Don't race, tune up (Frederick Half Marathon race report)

Two weekends ago, I ran the Frederick Half Marathon for the fourth time. The first time was 2012 (1:59:59), before I began to "seriously" train for marathons and try to qualify for Boston. 2013 (1:46:34) was after I'd completed my first marathon training cycle (with my runners club over the previous winter) and resulted in my current PR for the half and course PR. In 2014 (2:26:45), I paced my daughter in her first half marathon. It was hard at times, as other runners went by, to not start racing. But, it was a wonderful experience, especially crossing the finish line together. This year (1:49:20), I did race the course and finished almost three minutes slower than my PR--as planned.

The Pocono Marathon--my best chance this year to qualify for Boston 2016--is coming up this weekend. So, the toughest part of Frederick was to not race it hard and, instead, run it as a tune-up for Pocono. Many times I had to remind myself, as my breathing was telling me that I was running faster than planned, to slow down. Overall, I was quite happy that I ran Frederick as planned and was able to do some race-condition practice for fueling and hydration (e.g., finishing a gel on the run right before a 10-second water stop). I felt strong towards the finish, including on that final uphill on Highland St. just before the turn into the Fairgrounds, with fuel left in the tank.

At the start, I placed myself in between the 1:45 and 1:50 pacers. My heart wanted to go for the 1:45; fortunately, my mind prevailed and stayed closer to the 1:50. My plan generally was to stay somewhat ahead of the 1:50 pacer, to run the course at a decent pace but slowly enough to not affect the taper towards Pocono. And, I did that until near the end of Mile 9 along Market St., when the 1:50 group caught up with me. Then, at the beginning of Mile 10, along Schifferstadt Blvd., as I briefly stopped for water, the group passed me. I caught up with them about a mile and a half later, on East St. and ran with them for a bit. Finally, just before we turned left onto Delaware Rd. and towards the Mile 11 marker, I sped up and got ahead of the group (until the finish). Here's my pace chart, with the 2013 PR pacing (red) for comparison. Average pace this year was about 12 seconds slower. I had some problem with my GPS watch at the start, so the mile splits shown are offset by ~0.59 mile. But, it does show a more evenly paced run this year (slightly negative). 2013 had a faster first nine miles, though Mile 10 was kind of a mini-wall. I guess, for a short 13-mile race, the "banking time" strategy--though not intentional!--worked and resulted in my PR. But, for marathons, that would definitely not be a good idea!

Frederick is one of my favorite half marathons, a "big time race with small town charm." This year, there were some 4,000 runners. The course covers the entire central part of the city, bounded by I-70 and I-270. The start line on E. Patrick St. is just outside of the Great Frederick Fair. This was the first race for me with a UAV/drone taking videos (!).

                                                        (From Google map, with annotations)

Here are couple stills (from the videos available on the race Web site), showing an overview of the Fair and a view shortly after the start of the race.

Almost the entire Mile 3 is through downtown Frederick, on Market St., with great crowd support. Most of the rest of the course winds through various residential neighborhoods. Then, there's that final surprise (especially for first timers) of an uphill on Highland St. in the last half mile, just before the "Olympic-style" finish on the track of the Fairgrounds in front of the grandstands. This year, I arrived early enough to, for first time, park inside the Fairgrounds, which was quite convenient. There were plenty of porta-potties, plus the Fairgrounds bathrooms. There were aid stations every mile and a half; a few had food as well. All the volunteers were great--as usual! The post-race food was pretty standard but quite adequate. No bagels, but beer (2 bib tabs)! In 2014, there was some mix-up regarding a county law that beer can't be served until 11 am on Sundays. The race start time was 7 am, so, unless one finished at 11 am, there was no beer. This year, after a long (political) process by the race organizers, a bill was signed by the Governor of Maryland that allowed beer to be served, whether one finished at 11 am or 8 am!

There was a special early-bird discount for 2016, for a short period after the race; so, I'm already registered!