Note:  As I sit here the Friday before the Cleveland Fall Classic (CFC) Half-Marathon, now in it’s 35^th year, put on by the Cleveland West Road Runners Club (CWRRC), I actually have my doubts as to whether I’ll actually run in the event.  Everyone in my family except yours truly has fought a GI bug so far this week, and I’m beginning to feel it’s effect as well.  Nonetheless, I’ll approach the beginning of this report as if I’m running the race, and what will be, will be.  Either way, there will be a blog post at the end of the weekend, for even skipping a race is an event worth discussing.

Picture this - sans leaves - and you are at the Cleveland Fall Classic Half Marathon

The CFC Half-Marathon is a fitting end to the Cleveland running season, drawing somewhere around 400 runners (for the half-marathon) each year.  It is generally a pretty competitive field, as it takes a pretty committed runner to continue their training past the fall marathon season late into November and face the uncertain conditions that await competitors on this flat, fast, and, with the leaves off the trees, exposed west-side Cleveland course.  The event is held at the Mill Stream Run Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks, one of the flattest parks in the system.

It was to extend what has been a pretty successful season and complete my first half marathon in nine years that I chose without much hesitation to do this race.  The last half-marathon I ran was actually the CFC in 2001, where I put in a 1:35:19, just after completing my first marathon in Chicago in 3:33:56.  While I have broken the 1:30 mark for a half marathon numerous times this year in training runs and the first half of the Akron Marathon (1:27:57, aided by the downhill course), the 1:35:19 has remained my official half-mary PR.  I had no doubt that I would be able to blow away that mark this year.

Setting the Goal

Having completed Akron in 3:03:26, it would have been easy to coast through roughly 8 weeks of training and still deliver a 1:27 or so half-marathon.  However, I wanted to improve on that McMillan Calculator prediction (which was also given by my 1:04:13 time at the Towpath Ten-Miler in June – five months ago), and I knew that my tendency to blow out too fast in marathons meant that Mr. McMillan probably underappreciates my half-marathon prowess (but then, what does he have to go on, as I haven’t run it in so long?).  So does Mr. Daniels, whose VDOT prediction tool gave a similar 1:27 prediction based on my marathon and 10-mile race times.  1:26 seemed a reasonable goal, and that is what I published.

However, like Akron, I wanted to set a stretch goal to help motivate the training, so began tossing out a 1:25 figure when asked.  And, in fact, I found the perfect running partner for the race in Tris H (@cyclefreak on Twitter), who had beaten me by 19 seconds in the Akron Marathon and was also targeting 1:25.  I have never run a race in cooperation with another runner before, but was certain it would provide extra motivation.

As the race approached and I delivered some decent long, tempo, and half-marathon pace runs (as below), some on Dailymile were urging me on to a more aggressive goal.  While I felt that a 1:24 was probably achievable as well, I really wanted to work on the idea of going out intelligently and judging what I had left at the halfway point to set a goal for the final race time.  Thus, I stuck with the goal of 1:25, while the whisper-number of 1:24 started dancing its way through my head.

The Training

I had no doubt that the endurance was there for a solid, negative split half-marathon.  However, I didn’t want to sit still, and wanted to start preparing myself mentally for running 6:30 splits over a shorter distance instead of the steady 6:55’s required for the 3:00 marathon.  I also believe that the best way to train for a half-marathon is to train for a marathon, and thus was not afraid of doing some over-long runs relative to what half-marathon training plans typically called for.

Having been a pupil of the Hal Higdon plans for years, I immediately looked for his Advanced Half-Marathon system.  While I intend to move away from Hal next year (and am reading Daniels’ Running Formula and Pfitzinger’s Advanced Marathoning to come up with new ideas), eight weeks (the first few of which were focused on recovery) really didn’t seem adequate time to experiment with new models (plus, I haven’t finished the books, I keep falling asleep).  What I ended up with is a mix of the middle section of my Akron Marathon training plan and Hal’s half-marathon plan, with my own customizations:

• Rotate through three types of speed work for two sessions per week – intervals (800’s and 1600’s), tempo runs (3-5 miles at 5K to 10K pace), and hill intervals (400m – 600m, with a ~1600m closing interval on the return home).
• Shift from medium length (6-8 mile) marathon pace runs to half-marathon pace.
• Targeting to make 50% of long run miles at something between marathon and half-marathon pace, plus including hills in the routes.

The training plan is included below and, as usual, I didn’t adhere to it with 100% accuracy, allowing things to flex based on schedule, mental state, or whatever other reason requires us to practice flexibility in our training.  But all-in-all, I was happy with the training result, as a few key benchmark runs (8 miles at a steady 6:30 pace, 15 miles at a 6:58 pace with negative splits and front-end hills, and a 5K tempo at 5:59 pace the week before the race) gave me confidence that I was more fit than before Akron, at least for a half-marathon distance.

Note:  On Monday I can now say that, despite having gotten a bit of the bug on Friday, it seemed to subside (or be very mild) by Saturday, so yes, I did run the race.  It was a hectic couple of days before the race, with the youngest son still ill through the weekend and my wife not 100% either, leading to a few rough nights of sleep, but all was mostly in order by Sunday morning.

The Race

Since I wasn’t quite feeling 100% on Sunday morning, after waking with a headache and still not having much of an appetite from the bit of GI bug of a few days earlier, I scaled back on my breakfast plans to a single thin English Muffin, half a bottle of Gatorade, and a cup of coffee.  Since the race was at 9:00, I could “sleep in” until 6:00 and still have a leisurely morning getting the house prepared for the day, before leaving at 7:00.  I made one of several pit stops at a dumpy gas station along the way, but still made it to parking for the race (roughly 1/3 of a mile from the start) by 7:45 and, despite warnings that the race was sold out, there were plenty of spaces available.  I had already picked up my packet on Friday so there was nothing to do except execute another pit stop and wait for the start of the race.

The other challenge for the morning was the temperature.  It was to be unseasonably warm for late November, with a high in the mid-50’s (it ultimately reached 61° F), but the overnight low was in the 30’s.  It is typical for the temperature to rise quickly through the morning on such warm late fall days, but it was only around 40° F when I arrived at the race.  I knew I wouldn’t want gloves or tights by the end of the race, so opted for shorts, and I didn’t believe that there was a gear check at the race, so I left my long pants in the car, with the only non-racing attire being a long sleeve cotton shirt over my skin-tight long-sleeve technical tee (I was mistaken about the gear check, and was able to save my shirt as well). I really like wearing the tight technical tees in the winter as they don’t chafe at all and are suitable for a wide range of temperatures (plus, they just make me feel fast).  It was chilly as clouds hid the sun, and there was a consistent 9-11 mph breeze. I found it necessary to do a few warm-up runs just to stay, well, warm enough; this is not my typical pattern for a race.

Eventually, I found Tris H. before the start of the race. He went to the porta-potty line while I headed to the start area, where I also met and chatted with David P. for a bit.  Tris eventually found me again there and, since this was a gun-timed race (no chips – actually, no gun either), we pushed our way to the front of the pack.  The start of the race was delayed twice, for a total of 10 minutes, as the lines at the porta-potties were still a bit long, so we both did some drills while awaiting the start.  Finally, they announced the start of the race, so we took our places and were off without much of a fuss.

Tris and I settled into an early groove and were out only slightly faster than planned, running maybe 6:15 in the first quarter mile.  The course took an abrupt right turn 200m in, and the field separated quickly, with some high-school and college cross-country runners surging ahead. Some deserved to be there, and some didn’t, but the latter actually faded pretty quickly this time.  Tris and I slowed a bit and hit a 6:22 pace for our first mile, all the while chatting with another runner, Tracy Meder, I believe, who had run Akron in 3:06.  When she asked what our target time was shortly after the first mile marker and we answered 1:25, she decided that was too fast and pulled back a bit (she still finished as top female by a wide margin).

Tris took the early lead into the headwind, and I slowed a bit to keep us honest on the pace.  The race was a double out-and-back with one side parking lot included, otherwise a straight shot.  When we hit the turn for the parking lot, we passed a gentleman who I knew was in my age group and I figured I was in at least second at that point.  After finishing the parking lot loop, I took the lead to give Tris some relief from the wind, and we proceeded towards the toughest mile of the course (well, the first of the two tough miles) in mile 3, having booked 6:24 on mile 2.  I continued to push up the slight but steady climb in this section (seemed far more than the 25’ noted by the Garmin), but when I looked back I noticed that Tris had slipped a bit.  Nonetheless, I kept pushing, closing mile 3 in 6:29.  At this point the Garmin and race miles were starting to separate a bit; the out-and-back design of the course meant that you couldn’t really cut tangents on the corners without impinging on runners coming the other way, which was more of an issue on each “back” than on the “out” since there were only, by my count, 19 runners ahead of me at this point.

After the turn (at which point it seemed Tris was maybe 20 yards behind), I passed two runners, one of whom slowed intentionally to allow a friend behind him to catch up.  At this point, there were two more runners in sight in front of me, and I tried to keep them in sight, taking advantage of the tail wind to book the next two miles in 6:20 and 6:22.  At this point, we caught up with the 5K, which had started 15 minutes later and constituted an out and back to the side parking lot.  We had to weave our way through the 5K runners and walkers, and for a time I just ran in the gravel at the side of the road.  I think I was motivated to keep my pace up when pushing through here so as not to lose any time, and mile 6 passed in 6:22 and mile 7 in 6:20 (though it’s likely that Garmin and “race” miles separated significantly here due to the weaving).  Somewhere in the crowd, I lost one of the runners in front of me – I still don’t know if he had surged ahead or somehow dropped out. We then lost the 5K runners at their finish line, and looped back through the start line for our second out-and-back.  Because of the loop, I didn’t really know how far back Tris was at this point, but was still a bit nervous that he might catch me (and therefore motivated).

The second out-and-back loop was generally uneventful, especially on the out; in the side parking lot loop I did see that Tris had fallen back by around 100 yards at this point.  I maintained a steady distance behind the runner in front of me, maybe 50 yards.  The slight grade and headwind did cause me to drop my pace to 6:26, 6:30, and 6:31 for these three miles.  But knowing the hill and wind would be favorable on the return, it was easy to keep pushing.

At the final turnaround, it seemed that Tris might have caught up a bit, and he had a gang of runners with him.  In addition, another runner was really surging, and ended up passing me right after the turn (he would certainly go on to pass several more). This was all the motivation I needed to kick it up a bit for the return.  In fact, it seemed the gap with the runner who had been in front of me started to close, so I had some hope to catch him.  David P. and I shouted our greetings to each other for the final time as we passed.  The 11^th and 12^th miles went by at 6:21 and 6:25, and I still felt I had a bit left.  At this point, I passed Jodi H., Jenn D., and Angie K. coming up the hill and they shouted their greetings and encouragement. The runner in front had recovered and started to extend his lead, but I started to gain on another runner who kept looking over his shoulder as he began to fade.  I made it my goal in the last mile to catch him, but didn’t quite have enough to get there, finishing maybe 10 yards behind and in 1:24:45 overall, 15 seconds ahead of my stretch goal.  I was a little disappointed not to do 1:24, but still happy with the PR of over 10 minutes.  On entering the finishing chute, I was directed to the awards table where I was immediately informed I’d taken second in my age group and received a pint glass and, for some reason, a second identical medal (which I returned – no need for extra clutter).  By my math, I had finished around 19^th overall, though the final results are still not posted.

I turned after the finish to look for Tris, and he came in with two other runners roughly a minute behind. It turns out all were in the same age group and the other two had a slightly stronger kick, edging him out at the finish for first and second in their age group while Tris took home a respectable third, with his own PR of roughly 1:26.  David came in with his own strong result of 1:38ish, having faded just a bit on the back end.  I had the opportunity to meet his wife Kim as well, and learn about their struggles even getting there that day (David had forgotten his bib and had to run back home to get it).

When you run the same route 4 times, the track line gets pretty thick

This was a well-organized event, which shouldn’t be surprising given it has been going 35 years straight.  The double-out-and-back course is a bit dull but very flat and fast.  What it has going for it most is the timing, as it is a good way to take advantage of fall marathon training to extend and deliver one more good race performance before entering winter base-maintenance, on which I’ll blog more shortly.  I was really pleased with the steady pace for this race, with every mile between 6:20 and 6:31, at least per the Garmin measurements, which is far and away the most consistent pacing I have ever run in a race.  The splits were not quite negative but close to even, which is another first.

Addendum

The correct (hopefully) race results were finally posted on November 30, 2010, and it turns out I finished first in my age group and 17th overall with a 1:24:46.  Since only the first 400 finish times were successfully recorded (and there were discrepancies in age group positioning at the finish), the organizers are stating they will finally take the plunge and move to chip timing given the size of the event.

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Tags: cleveland, goals, half-marathon, parks, race, Training

Posted in Races
16 Comments Posted by Greg