Last weekend I ran the April Sorensen Half Marathon. My time wasn’t all that great, but my place was significantly better than last year: 4th overall.
My time was actually a few seconds slower than last year: 1:30:08, but it’s hard to compare times because the course changed. Also, times were slower this year because the last few miles were on scorching new asphalt backtop, which caught a number of runners by surprise in the late stages of their racing.
One fellow I chased nearly the whole race, simply stopped and walked around mile ten or eleven, I can’t remember which. I do know it took him a while to start running again because he came in at least a minute or two behind me.
The other reasons why I think my time was fairly slow, 6:53 pace per mile compared to 6:35 per mile for my PR, are these:
- This course still had very long rolling hills, which take their toll over time, but aren’t immediately apparent as a source of exhaustion.
- I really haven’t done the miles yet, to merit a fast half marathon time. There’s mileage for base building and then there is mileage for simply getting through a long race with enough endurance. My aerobic capacity was okay, but legs felt remarkably heavy, which is partly hydration, but also having to do with arriving at my lactate threshold.
I’m going to pick up my mileage carefully in the next few weeks and see if I can’t better prepare for a couple races in August.