Sunday, November 29, 2015

Schaumburg Half Marathon 2015 Race Recap

Yesterday, I ran the Schaumburg Half Marathon. The day before the race, I got an e-mail that the course had to be rerouted due to road construction. It would actually be the third different course layout in the three times I've run it.


Goal: Since I had just run a fast Lincolnwood Turkey Trot 10k less than six days before, I was hoping for a convergence of my new found speed and my residual marathon endurance. I ran low mileage all week in order to help my legs and lungs recover. I was actually feeling good the night before the race and even enjoyed a little brandy. I also spent some time analyzing my splits from previous half marathons and combining that knowledge with how I currently felt, I came up with a target race pace of 6:30/mile. I would start out slow for the first two miles then try and lock in the 6:30/mile pace for the rest of the race. My goal was to run a smart race with a slight negative split and see if I could flirt just under 1:26:00.


Getting To the Race:  I drove on an almost empty Kennedy expressway and made it from my house to the parking lot in Rolling Meadows in 30 minutes.

Pre-Race:  After getting out of my car, I headed over to the yellow school buses (aka "shuttle buses") which would take us to the starting line. This was a point-to-point course so our checked bags would have to be shuttled back to the finish line. Someone on the bus said "hi Pete" and it was Kim P.

The shuttle bus was caught in a huge traffic jam of cars blocking the entrance to turn into the drop off area. Apparently, each driver had to be told individually that the drop off area was full. Then each car would stop in the middle of the road to let runners out. Each car was blocking the entrance for a minute a piece. I saw a woman jump out of her car in the middle of the road to run to the start line, she dropped her watch without knowing it, and a minute later I saw it was run over by a car and shattered into pieces. Ouch. Anyway, the two mile shuttle bus ride from my car to the start line felt like it took about the same amount of time it took me to drive from Chicago to the parking lot in Rolling Meadows.

Race temps were forecasted for 32 degrees, so I decided to run in shorts and a long sleeve wicking shirt. I got my packet and made my way over to the bag check area. Wendy spotted me, we said hi, chatted and got a pre-race picture. After only knowing her through her blog and tweets over the past couple of years, it was nice to finally meet her IRL.

Pre-race with Wendy (src)
With about five minutes left, I went to check my bag, but the bag check line was super long. Luckily the line of people crossed in front of the starting line, so I knew the race could not start until all of the bags had been checked - which meant I would be okay. With about a minute to spare I checked my bag, then crawled between the corral barrier into the 7:00/mile area. The horn sounded and we were off!

Miles 1 through 3: The first mile of the race was a loop around a parking lot. I had started pretty far back, so I spent a little bit of energy passing people. I was still carrying my water bottle, so I decided to run the first six miles with my own water, then throw it out at an aid station. As we turned around and headed back the other direction I waved to Wendy. Eventually, I made my way up to the 1:30:00 group and ran with them for a little bit. Some kids in the 1:30:00 group were goofing around and shoving each other. One of the kids got shoved into me, and almost knocked me over. I was ticked off, so I surged a bit by running on the grass and got around them. 6:34/mile.

Miles 4 through 6: After getting past most of the crowds, I started running through the quiet woods. It was quite nice running in the great outdoors and hearing only the peaceful sounds of breathing and footfalls. Since there weren't many distractions, it was a good opportunity to evaluate how hard I was breathing and gauge how I was holding up. I determined I felt fantastic! After cresting then descending on a bridge over a road, a small but enthusiastic crowd cheered us on. 6:26/mile.

Miles 7 through 9: At about the halfway mark, the course made a u-turn and headed back towards the start. Erica cheered me on, and I ran across a grassy area back to the bridge. I passed a few more runners, but my pace slowed as we were running into the wind. I was passed by a guy who I think had been pacing someone behind me, but for some reason, he had left him and sped ahead of me. 6:28/mile.

Miles 10 through 12: I was pretty much running alone for this stretch. Once again in the stillness it was really nice to do a check of how my breathing and legs were holding up. I glanced at my Garmin and was pleased that my pace was still quick and I still did not feel overly strained. However, since I was by myself, I was afraid of making a wrong turn as there were various trails and parking lots in which to veer. Luckily through the trees ahead, I could occasionally see the (at that point) third place woman ahead as she was wearing a bright pink jacket so I could relax a little. 6:19/mile.

Miles 13 and 13.08: The woman in pink passed another woman who was losing speed. I passed her as well and we crested a small hill which led down to the finish line. The woman in pink was just ahead and I made attempt to pass her on the final uphill stretch to the finish line, but the finish line came up and we were done! 6:20/mile.

I crossed the finish line and got my medal about two feet later!

Analysis:


Age Group: 1st of 86
Overall: 16th of 1415

Official finishing time was 1:24:33 for a new "Schaumburg Turkey Trot PR" by over four minutes!  I won my age group and beat the second place male in my age group by almost two and a half minutes! It was also my second fastest half marathon ever. However, I think the course was short based on my Garmin results (that's why I put 13.08 above in my racap). My guess is that the course was probably hastily put together the day before, using someone riding a bike with a GPS watch to measure. The biker may have taken slightly wider tangents than a runner would (just a guess). Typically my GPS measures about 13.2 for a regular half marathon - since I don't run all of the tangents perfectly. In any case, it was still the second fastest GPS pace I've run for a half marathon (6:28/mile), so it can still legitimately said to be my second fastest ever. Adjusting for the short course, I probably really ran about a 1:25:10 which would still be my second best. I also ran just two seconds per mile below my target pace of 6:30/mile, so my pre-race analysis paid off.

Post Race:
I picked up my gear and headed back to the finish line. I spotted Kim finishing - then Wendy flew on by. I took a few pictures of her finishing strong. I walked over to the finisher chute where Wendy and I chatted as I waited for my AG medal. Before we left for our cars, we got this pic:



Conclusion:
Great racing weather, good friends and a fun time had by all.

Next Up: An easy week with lots of rest. After that I'll probably start training for the "It's S-NO-W Fun Run" and the "F3 Half" in January.

23 comments:

  1. Who has the energy to goof around when you are running a 1:30 pace? Crazy kids. It was a fun race. My Garmin read 13.11, so I agree with you, the course was a tad short. Better than being too long, imho.

    It was so great to finally meet you. Looking forward to some races with you next year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. I don't think those kids were able to hang with the 1:30 group, as there was only one woman with the 1:30 pacer at the finish line! Yes, our paths will likely cross again at a race next year!

      Delete
  2. I saw the woman argue and then drop her watch. We were in the car right behind her and tried to tell her and her passenger about it but they were so mad they weren't paying attention. Ouch for sure!


    Great race! But who shoves into each other in a race? What a jerk move! Sorry they bumped you, I would have been mad! Sounds like you ended up with a solid race anyway, congrats on the AG win!

    My watch ended up reading 13.03, but I figured that was because it paused at 10.38 for a few minutes. Probably the redesign like you said but I was just happy not to finish on the grass this year! That hill at the end was a lot more annoying in the 5k last year than it was here for some reason.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So you were waiting in the traffic jam too? I saw someone from another car wave at the car and point at the watch (maybe someone your car?). I hope next year they figure out the traffic issues. Maybe they could announce that the "Start Line" lot closes at 8:15am and so no one would try to park there during crunch time? Thanks! Yes, not finishing on grass this year was a pleasant surprise. If they had kept it that way, they would have had problems if there had been snow!

      Delete
    2. Yes that was probably us, we were literally the car behind angry watch lady.

      I don't remember traffic issues for this race in the past but I also felt like the course was so much more crowded this year. We left with what should have been plenty of time and ended up sitting unhappily watching people argue with that poor police officer. The arguing woman took the cake though.

      As it was the stretch in the out and back portion across the grass got super mucky, so I was glad the end wasn't grassy too - with all the extra foot traffic it would have been a real mess!

      Delete
    3. Maybe the "angry watch lady" caused most of the congestion this year. I guess all it takes is one person/car to create a massive traffic jam since there was only one entrance. Last year the finish line grass was wet and getting sloppy when I ran across it. It really killed my finishing kick. This year the wind and the uphill finish area killed it. I guess I can't be happy.:)

      Delete
  4. Ugh I hate when people goof off when there are other runners near. Congrats on the awesome PR/race!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I wish people would save the goofing off until after the race! Thanks!

      Delete
  5. Congrats on your PR. Mine said 13.1 exactly so i think you are right about a slightly short course. I normally am at 13.25-13.3 for a half. Either way... good job! Will meet up with you one of these days

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Yeah, it was very likely short. I'm kinda glad I only ran a 2nd best PR and not a PR, because otherwise it would bug me that my PR was done on a short course! Yes, we will definitely have to meet up sometime! :)

      Delete
  6. Nice race and great splits! Congrats on 1st in AG and such a big time distance between you and #2. Ha, I think you can still count it as a second fastest HM - that distance is REALLY close to 13.1.

    I was going to ask if this race is very crowded, as I've thought about doing it, but I would be back much further than you - I bet it is more crowded around the 8:00/9:00 minute milers.

    That sucks so bad about that lady's watch getting run over. What a cluster!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it's still my 2nd fastest, but I need to put an asterisk by the result on my athlinks page to indicate a short course! In the future if I run a 1:25:00 on a legit course, I may have to delete this race and it's illegitimate 1:24:33! From my standpoint the race wasn't too crowded, except the trails are narrow in spots so I had to "pass on the grass" a few times. There are probably more bottlenecks experienced by the 8:00 to 9:00 milers milers. I like this race because it's the last half marathon of the "season" and is over 1.5 months from the Chicago Marathon, so my legs are fresh and my endurance is still pretty decent!

      Delete
  7. Another amazing race for you!!! Congratulations on winning your AG!

    Oh my goodness, what a disaster at the start of the race with the course rerouting, the bag check disaster, and that woman who dropped her watch to get run over by a car. Yikes on that kid who bumped into you, too! Sheesh! Great job on not getting frazzled by all of the craziness and still pulling out such a strong race!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! It was a nice strong race to cap off my racing season this year. I guess I am able to tune most distractions out when I am racing. If there is someone bothering me, I speed up to get away from them. Maybe not the best idea - since I burn up energy doing so! :)

      Delete
  8. Pete you've had such a strong year with great performances one after the other. Congrats on winning you AG by so much!
    Crazy how messed up the starting logistics were and very sad about that watch. Ouchie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Marcia! Yes, it would be an even better race if they could just get the start logistics down. Thanks again!

      Delete
  9. Congrats on a strong race, Pete B! Great analysis as always :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Another great race, Pete!! Do you have big racing plans for 2016? I might do F3 too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sara! So far, I've only signed up for the F3. Am looking into spring marathon options currently!

      Delete
  11. Congrats Pete!! Ugh, so annoying about the long wait/drive from your car to the start line. And that poor woman's watch? Ouch!!

    ReplyDelete