First off, I have never run a half marathon race in the buildup to a marathon before. My main race this spring is the Flying Pig Full Marathon on May 7th in Cincinnati. The Carmel Half Marathon fit well into my marathon training plan. Hannah and I also really enjoyed our visit 2 years ago when I also ran the half and wanted to get back sometime. So, we decided to make the 2-hour journey over to the Indy area to get away for a weekend.
My training leading up to this race had been solid so far. Aside from a few minor aches and pains, everything has been going smoothly. My main goal for Carmel was to have fun and run a smooth race. If the conditions were great, my plan was to go for my NYC marathon qualifying time. The qualifying standard for my age is 1:21 or roughly 6:10 per mile. I felt very confident I should be able to maintain that for at least the first half of the race and then go from there depending on how I felt at that point.
Carmel Half Marathon Pre-Race
We made the trip over from Cincinnati to Carmel on Friday afternoon to pick up my race bib and get settled into our hotel for the evening. 2 years ago, we stumbled upon the almost brand-new Hotel Carmichael. It is only located a mere 100 yards from the start/finish line! We knew if we ever came back, we wouldn’t stay anywhere else! It was so convenient, and the staff was very hospitable. This trip also marked our first overnight adventure with our son Pax. It wasn’t the best night of sleep we have all gotten. However, the Lord sustained us all and we made it to morning with a beautiful sunrise and crisp mid-30s temps.
I met up with one of my running club friends for a short warmup jog. All the weather conditions were optimal, and all systems were ready to go. We headed over to the corrals and got settled in to wait the few minutes for the starting gun. This was probably the calmest I have ever been in a start corral. Things were good, I was ready.
Opening Miles
The first few hundred meters of the race were a little chaotic. The Carmel Half Marathon wasn’t a big enough race to have corrals designated by pace. So I got stuck behind some slow starters from the start. Luckily, I only had to zig zag for a short bit before I got clear of most of the congestion. I even got a quick wave in to Hannah and Pax cheering me on from the sidewalk.
The first couple miles net downhill, so I knew it would be easy to slip into a comfortable pace. After making the right onto Range Line for a long stretch, I settled into a good rhythm. The excitement of racing again, perfect weather, and new race shoes made the opening miles fly by and feel relatively easy.
My Garmin buzzed a first mile of 6:00, which I quickly noted was 10 seconds ahead of my goal pace. It was a little faster than I planned, but it felt so smooth and relaxed I wasn’t worried about overshooting it by a little bit. I kept the steady rhythm and clocked a 6:02 on Mile 2. I started a little counter in my head of my time ahead of goal pace: 18 seconds banked.
Miles 3-5
Shortly after going through the 2-mile marker of the Carmel Half Marathon, we made the turn east onto 100th street for 3 straight miles. My focus on this stretch was to maintain pace and stay smooth on this still net downhill section. 6:03 on the third mile took me to 25 seconds under pace. I didn’t really notice the pace increase in the moment, but at mile 4 my watch clicked 5:51. I did a double take at my watch, I couldn’t believe I ran that fast of split without feeling the effect.
Certain pace thresholds often stick out to me. Early in my marathon career when I was first trying to break 3 hours, I would focus so much on 6:50 pace (3-hour marathon pace). Everything I did was to try to get comfortable at that pace. It was a pace that became engrained in my mind. 8:00 pace has recently become another threshold for me that has become my defacto “easy” pace for recovery runs. 6:00 pace has long been my “fast” pace. It’s a barrier between “fast” and “really fast” pace for running more than 1-mile intervals.
I spent the next quarter mile trying to determine what to do next after the fast split on mile 4. I hadn’t planned to go that fast, but it didn’t feel overly taxing. Maybe it was just a couple of the downhill sections? Maybe I was more fit than I gave myself credit? I decided to just keep going with what felt comfortable. Coming through the final mile of this 3-mile stretch I clocked in at 5:58. Seeing another sub 6-minute split gave me a huge jolt of confidence making the turn north. I was already almost a minute under goal pace and feeling strong.
Miles 5-8
The next couple miles turned north along the Hazel Dell Parkway. I have always enjoyed this stretch as I look forward to seeing Hannah waiting to cheer me on at around the 6-mile mark. I continued to slowly pick off runners up ahead as I continued on with my sub-6 minute pace. Coming around the curve, I could see Hannah and Pax waiting up ahead, so I swung out around the curve a little to give them a good wave and smile. That was very energizing as I neared the halfway time check. I went through the halfway point in 39:08 with a lot of gas still in the tank.
After hitting mile 7, the course turns back west to head towards the finish. After mostly downhill running in the first half, the back half featured some gradual uphill. All my years of playing soccer have helped give me a set of strong legs which help me grind up hills. I started picking off runners up ahead and my confidence continued to build.
Miles 8 – Finish
Around mile 8 I started to feel my heart rate creeping up a little higher. I didn’t feel the need to start slowing down but could tell my body was starting to fatigue a little. It was right then that I caught a couple of runners who were doing the full marathon and one of them struck up some friendly conversation.
Distance running is so much different than other sports. Everyone is competing individually against each other, but I have found most runners love to cheer and encourage others during races. The camaraderie amongst runners just makes this sport so special. I quickly got to know Brady & Evan, the 2 runners cruising down the course with me at sub 6-minute pace. I spend a lot of time training alone during the week, so anytime I am running with others it is a much better experience.
The conversation and laughter got me out of thinking solely on the race and relaxed my mind. We zig-zagged through a couple neighborhoods and I finally found myself with only a mile to go. The mile 12 sign gave me an energy boost, so I said bye to my new friends and picked it up a gear heading toward the finish line. The pace started to hurt on the little incline in the final half mile, but I stayed strong through the finish line. A huge smile came across my face as I crossed the finish line and was handed a huge medal. 1:17:40, a new PR! The Carmel Half Marathon was a smashing success.
Carmel Half Marathon Wrap Up
Sometimes in marathon training it can be hard to feel like you are making any progress with your training. Some weeks go better than others, but the daily grind for weeks on end can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
This training season has been one of my most consistent builds of my career. I’ve worked through a couple small stretches of soreness & sickness, but have been able to consistently keep my mileage on track. Consistency over 18 weeks is much easier said than done, so I’m very grateful to have made it this far so consistently.
Since I also ran the same half marathon back in 2021, I was able to get a great comparison on how much my fitness has improved. My race back in 2021 was my PR coming into this year’s race as I haven’t run too many half marathons.
I started both races very similarly but was very pleased with how my training helped keep my heart rate in the 160’s for much longer than in 2021. This enabled me to be able to stay fresher and handle the faster paces longer. I also had way more energy in the closing miles this year thanks to all of the extra miles put in each week.
I’m excited to see the culmination of my training season in just 2 weeks when I tackle the @runflyingpig marathon. The Carmel Half Marathon was a great building block and a huge confidence boost. Thanks for all who supported me and special shoutout to my wife Hannah for always being the best cheerleader!
