Des Moines Women's 13.1:Balancing Racing with Training

What happens when a nation-wide event comes to a nearby city? And, let's just suppose, for a moment, this event happens right in the middle of your 26.2 training?

Well, if you're anything like me...you would go for it and register!

At the Des Moines Women's Half Marathon with my friend, Barb

That said, let me emphasize what's REALLY going on in my running life right now. As much as I love pinning on a bib and exploring a new 13.1 course, I have a bigger dragon to slay...Grandma's Marathon (June 17). A lot of people probably think I have no business doing so many races in the midst of training for a marathon (and there'a lot of merit in their concern). I am not running these races with an all-out, in-it-to-win-it-mindset, though. With the exception of Klompen Classic 5K (recap), which was a legit "speed workout" (as well as an actual race in itself), I'm treating these races as training runs.

Leading up to this half marathon, I also had run one of my fastest 5K's ever (Wednesday, four days prior) and had also run a decent half marathon the previous weekend (Saturday, eight days prior).  I also had done two (easy-paced) 5-mile runs (on Monday and Friday). I have a few more weeks of increasing distance for my long runs (peaking at the end of May), and then it will time for the taper. So, in other words, these two back-to-back half marathons happened at a great time since I'd be doing long runs of a comparable distance anyways.

So, Sunday morning arrives and Monna N chose to bless us with beautiful weather. We had sunshine! Clear skies! Temps in the high-40's at the start line! And a very gentle breeze! All the makings of a near-perfect race day scenario.

The Jasper Winery was the setting for the inaugural Des Moines Women's Half Marathon (and 5K). Sponsored by Shape magazine, this was an event for (and all about) celebrating women.

Ready for the start line

The race began at the winery, and the first few miles took us towards downtown Des Moines and circled around Principal Park. The fifth and sixth miles had us running along the Raccoon River trail (along Grays Lake) before looping around Water Works Park and ending back at the winery.

For the most part, the course was pretty flat, and it was fast! Given my state of 26.2 training, I did have a bit of an inner-self battle with trying to hold back (and run easy) versus just letting the spirit of the morning take me (and risk injury by running too fast on a somewhat still-in-recovery body). After all, I had a beautiful morning and ideal conditions to go for a PR.

The first couple miles were fast for me (sub-9:00), and I could tell I'd need to reign it back. Although I felt good and wanted to keep going at that fast pace, I knew I needed to focus on the big picture (the upcoming marathon, and not the current race). I was able to progressively slow down some, but both sides of my brain had nonstop chatter about racing a 13.1 vs. training for a 26.2.

I did have to pullover for a potty stop in the sixth mile, which cost me 1:10 of "running time" due to the slowpoke ahead of me (seriously, why does it take some people so long to do their business???). Other than that, I ran the entire race without walking (except for the water stations) and never felt fatigued.

It was great seeing so many women, many of whom were embarking on their first half marathon. The course was well supported with numerous aid stations and occasional marshals on bikes. Everyone (of legal age) also received a glass of wine after the finish line!

highlights:
1-This was a very successful race for me, especially in terms of how effortless it felt.  I felt great the entire race and was able to tap into a decent surge at the end. It was difficult trying to hold back, though. Although I don't consider myself fast, I do have a difficult time trying to make myself run slower than what feels "natural." There were times when I wanted to just let loose and go...but feared I'd crash and burn well before the finish line if I did so. Being a training run, this was more about running the distance efficiently and not about how fast I could do it. I still probably ran it faster than I should have, but I think I ran it well since I felt like I still had a little bit of mojo remaining when I finished. (I also did a slow cool-down run after the finish line)

2-My splits tell a good story. It's obvious that I progressively slowed my pace as the miles worn on. Some of that was due to the temperature rising, but most of it was a concerted effort to not "race" through the miles. If you've ever had to consciously make yourself slow down, you can appreciate how challenging it is to fight and keep your body from doing what it wants to do.

1-8:48                  7-9:10
2-8:53                  8-9:32
3-9:08                  9-9:36
4-9:10                10-9:39
5-9:20                11-9:47
6-11:01              12-9:47
(9:51 if you        13-8:57
subtract the        (.1-:29)
potty stop)

3- Free race pics! We're talking free printed pics, folks. We were encouraged to post our own pics on social media (and hash tag them #dsmwomenshalf). Throughout the morning they would print off these pictures and display them on a board...and the pics were free to take home with us. I've never see that before!

One of my pics on the display board

4-The singing of the National Anthem...the gal who sang for us was amazing! She also did a heart-stopping rendition of Alicia Keyes' "This Girl is on Fire" before the race began.

5-The swag was killer! Not only a bright purple 1/4 zip jacket (with thumb holes!), but also a wine glass! And the race bibs featured our names more so than our race numbers.

Overall, I think this was a well-organized event. Given the fact that it was an inaugural race for Des Moines, I thought it went off without a hitch. I finished in 2:03:10. Remember that annoying 1:10 wait for the porta-pot at the sixth mile? Subtracting that off gives me a 2:02 finish time.....which is pretty satisfying since I didn't really try to run hard (except for the final mile). I wound up with an 11th place age group finish (out of 55), and was 249 (out of 948) over all. I do have a little regret in not running a little bit harder, but am glad I was able to control my "training run" pace and keep it (somewhat) under control. That sub-2 will have to wait for another time.

Isn't the medal pretty? (pay no attention to the salt smears on my face)

And, kudos to my friend Barb, who placed third in her age group, and another friend, Nettie, who won their age group!

Have you ever been blessed with what felt like an effortless race that rewarded you with a great finish time? Should I have given up on the "26.2 training" for the morning, or was I wise to slow things down? What would you do?

I'm linking this with Meranda and Lacey and Rachel for the Friday Five 2.0. 

And also with Nicole for the Fit & Fashionable Friday link-up