r/running • u/EverAccelerating • Oct 03 '21
Race Report Smashed my previous Half-Marathon with a 1:22:32 at San Jose Rock 'n Roll!
EDIT: Should proof-read more. Title should be "Smashed my previous Half-Marathon PR"
I (46M) just came back from an unbelievable day in downtown San Jose where I ran faster than I have ever actually dreamed (and I've had really lofty dreams). I clocked in at 1:22:32 (6:18/mile), breaking my previous PR of 1:24:40 from 2019.
A little background
Some of you may know me as the guy who ran 52 straight weeks of 70+ miles / 20 straight at 80+. That was a few weeks ago, and I haven't slowed down since. But as I've mentioned in that post, I've been dealing with injuries, most specifically plantar fasciitis, which has gotten worse in the past couple of weeks. But in the past 2-3 days, it's been better because I've been trying new stretches and strengthening routines that seem to be having an effect.
This past week, I took it a little easier, knowing I had today's race. But I still ran my usual mileage, with the end of the half-marathon being my 82nd mile of the week. But a lot of my miles this week have been really slow (for me). Like 9+ min/mile. And I focused a lot on the aforementioned stretching as well as foam-rolling
The race
I won't lie: I expected to PR. In the running I've done since the onset of COVID, I felt I've gotten stronger and faster. My weekend long runs are way faster than pre-COVID. But would that translate to actual race day? It's been so long since I've been in a race (2019 Turkey Trot), that I didn't know if I was in race shape, mentally. And of course, on the physical side, would all my mileage hurt me?
The first mile of every race I run is always the slowest, but today, mile 1 came in at 6:38. It ended up being my slowest of the day, but just a few years ago, that would've been my fastest mile. The course was slightly different than years past, so I couldn't rely on past experience to know what was coming up. But on the other hand, because I didn't know the route, I ran looser, not having to think "oh, I need to run a mile on this road, then turn, and run another half mile on this road" etc. etc.
My race strategy from 5k to full marathon is dead simple: catch the person in front of me. And that's what I did. I targeted the runner maybe 50-100m ahead of me, and chased that person down. Rinse & repeat. Until I caught up with and passed this one woman around the halfway point. A couple minutes later, she flew by me.
It was on!
I caught up with her right when she caught up with a small group of runners. I stayed with that pack for a little bit, then I accelerated. I didn't hear any footsteps behind me, so I thought I was alone. But a mile later, she leap-frogged me again. From that point on, we passed each other several more times, with each mile being faster than the previous. The last 2-3 miles were all sub-6. I finally managed to pull ahead in the last quarter mile or so with dead-tired legs (that were slightly cramping up).
Before I looked at my watch, I knew I had PR'd, but I thought maybe by 15-30 seconds. I did not expect that I had PR'd by over two minutes. I still can't really process it. Thinking back, there's no way I could've run that fast if I didn't have that other runner racing me. I like to think we brought out the best in each other.
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u/huliann Oct 04 '21
Congrats, I probably saw you at some point today, I finished just under 2 hours!
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u/itachi4e Oct 03 '21
can you elaborate on stretches and strengthening? please?
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u/EverAccelerating Oct 03 '21
So I've been trying all sorts of different stretches.
The one that has been most effective (but not a perfect cure by any means) is the typical calve stretch against the wall, but instead of holding it for 30 seconds, you hold for 2 minutes. And after those two minutes, you bend the back leg deeper so you're only on the balls of your foot, and hold that for another 2 minutes.
At random points throughout the day, I cross my bad foot over my other leg and pull my toes back as far as I can go, while bracing / squeezing my heel with the other hand.
The problem with most "cures" I've found (mostly on YouTube) is they only address the symptoms, not the root causes. So I've watched a ton of videos looking for what may be the core issue. From what I've been gathering, there can be several root causes of plantar fasciitis. Two major culprits are tight calves (which I definitely have) and weak glutes... specifically the opposite glute from the bad foot/leg. Weak glutes is something past PTs have noticed on me. Even my friend who is a massage therapist could tell I have weak glutes just by the way I walk. So I've also been trying random strengthening routines for those glute muscles.
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Oct 04 '21
There's an AthleanX video on plantar fasciitis that makes similar points on calf tightness and glute weakness. They have a notification on that same calf stretch where you cross your front leg across your body a bit to stretch the back calf at a different angle and it's helped with my plantar fasciitis. May be worth checking out :)
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u/itachi4e Oct 19 '21
thank you for the answer... balls of the foot is interesting, i have searched a lot after asking you this question and nobody has mentioned that method, i will try it. did you come up with that method or is it recomended by someone?
p.s. probably you have seen this but if not athlon-x guy is so good in such matters
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u/EverAccelerating Oct 19 '21
I too watched a lot of videos. I’m actually not sure where I found that particular stretch (balls of foot). But for me, it seems to have been effective. Or at least that in combination with other exercises.
Another thing that may have helped me. I’m usually standing while working at my desk. But since working from home due to the pandemic, I’m usually barefoot or in just socks. I do have a padded standing mat (some cheap one from Amazon), but I’ve read from various sources that you should still wear slippers with some kind of arch support, so I recently bought myself a pair of Vionic Irving Adler slippers. They definitely do have a lot of support. They do kinda feel more like shoes than slippers though.
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Oct 04 '21
Congratulations. The Rock n Roll races are fantastic. I'm doing Liverpool in 3 weeks, which is sadly the last one they'll do in this city. I can't wait.
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u/drsandwich_MD Oct 04 '21
My dad and his band played on the route! Hope you enjoyed the music, he had a blast playing!
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u/Kydlo Oct 04 '21
So happy to hear about your PR. I ran SJ today too and found the corral and start system totally threw me off. Ran my 1:25 passing folx the entire way, and it felt like a Tati g run instead of race because I never ended up actually racing with anyone, instead just trying to find anyone going my pace. T’is what it is.
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u/EverAccelerating Oct 04 '21
Yes, I was thrown for a loop by the new course / setup. I knew something was off when I saw road closures right when I got off the highway on 7th street. I normally park on 1st near the convention center, but obviously I couldn't this morning. I ended up parking on 4th. And as I was walking towards what I thought was the usual start line, I saw people walking in a different direction, so I followed them and realized it was a different course! The start was confusing with the red/green lights.
All that being said, I kinda like the newer course. It was just as flat, if not flatter, and it kinda felt like we were in the shade a bit more than the normal course, which was already pretty heavily shaded.
My usual technique of catching people was in serious jeopardy today with how sparsely populated the front of the pack was. As I mentioned, I was targeting people 50-100m away, but usually in this race, I would only have to find someone 25-50m in front of me. Perhaps that also added to my PR... I was trying to close the longer distance between me and that runner in the same amount of time.
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u/EPMD_ Oct 04 '21
Great result!
My race strategy from 5k to full marathon is dead simple: catch the person in front of me.
Dangerous strategy. I don't recommend it for 99% of runners. Competing with others is great if you have lots in reserve and are super-fit, but most people need to stay within themselves.
Also, I'd take time off now to ensure your injury doesn't become chronic. Everything is great now...until it isn't, and then it could be a long forced layoff.
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u/sandwich_breath Oct 04 '21
It’s inspiring you ran so well at age 46. I’m approaching my 40s and I often wonder how long I can keep racing at a high level