2017: Green Bay Half Marathon

Owing to the organizers’ unique three-year medal strategy that started in 2015 and my innate inability to let certain things go (one of them being the want of materialistic memorabilia since there is no display case for memories), I had signed up and completed the 2015 and 2016 editions. And the quest (read: want) for the final piece ensured I at least signed up, and would find ways to complete it given my very limited training.

Excuses for limited training in 2017 were as seemingly unending as the number of stars on a clear night, and of course, none of them were ever my fault. The longest training run (or run of any kind that matter) over the past four and three quarters of a month (including the weekly and weekend runs with friends from the Keweenaw Running Group) did not exceed 6.50 miles — less than one half the event distance. Barring less than a handful of these training runs, average pace for most of them hovered around 9:45 min/mile (or slower). While sleep — both quantity and quality — left a lot to be desired, I feel like I did few things around/above average: continued iron intake, increased protein consumption since early March, and strength training three times per week from about mid March. I did have quite a bit of help from friends in consistently sticking with these tasks (thanks be respectively to: Chris, Ray, Rob and Shannon; Adam, Anika, Joel, Liz, Melissa, Mike, Steph and Whitney, Anika, Ann, Chris, Don, James, Jennifer, Roger and Vern) as well as setting certain things where they belong.

 
The drive down to Green Bay on Saturday was very uneventful with a customary stop at a geographical marker that’s equidistant from the equator and the North Pole. A rather quick walk through the pre-race expo to pick up by bib also included a maiden encounter with some well known names and faces behind the American Birkebeiner. Another one half hour drive and I was in Neenah, wI, in the friendly confines with Chris, and Emily, Andy and their little one. I surrendered to sleep shortly after a hearty home-cooked meal and a couple card games.

The morning of the half marathon came at leisure. While sipping a cup of coffee (I hadn’t had one in over two months), I realized that I had left the bottles (that hold the hydration) in my hydration belt back home in the Yoop. But Emily’s take on it was simple: it’s one less thing to carry around, there’ll be plenty aid stations throughout the course, and the extra weight I need to carry will decrease with consumption of each gu/gel pack. It was what I needed to get my mind of dwelling on things I could do nothing about and helped a long way in the upcoming hours.

Chris and I got to the starting area with sufficient time left to check our bags, use the facilities and make it to our corral. We (the half marathoners) missed the heavenly downpour that the marathoners had to endure at their start — it couldn’t have been comfortable for them, and it wouldn’t have been comfortable for us. The rendition of the Star Spangled Banner was less than spectacular but the event started on time. For the first time in three+ years, the weather was very Yoop-like and conducive for running: light drizzle, cloud cover, gentle breeze and not muggy. Cognizant of my lack of training leading up to this event, expectations were – for once – proportionally low, and I’d be satisfied if I finished around 2:30:00 mark. What I thought was a slow start was anything but that … clipping away the first few miles at 8:39, 8:40 and 8:30 min/mile pace. Realizing that this pace was at least a minute per mile faster than most training runs, it was around the 5k mark I began to wonder worry: that I’d crash and burn by 10k mark if I kept this pace up, and that I’d have a LONG and PAINFUL second half.

Goal vs Reality Goal: 13.11 mi in 2:30:00 (11:26 min/mi) Reality: 13.19 mi in 1:54:12.0 (8:39 min/mi)
Distance mi	Lap Time m:ss	Lap Elevation feet	Total Time h:mm:ss	Total Elevation feet	Avg Pace min/mile	Projected Finish Time h:mm:ss	Differential Goal Time h:mm:ss
1.00	8:39	0↑ 23↓	0:08:39	0↑ 23↓	8:39	1:53:24	0:36:36
2.00	8:42	3↑ 3↓	0:17:21	3↑ 26↓	8:40	1:53:37	0:36:23
3.00	8:28	10↑ 3↓	0:25:49	13↑ 29↓	8:36	1:52:45	0:37:15
4.00	8:30	10↑ 3↓	0:34:19	23↑ 32↓	8:34	1:52:18	0:37:42
5.00	8:34	39↑ 10↓	0:42:53	62↑ 42↓	8:34	1:52:18	0:37:42
6.00	8:43	20↑ 7↓	0:51:36	82↑ 49↓	8:36	1:52:45	0:37:15
7.00	8:46	43↑ 0↓	1:00:22	125↑ 49↓	8:37	1:52:57	0:37:03
8.00	8:49	72↑ 36↓	1:09:11	197↑ 85↓	8:38	1:53:10	0:36:50
9.00	8:25	3↑ 43↓	1:17:36	200↑ 128↓	8:37	1:52:57	0:37:03
10.00	8:34	10↑ 43↓	1:26:10	210↑ 171↓	8:37	1:52:57	0:37:03
11.00	8:49	39↑ 26↓	1:34:59	249↑ 197↓	8:38	1:53:10	0:36:50
12.00	8:48	3↑ 13↓	1:43:47	252↑ 210↓	8:38	1:53:10	0:36:50
13.00	8:44	10↑ 33↓	1:52:31	262↑ 243↓	8:39	1:53:24	0:36:36
13.19	1:40	20↑ 0↓	1:54:11	282↑ 243↓	8:39	1:53:24	0:36:36
The final cumulative time, 1:54:11, may not match the official time (1:54:12.0) owing to rounding errors. Starting my watch a few seconds before the start and stopping it a few seconds after crossing the finish line can be an additional reason for this discrepancy. The overall distance, 13.19 mi, may not match the designated (or certified) event distance (13.11 mi) owing to idiosyncrasies associated with GPS data collection OR my inability to take the tangents OR the aforementioned early start/late stop reasons, and in some rare cases, incorrectly measured (or advertised) courses or DNFs. As a result, the cumulative pace and the projected finish time might not match the official values as well.

Fortunately enough, the expected crash and burn never really happened, and the pace remained consistently below 9 min/mile mark. Focusing on the lovely lush green canopy of trees while trying to have fun (per a strong recommendation from a dear friend) helped keep my mind off some lingering pain in the recently sprained left ankle. And so did seeing familiar faces in the crowd at multiple locations. Several good friends, mentors and familiar faces from previous editions had passed me by, and more would do so before all was done. Remembering the course, I hoped to keep the pace under the 9 min/mile mark over the next two ascending miles, 7 and 8, for I knew the rest of the course was mostly downhill or flat. By some divine intervention (or maybe it was the result of two months of strength training — since I think divinity had better things to do than intervene in my performance), I was able to sustain the desired pace not only for the next two miles but throughout the rest of it. I didn’t feel like I was pushing it beyond the level of comfort either. With wetness left behind (in the Packers tunnel) by a pantheon of runners ahead of me, my plans of sprinting the last mile had to be changed but this change wasn’t something I’d lose sleep over.

All said and done, the clock showed 1:54:10 — a whopping 35+ minutes ahead of my initial hope. To quote someone that once had coached a football team in this town, fatigue makes cowards of us all, and fortunately enough, unlike 2016, proper conditioning (i.e., ~two months of consistent strength training and protein intake, and consumption of energy gels during the run) more than made up for less than ideal distance preparations. It wasn’t my best time for this distance (that PR has been calling the Golden State its home since late 2015), it wasn’t even my best time for this course (that honor belongs to the 2016 edition) but I do feel like, with tangible evidence, that it was my best effort for this distance. I’ve NEVER run any race this consistently — every mile was under 9 min/mile but above 8 min/mile mark, and only 30 seconds separated my fastest mile from the slowest one.

If the numbers don’t lie and they don’t in this case, I am at about the same point in my performance curve now as I was at this time in 2016. What I thought was lack of progress and ability to let go of things in a similar situation in 2016 edition had turned out to be all that and then some — protein and iron deficiency. Lessons learned while recuperating from these as well as learning to better manage my own expectations (I’m still not very good at it yet) definitely is helping to be at peace with the today’s result.

Apart from a successful completion of the quest for all three parts of a three-part medal, it also marks a good baseline for 2017. Unlike 2016, I do feel good about where I am right now … as the real training for the Chicago Marathon begins during the first week of June. Hopefully, consistency in strength training and protein/iron intake so far will flow over to consistency in sleeping (quality and quantity) as well as in runs (number, variety and distance) over the next many months.

Thanks be to

the rejections and opportunities life has brought my way, event folks (organizers, sponsors, volunteers, timers, law enforcement officials, photographers, fellow participants and spectators) and my family of good friends, mentors and coaches in and outside of my community for all the unexpected, undeserved and unrewarded acts of kindness and constant encouragement as well as offerings of constructive criticism to improve myself as a human and an athlete. I am eternally grateful to all those who let me train with them, who shared their meals and experiences with me, who helped keep me in good health, who helped me stay the course, and who cheered me on from home or along the course.