To celebrate the end of my pre NYC marathon training, I ran Greifenseelauf one week ago, one of the biggest half marathons in Switzerlands. It was already the fourth time I ran it; the only race I’ve done more often is the SOLA relay (nine times).
Even though racers were supposed to collect their number two hours before the start, it was no problem to get it later. Everything was well organised and I didn’t have to wait in the queue at all.
I bumped into three different ASVZ tri camp people and chatted a bit before heading to the start; I was in the first wave this year because I indicated a sub 90 minutes goal time.
Actually, I wanted to break 1:24:24, which corresponds to exactly 4 min/km. Last year, I ran 1:29:59.8 in this race, and a few weeks later I set my half marathon PB of 1:27:21 at Hallwilerseelauf. A few weeks ago, I would have been confident that I can make it, considering for example Flughafenlauf, a 17 km race where I had a 3:50 min/km pace on not even a very good day. But my running mileage has been reduced quite a bit for some weeks (more cycling, more swimming, less overall time spent for training) so I wasn’t that sure anymore.
Near the start I met Julie who had the same goal as me, we chatted a bit until the gun went (upon which we stopped chatting). Starting in the first wave was really convenient: no pushing, nobody blocking your way, just smooth running from the first second on. My plan was to avoid going too fast in the beginning, the stick to the 4 min/km pace until half of the race, then go and see if there was any fuel left in the tank.
The first two kilometres were a bit fast, so I was about 15 seconds in front of an exact 4 min/km pace. I used the “virtual pacer” feature of my watch to check on that. Going at that pace had me run a little slower than the average runner in my vicinity, but I hoped to collect them all later and focused on my own pace.
For some kilometres, my pace was spot on, sometimes I was a bit faster, but overall I kept my 15 seconds. According to my watch, that is; the fifth kilometre seemed a little long, and from then on I arrived at the kilometre signs pretty exactly when my lead was gone.
I felt okay, but not like I could go much faster. At the 10K mark, I clocked 40:21, thus slightly behind schedule. My original plan to go faster after eleven kilometres was on the fly replaced by a new plan: going faster for the last third. Once the 14 km mark was past, I really tried to go a bit harder, but couldn’t get anything faster than a 3:54 split.
My parents were watching about three kilometres from the finish and dad took some pictures. Here’s the winner, Tadesse Abraham:
A bit later, the fastest Swiss marathoner, Viktor Röthlin (ended up third):
Fast amateur Christian Kreienbühl (eighth in the end):
The fastest woman, Monica Jepkoech:
And then, finally, myself. Looking to somebody on the other side of the road and seeing my parents only after the pic was taken:
On the way back, my weird motions mean: “It’s going to be close!”
“Don’t know if I’ll make it!”
Running.
“Will be tight on time!” (And heel-striking.)
And with that, the final stretch came. After a flat bit, there was the dreaded (actually rather gentle) slope, making for a slow second to last kilometre, putting me behind schedule even according to my watch, and I knew the watch was showing too little distance.
Last year, in a similar situation where I wanted to be sub 1:30:00, I managed exactly and got a 1:29:59.8. This year, all the sprinting was in vain, as the clock stopped at 1:25:02, 38 seconds slower than my goal. I wasn’t disappointed too long though, that was a new half marathon PB and a pretty decent one at that. I’ll have to beat 4 min/km in another half marathon then.
In the finishing area, I chatted a bit with my parents (wearing the rather ugly finisher shirt of 2011), a lot of other people, and finally headed for the showers and home.
The next day, my NYC marathon preparations would officially begin!
