Two Half Marathon's - Lesson learned - Run faster

Since Mt Hood PCT 50, Gimpy has finished a couple of back to back half marathons.  I feel pretty good about these last couple of runs, even though Gimpy's now been beaten by both Rosling siblings.  Two words come to mind, no sprinting.

Ultimately the times for the half's speak for themselves, there is still room for improvement, but speed is something Gimpy plans on working on next season.

The first half marathon was the Health Heart Home Classic in Corvallis, Sept 10th, started at Crescent Valley HS and heads up Jackson Creek into McDonald Forest via Dimple Hill.  The first five miles is in some ways the toughest part of the run.  I felt like I got off to a good pace, even though I watched the lead runners including Mike "Spike" Rosling quickly pull away in the first half mile. Gimpy made it to the top of Dimple in about an hour.  The next couple miles are quicker downhill and surprisingly I got to Upper Horse Trail turn off between the first and second place runners.  "Coach" Rosling went flying past me in second, already completing the trip to Lewisburg and back, and I didn't even think about trying to keep up with him.

Eric Jensen came flying by a little later on his bike, and Gimpy couldn't keep up with him either.  Eric you're an animal, heal up so you can try to beat me at least once, you know you can.

I was routing for Mike to finish in under 1:30 and I knew if Eric was having trouble keeping up with him it was a good sign he get close to that time.

Gimpy hit the bottom of Upper Horse for the first time and headed up to Lewisburg Saddle and the aid station.  Thanks to Frank Schnekenburger who took photos I know I was looking pretty beat on this uphill section.  I snagged some water for my bottle and started back up the upper road to take Upper Horse one more time.  Gimpy was looking forward to the downs so gotta push this last uphill section when possible.

I felt like I was running within my abilities and had plenty to finish strong into the finish.  There was one steep down section on Lower horse trail, where Gimpy was doing more braking than gliding.  That was a steep section for sure.  That section would be nice to do over, but had to put that behind me with the Jackson Creek road fast approaching and I'd scoped two people near the bottom I'd like to catch.  Gimpy knew at Jackson Creek there was only a couple more miles to go.

Gimpy could find a faster gear and the two runners didn't seemt to be getting closer.  At the other end of Jackson Creek, I met Eric coming back up on the bike and it was nice to be able to say a word or two without collapsing.  Thanks Eric, you really got me motivated to finish strong even if I didn't catch the runners ahead of me.


Ultimately you helped me finish just over 2:15 and some change.  When I started the day Gimpy would have been happy under 2:30 for this course. So no complaints from me on this time.

The second run in two weeks, the Champoeg Park half marathon, July 18th, was the run Gimpy just finished and with the exception of a couple hundred feet of elevation gain in the middle sections, it's a flat and fast course.  I focused on keeping under 9'/mile pace as I was suspecting and unfortunately confirmed my Boston qualifying target pace of sub 8'/mile is still out of reach.  One of the highlights of this run was seeing Kristin, Mike Rosling's sister between mile 7 and 8.  I tried to stay relaxed and didn't think she would catch me......, well until she blew by me at mile 12 like Gimpy was standing still.  Way to go Kristin!!!

So in the span of 8 days, I've officially been beaten by both the brother and sister Rosling's.  Oh well, gives me something to shoot for next year.  I'm pretty sure Gimpy can beat both of them when they are not running.

After getting passed Gimpy pushed through the last mile and came in at 1:54, avg 8:45'/mile.  This comes close to my Pacific Crest Duathlon Half in June 2011.

Overall, the event sponsors did a nice job organizing.  The kids day care looked like a good idea, and the beer and BBQ hit the spot at the end of the run.  Gimpy left Champoeg Park feeling good from the run, the food, and the experience.

Overall, Gimpy enjoyed experiencing the differences between these two half's.  The only thing better, maybe Eric or Gene kicking my butt at either one, hope to see you guys on the trail soon.

Reviewing the original training plan that Mike "Coach" put together for me, Gimpy can say these relatively shorter runs don't make up for the longer ones, (22-24 miles), that Gimpy had hoped to put in before my Autumn Leaves 50M, regardless Gimpy can say he's tested and found his max speed for the half for the year under hilly and flat conditions.  I'll get one more chance for a long run at Flagline 50K next weekend, before starting my taper.


We'll see how long it takes to blog that one.


For future comparison

Pacific Crest Duathlon Relay Half: (June 24, 2011) - 1:53
Health Heart Home Classic Half:   (Sept 10, 2011) - 2:16
Champoeg Park Half:                    (Sept 18, 2011) -1:54  

Until next time Gimpy, time to run faster.