A new PR!

Boy, did I need todays race! I have been feeling a little down lately. I have done 2 very long races in pretty bad conditions in the last month and a half. Granted both races had record DNF’s . Add the fact that both of these races were my first crack at these distances and being that they were my first, I was very, very slooooooow. I have trained so hard in the last year and these times make you start to wonder if you are doing something wrong.

The half marathon distance is my favorite road race distance. I race it at, what is for me, a comfortable level of exertion. Not redlined like in a 5K and not at a pace where you have to worry about going just a little bit too fast and bonking close to the end. No, the half marathon is just right! The half marathon is also the race, aside from the 5K, that I have raced most. This was
my 6th half and it was perfect.



Brittany and I got up around 5 am, ate breakfast and were out of the house by 5:30. The race was about 20 miles south and we arrived at the race site around 6 am. It started sprinkling on the way down and we couldn’t help but wonder if today might end up like the Surf City, or better known now as “Soak City” Marathon in February. It was a little chilly but not unbearable. We waited around until the last possible minute to give up our outer layers, then headed to the start.



I felt especially good this morning. I have been in one or two races like this before, where everything just felt right. The temperature was perfect. I felt well trained with no injuries or soreness to speak of. I had my pacing strategy together and a clear goal in mind. I wanted a PR and was gonna push myself hard to get it. Even if it was only by one second.


The gun went off and we were on our way. My previous PR of 1:56:02 translates to an 8:51 min/mile. I planned on holding an 8:30 min/mile pace for the first half of the race and if everything went well, I would try to negative split and kick it up the second half. Well I got a little excited and ran an 8:17 the first mile. Not too far off, but still a little faster than I had planned. The first mile or so was flat and went around the Laguna Hills Mall. Once we left that area, the course took us out to Alicia Parkway. This was a very beautiful course. There were rolling hills, but they were gentle and the elevation would gradually decline over the first half of the race. This would reflect in my mile splits. It felt pretty easy to keep my pace at around 8:00 min/miles. I run according to heart rate. I have a max HR of 210. I try to keep my HR in the lower part of the 180’s for a half marathon. I knew if I wanted to PR today, I would have to step out of my comfort zone and push harder. I figured I would let it hover around the upper 180’s and see how it went. The only thing that worried me was the hills and the overall elevation change. There was no course profile on the website so I was flying blind. I ran a risk of slowing down significantly, the second half of the race, if we had to make up the elevation lost on the first half of the course. But again, I was going to push it and I am glad that I did.

Here are my splits

Mile 1 8:17
Mile 2 8:03
Mile 3 7:39
Mile 4 8:06
Mile 5 7:54
Mile 6 8:07
Mile 7 8:08
Mile 8 8:03
Mile 9 8:39
Mile 10 8:15
Mile 11 8:25
Mile 12 8:27
Mile 13 8:34
Mile .1 8:59

I finished in 1:48:17. thats a 8:17 mil/mile pace. Avg. HR of 190. Much better than what I expected. The second half of the course was up hill. I am very glad that I was able to hold it together and not slow too badly. I can’t really fault myself for not negative splitting on this course. Had I ran by pace and not by feel and HR, I don’t think I would have ended up with as good a time. I also felt that I left most everything out on the course. I pushed hard and felt that I executed my plan well. It was a great feeling at about mile ten, when I was doing the math and figured that as long as I could maintain a 9 min/mile or better that I would break 1:50. There’s something about those ten minute increments and I have looked forward to breaking this one for awhile. I am very pleased!

Brittany had a good race as well. She really enjoyed the course and went at a comfortable pace to finish in 2:41:45, about 20 minutes slower than her best, but she hasn’t been training as much because of school. She is starting her training again soon for her 2nd full marathon in Long Beach in October.

We were both pretty sore, but managed to pick up a cool shirt for Brit, then hauled our butts to Mimi’s for some breakfast.

Another amazing day!

Paul