The Sam Costa half marathon is one of the oldest half marathons in the state, arguably the oldest. Indy Runners is the steward of the race and it has been in Carmel for a number of years. The course is rolling and winding. A downhill start makes it almost impossible to not go out too fast and an uphill finish makes it nearly impossible to close hard. This was my 7th time running the race. I used to be one of the last finishers before the 3:00 time limit.
While it's a tough course, I have also had some success. The first time I broke 2:40 it was on this course. The weather is often pretty favorable for me - 30s to low 40s with clouds and a threat of rain, but no actual rain. I missed the race last year because it was during RRCA convention and I ran the Dallas Rock & Roll half instead, breaking 2:30 for the first time. In May (2016) I ran the Mini just under 2:30 and then I ran Monumental half at 2:28:52. This year for Costa it was 60 degrees at race start and it got increasingly windy as the day went on. So a bit of a different story.
Early in the week I thought I wanted to race, not just for PR, but for 2:25...and maybe, just maybe, if everything aligned, maybe 2:19. I told Trena and she was helpful in setting me on working toward thinking I could do it and getting to positive head space. I focused on:
Wednesday I had a cold, windy run on the B-Line in Bloomington, but most of my (very short) intervals were sub-10:00 pace and that reinforced that I could run hard.
Friday I told Matt that depending on how the rest of the day went and how I felt in the morning I wanted to open a can of whoop ass on Costa. The day went pretty well. Dinner was a challenge...I knew I needed to eat before going to Friday Night Prep for the race because I can't really eat refined flour or cheese right now, so pizza was not going to be an option. Even at Scotty's with the no flour, no dairy, and no meat (Friday in Lent) I was a little confounded, but settled on a salad with shrimp. When I got home from FNP I made an almond milk, mango, spirulina smoothie and called it good.
Saturday morning it looked like the rain was going to hold off. But it was 60 degrees and the wind wouldn't wait until after the race. Matt had told me to simultaneously prepare for a fast race and one that could be slow with the conditions. I had whole wheat banana pancakes and some turkey bacon, and made sure I had water as well as my coffee. Water had nuun in it.
We got to the race and Matt asked if I was on the war path...and I was. But I also know that it would need to be based on what was happening out there and how I felt. Jen and Trena were reassuring that I could race hard. The one thing making me anxious was racing in a singlet since I had forgotten any kind of glide (race day fail).
I went out for warm up and I was probably 5 minutes in before I realized that my watch hadn't started. No problem, started it and still ran 10 minutes, including up a hill bigger than any on the course.
I started halfway between the 2:15 pacer and the 2:30 pacer. Jen was pacing 2:15, but I knew I couldn't pull that off (yet). I never wanted to see the 2:30 pacer (and I didn't). I started and was having fun, but was about .15 miles in when I realized my watch didn't start (I'm thinking I need to push play twice). Started it but also knew that I was going to have to remember that there was a differential when I was gauging where I was. I chatted with a Half Fanatic early on the route, but realized she and her partner were running faster than I needed to be and backed off. I manually lapped 1 mile at the marker so that I could at least have reasonable understanding of splits. Later that wasn't working for me and I just let it auto split.
At 3 miles I was right about where I needed to be if I was shooting for goal so I decided to switch over to watching HR and run hard (but not like I was running a 5K). We picked up a cross wind as we headed east on the north end of the course and honestly it felt pretty good since it was warm. Turning on to River Road though, we had a 1.5 mile stretch of nothing but head wind. Thankfully they have now closed the road to southbound traffic for the race so we no longer need to be worried about being killed by a gravel truck. The wind was quite enough on its own.
I was around 1:17 (it was actually 1:16:02) at 7 miles and I was super amused that I used to work so hard to try to be at 1:24 at the 7 mile timing mats. But right after 7 is where you are headed uphill on 146th Street...at least year it wasn't into the wind ;).
I knew that when we went back into the neighborhoods it would be mostly south (where the wind was), but it would be winding and the houses would block much of the wind.
Around mile 9 it started to hurt. Not like I was injured, but like I was running hard and pushing myself hurt. But I knew Matt was around 10...I made it to the 10 mile timing mats in 1:48:38 (I only knew it was under 1:51) and was laughing because in training (and the last time I had raced 10) it has been so hard to squeak under 2:00. But I was also hurting. Saw Matt and he was cheering...and then I took more Clif bloks and kept going. HR was still where I wanted it to be. Eventually I passed Erik, but some of the people I started with had ditched their running partners and passed me. Lots of people were walking. After the 12 mile mats I wanted to give up...the last 1.1 on this course is always so hard.
I was still only watching HR and it was still fine, but I also knew my pace had gone down a little. I switched to see how much time I had (ish) to make it to goal and it was going to be close. People were cheering as I came up the final hill and I tried to close, but I was cooked. Finished knowing it wasn't likely that I broke 2:25 but it was close. It all depended on how much time it took before I got the watch actually started.
Well...I didn't quite make it. Official time was 2:25:32. But that was a 3:20 PR on a course that often doesn't offer PR or goal times.
I texted my time to Matt and his response was "Yes!!!" - I'll take it.
While it's a tough course, I have also had some success. The first time I broke 2:40 it was on this course. The weather is often pretty favorable for me - 30s to low 40s with clouds and a threat of rain, but no actual rain. I missed the race last year because it was during RRCA convention and I ran the Dallas Rock & Roll half instead, breaking 2:30 for the first time. In May (2016) I ran the Mini just under 2:30 and then I ran Monumental half at 2:28:52. This year for Costa it was 60 degrees at race start and it got increasingly windy as the day went on. So a bit of a different story.
Early in the week I thought I wanted to race, not just for PR, but for 2:25...and maybe, just maybe, if everything aligned, maybe 2:19. I told Trena and she was helpful in setting me on working toward thinking I could do it and getting to positive head space. I focused on:
Wednesday I had a cold, windy run on the B-Line in Bloomington, but most of my (very short) intervals were sub-10:00 pace and that reinforced that I could run hard.
Friday I told Matt that depending on how the rest of the day went and how I felt in the morning I wanted to open a can of whoop ass on Costa. The day went pretty well. Dinner was a challenge...I knew I needed to eat before going to Friday Night Prep for the race because I can't really eat refined flour or cheese right now, so pizza was not going to be an option. Even at Scotty's with the no flour, no dairy, and no meat (Friday in Lent) I was a little confounded, but settled on a salad with shrimp. When I got home from FNP I made an almond milk, mango, spirulina smoothie and called it good.
Saturday morning it looked like the rain was going to hold off. But it was 60 degrees and the wind wouldn't wait until after the race. Matt had told me to simultaneously prepare for a fast race and one that could be slow with the conditions. I had whole wheat banana pancakes and some turkey bacon, and made sure I had water as well as my coffee. Water had nuun in it.
We got to the race and Matt asked if I was on the war path...and I was. But I also know that it would need to be based on what was happening out there and how I felt. Jen and Trena were reassuring that I could race hard. The one thing making me anxious was racing in a singlet since I had forgotten any kind of glide (race day fail).
I went out for warm up and I was probably 5 minutes in before I realized that my watch hadn't started. No problem, started it and still ran 10 minutes, including up a hill bigger than any on the course.
I started halfway between the 2:15 pacer and the 2:30 pacer. Jen was pacing 2:15, but I knew I couldn't pull that off (yet). I never wanted to see the 2:30 pacer (and I didn't). I started and was having fun, but was about .15 miles in when I realized my watch didn't start (I'm thinking I need to push play twice). Started it but also knew that I was going to have to remember that there was a differential when I was gauging where I was. I chatted with a Half Fanatic early on the route, but realized she and her partner were running faster than I needed to be and backed off. I manually lapped 1 mile at the marker so that I could at least have reasonable understanding of splits. Later that wasn't working for me and I just let it auto split.
At 3 miles I was right about where I needed to be if I was shooting for goal so I decided to switch over to watching HR and run hard (but not like I was running a 5K). We picked up a cross wind as we headed east on the north end of the course and honestly it felt pretty good since it was warm. Turning on to River Road though, we had a 1.5 mile stretch of nothing but head wind. Thankfully they have now closed the road to southbound traffic for the race so we no longer need to be worried about being killed by a gravel truck. The wind was quite enough on its own.
I was around 1:17 (it was actually 1:16:02) at 7 miles and I was super amused that I used to work so hard to try to be at 1:24 at the 7 mile timing mats. But right after 7 is where you are headed uphill on 146th Street...at least year it wasn't into the wind ;).
I knew that when we went back into the neighborhoods it would be mostly south (where the wind was), but it would be winding and the houses would block much of the wind.
Around mile 9 it started to hurt. Not like I was injured, but like I was running hard and pushing myself hurt. But I knew Matt was around 10...I made it to the 10 mile timing mats in 1:48:38 (I only knew it was under 1:51) and was laughing because in training (and the last time I had raced 10) it has been so hard to squeak under 2:00. But I was also hurting. Saw Matt and he was cheering...and then I took more Clif bloks and kept going. HR was still where I wanted it to be. Eventually I passed Erik, but some of the people I started with had ditched their running partners and passed me. Lots of people were walking. After the 12 mile mats I wanted to give up...the last 1.1 on this course is always so hard.
I was still only watching HR and it was still fine, but I also knew my pace had gone down a little. I switched to see how much time I had (ish) to make it to goal and it was going to be close. People were cheering as I came up the final hill and I tried to close, but I was cooked. Finished knowing it wasn't likely that I broke 2:25 but it was close. It all depended on how much time it took before I got the watch actually started.
Well...I didn't quite make it. Official time was 2:25:32. But that was a 3:20 PR on a course that often doesn't offer PR or goal times.
I texted my time to Matt and his response was "Yes!!!" - I'll take it.
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