Let me start out on a completely unrelated subject to the rest of this story. I realized just this morning that Panera Bread has very tasty and underrated coffee. Or perhaps it's not underrated, but maybe more the fact that I simply don't go there to eat very often. That hazelnut blend though. Delicious! This morning I joined Bay Are Runners, a local running group that I've been a part of for a couple of years now, on their weekly Saturday morning group run on the Lower Guadalupe River Trail in Santa Clara. It was good to catch up with people, meet new people, and get some good miles in during the early morning hours. A handful of us went to Panera for breakfast afterwards, and as I was taking a particularly delicious sip of the wonderful coffee that I mentioned above, I was trading conversations with other runners about races they've done recently and what they have coming up. After hearing about my upcoming ultramarathon season, which kicks off in April with the Canyons 100K by the way, my friend Sheri was talking about how her favorite distance to run is a half marathon. She looked at me laughing and said "I know that's nothing for you". I tend to hear this a lot, and it's understandable. My friends will talk about running marathons, half marathons, and other similar distances then look at me and chuckle. "Liam, a marathon must be nothing for you" or "Dang Liam, you can do a half marathon in your sleep compared to what you've done". Contrary to what most people think, this is not the case. Just because the distance is shorter doesn't mean it's easier or less grueling for me. This interaction with Sheri got me thinking about the Berkeley Half Marathon, which I ran on 2/27/2022, almost two weeks ago.
I signed up for the Berkeley Half Marathon in December 2021 simply because it looked like a cool race. Berkeley is a cool city and I thought it would be fun to do a road race up there for a little change of scenery. My friends and fellow Bay Area Runners group members Kelly, Arjun, and Maggie were also going to be running, and on race morning we were able to find each other fairly easily in the crowd of runners. The feelings I had at the start line were similar to those I had at the start of the LA Marathon in the sense that it felt good to be in a normal racing environment again. The Omicron variant surge had calmed substantially over the last month, I'm vaccinated, and I've already gotten the virus and recovered, so I'm immune, at least for now. If Berkeley, of all places, is okay with thousands of runners being packed in together, I think it's okay. We runners lined up behind the start line near Berkeley High School. At 7:30 AM the horn sounded, and off we went. The course went through some cool neighborhoods and through part of the UC Berkeley college campus, which apparently was a new modification beginning this year. When I looked at the elevation profile before the race, the chart indicated that the first half of the course had some urban hills, while the second half was relatively flat, with a gradual incline up to the finish line during the last mile and a quarter or so. Many factors, physical and psychological, can contribute to how runners feel during races. For me, on this day anyways, everything seemed to align, and I felt good throughout the entire race. Sam was busy all weekend staying at a client's apartment, so I did some solo snowboarding the day before at Dodge Ridge. My legs felt strong, and I was in good spirit.
Now, back to half marathons versus ultramarathons. They're both challenging for me, but in different ways. People have heard me talk over and over about why ultramarathons are challenging. The crazy long distance, enduring through the fatigue and pain, telling yourself that yes, you can go on, even if you're physically wrecked, etc. But in ultramarathons, the approach is different. I'm not going all out. I'm either slowly running up the hills or hiking them. When I hit a flat section or a downhill, I run between ten and twelve minute miles, depending on what point I'm at in the race, and how steep the terrain is. If it's a flat course, I'm generally trying to average an eleven or twelve minute pace per mile to conserve energy over the long distance. But when it comes to shorter distances like a half marathon or a 10K, I'm actually trying to run fast. To me, road races are about throwing down miles as fast and comfortably as I possibly can. It's still running in both instances, but it's a different method of running, and some would argue that it's a different sport. And let me tell you this, running as fast as I can without self destructing is hard. I'm still putting my body through challenges and pain, just like I would during an ultramarathon. It's just a different approach. So, that being said, half marathons are not easy for me, despite what people think.
At around mile five in Berkeley, I was running up a hill in a residential area. It was draining, but as I approached the crest of the hill, I looked down at my watch. Because I was feeling good, I had a pretty good pace going, even for running uphill. The thoughts that I mentioned above were going through my mind, and I said to myself "well, this isn't an ultra, it's a half marathon, right?". That was all I needed. I decided to kick things into overdrive. I got to the top of the hill, then threw down a thirteen minute two mile. The rest of the race went well as I progressed along the course. We were treated to awesome views of San Francisco across the bay, as we ran by the water, and I saw Kelly and Arjun during the out and back section of the course. As I powered up the gradual incline during the last mile and got within about a quarter mile of the finish line, I looked down at my watch, and it hit me. "Holy shit, I'm probably going to PR today" I thought to myself. I just wanted to have a good race, I wasn't planning on going for a half marathon PR, but I surprised myself. I finished in one hour and thirty-five minutes, breaking my previous PR by one minute. I didn't beat it by a lot, but a PR is a PR. Needless to say, I was pretty stoked! Arjun also got a PR, coming in a little after me, Kelly finished four minutes ahead of me, and Maggie come in a little after Arjun. We all ran a pretty consistent race, and agreed that it was a good course to get a PR on, despite the urban hills during the first half. When we all hung out at the park where the finish line was, I realized that there were other Bay Area Runners members present, running the 10K race. We shared stories over a delicious meal at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in Berkeley, before dispersing for the afternoon.
Running those fast miles took a lot of my energy, and the next day, my short morning run was noticeably slower than normal for good reasons. It was a reminder to me that both trail ultramarathons and shorter road races are both challenging in their own ways and anyone who runs even a 5K is a badass, no matter how long it takes. Additionally, I was thankful that I had a good day out there. Looking back, I guess the secret formula to running a half marathon PR is simply to do the following: go snowboarding the day before, eat Popeyes's the night before, and listen to David Bowie on the the way to the start line. You'll PR every time LOL.
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