T J Bryan ran the Hilton Head Half Marathon and finished with a time of 2:14.
Tune-up race–for Boston (essentially a training run). I was first in my age group (70-74 women) and faster than 65-69 women and faster than all but one 70-74 males. My time was better in this race in 2016, when the weather was 40 degrees compared to this year’s 61 degrees and 100% humidity (no rain). The conditions this year were truly brutal.
Fred Inklaar ran the Groet uit Schoorl Run Half Marathon with a finishing time of 1:33:43, which was a PR by 37 seconds!
I had been stuck for years on a 1:38 HM PR when I took part in the 2017 edition of this race, and suddenly ran 1:35. I managed to better that in spring 2017 to 1:34:20, but that remained my best HM time for the remainder of 2017.
So, knowing that this course is to my liking, and that I was quite fit, I hoped to run a PR this weekend, at my first HM of 2018. But as always with PRs, success is not guaranteed. I would be travelling from the USA to the Netherlands on Friday, and weather predictions were not optimal: heavy winds, low temperatures and a drizzle.
But weather on race day turned out to better than expected. The wind was stronger than forecast, but there was no rain – moreover, most of the race was ran in the sunshine. So by km 18, where I knew that I would only have the wind in my back for the remainder of the course, I also knew that a new PR was within reach. Even up the last uphill roads I managed to keep my pace, and finished way below 1:34, at 1:33:43.
Ramon Pastor ran the Barcelona Half Marathon and finished in a time of 1:30:35. This was a personal record by 2 minutes!
New PR by almost 2 and half minutes!! Although my goal was to beat 90 minutes, I knew it was difficult, and I’m happy to only have missed it by a few seconds. I felt good all the race, maybe struggling a little bit at km 17-18, but then recovered into a strong finish.
Is hard to be on point with the target pace when my gps always marks longer than the official race. This time 400 m, which means that to make my goal I need to be running faster (clock wise) that the theoretical pace. In any case a great mark and a moral burst towards Boston.
Luc Berthouze ran the Worthing Half Marathon and finished this race in the time of 1:32:35. This was a PR by 2 minutes 3 seconds!
I was feeling strong coming out of this training cycle and pressure was on to deliver. I decided to run by power so came up with a target number based on my estimated FTP. The first 7 miles were reasonably sheltered from the strong wind and keeping to my target power was fairly easy. The next 3 miles, however, were very exposed and took a lot of energy. Finally, the mile 10 marker came at which point it was just ‘hammer time’. No more sticking to a power setting, just push as hard as possible and see what happens!
Carmen Lopez-Acevedo ran the Medio Maraton Fuencarral Half Marathon and completed this race event in the time of 1:59.
Tune up HM. Very hilly but beautiful course. Woke up late, got to the start line with 5 minutes to spare… Even with this stressful start the race went very well. I targeted 170 power for the race which puts me in high zone 2 power. It was amazing! On the sharp downhill I went fast, actually did my fastest mile ever, then on the hills it felt like it was a snail pace but I felt just a bit tired but not winded like I usually am on hills. I ended up sub 2 hour which I really didn’t think I could achieve here today, 172 avg power and 166 average HR which is the lowest by far in any race I have done. For a race like this Stryd really is fantastic.
Jim Paterson ran the Scrub Jay 10K, finishing this distance in the time of 54:14. This was a new personal record by 1:52.
This is great event and the only trail 10K race I run all year. It is held at Oscar Scherer State Park and the organizers do a great job of mixing up the surfaces – asphalt, hard packed trail, sand and grassy pathways. Of course being in Florida, it is flat so no hills to contend with.
My training schedule this week got blown up with an slight ankle sprain after last week”s half marathon and a business trip to Utah. We got back at 1:30AM Saturday morning and had at 5:15AM for the race. I ran the first mile in 9:11. This felt a comfortable pace and the surfaces helped cushion my feet so I thought “Let’s see how far we can take this”. Upon review I managed some neat negative splits through mile 4 and even at the sandy part of the trail didn’t lose much time. Ended up with 54::14 which was a new PB at 10K and good enough for AG 1st place.
Amanda Haselden ran the Heart Breaker Half Marathon and finished with a time of 1:31:24.
What made this race special was managing a course PR of 1:03, heading into this race utterly defeated. A week ago, I was diagnosed with PTSD and severe depression. It made for a tough week. Then, yesterday my husband called to tell me his camera gear stolen along with the only key to our Mustang, which is currently residing at the airport. Which meant I would have to take him to the airport directly after the race to meet a locksmith. He rolled in via Uber around 2:45 this morning, which meant that’s what time I woke up on race day 🙂 I was tired, cranky, frustrated, and just couldn’t even focus on what I wanted to do in the race.
But I channeled all that energy and just gave what I had to give today. And it paid off! I finally ran a race on this course that I felt good about. Had a course PR of 1:03, and felt strong the entire time, when I normally would have been wiped (due to big hills) by mile 6. Given all the circumstances surrounding it, this was a very proud moment for me!
