Earlier today, I completed my fifth half-marathon, running the Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle 2010 Half-Marathon in 1:54:12. That time sets the personal record I have been striving for since my very first half-marathon, Bellingham Bay 2008.
The race felt great. I feel great. It is a good day. Here are my numbers:
TB and Owen cheered me (and the other 27,000+ runners) along on a cool, overcast Seattle day. I credit Hal Higdon’s training regiment—which I mentioned briefly back in March—for helping me prepare for this race. I stuck to his Novice 1 marathon training guide for 16 weeks, running four days every week. I never missed a day, peaking at 18 miles (Week 13) before tapering for today’s race. I did not feel tired or winded at any point and I never stopped running. My left hamstring tightened up at mile 10 but the muscle fatigue did not destroy my race like in Skagit Valley. Training beyond the half-marathon distance really helped build my endurance and increase my speed.
Sidebar
Besides running faster, I made one other significant change for today’s race. For the first time, I ran without carrying any fluids. No CamelBak (reference). No FuelBelt (reference). Instead, I drank the water and CytoSport Cytomax sports drink at each hydration station spaced ~1.4 miles apart on the course. Doing so forced me to hydrate at regular intervals and allowed me to shed ~4 pounds of weight.
- Before the race, Owen enjoyed mimicking my Bershawn “Batman” Jackson getup.
- During the race, apparently, only a handful of us donned our stunna shades.
- After the race, Team Smith posed for a group photo.
Lastly, for comparison, here are the results of my first five half-marathons:
Next up: Bellingham Bay 2010 on Sep 26. I figured I would celebrate the two-year anniversary of my first race by running it again.
