Soldier 1/2 Marathon - A turkey's tale

Ah, the Soldier Marathon and Half Marathon, where to begin?  It all started, wait… 
The Soldier Marathon is my favorite race, small, but with the benefits of a large marathon.  I ran the inaugural in 2011, and got my first BQ, 3:05; and was second in my AG (i.e. small race).  Received a nice plaque for that.  I then ran it in 2012 as my Marathon Maniac Qualifying race, having run Savannah the weekend prior in 2:50.  Although it was tough, I ran a 2:56 at Soldier that year; winning my AG.  In 2013, I paced a friend to a BQ in 3:30.
 
This year was going to be different, for one, I was running the Half Marathon, and this isn’t the final race of my fall.  This year I have a Marathon on December 1^st; what was I thinking???
 
When putting my fall training and racing plan together, I knew I couldn’t skip Soldier’s, as I have always had great memories and fun with friends there.  While running a hard half marathon 22 days out from your goal marathon isn’t perfect, it’s not terrible either, so I decided to make Soldier’s my test race for the marathon build up.
 
I’ve been training pretty well, hitting a lot of 70, a bunch of 80, and one or two 90-mile weeks since the July.  I’ve been focusing on volume, hitting the track a few times a month, and a race every other weekend or so (without taper).  I had been running descent, near PR times, often on difficult courses.  I thought I was fit, but I was going to find out.
 
The race had fallen to the back of my mind, but quickly became in focus when I looked at my training schedule last week.  I had run a pretty fast 5K (for me) last Saturday, this had got me contemplating how I was going to run this race. 
I had set the following goals (both PRs over my 1:19:05 at Albany last Spring):
A)   1:18:25 (Positive reinforcement for my marathon goal)
B)   1:18:59 (New York Guaranteed Entry Lottery time for Men’s Open – I’m 37) 
 
My runs towards the end of the week when well.  My easy run, was easy at 6:50 pace.  My go to pre-race 4-miler with 2x400 at 1-mile race pace and 1x800 at target pace were surprisingly easy, even though I was uncertain about my ankle (another story).  Everything looked to be indicating I could achieve my A goal.
 
I drove into the race on Race Day Morning – Love Race Day Packet Pickup! – again, a reason to run smaller races.  On the drive in I decided I was committed to my ‘A’ goal.  Got to the race, got my packet, easy as could be.  I warmed up with a bit over a mile and some strides, and then met up with some friends who were running the Full.  Everyone exchanged goals, maybe to hope this made us feel accountable later in our respective races.
 
We then made our way to the start line, I looked around and line up in front, as this race is self corralling.  As I looked around, I saw many of the past winners of the Marathon and ½ Marathon.  Not terrible concerned, as I was there to, hopefully, run 1:18:25; if not, 1:18:59 as to have a chance at NYC.  The race started, albeit 10 minutes late, with a blast of the cannon.  We shot off the start line with gusto, and very quickly, within the first ½ mile, I was leading the chase pack.  We watched with some bewilderment, as the 1/2 Marathon leaders exchanged the lead and surged multiple times during the first 2.5 miles; we commented to one another, that seems crazy early to be doing that $#!? .
 
The third mile presents the biggest challenge on the course, a ~1/2 mile hill with almost 100 ft of gain.  I quickly became a chase pack of 1, having run that mile in 6:01.  At 5K in, I had run almost exactly 6:00/mile Pace.  I was feeling good, very good!!!  I soon noticed that leaders battling had come to an end, with a clear winner.  By 3.5 miles, I was 28 seconds behind the 2nd place runner.  I pursued him, hammering out 5:3x-5:50 miles, finally catching him around with the 10 mile mark in sight.  Then, after a few moments of self-doubt, I made the pass, moving up into 2nd place.  I knew I was running close to redline at this point, but I press hard to pass strong.  I held the 11^th mile to 5:48, but slowed a bit over the remaining 2.1 miles; still maintaining 5:5X pace.  During mile 11, I started with the ‘it’s a nail, I’m a hammer, so hammer it’ mantra.  I came up with it from World War Z, and it makes me laugh and focus at the same time.
 
I finished in 1:16:53 (5:52/mile) and 2nd OA.
10K Split: 36:22 (5:52/mile)
 
I could not have dreamed of running a minute and a half faster than I had hoped for.
Ecstatic?  Yes, but still checking the weather almanacs for Cocoa Beach on December 1st with trepidation.   

Time for a beer or two! 

Wow, wow, wow. Great job!

Wowza! Way to go, Mr. Speedy! Congrats.

Steven - how absolutely awesome!!!!  Way to run!!!!  You will rock Cocoa Beach!!    Looking forward to seeing you at Publix in March (yes, I'm going back even if its warm) - you'll just have to wait a while for me to finish.

That was one heck of a race!  I cannot even imagine what that must feel like.  Huge congratulations to you!

What a result speedy !!! Congrats... What's the goal for Cocoa Beach Gobbles ?

Thanks for the read and comments.

Bonus, official results are 2 seconds faster.


And a free photo online: (Mile 10 or 11)

That is insane - can't believe you shaved that much time off without that even being your A race.  Awesome job and thanks for the Savannah tips!

Wow, awesome result exceeding your own expectations! Looking great for the marathon in December!

I'm in awe!!!  COngrats.

woot woot I'd say you "nailed it" great job!

Wow, that's fantastic to crush your own A goal by a minute and a half.  Outstanding!

Thanks for the kind words. 

The course is not terribly hilly.  About 450 ft of climb/descent.
I rarely have a 1/2 that isn't serving some purpose during a Marathon build; normally it is a workout or a test race.

Here is my Garmin data:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/402011047
http://www.strava.com/activities/94143722

Funny, I never really looked at it until this afternoon.  A little different that I remember, but close enough.

Great job on a very fast Half time.  A flatter course you'd definitely fly on. Congrats.