I ran the Boston Half on Sunday (previously known as the BAA Half) in an official time of 1:42:21, which was good enough for the win in the women's T35-38 division and 10th in my age group.
This race wasn't originally on my calendar for this year, but after I learned that the BAA offered the T35-38 division at all four of its races this year, I decided to try to make it work somehow. Initially that mean that I would run the Boston Half a few weeks after my goal fall marathon - Twin Cities. But then I hurt my hip in July and pivoted to Jacksonville in early December for my fall marathon, with the Boston Half falling in the final weeks of marathon training - just about perfect timing.
It was a great plan, but my hip took longer to clear up than I expected, and I wasn't able to start workouts until September. Which meant that I pushed my fall marathon back again to January (Houston). I still had a few weeks to build a bit of fitness for the Boston half, but the illness and then loss of my cat Isabella distracted me from serious training for another two weeks.
Had this race not involved Boston and the BAA and the T35-38 divisions, I honestly would have DNSed - I simply wasn't ready to race a half, and I had some concerns about re-aggravating either this summer's hip injury or a more recent back issue. But it's really important to me to show up for the T35-38 divisions whenever they are offered. The fact that these divisions exist and are competitive is hugely influential for those recently diagnosed with a neurodegenerative condition. In a new world packed with messaging that competitive sports and an active life are now out of reach, these divisions are a strong statement to the contrary that resonates far beyond the running community.
So....any time the BAA offers the T35-38 division and I am able to compete, I am there.
***
The BAA has high performance standards for their para divisions, and my 1:34 at One City earlier this year met their standard for the women's T35-38 division, making me eligible for their professional para-athlete program. I've been fortunate enough to be an elite at some races in what I now refer to as the "before" times - that experience generally meant a comped entry, a tent at the start with a separate bag check, maybe a hospitality room, and possibly the opportunity to place bottles out on course. This was completely different. |
| Oh, yeah |
I was picked up at the airport by a black car and transported to a high end hotel in downtown Boston. Both Friday and Saturday a hospitality room offered with lunch catered each day by...Chipotle (I am not making this up).
Saturday also featured an opportunity for the professional field to visit View Boston. My pictures don't quite do it justice (it was pretty cool). I wish I could have stayed longer, but I had a half-marathon to race the next day, so I needed to get off of my feet.
***
The rest of Saturday involved shopping, a mandatory shoe/logo/kit check, and a technical briefing. The shopping was actually a consequence of the logo/kit check. I knew that my race shoes complied with World Athletics rules. However, I didn't realize until I reviewed the weekend schedule on Friday night that the outfit I wore on race day also had to be World Athletics compliant. A total newbie error, and my bad for not looking sooner (in my defense, I've had a lot going on the last few weeks).
On Saturday morning I dug up the relevant World Athletics rules (rule C7.4, if you are interested - download it here). I had brought both a singlet and a long sleeve to wear, depending on the weather on race morning. Both had the Capital Area Runners logo - an image of the Capitol* building and the team name - across the front. Under my read of Rule C7.4, Capital Area Runners was a "Club" and so the logo was allowed as long as it was less than 10 cm high (if CAR was a "Sponsor" it would be subject to a 5 cm height limit and a 10 cm length limit).
[*yes, the proper spelling is CapitAl when referring to the city of Washington, DC and CapitOl when referring to the building where Congress meets. It's one way we haze the non-native Washingtonians.]
The next problem was that I didn't have a tape measure or ruler with me. However, my cell phone was 7 cm wide. Using that as a rough gauge, it looked like my team long sleeve was illegal but the team singlet was under the 10 cm height limit. I emailed my coach to ask if the singlet was legal for World Athletics. He wasn't sure about the singlet (our crop tops were WA legal, but that was of no use to me at the moment).
Since I wasn't confident my cell-phone estimate of the CAR logo height would survive a challenge, I ran over to Dick's Sporting Goods and bought a thin long sleeve in the proper shade of red. That evening, my singlet was indeed rejected by the powers that be, so I presented the logo-free long sleeve (a smart attorney knows when to pivot rather than appeal). That was accepted and I was good to go.
The upside was that I no longer had to choose between singlet-with-arm-warmers or long sleeve - the decision had been made for me. The downside was that I was breaking the "nothing new on race day rule," but it was what it was.
***
With my racing outfit set, I attended the technical meeting and then went back to my room for my traditional early pre-race bedtime. I'd like to say I slept well, but my hotel floor included many guests celebrating Diwali into the late evening at a volume that blasted through my earplugs. And of course, just as I drifted off I had to wake back up to take my overnight Rytary dose. Oh well - it's the sleep two nights before a race that matters the most.
I rolled out of bed at 4:15, ate my pre-race breakfast, listened to some music at the same rhythm as a half-marathon (Sisters of Mercy - Lucretia, My Reflection), and did my pre-race stretching/working out of muscle knots before heading down to the lobby at 5:45 to catch the 6 am buses to the start. At 6:15 my watch chimed and I took the dose of Rytary that would carry me through the warm-up and race.
Pre-race music: I've been on a Sisters of Mercy
kick for some reason lately...
Once in the para-athlete tent at the start, I dropped off my stuff, chatted briefly with some of the other para-athletes (including all of the T35-38 division) and headed out to warm up. A BAA official asked me to stay close to the tent, so I jogged back and forth on a strip of pavement about 150m, which was more than adequate for my needs.
 |
| From left to right: myself, Joe, Dave, and Sara, all competing in the T35-38 division. |
My warm-up for a half-marathon is generally around 3 miles. But that's assuming I'm reasonably fit. I was seriously concerned about my ability to complete this distance at racing effort, given the hills and my minimal post-injury training, so I limited my warm-up to just under 2 miles with 3 minutes of up tempo running and one stride. Better to go out too cold than to wear out my legs before the race.
Then I headed back to the tent to get walked to the start. It was a cold morning (mid-30s) that felt even colder after a too-warm DC fall, and my feet were blocks of ice. I took a moment to be grateful for the tights and long sleeve I would be racing in, while also filing a mental note to wrap KT tape over the uppers of my shoes next time (really helps keep the toes warm).
Like a well oiled machine, the wheelchair racers went off, then the elite men. The elite women were next, and then the para field started 30 seconds after, with a 3 minute gap between us and the open field.
***
I had studied the course (link to course map/profile) and so I knew it was basically downhill for the first miles before rolling through the middle miles. Starting at mile 8, we would return uphill. The worst climb would be after mile 11, followed by more rolling hills. Unquestionably a course to race for place rather than time. What I didn't know was just how steep the hills were.
The first mile answered that question, as we continued to drop and drop. I've been working a lot in PT on my balance when running downhill, and I noted (with some pride) that my downhill running was much improved as compared to this spring. Which doesn't mean I ran downhill well...I was still dropped by a large chunk of the para field, including all of the other runners in the T35-38 division (two men and one woman - Joe, Dave, and Sara). I kept one mental eye on them, while the rest of my focus was on my own form - trying to relax and look up and forward while my legs extended behind me and my hips rolled to each side.
***
Just as I was passing the first mile marker, the leaders of the open field passed me. They heralded a trickle that would grow to a stream and then a river of faster runners. Being passed from behind usually really screws up my running gait - it's a combination of the motion around me throwing off my balance and the noise temporarily breaking my concentration. But I handled it surprisingly well this time around. I suspect part of the credit goes to all of my PT work over the last few weeks; the course also had plenty of room for all of us, which helped a lot.
About 1.5 miles in, my gait started working and I was able to start racing. I had lost sight of both Sara and Joe - meaning they each had at least a minute on me, but I could see Dave in the distance, so I used him as my first focus. I increased my effort cautiously, staying somewhere between half-marathon and marathon effort over the rolling hills. I knew that the course was net uphill after mile 8, and that at mile 11 we would climb back up the big hill we had just descended. I needed to have plenty left in the tank for the last third of the race.
***
I inched up to and past Dave, and then saw Joe in the distance. Slowly he drew closer, and then I passed him just after the 5K mark, with Joe kindly offering some encouraging words as I passed. Now I needed to catch Sara - she was the runner I was most focused on, since the T35-58 division was divided by sex for awards.
I couldn't see her anywhere ahead of me, and so I was tempted to speed up to try to find her. Reminding myself that we still had nearly 10 miles to go in this race, with many of them uphill, I recommitted to my measured effort. If I hadn't caught her by mile 8 or so, then I'd get aggressive.
It was the right choice, as I spotted her a few minutes later. By the time we hit the first turn-around point (around mile 4.5) her lead on me was down to 30 seconds (I measured by counting the seconds from a) when she and I ran past each other to b) when I hit the turn-around, and then multiplying by 2). Holding my steady effort, I reeled her in and then had the lead. For the T35-38 division, at least. Open runners were still streaming past me.
The next miles were about finding a steady rhythm and other runners nearby to chase while clicking off mile markers over the rolling hills. By mile 7 I was ready to stop running, which was worrisome. But...the race wasn't done yet, so I just focused on my effort rather than the miles.
At mile 9 we started climbing again, and I was grateful I had stayed conservative. With only 4 miles to go, I tried to pick up the effort, but my legs were lead. The last few miles felt much more like marathon slogging than half-marathon hammering. My aerobic system wasn't working terribly hard, but my legs had nothing left. Finally, mercifully, I hit the final climb to the finish line. I stumbled across and was done.
Stopping my watch, I noted a time of 1:42:19 (ended up being 1:42:21 official). A new personal worst for the half-marathon distance, but I was actually OK with it (albeit a bit bummed that I didn't even break 1:40, which was the comp standard for my division). I had left it all out there and run the best race I had in me and snagged the division win; the time was simply a consequence of being out of shape and rusty while racing a tough course.
Splits were:
Mile 1: 8:51
Miles 2-3: 15:59
Mile 4: 7:28
Mile 5: 7:33
Mile 6: 7:49
Mile 7: 7:45
Mile 8: 7:33
Mile 9: 7:35
Mile 10: 7:49
Mile 11: 7:43
Mile 12: 7:44
Mile 13: 7:41
last bit: 52 seconds.
Because of my struggles running downhill, I actually negative split this race, despite the course. That amuses me.
My time was good enough for the win in the women's T35-38 division, as well as 10th in my age group. Since it was a cold morning, the BAA did the awards on a rolling basis - calling us up to the stage within about 10 minutes of crossing the line. I much appreciated the opportunity to get back to my hotel and a hot shower quickly. This was followed by a nice lunch at a nearby restaurant, and then a car ride back to Logan for my flight back to DC. Overall, a great weekend, and I'm very grateful to the BAA for the opportunity.
Other notes:
- The weather ended up being 34 degrees at the start, and 48 degrees by the time I ended. Wearing a thin longsleeve and thin tights, I was slightly cold in the early miles, and slightly warm in the final miles. Ultimately I think this was the right thing to wear. Before Parkinsons, this would have unquestionably have been shorts and singlet+arm-warmers weather. But I find now that my legs get extremely stiff if they are chilled at all, and my torso doesn't fare much better. So it's always best to risk being a bit too warm at the end of a race.
- As a para-athlete, I was asked to stay on the right side of the road - this of course meant that I couldn't run the tangents. So it's not at all surprising that my Garmin showed a distance of 13.31 for the full race. While some of that was Garmin error, some was also simply running wide on a wide course. I'm not complaining - starting ahead of the main field and staying off to the side of the course are simply part of competing in the para division, in much the same way that not being able to wear a big logo is part of competing in the professional field. But I think it does add a small bit onto my time. Which is why it's also great to run some races in the open field, where I can start with those of similar pace, run the tangents, and go for my fastest time.
- This race felt much more like miles 10-23 of a marathon than a half, in terms of both aerobic effort during the race and how much it beat up my legs (especially my quads). The good news is this was a good effort to kick off marathon training. If I can hold this effort for a full 26 miles on a flatter course, I should have a good shot of cracking 3:20, which is my goal for Houston.
- I debated whether to wear the Vaporfly 3 or the Rocket X2 for this race. The Vaporfly feels more nimble and has better traction, but is less stable or forgiving of slower paces. The Rocket X2 is also a fast shoe and much more stable at all paces, but is slick on wet pavement. For this race, with a lot of downhill and dry pavement, I think the Rocket X2 was the right choice. Had the race been flat, I think the Vaporfly might have been better.
- Obligatory photo of bib and trophy. My blog, my bragging.
No comments:
Post a Comment