Half and Half Paved Half Marathon

This year with how our Thanksgiving plans worked out, I wasn't able to run the Route 66 Half Marathon. I was hoping to run it in my build for the Houston Marathon. I started looking at other possible half marathons that would work within my build and came across the Half and Half Paved Half Marathon on December 4th. The only problem was it fell the day after a trail race I did last year and really loved. I already built that race into my training schedule and planned to run the 10k this year. Something came up on the 3rd that conflicted with that race which opened up the 4th for the half marathon. I was undecided on running it because I didn't like the course and I knew it was going to be a small race without much competition which would make it hard to run a good time. The course was all on the paved Riverside trails but incorporated the biggest hills on the trails. There's a half-mile long hill up 71st Street (now looking at the Garmin segment I see it's really 8/10ths of a mile long, I was just estimating it was a half mile long) that isn't super steep but is just so long, it's tough. Then there's a set of steep hills going up to Turkey Mountain from the west side of the trails that are brutal. I run them fairly frequently when I run long runs from my house and they are rough at the end of a long run. I also use those hills when I do my hill suicides workout. When I've run marathon paced miles during a long run and had a mile that goes up those hills, it's usually about 20 seconds per mile over pace. Running them at the end of a half just seemed brutal. The course only had about 350 feet of elevation gain but it was all in mile 8/9 and mile 13 outside of a few little hills here and there. The upside was the race start was about 7 minutes from my house. 

With April after the race.

I finally decided I'd just wait until day of to sign up so I could do it based on how I was feeling the week leading up to the race, but then they had a Black Friday discount code so I went ahead and signed up on Black Friday. I really regretted that after I had some hamstring issues during my 20 mile long run the following day and regretted it even more when Ty tested positive for Covid the Monday after Thanksgiving. I was so sure I was going to end up sick and not be able to run the race. Carter and I both ended up with an upper respiratory viral infection. He ended up at Urgent Care on Saturday which caused me to miss my run that day between that and all the things we had packed into the day. I decided maybe that was a good thing so I was a bit rested before the race since I wasn't feeling 100% and had the 20 miler from the weekend before on my legs. I've never run a half-marathon the weekend after a 20 mile long run and have had some rough 10k and 15k races the weekend after 20 mile long runs so I really had no idea how this race would go. I hoped to be able to average around 7:20 pace and was hoping to finally break 1:36 again because I haven't run under 1:36 since Covid, so it's been a while! Which is frustrating because my last half marathon before Covid was a 1:32. If I had left it up to signing up the day of the race I definitely wouldn't have run this one, but I'm glad I did because it was a nice confidence boost.

I set out my clothes the night before and the weather app showed it was going to be 32 degrees so I set out tights. The morning of the race it was 37 degrees with a slight windchill which really should have been shorts, but I just couldn't bring myself to change out my clothes, so I went with the tights. I was a little worried I was overdressed standing around before the race because I wasn't freezing. Then I reminded myself it's likely going to be unseasonably warm for me on marathon race day since I'm going to Houston for the race. So decided it could be like heat training, haha! Once we started running I realized with the wind, it was actually colder running than it was standing around and I never ended up feeling too warm during the race. I knew parking was going to be an issue so I left the house at 7 and got there at 7:10. The bottom parking lot was already full so I hopped out, grabbed my packet, and went up to park in the top lot. I jogged the trails down to the parking lot as a warm up which was fun. I wanted to get at least 15 miles in for the day so it was nice I got a little warm up in. I chatted with some friends when I got down to the starting area. Then I found April and we got in line for the porta potties but realized we weren't going to have time so we snuck into the woods instead. The race started right at 8:00. No one was going up toward the front of the race so I just jumped in toward the front. We took off and pretty quickly a woman came up on me and passed me. She gapped me a little bit and then must have settled into the same pace as I was running because the gap didn't grow. The course went out for a bit and then down the 71st Street hill that we would come up later in the race. My plan was to go out at 7:20 pace and then pick it up halfway but I knew the first mile would go out a bit faster because of the downhill, so I didn't worry about looking at my watch to try to stay at pace or anything, my plan was to run the race by feel. 

Going down the hill another woman wearing shorts and a tank top and completely red from the cold came flying past me and when she caught up to the other woman, she went with her. Once they started running together, their gap didn't grow. I knew if they stayed where they were I would be able to catch them both. It was weird though because the one kept cutting the other off and slowly veering over toward her. I was a little jealous they had each other to run with until I saw her doing that and was glad to be on my own. I went through the first mile in 7:11 and was feeling so great. During the 2nd mile another woman caught up to me and passed me and when I saw her, I knew she was going to win the race. She looked amazing and steadily gapped me the whole race. I don't know if she started late or started too far back or what, but I have no idea how she was behind me for a mile. Around in here the shorts and tank top girl went off the trail and into the woods and after that I only saw her after going back after a turn around as she was still running out. I passed the other woman at some point during mile 2 which I went through also in 7:11. I was feeling awesome and got excited that maybe I'd be able to run my illusive 1:33 (which is 7:05-7:10 pace) because I felt so good but I also kept those hills at the end of the race in the back of my mind. If the whole course had been flat, I really think there's a strong possibility I could have run a 1:33.

There was an aid station a bit after the 2 mile mark and I took water. I took water at every aid station and they were about every 2-3 miles on the course. I did a better job drinking than I had during the Tulsa Run but I still took my glove off to take the water at the first couple because I was still wearing them and didn't want to get them wet. Miles 3 and 4 were 7:05 and 7:02 and I was so excited about how great I was feeling. When we turned around I realized we'd had the wind at our back on the way out which had definitely helped me on the way out. The wind wasn't super strong but it was enough to slow me down a smidge. Miles 5 and 6 were both 7:16 and I knew a 1:33 was definitely out since I had hills looming at the end of the race, so I let that idea go. I was still feeling really good and was enjoying seeing other people on the way out as I ran back because the way out had been a bit lonely. We hit the 71st Street hill during mile 7 and there was a photographer there. I thanked him for being out there and he said, "Thanks for running," which I thought was funny. I also saw a lady in a red car a few times out on the course who I think was cheering for a kid I passed right after the halfway mark. She would pull up blaring music and cheering which was so much fun. I told her after the race that she was the highlight of the course for me. It was especially nice seeing her going up the 71st Street hill. She was so pumped up that when she high fived me she did it so hard my hand came back and whacked me in the head which surprised me but kept me chuckling as I thought about it later in the race. I passed the last guy close to me going up the hill and after that I couldn't even see the person closest to me. I had "The Princess Pat" which is a Girl Scout song stuck in my head throughout the race which was weird to me. I don't think I've heard it since our Girl Scout campout in September or October.

Miles 7 and 8 with that hill split between them were 7:19 and 7:26. I felt like I pushed pretty well up the hill and was excited I didn't lose much time on my 7:20 pace goal in those miles. After I crested the hill, I looked down at my pace a couple times, and I was really struggling to bring my pace back down. It took my legs a while to come back around, especially because we then went down the monster hills toward the west side of the river and they are so steep, it's hard to maintain control and they trashed my quads a bit. The way out on the westside of the river was lonely. I couldn't see anyone ahead of me and if I weren't super familiar with the trail, I would have thought I took a wrong turn. I didn't see anyone until the top male was running back toward me after the turn around. It felt like a sad, lonely, and painful solo tempo run. Miles 9 and 10 were 7:28 and 7:10. I saw the top woman coming back toward me around 10.5 miles and estimated she was about a mile ahead of me and had at least a 7 minute gap on me. It turned out she beat me by 8 minutes so I was really close! I was excited mile 10 was back under 7:20 but I knew when I turned around I was going to have a slight incline all the way back until I hit the big hills and I was going to be running into the wind again. I hit the turn around point a little before 11 miles and saw some friends working the aid station there which was fun. Miles 11 and 12 were 7:20 and 7:24. I felt really strong and I wasn't hurting, but I just didn't have another gear. I think that may have been where the 20 mile long run factored into my race day experience. I kept feeling like I sped up only to look down and see my pace was still 7:20 or was wonky and showing 8:00 pace. My watch always struggles to show current pace on this section of the trails because there's woods on one side and factories on the other which mess with the signal. So I had no idea what pace I was running and was feeling a little frustrated that I wasn't able to pick it up like I wanted to. I was calculating my time and knew I was still going to be under 1:36 which I was excited about. I saw the 3rd place female after I turned around and guessed my lead on her was a little less than what 1st place had on me and I was correct, she finished 7 minutes after I did.

When I came up on the big hills, I knew the worst one was going to be the first one and then I'd get a little flat section before hitting the next 3. I really struggled up that first hill and my legs were burning. I told myself to push the pace on that short flat section and I did. I felt strong on the last hills and smiled at the people still going out on the course. I looked at my watch starting up the last hill and saw I was already at 1:35 and knew with how far I had to go there was no way I'd finish in under 1:36 and my heart dropped. I was so disappointed and couldn't figure out how I had lost so much time. Then I noticed I was already over 13 miles and realized the course was going to be a bit long. The joys of running a non-certified course! I really expected with a course that was 2 out and backs that it wouldn't be long, but what can you do? I decided to hit the lap button on my watch when I got to 13.1 miles so I'd know my half time even though the course was going to be over. Mile 13 was 7:48 which I was also a bit bummed about but I also know from running marathon paced miles up these hills that the hills put me about 20 seconds/mile over pace. I just hoped I'd be able to push up the hills better than that since it was my finishing kick. I went through the half-marathon in 1:35:54 and then crossed the finish line in 1:36:58. I was proud of how I ran the race and immediately on a runner's high. I jogged back down to run to the finish with April but she was really kicking it in up the hills and I couldn't and didn't want to hang so I turned back and jogged out more. People saw me and thought I was doing the marathon because they knew I had been ahead of them which was funny. I jogged a 2 mile cool down and then picked up my reward and cheered finishers on until I got really cold and started shivering so I decided to head back up to my car and go home.

I was 2nd out of 82 women and 5th out of 131 overall. The race results only have gun time and it's listed as chip time. I was initially really happy with my results and proud of myself for running a strong half marathon the weekend after a 20 mile long run. Then I saw the online results and my time being over 1:37 really bugged me. It would be one of my slowest half-marathons and slower than all the recent halves I've run when I know I'm in better shape and had a stronger race. I told myself it was silly to worry about that because my average pace was 7:20 which was faster than all my recent races, but I couldn't help but let the official finishing time bug me. At Route 66 with all the turns, I usually get a distance of 13.14-13.18 on my Garmin. This race I had 13.22 and it was an out and back course. So I know it was long and not that I didn't do a great job running tangents because there just weren't enough turns for that. I have a hard time because I'd be super excited about a 1:35:54, but I am a bit disappointed with a 1:37:07. But either way both those times predict a marathon time well under my 3:35 Boston Qualifying Standard so I need to stop being silly and just let it go! My pace for the Tulsa Run was 7:19 for 9.35 miles and I ran a half a little over a month later at just 1 second per mile slower, so I should be just as proud of this race as I was of the Tulsa Run! Now I really want to run another half-marathon for redemption. I'm thinking a spring half-marathon training block is in order! I also had a hard time not being disappointed that I had to run this race instead of Route 66 because even though Route 66 has about 100 feet more elevation gain than this race, it's spread out more. Plus it is way bigger so I would have had people to run with. I would like to do this race again at some point as the half and half where you run a half-marathon on the trails of Turkey Mountain and then a half-marathon on the Riverside paved trails to run a full marathon. I like the idea of the challenge of that!