Half Boring

Half Boring was on Sunday.  This race was cancelled last year due to wildfire danger.  I've always wanted to run on the trail...Springwater Trail...so decided to run this as a training run this year.

Training...and life...have been challenging and I struggled to choose an appropriate goal for this event.  Coach Melissa and I finally settled on a plan.  I would go out at MP and then see how I felt at the turn around.  If I felt good I could push the pace on the return.  I wasn't confident I could run 13 miles at MP but it sounded like a good plan.

Drove over with Katie Saturday evening and picked up my packet and got checked in to our hotel for an early bedtime.  Slept pretty well and my typical race breakfast routine went fine.  Katie dropped me off in plenty of time to get in my warm up, use the bathroom, and continue to suck on my Infinit as I waited for the race start.  It's a small low-key race.  I liked the casual attitude.

I carried another bottle of Infinit and sucked on it over the first 6 miles.  I found MP comfortable...not easy but comfortable.  The paved path was wide, and relatively level.  There were several road crossings but no traffic conflicts.  There were also a couple steep down/ups as we went under the roadway.  It was shady so didn't get to warm to quickly.  Slight downhill on the way out and slight incline on the way back.  It's on an old railroad grade.  I gave my family a nod as I passed the cemetery just before and again just after the turn around. 

Once we reached the turn around I found the pace was starting to feel harder.  I realized that if I didn't concentrate my pace slowed.  I decided to try and hold the pace but not push until the last 2 or 3 miles.  I also planned to take in a GU on the way back.  I was ready for the aid station around mile 9.5 and got my GU down just before I got there.  I slowed to a walk to wash it down with water and then navigated a confusing little detour to add distance to the course.  I lost some time in this mile.  I got back on pace for mile 11.  Struggled with a small hill in mile 12.  Got back on pace for the last mile.  I wasn't able to speed up those last couple miles like I had planned/hoped.  That was probably the biggest disappointment.  I did speed up a bit for the finish but it wasn't much.

So...liked the course.  Liked the organization.  I mentioned before the race that I would be ecstatic if I could run 13 miles at MP (10:19).  I did.  But I didn't finish as well as I would have liked.

Garmin 13.06 miles @ 10:15
Official 2:13:57 @ 10:13
Overall 47/90
Gender 20/53
AG 1/3

1. 10:20
   
2. 10:08
   
3. 10:18
   
4. 10:17
   
5. 10:11
   
6. 10:07
   
7. 10:12
   
8. 10:09
   
9. 10:15
   
10. 10:33
    
11. 10:14
    
12. 10:23
    
13. 10:15
    
14. @9:04
    

Results are encouraging overall but did not boost my confidence of my ability to run a BQ at CIM in December.