Race Strat and Time Goal – Straw Plains Half

Next up is the Strawberry Plains half. My workouts, if you can really call them that, have been going well this past month. I say that because I look at the work as being more of an adjustment phase. Purely mechanical vs. trying to improve my actual fitness capacity. Although I am doing hard work, it is fast and loud.

Which is harder? Running as fast as you can downhill, or trying to breathe while running back up? I say the latter. This has really opened my eyes a bit to just how slow I’ve been training and neglecting the actions required for significant speed increase.

Today’s marks 1 month of this phase with the 8th workout. I can’t particularly say they’ve gotten easier. I can manage about 6 reps and did 7 once last week. The main thing though is my muscles and hips seems to have adapted to the stress and the motion does feel somewhat smooth although not anywhere near a controlled-like territory.

Hamstrings get pretty beat up on these. After them being sore my last race I chose to shift to M-W instead of Tues-Thurs. That will give me an extra day of rest before the race. I also adjusted the W workout to a somewhat less grade hill. That didn’t feel so out of control as I had to rely more on my own power than being flung down by gravity. I noticed a slight decrease in the max pace achieved, which I like to use as a data point. I feel that the smoother and less steep hill allowed a more consistent and sustained effort. Compare that to the bursts provided from varying very steep sections which honestly felt like dangerous wreckless abandon the first few times. The uphill portion was also into a headwind that added an extra level of anaerobic fun into the mix.

So as we can above consistently was in the 4:30 range for a good amount of time and the last rep was top speed at 4:20/mile. Compared to Monday’s below, this workout was slightly slower but less recovery as indicated from the flat between the triangles instead of immediately going back up (I call those above shark teeth). With the longer recovery periods and a steeper drop was able to hit 4:10-4:15 fairly consistently. A good 10+ seconds/mile difference. Not huge but interesting mix up to my other sessions which were all on same hill below.

The race Saturday is hilly and my strategy is to slam every downhill. I know I will lose time on the uphill, the 10 mile clearly showed that so I’m not fighting it. 6:06 is (1:20 flat) I figure to lose 30 seconds or maybe more going up hill. I will aim for 6:02-6:03’s average, but keeping in mind I’ll need some sub 6 miles to make up for the hills. Looking below only mile 5 was below 6 minute pace last year and that was only due to it having that huge drop at the end of it. This time around I should be able to do that for nearly every small downhill, not just the biggest drops.

I am going to have to run smart the first 5 miles. It’s a steady grind gradually uphill. Smash the downhill at 5 and ride it to 10k. I would not be surprised to PR there but with the hills not counting on it. Then take a deep breath from 10k to 7.5 miles and stretch the legs to prepare for the biggest climb of the race. The out and back turnaround.

Mile 8 was the slowest split last year due to that climb. It is half repeated at mile 9 which is a double whammy to the lungs and quads. The good news is to start heading back home and smash that downhill with a sub six minute mile at 9. Time for those downhill sessions to show their quality.

At that point things will likely get rough. With strategy off the table it’s pure guts and smelling the barn. A good note though is at my last half marathon I managed to pull down 5:45 on the last two miles of flat. So, if the fitness holds up we should be good to hold through the hills at 11.5-12.5 and let loose on the final stretch into PR glory. For once I’m really excited about this training race despite it being tough. The elevation profile speaks for itself, but I feel like I’ve got some sharpened tools for combat this time around.

Plan. Believe. Execute.