I completed my second half marathon last Sunday, in Lake Placid, NY. I have one word for you: hills.
My first half marathon was in Miami. It’s flat there.
For those not familiar with Lake Placid, it’s a little town in the heart of the Adirondack mountains in upstate New York. It’s also the site of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games – there’s hardcore athletic performance in those hills. (See the Olympic ski jump behind me? Yikes!)
I learned a few things during my sophomore outing as an endurance athlete, things NOT to do if you want to have a successful race. Lucky for me, I adjusted quickly to these lessons as I pushed my way up and over the hills of Lake Placid to a personal half marathon record (13.1 miles) of 1:56:57.
DON’T:
- Count on your race plan. I had a plan: Run 10 seconds slower than my “marathon pace” for the first five miles, kick it up to marathon pace during miles 6 – 10, and kick it up even more (if I could) for the last three miles. About 15 minutes into my run, I hadn’t seen a mile marker. I don’t have a fancy GPS-enabled watch, so I need mile markers to pace myself. In typical Type A fashion, I panicked…until I decided that it was no big deal, I’d just run by feel this race. (The slightly hidden mile markers eventually appeared; but by then, I’d already learned my lesson: chill.)
- Be obsessed with your pace every single second. As evidenced by #1, I’m a planner. I’d even printed out a wristband with mile split times based on my estimated finish time. (For other geeky runners, check out MarathonGuide.com’s Pace Wristband Creator. It rocks.) The downside to this much planning is that you forget to look around, be in the moment. I know the Lake Placid course was beautiful, but I didn’t actually notice it until about halfway through the race when I finally relaxed. (Again. Chill.)
- Think that pacing doesn’t matter. I know I just said you shouldn’t obsess about pace, but pacing has its benefits. Running according to plan during 75% of the race paid off for me in the last few miles when I was able to back off a little and run “by feel” because I knew I was slightly ahead of my goal time. Good thing too…my knee was cranky by mile 11. And the hills…OMG the hills!
- Assume that you should eat and drink exactly what you ate and drank before. My body needed different things in terms of nutrition this time. Makes sense when you think about it: different climate; different pacing; different day. Be aware that things change with your nutrition too and don’t force yourself to stick with an arbitrary “I should have a gel or a snack every 45 minutes.” You might need more, you might need less, depending on the day and the race.
- Discount the power of support from strangers. Having friends, family, and coaches at a race is so great (a HUGE thank you to my Team in Training coaches, Sarah, Pam, Michael, Steve, Noah, and Parks, who lined the course with words of encouragement); but remember to get and give some love to random spectators too. The three little kids standing at the base of the last uber hill in mile 13 TOTALLY got me to the end. Nothing cooler than high fives from tiny hands as you round the bend, even if you have to bend down a little to get them. 🙂
- Keep going even if you’re in pain. I stopped and stretched twice when my knee started to bother me. Probably lost about 45 seconds. Eh. It happens. Do what you need to do. (Notice how my ability to chill increased as the miles piled on?)
- Look down your nose at “small” races. The Miami Half Marathon was a HUGE race, competitor-wise. There were something like 40,000+ runners. It’s sponsored by ING, so there’s lots of fanfare and lots of goodies. Lake Placid had 2000 runners between the half and full marathons. There was no fancy “expo” at registration, no schwag bags full of samples, no music along the course (except that provided by supportive Lake Placid residents). I’ll admit that I was disappointed…until I saw how relaxed everything was on race day. There was no pushing and shoving to get lined up at the start. The excitement was there but a bit more mellow…and accompanied by the Olympic theme music as we got going {grin}. It was nice.
Bottom line? Every race is different. By the grace of the gods, this was another good race for me. The weather was decent (not so for the full marathoners, who dealt with torrential rain later in the day). My body cooperated (mostly). My speed and hill work during training paid off. I’m sure it won’t always be that way. I learned some valuable lessons about going with the flow this time around.
Next week, I’ll offer up 5 steps for going from couch to race for any would-be runners out there. (I believe in you!!) If you’ve registered for a fall race, you’ll start training soon!
