This race was a mixed bag. The bottom line is that I didn’t hit my time/pace goal, but some silver linings and lessons were learned.
I began to work in 10-mile runs as part of my weekly routine in August, which led to me the last-minute decision to run the Philadelphia Distance Run Half-Marathon in September. I surprised myself with that race as I managed to run a sub 9:30 pace — something that I considered unattainable as recently as the summer. On the heels of that success, I signed up for the 2024 AACR Philadelphia Half-Marathon and set a sub 9:04/mile pace as a goal, which would have given me a time under 2 hours.
Unfortunately, I ran into a problem almost immediately as I re-aggravated a two-year-old shoulder injury, which led to a trip to an orthopedic urgent care center, a month of physical therapy, and a few weeks where I could not run, given the shoulder injury turned into a back injury. I got through all of this, and got back to 10-mile runs as part of my routine, and I thought I was ready.
The race started as an amazing experience. The first 8 miles were absolutely solid and I really thought I had my goal in the bag. I felt great as I settled into things by the time I made my way to Delaware Avenue, and was greeted by a sun just above the horizon over the river. Mile 2 was an 8:06 pace, which I’m not even sure I could have sprinted for a distance of a mile two years ago, let alone be a part of a half-marathon pace. I was aware that I was quite a bit ahead of my intended pace, but I felt really well and was breathing through my nose. So I just went with it and decided to bank the time.
About halfway through mile 8, I could start to feel some discomfort and strain in what is probably my gluteus medius and/or gluteus minimus. It wasn’t terrible and didn’t impact my pace, but it caught my attention.
Then, the same discomfort was felt on my right side too. As the right side started to flare, the left side dissipated. I figured I’d just power through this and the pain on my right side would go away as it did on my left. Well, I was hoping. But, alas, that was not the case. As the steps started to accumulate, and I started to hit the hills on the course, things went from bad to worse. The pain spread from my glutes to my hips, and then to my knees. I was able to maintain some semblance of a race pace, but I watched my Garmin show the average pace drift from 8:20 to 8:30 to 8:40… and eventually slower than the 9:04 I targeted. I focus more on heart rate than actual pace, and any time I started to get above 150 BPM — and thus at a higher running pace — the pain became pretty much unbearable. My target range was 160-165 BPM, but I just couldn’t do it. I was starting to worry about doing damage that would keep me from running in general for weeks or months. My goal slipped from running a sub-9:04 pace, to just beating my time in the half-marathon from September, which I fortunately did.
So, first things first: what went right?
The cardio work I have done since September continues to improve my performance. Both how I feel and the data support this. I still haven’t broken 2:00 on a half-marathon yet, but I am convinced it will happen. And I think my ceiling could be as fast as 1:45. When it comes to what I am doing with Zone 2 training, sprints, long runs, threshold runs, and tempo runs, I’m pretty certain I just need to keep doing what I’m doing.
As far as energy and the bonking issue I have experienced before around mile 10, I think I have solved things. I fill up on protein the night before a race like this, and then down about half of a pound of bacon two hours before a half-marathon. That prep, plus having a little bottle of Ketone-IQ to consume at mile 9, seems to give me all of the energy I need.
What went wrong?
When it comes to musculoskeletal issues… well, clearly things did not go well. I know what the problem is with my hips and knees. I have encountered this before when hitting the mile 10 mark in a run, or when I start to accumulate distance on a weekly basis that approaches the 20-mile mark. My analysis tells me I have weak glutes, which impacts the IT band — a common problem for runners. This is also a pretty common problem for someone who is almost 50 and has been sitting at a desk for 40 hours per week for the past 30 years. Fortunately, I believe I know how to solve it. Where I went wrong was to not keep up with the work I had been doing to address this. The shoulder/back injury following the Philadelphia Distance Run sorta derailed the work I was doing, and I lost focus on keeping up with the glute work. I need to get back to it, and I think will be able to solve this. I just have to keep in mind that this is not a 6-week project, but something that is necessary on an ongoing basis if I want to keep running races with this sort of distance.
The larger issue here I have to acknowledge is my age. Everyone is walking around with all sorts of biomechanical issues. Whether from a previous injury or as a result of sitting at a desk all day, by the time you are my age, there’s a pretty good chance your movements are not completely correct. The only way they might be is if you put the time in to correct things. When you are in your 30s or 40s, your body can make adjustments and compensations — and you can get away with it. But everyone hits an age where those compensations can lead to injury. I’m clearly at that point in my life. Running is my real love, as opposed to weight lifting, or cycling. And if I want to keep doing this, running has to be about more than running. There is a whole other world of flexibility, mobility, and strength training that I have to permanently incorporate into what I am doing. This will be absolutely necessary as I prepare for the EMGBL 250 Challenge next year.