Austin 3M Half Marathon (downhill to downtown) 2023/01/22

_goal “A”: 1:29:59 “B”: 1:30:29 = 6:52/mile “C”: 1:32 = 6:59/mile _downhill course The website made it sound like an easy and smooth course.

[elevation map on the site looked impossibly smooth]. I arbitrarily decided it’s a good course to try sub-90-minute for the bragging right. I’m vain that way. The “B” goal was such that I could say I ran the half in 90 minutes—vs. 91 minutes. I sought info on how fast the course was. Kisha: lots of downhills but there are some uphill to slow you down. Logan: it’s not really that fast. Jim: it’s smooth and flat but couple climbs. Tail wind would’ve mattered more. An experience pacer: Maybe 30~45 seconds faster than a flat course. As expected, the elevation change wasn’t homogeneous as suggested by the website.

[elevation per Garmin] Half the course was functionally flat. The 1.5-mile long climb section was mild. 1/3 of the course was fast downhill. The sun was on my face a lot. I wished I had sunglasses until I learned how close I was to the goal. _race plan Knocking 2 minutes off PB sounded impossible, but I didn’t dwell on the details. Course and weather were outside of my control. I’d start with the 90-minute pacers and play by ear. _race Weather was great: sunny, dry, low 40’s F, net tail wind. Stryd splits were on the nose at mile 1, very short at mile 2, but recovered after mile 2. I stayed close to the pacers around 6:45 pace. The gravity-assisted effort felt right; the shock wave traveled higher up my limbs than I was accustomed to. I stayed smooth at the expense of holding constant distance to the pacer. I ended up ahead of the pacers halfway. Hamstrings tightened at mile 7. 7:00 pace was manageable. Sub-90 was reachable if nothing else went wrong. Side stitch started at mile 8 before the climb. I slowed more, helplessly watching the pacers getting away. I felt I was struggling at 8:30 pace—Garmin said I was faster than 7:30. Runners passed me left and right. It was maddening I couldn’t match their speed. The climbs after mile 10 disrupted my rhythm. I ignored Garmin--just tried to stay with runners passing me. I managed to pass couple runners at the final climb before the finish line came mercifully at the bottom. GPS: Garmin 245 with Stryd 13.17 mi@6:52; 244w Time: 1:30:32 Official chip time: 1:30:29 = 90.48 minutes