This past Sunday was the 10th annual BAA Half Marathon on 10/10/10 (not sure why the start time wasn’t pushed back to 10:00 AM instead of 8:30, but oh well.) I ran the race for the first time year and I really like the course, so I was looking forward to this year’s event.
This was a little bit different from last year’s race, as they “flipped the course around”, starting in Franklin Park instead of in the Fenway. I was a little disappointed that the powers that be changed the starting point. Last year, we stayed overnight with the kids downtown, went out to dinner on Boylston and I was able to walk down to the start in the morning. This year, I had to drive to UMass-Boston and then take a shuttle to the start in the park. Kate had to drive to downtown Boston with the kids, hop on the Orange Line to the Green St. stop and then walk about a half mile to the stadium (with Mike’s help). The logistics at the park were fine and well set up, but it seemed like there were fewer people near the finish this year cheering the runners at the end and (selfishly) I hope the BAA re-evaluates this setup looking ahead to next year’s race and they think about going back to the old start/finish.
Because the shuttle took a little longer than planned to get to the park, I got there a little later than I wanted. I had just enough time to drop my bag, loosen up, “use the woods” and get to the starting line. Because the coral at the 8:00/mile entrance was overflowing, I decided to go in at the 7:00/mile marker. I tried to work my way to the back of this pack, but I got held up by the crowd and had to stay put. My splits had been better leading up to the race, but they certainly weren’t around 7:00/mile. On paper, the course appeared to be hillier towards the end of the race, so I was wondering how it was going to play out as the race went on. I finished just over 1:52 last year and my goal going into the race was to try and break 1:50, but I knew it wouldn’t be easy with the hills at the end.
The weather was a little on the cool side, but sunny with little wind and perfect for running. As we started out, the first mile dropped down about 100 feet in the first mile as we left the park and the first 5K dropped about 125 feet in total. Going into the race, I was hoping to hold back a little bit and not go out too hard. That lasted about 30 seconds and I went out harder than I planned. I’m not sure if it was that the 7:00+ runners surrounding me were holding to their pace, or if I was just stupid, but I pulled 7:31, 7:41 and 7:33 for the first 3 miles. The good news was that I was way ahead of my goal pace. The bad news was that negative splits were out the window and I was putting myself in trouble for later in the race.
The other thing that I had a problem with were those idiots that decide they are either going to pass you or run right next to you to the point your either rubbing elbows or shoes. Here’s a news flash for these people. This isn’t Falmouth with very narrow Cape roads. We’re in the city and the roads are closed with plenty of room to run. Get the hell away from me. I mean, do you really need to cut me off or practically run in my shorts? I don’t have a problem running near someone for the purpose of pacing off another runner, but if you get tripped, it’s not my problem and if I get tripped, I’ll be pissed. Anyway…..
At this point, I found myself in a nice rhythm and decided that I’d keep going and do what I could to manage myself and the rest of the course. The beginning of the next 5K dropped down another 75 feet in the first mile, but then leveled off as we made our way into Longwood for the turnaround. My splits for the next 3 miles were 7:30, 7:40 and 7:44 so I was still holding pace for the most part and felt really good. As it was last year, the Emerald Necklace was a nice course and there were lots of people cheering along the way. I saw the leaders heading back just before heading into Longwood as the other runners around me cheered them on.
The next 5K is where things got tougher. The first 1.5 miles climbed back up the 75 feet we came down in the previous 5K, and I could start to feel my quads and hamstrings talking to me in a very negative tone. The good thing was that things leveled off for the remainder of that section of the race, and I started to see my splits get a little longer at 7:56, 7:51 and 7:59, but I was happy to still be living under 8:00.
In simple terms, 15 – 20K sucked. The new turnaround on the course between miles 9 and 10 brought us to the other side of the golf course and getting there was pretty much all uphill, with lousy footing. It wasn’t a huge hill, but at this point of the race, it started to hurt. Miles 10 – 11 brought us back down the way we went up, but the footing was bad in spots and with my legs getting tired, I was worried I was going to end up a$$ over head at any moment. My splits for 10 and 11 were 8:17 and 8:20. Sub 8:00’s were now in the rearview and I was starting to give back some time.
Mile 11 was back up the hill we started on, which meant a climb of 75 feet over the next mile and it hurt, but I kept it moving into the zoo and ended up with an 8:42 split for the mile, which I was happy about given how I felt. My quads were now yelling loudly and I had a blister joining the party at the tip of my left big toe.
As we made our way into the park, I was bonked. As I made it past the animal cages, and up the windy dirt path, I was worried I was going to lose my footing and fall. The only good thing was that there was no one around me so I didn’t have to worry about someone passing me or cutting me off. As I made it past the camels that were mocking me and out of the zoo, the football stadium was right in front of me. The 13th mile had me at an 8:31 split and I made my way on to the track.
As I started the loop to the finish, people started to pass me left and right. I didn’t really care. I started to look up into the stands to see if I could see Katie and the kids, and fortunately, I was able to spot them waving. As I was waving back, I noticed Mike waving me towards the finish line. I was so tired and oblivious at this point, I thought the finish was on the other side of the track, but it was right in front of me. I was out of it.
Even with the splits going south the last quarter of the race, I ended up finishing at 1:44:40, for a 7:59 pace, beating my goal by more than 5 minutes. I definitely didn’t run the smartest race I’d ever run, but I was pretty happy with the result. Congrats to those who completed the race, as well as anyone who ran Chicago this past weekend in the 80 degree heat. That couldn’t have been easy. Good luck to those running Tufts on Monday and New York in a few weeks.
We’ll see how the rest of the fall goes. There may be a 6 hr. relay in Rhode Island on 11/16 that I may run in, and maybe a race or two after that. For now, I’m going to take a break for a few days and relax.
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