Charleston Half-Marathon Race Report

Charleston Half-Marathon - January 15th, 2011 - Charleston, SC


Last Saturday I traveled down to sunny Charleston, SC for the Charleston Half-Marathon. On the weekend, there was also a 10k, 5k, and full marathon. Combined, the 4 races attracted over 4000 runners and offered an ideal distance for everyone. Being just 2 weeks out from the Miami Marathon, the Charleston Half offered me an opportunity to run on a course with a similar topography to that in Miami - completely flat - as well as a chance to get a good 13.1 mile marathon paced run in under race conditions.

I arrived in Charleston on Friday afternoon and immediately went to the expo to pick up my race packet. Soon after, I found the home of a good friend's family that had offered to host me for the night! Before a delicious pasta dinner, I headed out to the West Ashley Greenway for an easy pre-race run. Shortly into the run, though, it was clear that I was feeling great which bode well for the next morning's race. I finished my 6 mile out-and-back run in a short 42 minutes before adding on another half mile by doing 5x0.1 mile strides to make sure my legs were loose. After dinner, I prepared for a good night's sleep in anticipation of the early morning that I'd have the next day.

Saturday morning was a little chilly, but having been in Connecticut for a 10k with a temperature of 29 degrees the 36 degree morning almost felt warm. I got to the start line in plenty of time to warmup around 7:25am and quickly found where I would need to drop my bag off once I had finished my race preparations. An easy 2 mile warmup in long pants, fleece, hat and gloves gave me that ideal feeling of well warmed muscles ready for the race. I through everything but my race gear into my bag and loaded it in the gear truck before finding my way to my usual spot in most races about 3 rows back from the front of the pack at the start.

The race started with fairly little warning but off we went, heading south on East Bay St towards the Battery. From there we'd turn north onto King St and head fairly straight for the next 6.5 miles. The first mile came by and felt ridiculously easy in 6:11. I wasn't too concerned because I was feeling great and I knew that 13.1 miles is a whole different game than my upcoming 26.2 - I will not go out in 6:11 in that race. Heading into the half, though, my goal had been to hit the splits I'd need to in Miami and hopefully feel great at the finish knowing that I could have kept running for another 13.1 miles. Those planned splits were 6:36 per mile (1:26:31 for half, 2:53:02 marathon pace), a pace that would leave me almost 4 minutes behind my half-marathon PR of 1:22:42 from last April. As with a lot of my race strategies, though, the pre-race plan went out the window after about a mile and a half when we turned north on King St and I had settled into a pack running about 6:20 miles. I was feeling good though, so I kept going with the pack hitting splits of 6:25, 6:22, and 6:19 over the next 3 miles. In the 5th mile the pack of about 8 began to separate and I was left in between those that picked up the pace, and those that fell off the pace. I continued at my own pace trying to just stay relaxed and went through 5 miles in 31:47 after a 6:29 5th mile - in the end, this would become my slowest mile of the race, so much for averaging 6:36! Still feeling strong my 6th mile was almost identical bringing me through in 38:16 for 6 miles (a familiar split having been 38:03 the week before and 38:08 in my marathon debut last May). This race, however, was significantly different than those other two; I was actually feeling great this time, and I had stayed relaxed to that point.
According to splits retroactively calculated from my Garmin data, I hit 10k in 39:37 having split 19:38 and 19:58 for the 5ks up to that point. Another interesting comparison comes by comparing my time through 7 miles to that of my half-marathon PR. At 7 miles, after the first of 3 consecutive 6:24 splits, I was at 44:40 in Charleston. My half-marathon PR split at 7 miles was 43:12, faster by a minute and 28 seconds. At just over halfway through the race it was evident that I was feeling good, and the matter of shooting for that PR of 1:22:42 had yet to creep into my mind. 2 miles and 12:48 later, though, I hit 9 miles in 57:29, still 1:19 off the pace of my PR, but also significantly faster than the original plan.
Having broken away from the eventual 6th place marathoner, with whom I had been chatting for a few miles, I began to slowly pick up the pace because I was feeling great. At 15k I was at 59:31 and after a 6:11 10th mile I had closed the gap on my PR to just 58 seconds (1:03:40 to 1:02:42). The remaining 5k became a race against the clock, I was feeling good and kept on pushing. After separating from the marathon course it seemed as though I was all alone - except for the few unfortunate souls that were still finishing up their 10ks. After my 10th mile, each one got faster. Mile 11 was 6:07 followed by a 6:01 for mile 12. That 12:08 2-mile split put me ahead of my PR pace and a closing 5:53 put the cherry on top of one of my best races ever and a new PR for the half-marathon of officially 1:22:33. My last 6k had been a smoking 22:30 (a pace of 6:02 per mile) and my last 10k alone would have been respectable in a time of 38:25.

Perhaps the best indicator of my current marathon fitness is that I had fully recovered from my half by Tuesday, and on Wednesday afternoon I ran back-to-back sub-12 minute 3200s with just 3 minutes rest as my penultimate tempo workout for Miami, the other comes tomorrow.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I hope to hit the start line in Miami with a strong belief that I can run under 2:55, a time that should put me in the top 25 overall based on results from previous years.