Post-Race Report: Davis Stampede Half Marathon

My first race of the year is in the books.  Last year the Davis Stampede Half Marathon was insane, heavy rain from start to finish.  It was so bad that my shoes had about an inch of water in them for almost the whole race.  The weather this year was beautiful.  It was 43 degrees at the start of the race.  I would be lying if I said I wasn’t cold before the race though. 

I was wearing my Ampla Fly shoes, Balega Hidden Comfort socks, Opedix Dual-Tec 2.0 ¾ length tights, and a Nike Dri-Fit tank top under my SLS3 Team tri-top.  The Ampla Fly shoes have a spring type flange in the front of the shoe.  I found that my form was better and I was able to push off better because of the shoes.  They worked great on paved surfaces, but I had issues with them on the gravel section of the course. More on that in a bit.  The Opedix tights were great as well.  The compression in specific areas really helped my running form in the later miles.

I started off the race with the plan to stick with the 1:50:00 group, which would get me a PR.  I actually stated off a little faster than I had planned, but made sure that I wasn’t going crazy.  I was about 20 seconds faster in that first mile.  The first three miles were really good.  I had some minor tightness in my Achilles tendon, but nothing too bad. 

I was fairly consistent the whole race with my pace, cadence, vertical oscillation, ground contract time, and stride length.  I did have some issues around miles 7 & 8 where we had to run on a gravel path (for about 2 miles).  It had crushed rock and some of the rocks were rather large.  The Ampla Fly shoes have a carbon fiber bottom between the midsole and the outsole, they do not flex like most shoes.  My foot was rolling from side-to-side and it was really hard on my ankles and hip flexor.  While my times don’t look like they took a big hit, the gravel probably cost me 1-2 minutes down the road because of the extra effort expended. 

Split (Mile)	Time	Avg Pace	Avg Run Cadence	Avg Vertical Oscillation	Avg Ground Contact Time	Avg Stride Length
1	08:04.2	8:04	172	8.5	248	1.16
2	08:14.3	8:14	170	8.6	247	1.15
3	08:09.1	8:09	170	8.8	245	1.16
4	08:20.1	8:20	170	8.8	247	1.13
5	08:21.5	8:22	169	8.9	245	1.14
6	08:09.5	8:09	169	8.9	244	1.16
7	08:23.6	8:24	169	9	245	1.13
8	08:33.8	8:34	169	9.1	247	1.11
9	08:17.9	8:18	169	9.1	248	1.15
10	08:33.4	8:33	169	8.9	251	1.11
11	08:21.8	8:22	170	8.9	251	1.13
12	08:19.1	8:19	170	8.9	250	1.14
13	08:28.6	8:29	170	8.9	250	1.11
0.2	01:48.3	8:02	162	8.8	267	1.24
Summary	1:50:05	8:19	170	8.9	248	1.14

I have taught myself to run strong on hills and it really paid off in the race.  I never lost sight of the 1:50:00 pace group.  They were 50-100 feet ahead of me for most of the race.  I would reel them in when we went up hills and even when my legs were tired, I knew that I needed to keep the pacers within my sight if I would have any chance of catching them. 

I was closing in on the pace group in the last ½ mile.  I was probably within about 50 feet of them.  With ¼ mile to go, we turned onto 3^rd Street and the finish line was in sight.  One of the two pacers dropped back a little and gave me a little encouragement.  He said “This is yours.  Go catch them.”  I was really tired, but pulled every ounce of energy I had left and picked up my pace.  I not only passed the 1:50:00 pacer, but kept pushing until I crossed the finish line. 

I firmly believe that there were a few things that led to my PR. 

1) I followed the Hal Higdon Advance Half Marathon Plan (for the most part). 

2) I cross trained with cycling

3) I was eating better and lost 17 pounds since January 1^st

4) I train with people who are stronger and faster than I am

My running partners Ferdinand and Robert

I am grateful for the opportunity to run and for the support that I receive from my friends, family, blog readers, and especially my wife.  I have learned that with hard work, anything is possible.  I am also proud to be racing for Team SLS3 this year.  My next race is the Lucky Run Half Marathon in Davis on March 19^th and I will be shooting for another PR.