The (Virtual) Nuun Half Marathon 2020

A few years ago I hit my goal of a 1:20 Half Marathon. It took a lot of effort and it wiped me out for weeks. I was happy with my result and didn't feel the need to go chasing new and faster times, deciding to give 5Ks and 15Ks my focus. 

So this year I had a few plans initially which of course did not happen. Instead I have been doing a lot of Virtual racing and seeing how much I could push myself mentally as much as physically. I did one half marathon hard effort in the Spring testing out my new On Running shoes and did a 1:21. I was very happy with that. Later I would pace my buddy Craig to a 1:24 half. 

Then in September, Nuun (of which I am an Ambassador) offered us the opportunity to race virtually in a half marathon. Unlike a lot of Virtual runs, we all had to do it on the same day, which was kind of fun. I entered, though I wasn't really sure if I wanted to go for it or just have fun. 

I picked up the distance training a bit more and things seemed to be going well. The week before the Half, I even ran a practice race, with the first half at an easy pace then race pace to finish and did a 1:25. So, I kind of decided that if the conditions were decent on the day of, I would give it a good effort. 

We received our virtual bibs in an email shortly before the race: 

The morning of, I woke up early as I wanted to get started as soon as I could. My route had a few road crossings and I wanted to get going before the traffic would get heavier. My course was a point to point that started with a mild down hill, then slightly up and ending with a nice mild downhill to the finish. Only a couple of kilometers were paved, the rest crusher dust as this is a converted rail bed. While generally a good flat route, the crusher dust certainly isn't a fast surface, but I knew that the few mild downhills would counter the soft slippery surface. 

The weather was perfect for November. 10C, no wind and the sun was behind the clouds to start at 7:30.  Craig showed up for my start to snap some pictures and wish me well.  He then biked off to meet me at the end.

I packed very little, and chose my lightest shoes, the New Balance 1400s. All I had was a mask (for the post race drive home), a house key, and my MP3 player to keep me sane.

And I was off

 

The start was on a bit of a downhill, but I took it quite easy to not burn myself out. The plan was to be around a 3:50 min/km pace at the halfway point, ultimately seeing if I could get below that by the end. Ideally I needed a 3:47 to reach my goal of a 1:19. If I don't burn out early, I know I can usually muster up a fast pace to finish.  

Well, 100m into the run my MP3 player stopped working completely. So, I had to choose, call it and go home to replace it or forge on. I opted to keep running.  Somehow the some Let it Roll by BTO popped into my head and that was there for the rest of my day. Oh well, not the worst song.

As far as the run goes after that, things were pretty good. The trail can be iffy when it comes to current pace on a GPS watch, though average pace is spot on. So what I needed to do was basically run by effort. I used the first 1.5 km in the open and on pavement to set my effort and pace and tried to keep as close to that as possible. As I was nearing the halfway point, I was still at 3:49, so I was happy and felt pretty good. I just ticked over to 3:50 at the half way point. So I did accomplish my goal. 

There was a nice little couple of km on a slight down hill at this point before a really soft/sandy uphill section (though uphill and down hill are never much more than a max of a 1% grade on this trail). I pushed a bit harder now.

As I was approaching the main road crossing which lead to the finish kick, I had dropped my pace to an average of 3:48. No cars in sight and I zipped across the road. Now it was just 6 km to go. I really didn't want to push too hard though, 6 km is still a good distance. I held my effort level and did my best to keep a good posture so that my stride wouldn't suffer. 

With 2 km to go I was still at a 3:48 average but let loose. The sun was now out and I could feel the heat whenever I popped out of the shade. Still, not a problem. Now it was just a mental game, I knew I could run fast. 

With 1 km to go I pushed as hard as I could. My form was failing slightly, but I just pushed through that. I ended up doing that last kilometer in 3:28, dropping my pace to a balmy 3:46. I'm not sure exactly when it dropped below 3:48, but it did and I crossed the GPA finish line at 1:19:36 (21.11 km).   

Craig was there to snap a few pictures. The temperature was a lovely 14C and sunny. Perfect for just hanging out for a moment. We drank some coffee and waited for a rescue from Stacey. Normally, my wife would have popped out to get me, but she had embarked on her own Half Marathon on the same route a little after me.

Thanks to this lovely pair of shoes for carrying me the whole way. They did this route earlier when I paced Craig in June. They will have a few more efforts in them as well.  Now to just relax for a bit with no specific races on the horizon. Definitely no big distances for a bit. 

Riverport Duathlon 2020

 So this was my in person race this year. I had previously done some parkruns in the first few months. And wow, yeah, I am late writing about this. Initially I was hoping to get some pictures of the event (which I failed to do other than the start), then I just got really busy. 

So here is a brief summary of my event. 

Due to COVID restrictions, the field was limited to 50 entrants. I was lucky to get a spot and had to do a little last minute bike training to get myself ready. 

Another change due to COVID was a staggered start. So we lined up spaced 6 feet apart, then went off with our race time not starting until we crossed the line. 

 I had listed my predicted 5K finish time to start the event at 17:40 and was placed in the first position. I knew that I likely wasn't going to stay in that spot by the end of the bike ride, but my goal was to get that first run done in first place. 

Soon we were off and I took a hard start. I didn't look back and just pushed through on this super flat course. I stayed up front the whole way, and after all was tabulated, I managed the fastest first run of the day. The course was about 100m long and I crossed the line in 17:41 (17:25 at the 5K mark). A good run indeed. I managed to get on my bike quickly (with the fastest T1 time) and then was off. 

I managed to stay out in the lead of the bike for about 6K before getting passed, so I was happy with that. The course was 10K long, out and back twice and included a good long hill climb. I only managed the 10th fastest time on the bike, but with an avg speed of 33.6km/hr, we had some fast people out there. 

I came in close to a couple of riders in front of me and hit T2 with a vengeance, beating my T1 time of 23 seconds with a 21 second switch to running gear. Again the fastest time. 

The second run is tough and with only 2.5km to work with, it is hard to make up spots. I chased down the runner in front of me and passed him at the end, but since he started further back to start the race, he ended up finishing a few seconds ahead of me in the standings.  My second run was only 3rd fastest, but the top 3 runners were separated by 5 seconds, so that was pretty close.

I finished 4th overall and had a great time. It was fun to get out to a favorite race venue of mine. I realize that in one form or another I have raced in Riverport for 15 years. 

How was the race format? I have had to race this way a few times in the past. Multisport can often be tough, especially pool swim triathlons. You can only start so many runners at once. In some ways, it is like doing a virtual race with other people around you. It is hard to use others to fight for positions, because you really don't know where they are in relation to you. So ultimately, not my favorite system of racing. But all in all, a smart choice for the race director.