Every year, an old friend of mine from college and I try to get together to run a race. Usually, that race is the Richmond Marathon or Half Marathon. This year, it was the half. At that distance, my friend and I used to be more evenly matched, but I am faster these days. I’d chalk that up to my social life revolving entirely around running, whereas his revolves most around his three kids. No judgment, of course. Just the reality of a couple of late 40s guys.

At dinner Friday night, we were catching up, and H mentioned to me that he had tweaked his calf, so I was going to be running solo this year. Now, I was fully prepared to slow down and run at his pace, because I was recovering from a nasty cold that had lasted over a week, and still had a mild cough. But the thought of running a half marathon by myself, a race that I’ve run three times previously (I’ve also run the Richmond full three times), seemed kind of boring. I don’t usually bother to run short races, especially big city races, unless I’m running with a friend, or have some specific goal (usually a PR) in mind.

So, I decided to PR. The night before the race. With a lingering sinus infection and cough. On training that hasn’t really been half-focused (although it has been going well).

Besides wanting to PR just for something to do, the way I focus on PRs is that I focus on my oldest. My half marathon had been sitting in the “oldest PR” position for a year, since I set a marathon PR last year (race report), and I still hadn’t gotten around to beating it, so here was the opportunity. My old half marathon PR (race report) was 1:42:02. I thought the best way to beat that would be to focus on getting sub-1:40, which is 7:38 per mile. Allowing for the fact that I’ll end up running a little further than 13.1, let’s make it 7:30.

My training runs are usually around 9:00/mile, occasionally getting into the low 8s if I’m running with fast friends. I don’t usually run 7:30, but I know what it feels like: too fast.

At the race start, I let the first wave go, and got into the second wave. I noticed that the 1:45 pace group (or it might have been 1:50) was leading off the second wave, so I knew I would need to get ahead of them. But it meant that I had missed the 1:40 pace group, and they were 2 minutes ahead of me (the waves were 2 minutes apart). Oh well. Staying with a pace group is sometimes more trouble than it’s worth. I started running.

Mile 1: 7:29
Mile 2: 7:27
Mile 3: 7:17
Mile 4: 7:25

This being my fourth time running the half, I knew the park we entered at this point had some rolling hills. I always dread them, or at least mentally prepare for them, and they always aren’t as bad as I fear. It’s a nice park to run through.

Let’s pause now to talk about nutrition and hydration: I thought I’d be running with H at his pace, so I didn’t bother to bring any. So, I just grabbed water as I went through the aid stations.

Mile 5: 7:27
Mile 6: 7:22
Mile 7: 7:27

At this point, the race enters a lovely neighborhood, with cheering sections, people playing music, and usually a beer and shots stop. I debated grabbing a beer, but I still had the occasional hacking cough, a dreadfully runny nose, and the feeling that my dinner from the previous night had not entirely cleared the mechanism that morning. My race was going well, and while a beer can sometimes be helpful, I decided not to mess with success. I’d gotten halfway through the race at my goal pace, and was pretty sure I could hold onto that, even though the pace was starting to wear me down.

In fact, I was noticing something at this point. Richmond is a lovely race, whichever distance you do. But I was not having a good time. I wasn’t enjoying myself. There comes a time when setting a PR means running so far out of your comfort zone that it is an absolute suffer fest for the whole distance. I mention it my race report I linked above for the last half marathon PR. I’ll have to remember that feeling so I never try to set a half marathon PR again. Sure.

There was a short out and back in this section where I was able to see the 1:40 pace group not that far ahead of me. Since I had started 2 minutes behind them, I figured if I caught up to them, I’d be at a 1:38. But that would take the entire remainder of the race, so I’d be catching up to them at the finish line. I made that my goal.

I also saw my friend Eric, who I didn’t know was running the race. I waved at him and said, “Hey Eric!” He had headphones in and didn’t notice me. Fuck you, Eric. Your mustache sucks. (Just kidding, it’s a magnificent mustache, and he’s a great guy.)

Also, Eric is faster than me in my mental ranking of my runner friends, and I was ahead of him.

Mile 8: 7:32
Mile 9: 7:29
Mile 10: 7:31
Mile 11: 7:25

I was starting to flag a bit. My legs weren’t responding as well, and they felt very wooden. Mile 8 and 10 were my slowest miles, but it felt like I was still going as fast as I had gone before. Maintaining pace became a constant mental effort, in addition to the already considerable physical effort. But there was a cheering section at about 11.3 that really got me upbeat. They were at a very slight incline as we turned a corner, and they really cheered people into taking that hill. Good on them!

Everything hurt.

The race finishes on a nice downhill, although I sometimes get a little intimidated by it, because I generally do not like running downhill, especially fast, for fear I am going to fall over. That did not happen yesterday, thankfully. As I put my hand on my watch, ready to stop it as I crossed the finish, I heard the announcer congratulate the 1:40 pace group, who was just crossing in front of me. I had no idea I had gotten so close to them. I had been so focused on my pace, with my eyes completely focused on the road in front of me, so I wouldn’t fall on that downhill, that I hadn’t seen that I was approaching them.

Mile 12: 7:29
Mile 13: 7:07
0.2: 6:10 pace

I smiled. I finished in 1:37:51. About 20 seconds per mile faster than my previous PR, set in 2018 when I was in my early 40s. There will come a day when I no longer set new PRs. Yesterday was not that day.

I spent the rest of the day coughing. I’ve still got the same symptoms from the cold this morning. I think I’ll take a break for a few days.