Hello, my stylish friends! This past March, I ran the E. Murray Todd Half Marathon. Before this, I had thought of signing up for half marathon for a while, especially since I saw races re-opening for in-person participation. However, I didn’t exactly plan to sign up towards the middle of my senior spring semester: not ideal, considering all of the changes going on, but I’m so glad I signed up.
Despite missing out on highly-anticipated Saint Patrick’s Day festivities near/on campus, I’m happy I took the weekend for this race. Winter and summer training finally paid off.
I knew going into this race that the course was HILLY. In retrospect, the hills eased towards the end, but at times, the hills seemed like they never ended. Nevertheless, I first aimed to pace around the 8:45 per mile range, given my targeted fitness and how I usually structured my easy, mid-effort, and harder days.
I planned to pace off my watch, since the pace groups around my target range either were faster or slower than I first thought I could hit. Unfortunately, it was too cold for the ideal operating levels for the Apple Watch. When my pacer wasn’t working, I initially worried a bit, until I then pivoted to seeing/feeling out what people around me ran, and I ended up going by feel at the sound of the gun.
I went out harder than I expected; I ended up starting at 8:20 for my first mile, to be exact, but this race proved that I could push myself harder than I thought. I ended up clocking in at 1:52:47, or 8:36 per mile. While my second half of the race went slower, I know to balance pacing efforts more for future races.
Lessons learned: I shouldn’t rely too much on my watch if confident with pacing, I can use resources around me if something goes unplanned, and maintain effort on hills to carry momentum.
Hoping to run another half within the remainder of this calendar year, cheers!
