a new groove and still pr in the marathon (needed sub 3:07). Fortunately, I was able to maintain 7min/pace alright, but unfortunately I was beginning to feel a bit like I normally feel around mile 18 or 20. Saw the 12 mile marker pointing half-marathoners to the right and decided to cruise into to a half-marathon finish so and save myself a month's worth of recovery time beforing training for the Boston Marathon.

I'm not one to like to quit, so it was a difficult decision. At the same time, I knew deep in my heart I had not put in the proper mileage to really race the marathon distance. My finish time for the half was 1:30:24 (my chip time for the half last year was 1:29:12). I think I made the right decision and now look forward to running with my wife on this Thursday's 10k Turkey Trot.

Briefly met Jake and Andrea who are on our blog. They both "went for it" and although they fell short of their posted goals, they both did awesome!

Also, prayers go out to the families of two runners who died in the race today. I don't know any details, but it was just reported on CNN news a few minutes ago.

Brooks Launch Miles: 13.60

Weight: 0.00

Comments

From Andrea on Sun, Nov 20, 2011 at 17:51:53 from 74.92.85.81

Hey, so nice to meet you! I wish we could've talked more than just a quick "good luck".

If you didn't feel prepared for the distance (mentally or physically) then it was a good idea to just get in a hard effort today. Save it for Boston!

From Jake K on Sun, Nov 20, 2011 at 20:27:46 from 74.92.85.81

Hey thanks for coming up and saying hi before the race. I was so in such a tunnel vision focus at that point that I didn't recognize you at first - I felt bad about that afterwards.

Smart move, I think, on what you did today. If Boston is really the big goal for you, by not going to the well today, you'll be able to bounce back quicker, get recovered, and start a really good buildup for Boston.

We just heard about the deaths too. Man that really puts a damper on things.

From flatlander on Sun, Nov 20, 2011 at 21:29:30 from 76.31.26.153

Good call there. I wouldn't have hesitated to do the same thing. Glad you got to meet some other bloggers, maybe I'll see you at Boston.

From MarkP on Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 00:14:45 from 97.117.104.229

Solid 1/2. Great job!

From rockness18 on Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 13:02:28 from 69.183.237.0

Andrea, Jake- very nice to meet you both. I hestitated coming up to you, wanting to respect how close we were to the starting gun. Would have loved to have talked more- my wife & fam couldn't make it, so I was off immediately after the race. Thanks for your feedback...I was definitely not prepared for the distance, so will spend the next couple months building up my base without having to deal with recovery time.

Flatlander and Mark- thanks to you both. I'll chalk it up as a nice training run.

From rAtTLeTrAp on Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 12:30:40 from 24.18.125.122

That's a great time for the half and your Boston experience will be better for it.

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