(Saturday, January 16th)
I’ve been wanting to come to Portland for years to experience the Bill Aronson Track Half to Insure Mileage Exactness (BATH TIME) so upon moving to town, I started making plans to focus a build up to the 2021 edition. I figured, due to the low-key nature of the event, it would become more or less a virtual event which I might “race with” a small group of friends which felt reasonably safe from COVID and cancellation. Ultimately this is more or less what happened, Dan (McDowell) and I tackled my first BATH and here are my takeaways:
- Dan was really generous with his time and helped me get through the experience in one piece, I hope I can return the favor and pass it on
- I kept track of my laps by running .74 (starting at the 1500m start), then splitting every four laps or 1600m
- My body kept falling back into a slightly slower rhythm than desired so it felt like I was needing to surge on each straightaway to try to maintain pace
- Having Dan run with me really helped keep me on pace
- I had some fun chasing a couple of runners doing some 800m repeats around my pace
- On that note, I’d really like to try at least one more track half in more of a race-like setting
- Around mile 7, I took the last Maurten which I had purchased for my Boston 2020 training and race which never materialized, I really like that the product doesn’t give me stomach issues, I would have preferred the caffeinated version
- Like my Wildwood End to End run, this experience reminded me how much I enjoy racing longer distances, these two runs have renewed my excitement for (training for) and racing the marathon and beyond
- I really struggled to find a good training rhythm this cycle, but after some reflection, I think I have some good takeaways and a path forward
- My excitement to take a break from hard training must mean I really need a break
How are you feeling about racing these days?
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