Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon
Date: 2015-05-03
Pace: 2:22:40 - 10:54/mile
When I reached spring of senior year, I found myself with a lot of free time. I had already gotten into college, and in doing so, most of my interests had been strictly academic. I liked the idea of running, so I decided it’d be a fun challenge to try running a half marathon.
I had read the book Born to Run and gotten excited about the idea of barefoot running, so my training began in Vibram Five Fingers shoes. After my first couple weeks of training during which my longest run was 6 miles, I started to feel some pain (likely from too fast ramp up + insufficient shoe cushioning) and decided to take a break.
Fast forward a couple months of not running, and suddenly I found the race approaching. I ran a couple more times in the couple weeks prior, but overall went into the race thoroughly unprepared.
My first few miles were alright, and I took them at around a 9:08/mile pace, but around mile 8, I started to hurt and slow down considerably. I ended up walking for around 3 miles, resuming running just for the last mile to finish strong.
Though my total pace was slow, I was very proud I got through, though I definitely felt the pain for a couple more days!
Providence Half Marathon
Date: 2018-05-06
Pace: 1:50:49 - 8:28/mile
I got back into running in fall of 2017, so come spring, I decided to join Jenn in training for a half marathon! She’d done several already, so I was mosty relying on her expertise on running routes and schedules. Given I was relatively inexperienced with distance running, I always tended to push fast on the first half of our longer runs, but she’d be dragging me along by the second half.
We kept to a steady 3 runs per week, all of which were together, and by the time the race came along, I was feeling quite prepared. We took the commuter rail to Providence the day before, and after picking up bibs, went to crash with Jenn’s high school friend in her dorm room. Thankfully, this was a short walk from the race, though the Saturday night campus partying certainly kept us from sleeping well.
The next morning we headed to the race! Jenn and I decided to run together, and we were able to keep to a ~8:30 pace. I felt pretty drowsy from the poor sleep and early morning, but around halfway through the race, we hit a turnaround point with a beautiful view of a lake. Around the same time, we received gu, which I was trying for the first time. Most people advise not trying something new during a race, but for me, it was transformative. Between the gu, view, and turnaround, I was feeling great!
As we approached the last few minutes of the race, we both decided to just sprint through the end, and I was able to finish in an 8:28/mile pace, much faster than my goal of 9:00/mile. Even more exciting, this was nearly 32 minutes faster than the last half marathon I did!
In my final sprint, I did mildly strain something in my foot and needed ice immediately after finishing, and of course I was sore the rest of the day, but overall, I was very happy with how this went!
Cambridge Half Marathon
Date: 2021-11-07
Pace: 1:52:27 - 8:35/mile
During my time in MN for Covid, I unsuccessfully tried to get back into running several times, but was always hampered by some sort of pain. Just before coming to MN, I had started training for the Brooklyn half marathon, but ended up having an IT Band injury due to poor form. Then in Minnesota, it was often cold and snowy, and even when I tried running, I felt a variety of pain and stiffness, likely because I wasn’t really walking much in my daily life. Plus, the basement where I worked, was perpetually freezing, which left my joints extra stiff.
Eventually I bought new running shoes, which mildly helped the issue. When I moved to Boston, I started walking a lot more in my normal routine, and this helped even more. 3 weeks before the Cambridge Half, I went on a few runs and decided I could run it just for fun.
With just 3 weeks of training, I assumed I wouldn’t PR, and I was right. In fact, while I went around 8:15/mile for the first half, I lost some steam by the second half, and ended at a 8:35/mile pace. Some of this I blame on the very cold morning start, but overall, I was happy to prove to myself that I could still run a half marathon despite a couple years of frustrating pain.
Race to Remember Half Marathon
Date: 2022-05-29
Pace: 2:05:56 - 9:37/mile
After a fairly successful Cambridge Half, I decided to train more properly for the next one and aim for a PR. Around this time, Neha had finished her first race, a 10k, and was down to try for her first half marathon! We picked the only one that worked for both of our schedules and was reasonable to get to: the 2022 Race to Remember!
We mostly trained apart since our paces were pretty different and we lived far enough for each other, but both kept pretty well to a training plan. The one complicating factor was that the half marathon was on the Sunday of a weekend which included Neha’s make up graduation and senior formal, both skipped because of Covid. The senior formal, which took place Friday night, was a perfect super spreader event. 2000 people, most from out of town, gathered in a single venue and mingled aggressively.
During the race, my first half went well, but around 8 miles in, I started to feel light headed. I took walking breaks over the next mile or two, but eventually decided to just keep steady and run slowly through the end. By the finish, my head was spinning and body ached worse than my last two half marathons despite all my training. I was confused until Tuesday morning when the covid symptoms hit. Neha surprisingly avoided getting sick, and she finished faster than she expected!
I was a bit sad to have a second non-PR half marathon in a row, but I was still proud to have finished a half marathon while having Covid. A week after the race, the worst of the symptoms subsided, so I decided to go on a 3 mile run. By the time I got home, my lungs and legs were both burning. It would be at least a couple more weeks before I’d be in running shape again.
BAA 10K
Date: 2023-06-25
Pace: 52:17 - 8:25/mile
Through most of my past running, I didn’t keep up very well with running between when I ramped up for half marathons. This sort of ramp up is the most injury prone time for runners, so it was no wonder I had dealt with such a variety of pains. I decided that this year, I just try to keep steady with running 3 runs a week and not worrying too much about races or ramping up beyond what felt natural. My goal was to hit 400 miles total, with a stretch goal of 500 (last year I hit around 340).
My careful plans fell apart near the end of January when I took a bad fall while bouldering. I hurt my ankle badly enough to have trouble walking for several days, and it took around a month before I felt reasonably able to run. Even after that, I had enough residual stiffness to suffer shin splints for months longer.
I had several cycles of trying to get back into a running routine, getting shin splints, and stopping for a week or two until I decided I needed to be super disciplined about running short and slow. I started going on 2 mile runs at a gentle 10 minute pace for 2 infuriatingly restrained months until, finally, I could start increasing my pace and distance without pain. I stuck super strictly to a 10% increase in mileage per week with an eye towards the BAA 10k.
I hadn’t originally wanted to be so race centered this year, but I had several friends running this 10k, and it seemed to line up with the rate at which I was increasing my running distance. My goal was ideally a 8:00/mile pace, but worst case, I just wanted to beat my best half marathon time of 8:28/mile.
When I lined up for the race, it was already hot enough that, even while standing in the shade, I could feel droplets of sweat roll down my back. Even the announcer, who would normally be hyping us up, was saying “today’s not a day to go for PRs folks”. Once I started running and got into the sun, I definitely agreed. I and most people I knew running this ended up slowing down considerably over the course of the race. Still, I finished within my worst case goal with a final pace of 8:25/mile!
Baystate Marathon
Date: 2023-10-15
Pace: 4:28:05 - 10:14/mile
As I approached the 10k, I felt pretty good about the consistent running schedule I had established, and how it had helped me conquer my ankle and shin pain. I felt it might be time to try for something which had been a lifelong goal of mine: a full marathon. I started a 16 week training plan which began immediately after the 10k ended. To read more about my marathon training and race, see below:
