Race Report: After the Leaves Have Fallen Half Marathon

Apologies for the delay on getting this out.  It'll be short and sweet with some good pictures.

For the past 2 years, I have raced the Stockadeathon 15k in Schenectady, NY.  A huge 15k race that attracts some real talent throughout the Northeast.  In 2012 I ran 1:01:55, in 2013 I ran 1:00:55, and in 2014 I was hoping to run sub 1:00:00.  However, a course change earlier this year discouraged my return to break 1:00:00.

So, instead I decided a month ago to sign up for a low-key half marathon in the Gunks at Minnewaska State Park.  This has easily become my favorite place in the area to train and race because of how stunningly gorgeous it is.

Who wouldn't want to run around here?

Race morning I drove down with some friends and quickly started to regret the 20 chicken wings and multiple beers I ate the night before while watching the MSU vs OSU football game.  Let's just say this, if the toilet was a Baskin-Robbins, I would have earned a free scoop for my frequent visits.  The race started at 11am and I was in the porta-john at 10:55 for a last minute emergency visit.  I stuffed some TP in my shorts pocket and prayed to the gastrointestinal gods that I would make it through the race unsoiled.

Fortunately, the race started late and I was able to settle down a bit before starting to run.  Here's a video of the race start:

I don't really know much about the area except that it's gorgeous.  So, I'll spare you the details of where we ran and on what trails and just show you a couple pictures and tell you the highlights of my race.

1.  Despite having the following elevation profile, I managed to run an average 7:02/mi pace for a finish time of 1:32:19.  Which is my second fastest Half Marathon to date.

The hill at 12.5mi was the worst part of the entire day

2.  I finished in 16th overall, good enough for 2nd in my Age Group which won me a delicious loaf of bread!

3.  I got to run along trails that looked like this:

Borrowed this pic from another Race Report

3.  I ran hard the whole time and was thrilled with my effort and result.  I wasn't positive given the elevation profile and my relative lack of distance training that I could dip under 1:35:00, but the 4mi of downhill certainly helped.  Nevertheless, my slowest mile was 7:44 pace and that was to the highest point in the race and had 200ft of gain within the mile.

4.  This might be the most important point of the race, I didn't poop myself. :)

5.  Downhill running hurts, a lot!  Even if you're wearing Hoka's and running on soft carriage trails.  It gets very painful over the course of 4mi.

Seriously though, this is an amazing race.  If you have $15 (yes, only $15) and can make it to the Catskill Mountains next November, I would highly recommend coming to run with me.  Because I'll surely be there again.  

Runvember 30 for 30 update:

I am 3 weeks in and have not missed a day yet.  Last night was my shortest run yet (00:30:26), but was still over the 30 minute minimum requirement.  

Total mileage is currently at 120.01mi for 20 runs.  Feeling great and starting to get anxious about next week's Turkey Trot 5k where I hope to break 18min!  We'll see how it goes!

Runvember 30 for 30

For no other reason that wanting to get back into shape and do something arbitrarily challenging, I decided that I am going to run at least 30min each day during the month of November. A challenge I have dubbed Runvember 30 for 30. 

Unfortunately, I am not as unique and creative as I thought since a quick search of the internets revealed that Runvember is a common challenge for many runners.  Alas.

Nevertheless, I have run every day this month so far and I feel great. At this point I have covered 55mi in 9 runs which is almost 10km per day. Most of these runs have been and will be easy so that I don't get injured throughout the month.  I have done two hard days this month - one track workout on Nov 6 and a trail half marathon race on Nov 9.  The only other planned race this month is a Turkey Trot 5km on Thanksgiving Day.  

In general, my plan is to hold to a 5/1/1 plan. That is, 5 easy runs, 1 speed/tempo workout, and 1 long run (~90min) each week. It's simple, easy to follow, and will not keep me from running myself ragged throughout the next 3 weeks.

I'll try to post an update here at the end of each week to keep track and stay accountable. Race Report for yesterday's Half Marathon will come later this week. It was a fantastic course and I had my fastest half marathon since 2011 so there is plenty to write about.