Melissa's Fargo Half Marathon Race Report

Melissa is one of my good running buddies. We did the bulk of our long runs together for the Twin Cities Marathon last year, and since then, I've been giving her training plans to follow, partially because then I have a built in running buddy, but mostly because she has such potential as a runner, I really wanted to see how fast she could get this spring. So yes, I guess there are bonuses to being my running buddy if you're in need of a coach. :P

I asked her if she wanted to write up her race report from the Fargo Half Marathon, because she had an awesome day despite really cruddy conditions. Prior to this spring, Melissa's half PR was a 1:56 ish set at Mankato just a few weeks after her first full marathon. I knew she was much faster than her time showed, so we spent a lot of time slowing down her long runs, slowly increasing her weekly mileage, keeping the majority of her miles really really easy conversational pace, and then tackling some hard workouts on workout days. She set a couple of minute PR at the Skedaddle Half Marathon in April, with the pacing plan that she should feel like she was really holding back almost the whole time, as her A goal was Fargo.

Go Melissa!

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My race plan from my BRF Jeri:

5x8:45
5x8:15
3.1x8
Time=1:49:48
I of course NEVER look at the weather before a race but I know Jeri does so after hearing people say, “it’s going to rain and be windy,” I asked Jeri. I know she has been looking for the past week  and it was easier to ask her. She confirmed! 

 I was aware of the wind because let’s be honest, it’s Fargo, but I was NOT expecting the cold and rain! I was hoping for warmth! 

Anyway, race day came and I slept AMAZING but I could not  and the weather was cold, rainy and windy like everyone was saying. At that point I decided today was probably not going to be a PR because of the weather and I was worried about a stomach cramp! We left the hotel and I started joking about how “beautiful” the weather was because we can’t change it and I wanted to have fun since I wasn't going to PR.
After talking with Jeri, I decided go go out a little more conservative. 

My first mile was 9:04 and after that I kept looking at my watch and 8:30’s were coming up and I felt so good 
Mile 2: 8:34
Mile 3: 8:33
Mile 4: 8:33
Mile 5:  8:26
After mile 5 I still felt strong and no stomach cramps . I made sure to stop at 3 water stops for some Gatorade because I have trouble fueling during a race and the thought of GU’s make me want to vomit. 

Don’t worry- I’ve learned after a few terrible races that I have to eat breakfast, especially when I struggle fueling during.  I’ve found a bagel with PB, honey and half a banana works pretty good. 

Ok back to the race!
After mile 6, I was like “I can do this!” I picked up the pace mile 7-9.
Mile 6: 8:26
Mile 7: 8:15
Mile 8: 8:18
Mile 9:  8:20
Then that darn wind seemed to find me and I I can’t remember what mile, but I’m pretty sure 10-11, I stopped at a water stop for Gatorade because I didn't want to bonk! 

Mile 10: 8:29
Mile 11: 8:28 

At the water stop I found Glenda and she yelled, “Go Melissa, Go!” So I did!

Mile 12: 8:06
Mile 13: 7:49
0.12: 6:47 

Of course that gave me a huge boost! I took off and looked down at my watch and saw the time and realized, I’m going to PR and I still feel so strong!
I finished with a time of 1:50:10. Dang 11seconds! Right Jeri?!? But it was a PR by 3.5 minutes from Skedaddle so I’ll take it. Jeri was once again right when she said, “you are gonna PR!”  

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The best part of this (other than the monster PR, obvs) was sitting in the locker rooms after the race looking up everyone's official times and seeing that Melissa ran a 1:50:10. Without thinking, I remarked, "You couldn't find 11 seconds, Melissa!?!?" totally joking, but it was pretty funny. Honestly Melissa doesn't run very well in the cold (unlike me, ha) so on a good day, I actually had her pegged closer to a 1:48. We'll switch our focus to marathon training here shortly, but we also signed up for a half a month after Twin Cities, so I wouldn't expect this half PR to stand into 2020.  

Big Fall Goals

I have some big goals, some of them I've shared on here before, some of them I've kept, and will keep, to myself. I've very driven by goals, and have always been someone who has no problem setting goals and then working my butt off to achieve them. I was texting one of my running buddies, Courtney, the other day while ice bathing, and we were talking about fall race plans. She asked if I ended up deciding on a fall marathon and I said no, but that I was shooting for a half PR.

Uff da.

Saying it outloud makes it seem real and scary and really scary. My half marathon PR is from April 2011. It was in the middle of marathon training, while training for my third marathon. At that point in my running, I had two years of really strong, insanely consistent running under my belt. The time period of 2010-2011 is arguably the best distance shape I've ever been in.

So to look at this goal, it seems a little crazy on paper. My last half marathon was a 2:05. To take off 15 minutes from that time in six months, might seem impossible.

It has been so long since I've even thought a PR could be possible, that I'm letting the craziness take root and not be freaked out by it.

I've been running fairly consistently now for the past year and a half INJURY FREE. This is huge. I've added in functional strength training that has 100% changed my body's power, speed, and ability to hold up over longer distances. I've learned SO MUCH about running, and training, and injury prevention in the past 7 years, and using that knowledge has kept me healthy as well.

Additionally, training through the obnoxious heat in the summer here and then traveling to the east in mid-November for my goal race will only help me reach my goals.

Overall, I'm really excited to have big goals again, because that means I'm putting in the work to make them seem feasible. Regardless of if I PR in November, I'm just so darn excited to be running healthy and strong and loving running enough to be putting all the time and effort into the sport again.

Half Marathon Training Program Recommendations

Including March's half marathon, I will have trained for and ran nineteen half marathons. I've used Hal Higdon's Novice and Intermediate training programs, as well as a number of programs for Runner's World. My best half marathon was during a marathon training cycle.

When it comes to marathon training, there are a lot of great plans out there: Pfitz, Hanson, are two favorites but there are many others. But I don't feel like a half marathon training program stands out as prominently as these do. 

For my April and May half marathons, I'm planning to do a similar program to the one I'm currently following (Runner's World Smart Coach plan), but I'd be curious to hear what other people's favorites are. I like Runner's World because they allow for two hard workouts a week, which make it easier for me to switch around training runs as necessary. I usually have to space speed work and long runs 3 days apart to keep from breaking.

So what do you use for half marathon awesomeness???