Tyranena Beer Run - RunHalf Marathon

Talked with clint (cweniger) and Brandon to wish them luck. DjDavey and I seeded ourselves in the middle front. Since it was chip timed we weren't too worried about getting lost in the crowd. He said he wanted to put up a 1:24, and be at 42 at the halfway point, but he wanted to be above 7m/m for the first mile. I also wanted to be above 7 for the first mile, so we decided to run together.

We went out with the crowd and started out pretty good. After about 1/2 mile DJ asked me what our pace was, I said 6:56, and he thought I said 7:16, so he took off. That would be the last time I would see him. I stuck with my plan and this is actually where not feeling good paid off for me. On the suggestion of coach, we wanted to run the first couple of miles at 7:05 and then see how we stood and go from there.

The wind was coming out strong from the West, so I decided to tuck in with this group that was running around 7m/m. This worked well, as the pace was very managable. I chose to ignore my HRM since at about 10' I was already over my LTHR. RPE was right on target and I chose to see how it would go. Some little elevation changes during mile 3, and then at mile 4 we had a big climb. I took the hill pretty agressive and at the top I was definitely starting to puff, but I recovered nicely on the down side. Although, I was told by Morey, that it was the only hill of consequence, there were some other nice ones shortly after that. I just tried to keep the effort level, and although my pace was slipping. It was only slight, and I knew the back half of the course was much flatter and with the wind.

After mile 5 there was a water stop and the group I was with kind of split up. I didn't need to stop b/c I chose to go with my Fuel Belt and my new "run/Oly" formula. This was risky, b/c I was a little sick and I have had an episode with Infinit when sick. But I wanted to practice with it b/c I plan on going with it in Vegas. Anyway, after that stop, we had to turn right into the wind, and it had really picked up now. It was really beating me down, as I was by myself (looked down at Garmin and I was doing 7:25+). So, I decided to burn a match and catch the group that was in front of me. I was feeling good, had been taking it pretty easy, and I figured if I could get behind the three guys, I could ride them out and it looked like a good mile or so into the teeth. So, I sped up and caught them. They were only about 50m up front, but it took some effort. When I first got behind them, I thought, I may have made a mistake, but after a bit, my HR came down and the pace was back at 7m/m range, so it worked out.

I stayed with these guys until the 10K point, which they actually had a chip timer thing set up. My split was 44:26 (7:08m/m). So, I definitely negative split from that point. But, this course was set up for a negative split in that all the hills are at the beginning and *most* of the wind was during those first 6 miles.

As we hit the half way point, our group started to break up, but we were now on the hard packed trail which was awesome. Couldn't feel the wind anymore and we were starting to move. I put my gloves in my hat as I was starting to get warm. The guys were running 6:50s or better and although I stayed with them for about 1/2 mile, I knew I couldn't hold that pace, so I decided to bring the HR back down and hover around 7:00s. My plan was to have enough juice to give the last 5K everything I had.

After we got off the trail, we hit the 10 mile mark back on the roads. So, there was some wind and hills to deal with again, but not like the beginning. It was go time, and although it was getting harder to keep pace, I wanted to try and keep it below 7s the rest of the way. I was following a guy that was going really good, so I just stayed behind him and tried not to let him extend. That worked great, and I just tuned out the wind/hills/hurt and just watched his shoes. He started to lose it in the middle of mile 12, but I didn't realize it and lost some time there. I ended up passing him and then just started to look for more people to pass. I passed a couple of more people, but it was getting tougher, as I was getting tired and the wind was coming back into play.

I finally hit the last mile and just started to run. I was losing my form, but still able to keep pace. With a 1/2 mile left I passed the one guy I saw at the start, but I had a feeling he might pass me back as it looked like he was going good, and saving it for the last tenth. He flew by me with about 200m to go, but I gave it everything I had.

Very happy with the race. I felt like junk at the start, but somehow was able to gut it out and PR by over 3 minutes. I was also happy to see the last 5K be faster than my overall pace (sub 7s). Those last miles hurt more than the beginning ones, too. Not sure I could have raced much better on that day. Stride felt good, pacing was good, and I finished strong.

Here are my splits:

1m: 7:01, 149ahr
2m: 7:01, 160ahr
3m: 7:03, 162ahr
4m: 7:10, 165ahr (big hill)
5m: 7:01, 167ahr
6m: 7:05, 170ahr (into wind)
7m: 7:01, 169ahr
8m: 7:08, 167ahr
9m: 7:04, 168ahr
10m: 6:59, 169ahr
11m: 6:55, 171ahr
12m: 7:04, 172ahr
13m: 6:59, 174ahr

12m: 6:21, 176ahr

Not catch a cold from my family. Why am I always the last one to get it, as it runs through the family?

Got some water, food and found my cousin. Wanted to watch other BTers finish the 1/6 barrell and got to see that. Very nice to see michele (traininggirlmick) out there with her support crew (amyjotris, pjgrande, deannaS, joe_runnner, maggyruth). Pretty inspirational, as michele is in a battle beating up cancer. I wanted to go for a jog and shake out the legs, but there were too many people to talk with.

Talked with my cousins and then had my Lasagna. And as good as the beer looked, I decided it would be better for my health to avoid it. I gave my tickets to the BT clan. Next year, we are going to have rip this place up ;)


The cold. The weather. The wind. Luckily it was only misting and the rain stopped before we started.


This is a great race. I think they did a very good job. Its only their 2nd or 3rd year and I think it will only get better. The course is fantastic. Challenging and very scenic (around the lake). Having a race at a brewery is a great concept. I think if weather was better, they would be able to have a great party atmosphere. Since they have the bar and they have the band and all. It could be great.

Some minor issues, though.

1) The weather may have had them short on volunteers and they needed to have more, especially at the intersections. A couple of times we were running right into traffic with no one in sight.
2) Water stations. I am so glad I brought my fuel belt. I know it was only a 1/2 marathon, but it seemed like there was only 3 water stations. That might be enough in cooler weather, but if it was warmer, they may have had issues.

They will also need a bigger tent next year. I would defintiely like to stay and hang around and whoop it up with live music and all.