New PR in 1:19:27! My previous PR of 1:22:26 was Iron Horse on June 5th. Interestingly enough, I ran both courses at almost exactly the same avg heart rate (186 vs 187 for today). An improvement of 14 seconds per mile over the last 4 months of training means that the Hartford Marathon is looking really good this year :)
Strategically, I ran the race well. As the race started, I settled into the 4th group and kept an eye on my pace making sure we were hitting 6:00's. As we passed the second mile, I commented to the 3 others that this was a nice pace, and we all expressed that our goals were to hit 6:00's for the whole race, or at least hang on as long as we could. There was a pretty stiff headwind going east, so I got behind the group and drafted them as best I could. This turned out to be a very smart move as the later miles into the headwind would show.
Rounding the neighborhood to turn around, we lost one of the group to some of the short hills... noticed that the 3 mile marker was about a quarter mile off, but the 4th mile was right on time. Running back on Atlantic Ave, we could see some of the other runners. I couldn't find Deb though, as she was running too fast :)
With the wind at our backs for the next 3 miles, we picked up the pace a bit, and our group started running under 5:50 pace. I decided to relax and rest a bit, slowing it back down to 5:55. Once I split off the group, the runner named Scott looked back and decided to run with me. We conversed during this time, since it was easier to maintain pace with the tailwind. When we came up to a fluid station, the runner in front of us had gained a good 10 seconds on us, but he spent a long time getting fluids, and we passed him somewhere after mile 5. My legs started feeling a little rejuvenated, so I picked up the pace a little for the next few miles, hitting 5:54, 5:57, and 5:55 for mile 5-7. I commented to Scott that I thought the guy in front of us was the winner of Iron Horse, and that we were catching him. He agreed that we would eventually. He stuck with me until the end of mile 8, while I faltered a little on gradual hills, and the windy conditions. He went on to catch him, while I stuck to my 6:00 pace as best I could.
Through miles 8-10, I was able to hold it close to 6:00 on the rolling hills hitting 6:04, 5:55, and 6:01, all while still gaining on the runner in front of me. Miles 11 and 12 though, had a nice one two punch of short steep hills, and bad headwinds. I squeaked by with a 6:10 and a 6:09.
By now, I was about 10 seconds back from from the runner in front of me, and I was running out of miles to catch him. I picked it up to a 5:55 mile split on mile 13 to get by him, and attempt to put some ground between us. As we rounded the corner, I continued to hear people cheering "nice job guys", "way to go guys"... hearing the plural gave me a good indication that he was trying to stay with me for the last stretch. I cranked it up another notch until I felt nauseous, hitting closer 5:25 pace on the last few steps, and edged him out by 6 seconds.
I caught up with him on my cool down, and it turns out that he really was the winner of Iron Horse earlier this year. I'm really pleased with my improvement since June. I took 8th place overall, and 3rd in my age group, bringing home another sweet trophy from the HMF.
This is a great course, and a very well organized event. If you have room on your schedule next year, I encourage you to try it.
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