Time to Read: ~7 minTraining
I felt like I was in a pretty solid spot for this race to start training properly. I created a training plan using a Runner’s World Half Marathon plan. I focused on hitting reliable weekly mileage starting right before the end of December in a base build phase and then moving into increasing miles. I’ve been really focused on yoga, lifting, hiking, and rowing this fall and during the year in general. Running hasn’t been feeling fun (or even remotely easy) so I haven’t enjoyed doing it. Yet, here we are signed up for this race and several others, so I decided I might as well start running.
The best way to run in the cold - don’t ever go inside
This year we broke down and bought a treadmill. It was something we said we never wanted to own for a million different reasons. But, when Xander worked on Explora, we were exposed to a treadmill we loved. In fact, we loved it so much we started to consider buying one. Soon, we were in the showroom in Manhattan talking to the salesperson about this lovely piece of equipment. We rationalized that we’d probably never need to buy another treadmill, and we’d get a lot of use from it. This is fair - we have had our elliptical since Elizabeth was 20 months old (she’s 24 and a half now) and we slowly added other things. Now we have a rower, a Smith cage, lots of free weights, and a Keiser bike. The treadmill completes our collection and packs our home gym so full we couldn’t fit another thing if we tried! It arrived in April and sat dormant until December. Suddenly, instead of kicking my butt out the door to run I kicked myself onto the treadmill. I never got used to cold this winter, but did at least log indoor miles. I reasoned that come March the weather would be lovely and this would be just fine. The only smart choice I made was made by Scott - we ran the Winter Chill races which make me run outside at least once a week in January. Thank goodness for my wonderful husband who put up with my weekly Sunday whining when it was freezing outside.
Mileage
I set very modest goals for training for this race. My overall hope was to just get at least 20 miles of running while continuing to cross train. I have grown to really love hot yoga and vinyasa yoga, and I always love to row and hike so those activities were important to me. I started a 2-week base building period at the end of December and then worked into my training. Here are the weekly run totals:
Week 1: 21.2 miles
Week 2: 20.47 miles
Week 3: 18:33 miles
Week 4: 22.32 miles
Week 5: 23.59 miles
Week 6: 9.28 miles
Week 7: 11 miles
Week 8: 19.66 miles
Week 9: 17.91 miles
Week 10: 26.11 miles
Week 11: 24.83 miles
Week 12: 16.56 miles
Race Week: 13.18 miles
So my total mileage leading up to the Syracuse Half for 12 weeks was 231.6. With the exception of weeks 6 and 7, I generally hit my target. It wasn’t a lofty goal, but it was enough to make sure that race day wouldn’t be too miserable.
Unseasonably Cold
Brr!
This race always seems to have at least one “unseasonable” aspect to it. I’ve run it in completely snow covered streets with gusty wind and snow coming down, and I’ve run it in shorts and a tank top in the early spring heat. This year the forecast called for temperatures of 29 degrees. I mentally prepared for this and truly felt pretty ready for a race with temps just around freezing.
Two days prior, Scott mentioned that it would be 22 degrees at the start. He said, “but it will be sunny!” Scott goes with the flow much better than I do and he was totally chill about this forecast. My hands get really cold and last year I tossed my very old heavy gloves at the end of the season. I was confident that this act would make me buy new ones before this season. But, the season had come and gone with me doubling up with lighter weight gloves and I hadn’t taken time to look for a proper heavy glove to run in. That was part of what pushed me to treadmill running - a lack of proper outerwear! Now it was too late - I’d have to come up with a plan for the gloves I’d need for 22 degrees.
Elizabeth came to the rescue with her ski gloves. I was grateful. My double glove method was ok for shorter distances and slightly warmer temperatures, but I know it wasn’t a good plan for the half. I’d had a recent 8 miler where I had to call Scott to pick me up - my shoes had come untied and my hands were so cold I couldn’t re-tie them!
Pre-Race Eve
Our family generally has a really great time together when we hang out and today was no exception. I had a lot of work to do for school and Xander had to get packed up to go back to Boston after his spring break. Elizabeth and Scott had a lot of things to take care of as well. So, we all did our own thing until around 2 pm. I got dropped off at school around noon so I’d have a couple solid hours to prep for the upcoming week and then they all came to pick me up and we headed to Syracuse for the race.
We arrived in cold, rainy, and windy conditions and got our packets and then headed over to the hotel to check in. We had spent more money for a hotel right near the start this year. This turned out to be a really great plan given the temperature. It also proved useful because Xander’s train back to Boston left shortly after the race ended - we didn’t have a lot of time to clean up and get him to the train station.
When we arrived our hotel room was not yet ready. It was late in the day and we were tired. I’m sure we looked exhausted because the person working the desk quickly offered us complimentary lounge access where we could sit and enjoy some snacks and drinks. She also gave us coupons to enjoy breakfast the next morning should we desire. We hung out in the lounge for a bit and then our room became available.
We decided to walk the mile or so to dinner so we wouldn’t have to move our car and deal with city parking. It was windy, chilly, and cloudy, but we enjoyed our walk knowing that the wind was forecasted to abate overnight and the sun was due to come out.
Francesca's
We enjoyed a fantastic Italian meal at Francesca's and then sauntered on back to our hotel. One perk of having a cold weather race was that we realized we could actually take our food home. Our car would act like a refrigerator overnight so we went out to pop it in the car for travel.
Race Morning
We had agreed to bring bagels and peanut butter for our pre-race breakfast. Scott even packed the toaster so we’d be able to enjoy them toasted. I do not like bagels and peanut butter but they are an effective and easy pre-race meal. I had a half a bagel with peanut butter, got my clothing on and did a bunch of stretching. I also had time to do the New York Times puzzles - one of the first things Scott and I do every morning!
We all took care of our own needs as we got ready to run. Xander was wearing shorts while I looked bundled for the Arctic!
Ready to Race
And just like that we run!
Because we were so close to the start, we just popped out of our hotel, walked a couple of blocks and there we were. It allowed us to leave very late and arrive practically just in time for the start of the race. It was the first time I’ve been to a race where I didn’t have to hit a porta potty line!
The four of us
The Run
I love this course. I’ve run it enough to know what to expect and it is great fun to run through the neighborhoods. The crowd support is good and it is well supported with aid stations. The best part of the run is the really great downhill a little after mile 7. I always think it is going to last longer, but I enjoy it while it is there!
Miles 9 onward get really challenging - a lot of flat surfaces and we are no longer in the neighborhoods. My goal was to try to avoid walking if I could. I mostly managed this, but by the time I hit mile 10 my running felt more like walking! I kept telling myself “just keep going step by step” for what felt like the entire last 3 miles.
Positive Splits
I made a couple of blunders with pacing. They include:
- Using Strava on my phone and setting it to auto pause. This made me think my pace was faster than it was. I trusted the little announcements each mile and didn’t look at my watch (set separately) to see that when you count elapsed time the pace was slower.
- Walking through EVERY water stop except the first one. It was a cold day and I really didn’t need water. None of my training runs included water so I’m not sure why I suddenly took water (well actually Gatorade) at each stop.
- I started WAY back. I didn’t really think about the extra energy I’d spend getting through people to settle into a pace.
My splits were positive splits and none of them were very speedy at all. However, with the auto-pause on Strava all the splits I heard were under 10 minute miles. I just didn’t factor in the water stops counting as pauses and giving me false info. I thought I was running faster than I was so I didn’t adjust my speed - I was perfectly happy with slightly sub 10 pace, but you will see that 8 of the 13 miles were over 10 minute mile pace.
Mile 1: 14:35
Mile 2: 9:45
Mile 3: 9:35
Mile 4: 9:25
Mile 5: 9:50
Mile 6: 10:17
Mile 7: 9:50
Mile 8: 11:08
Mile 9: 10:46
Mile 10: 10:41
Mile 11: 10:21
Mile 12: 10:21
Mile 13: 19:01
Post Race Thoughts
Each year I hesitate for just a bit when the first person mentions “Hey, wanna do the Syracuse Half?” I think “I don’t know if I want to run in winter” and then I immediately think that it'll make sure that I run in the winter. I always say, “Sure!”
A few great things about this race:
- A Syracuse Half “In Training” t-shirt came with the entry fee. It is the best shirt I’ve gotten from a race in a long while.
- They are back to their nice full zip hoodies for the race. After a few disappointing years of not so great quarter zips, it was SO nice to see those back!
- They have an awesome post race vibe!
No matter what the weather it is a really great way to make sure you stay in running shape in the colder months and you are almost certain to have an “unseasonable” something pop up for race day!
I love doing this with my family and I feel pretty darn grateful to be out there.
Results
Overall time: 2:11:25
Pace: 10:02
Age 50-54: 29 out of 82
Gender: 582 out of 1267
5K split: 29:47
10K split: 1:00:42
15K split: 1:32:17