{"id":4320,"date":"2024-07-31T19:47:32","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T19:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chrisrivard.com\/?p=4320"},"modified":"2026-04-01T00:00:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T00:00:50","slug":"race-result","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisrivard.com\/blog\/race-result\/","title":{"rendered":"RACE result"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I sit here at my desk nursing a Lifeway Kefir and eating a bowl of steel cut oats for lunch. I&#8217;ve eaten 1 banana in the past 3 days after having what (I suspect) was some kind of stomach virus since Sunday. I put so much thought and effort into the race on Sunday, I didn&#8217;t even think about the plan after I finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once I crossed the finish line I got my finishers medal and then one of the course marshals asked me what age group I was in &#8212; I don&#8217;t know. I told him my age and he gave me the 2nd place age group medal. Then I walked over to the drink table and had 2 small cups of gatorade and a banana and waited for my family to walk over and for my daughter to finish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve ever run a more perfectly executed race. <strong>Some training highlights to remember:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Long runs exceeded the distance. I think my longest long run was around 15 miles with a lot of climbing. Tabor to Council Crest and back is my long run jam.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>One 15 mile run close to race pace on the Leif Erikson trail in Forest Park &#8211; this one really simulated the course (it was on a gravel path through the woods near Snoqualmie, WA)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A 10 miler at threshold pace &#8211; it was a 10 mile PR for me (before the race), and was good training for maintaining a hard effort in the later miles. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Speed work at the track. I did a few sessions of 400s at max HR followed by a 400 recovery &#8211; usually 5-6 repeats, then a cool down on the way home.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Threshold session at the track &#8211; this was the week of the race and was good to maintain pace at my lactate threshold heart rate. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The plan was to have consistent pace throughout the race, then negative split the second half and give it full gas in the last 5K. I did all of those things. My time was 1:37, average pace of 7:24 per mile. Personal Best half marathon and 2nd in age group (in preliminary results I was first, but someone must have been just ahead of me). Early in the race I had to pump the brakes to slowly build to the pace I wanted. In the first 2 miles as I started to dip to 7:20-7:10, I slowed down to keep it closer to 7:40 or even 7:50. My heart rate slowly started to rise, to gently ease into my race pace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I carried 4 gels in my shorts rear pockets. There were supposed to be aid stations with water every 2.5 miles, but I didn&#8217;t see one until around mile 4. I ended up eating my first gel around mile 6 dry with no water. I just swallowed it in 2 gulps, then at the next aid station with water, took 2 cups and drank them to dilute the gel. It worked. I don&#8217;t think I would have been able to handle a cup and gel at the same time anyway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/img_5833.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4334\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Once I got up to race pace, I kept an eye on my heart rate and kept it between 154-163. Toward the top end. This was my lactate threshold and the fastest pace I could maintain without blowing up. A few times I needed to surge for a short time to pass another runner, but once I passed, I tried to bring it back down and maintain. I had a 2nd gel at mile 9 and swallowed it dry with no water, then got water when I got to the aid station. One mistake I made was that I was holding the top of the gel in one hand and the gel packet in my other hand and after I finished it, I accidentally dropped it. I was running in a pack and there was no way I could stop to pick it up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mile 9 was where I started to get worried I was going too early and tried to bring it back slightly to conserve for the last 5K. Once I hit mile 10, I just let it ride and started to drop the hammer. I caught a young guy, maybe a high schooler and ran with him for a mile, then started to pull away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I could hear a runner at my back going into the last mile, but I really didn&#8217;t care to do a race at the finish line, I was at max HR and firing the afterburners. I finished at just under a 7 minute pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Final thoughts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I don&#8217;t think I could maintain this pace for a full marathon (AT THIS POINT). If I trained at this pace with longer runs thrown in &#8211; I think I could. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It was really hard to get my gels out of my shorts pockets. I didn&#8217;t want to carry any waist pack or belt&#8230; maybe if I had shorts with better pocket access it would help. It was cumbersome while running fast. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Water at the aid stations was fine. I was hydrated before the race, peed twice before the start and never felt like I had to stop for a bathroom break. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I now realize why Tour de France cyclists hop on the trainers after they finish a stage. The lactic acid in my muscles came on strong once I stopped. I should have done a proper cool down. Soreness is gone after 2 days.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I completely messed up my post race nutrition. I started pounding calories &#8211; another banana, a cookie, then had a subpar breakfast sandwich&#8230; and most disastrously &#8211; a Burgerville grilled chicken sandwich which destroyed my gut biome. Thus the kefir and oatmeal. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What&#8217;s next?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I had so much fun racing. I was thinking during the race&#8230; it turns out I am a killer. Don&#8217;t sleep on Chris. I loved surging and passing, being tactical with the pacing. It was so fun to go for it. I was pushing the envelope of my training and fitness. Everything clicked. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I want to ride my bike. I was doing some long (50-70 mile) gravel rides and I want to get back in the saddle for those long rides. And I want to get on my mountain bike. And do some more backpacking.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I feel like I should capitalize on this fitness and look at Fall marathons. I need to think about that though&#8230; Do I want to put in the time?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The data:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/screenshot-2024-07-31-at-11.51.00e280afam.png?w=620\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4327\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/screenshot-2024-07-31-at-11.52.18e280afam.png?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4329\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Beastie Boys - So What Cha Want\" width=\"629\" height=\"354\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ru3gH27Fn6E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I sit here at my desk nursing a Lifeway Kefir and eating a bowl of steel cut oats for lunch. I&#8217;ve eaten 1 banana in the past 3 days after having what (I suspect) was some kind of stomach virus since Sunday. I put so much thought and effort into the race on Sunday, I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sartor-resartus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4320"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5458,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4320\/revisions\/5458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisrivard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}