Lake Effect Half Marathon - Run


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Liverpool, New York
United States
Lake Effect Run Club
23F / -5C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 17m 32s
Overall Rank = 165/328 (F
Age Group = 65-69 F
Age Group Rank = 1/2
Pre-race routine:

As usual before a race, I did not a good night's sleep. I had my special race-day cup of caffeinated coffee; oatmeal, yogurt, raisins at about 5:30. Left the house at 6:45. Ate half a Hammer bar at 7:30 & the other half at 8:30. Caffeinated gel at 9:00 for 9:30 start.
Used porta- potty & picked up race packet. There was no place to stand that was warm or not covered in snow. Changed into Merrells & dry socks, but my feet were cold & wet even before the race started.
Checked out the first part of the course. It was well plowed, so I decided against the Yaktrax. Based on temps in the 20's, I had planned to wear Spyder jersey over UA top, but being near all the snow & the giant block of ice that was Onondaga Lake made it feel colder, so I wore the Lolë jacket instead. Reebok tights, no leg-warmers, balaclava but no ninja mask. Double socks & Merrells, double gloves. Ditched the balaclava & outer gloves at halfway point.
Event warmup:

My training plan called for cannonball warm-up, but all the ground, including inside the athletes' tent, was covered with several inches of snow. The floor of the (unheated) Salt Museum was slick with tracked-in snow & slush. I did find a small dry area & did SR Standard Warmup Routine instead. Per Lorrie's advice, I didn't do a jogging warm up. Stood around in tent trying to keep moving until start. Feet were pretty cold.
Run
  • 2h 17m 32s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 30s  min/mile
Comments:

My strategy was Mike Ricci's 5/5/5: 5 miles in zone 2; 5 miles in zone 3; 5k in zone 4, or as hard as I could go.
The challenge in the 1st part was continually making myself slow down, especially as lots of people passed me. My HR monitor wasn't working right for the first 2 1/2 miles, so I had to go by RPE. It felt easy, like I could run forever. Adrenaline! Caffeine! When my HR monitor kicked in, HR (130) was a little higher in zone 2 than I had intended (128), but not way out of line.
I was looking forward to mile 5, when I could cut loose a bit more. I was not too fatigued to bump it up, and started passing a lot of runners. That was the fun part!
I waited until I was out of the difficult snow at about mile 10.75 to try to bump it up again. I did have enough juice left to do so, but not up to zone 4 until the last .1 mile. My last 2 miles were faster than my first 2, but they did feel like they were uphill (They weren't.)
Nutrition: 2 scoops Perpetuem in the small water bottle, consumed by about mile 6. Also 1 gel mixed with water in the small flask, consumed about mile 10.

What would you do differently?:

If I had been able to check out the whole course, I probably would have worn the Yaktrax and taken them off after the second time through the snow. I don't know if my overall time would have been better, because I think they do slow you down on a hard surface, but it would have been less frustrating. I also don't know how I could have checked it out, short of pre-running the course. Too long a race to do that, and the race directors had said it would be plowed.
Post race
Warm down:

Did Myrtle routine. Drank Recoverite & ate 1/2 Recovery bar. Had some soup. Walked around, socialized a bit, drove home. My feet were freezing. Changed my shoes, but the other pair were wet from walking around in the snow pre-race.
Stretched when I got home. Showered & tried to tale an ice bath. Threw a bucketful of icicles in the bathtub, but water temp only got down to 74. Even so, I think it made my butt & hams feel better.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The SNOW!

Event comments:

I wonder if leaving that portion unplowed was deliberate, some kind of sick Syracuse type of snow pride. In fairness, there was new accumulation the previous afternoon & evening, so maybe there wasn't time to plow it all? In any case it was a rude surprise.


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Last updated: 2014-11-07 12:00 AM
Running
02:17:32 | 13.1 miles | 10m 30s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/2
Overall: 165/328 (F
Performance: Good
Mile 1: 9:52; (HR monitor going wild) mile 2: 10:07; mile 3: 10:51 (Running in snow about mile 2.5-4.5) mile 4: 11:05 HR avg 132; mile 5: 10:42 HR avg 130; mile 6: 10:03, HR avg 134; mile 7: 10:14, HR avg 134; mile 8: 9:50, HR avg 134; mile 9: 10:04, HR avg 134; mile 10:11:14, HR avg 131;(running in snow miles 8.75-10.75) mile 11: 10:22, HR avg 134 ; mile 12: 9:48, HR avg 137; mile 13: 10:01, HR avg 137; last .1 mile: HR form 138-142
Course: Asphalt path along Onondaga Lake, an out & back run twice. Not too windy, but miles 2.5 to 4.5 (and 8.75 to 10.75 on the repeat) were not plowed or even salted. We were running on fresh snow that started out packed but then became churned up & loose. There was no traction whatsoever and it was very difficult running. My splits for the snowy parts were 11:04-11:14, but for the good portions they were 9:48-10:14.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4