2025/2026 Winter Update: Part 2 - HM Race Report

 

All race photos are from the Clark County Running Club. THANK YOU

I love the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon because it manages to stay small and affordable. The park can only fit so many runners and there's limited parking, so the field is capped at around 300 runners and walkers.

The thing I do not love about the course is that because its in the middle of winter, it's always usually cold and raining, and this year was no different. Because the parking lot is limited, most of us try to get there at least an hour early. Except there are no heaters and everyone is trying to keep dry and warm for almost an hour before the race starts. They did have a bag check so I kept my jacket on up until about 20 minutes before the race started. Next time I will bring a blanket to stay warm. 

The last time I raced this course, I was modest and placed myself somewhere near the back half of the field. I was using up a lot of extra energy and honestly felt like kind of a jerk weaving around the slower runners during the first 10 minutes of the race. 

In preparation for this year, I checked last year’s results and compared those placings against my goal pace. If I positioned myself better and started near the front third of the pack. I wouldn't have to feel like a jerk weaving around the slower runners, but not too far ahead where I'd get run over by the super fast runners.

My plan... sort of worked out. There was small tent right next to the start line and many of us holed up there right up until the beginning of the race. The start line was already crowded during the national anthem and I found another runner that had the same goal time. I told her we needed to be near the front third of the pack. We both made it to about midway through the pack when the race had already started. OK I guess we're doing this. 

The Muddled Mess

The first kilometer was crowded. To have a sub 95 minute HM, my goal pace was 4:30 min/km. (or ~7:15 min/mile) With 300 people all starting on a walkway that's maybe 6' wide, it was going to be a muddled mess.We were also dodging puddles and mud, since it was going to be raining for at least the first hour we were out there. Once we got out of the park and onto the road, the course widened out and everyone was able to separate. 

My pace for the first km ended up being about 5:00 min/km. Which actually works out, since 4:30 min/km for 20 km would be 90 minutes. Then 5 minutes for the last km would give me a time of almost exactly 95 minutes. I didn't want the first km to take up the whole 5 minutes, so that meant that I had no time buffer for the rest of the race. 

The original plan was to take splits every 5 km, but because it was raining, my Apple Watch touchscreen didn't want to cooperate so I left it on average pace/total distance and decided not to futz with it. As long as my average pace stayed in the ball park of around 4:30 min/km, I figured that was close enough. 

Being that I was already at 5:00 min/km, I made it my effort to settle into something slightly faster than 4:30 min/km

Fueling Strategy

My strategy was to take one swig of gel about 15 minutes prior to start to top off my glycogen stores, one swig of gel about 25 minutes into the race, then one last swig about 50 minutes into the race. There was a water station nearby when I took my gels, so the timing worked out. Typically the rule is that you don't really need fueling for runs under 90 minutes. But under race conditions, I didn't want my "fuel tank" to get so low that I'd have to slow down. 

I also made the effort to stay relaxed and keep my head up. Sometimes its good to "lock in" and focus mainly on what's going on in your body, but at other times, its good to get your head up and enjoy the course. I was feeling good km 5 or 6 so It was easy to just enjoy the course, to cheer on other runners, and to thank volunteers as I ran past. "Locking in" I feel can be pretty taxing, mentally. And I think its great to know when to focus, but at the same time, I don't want to go into hyper-focus mode unless I really need to dig deep, or if I really have to. It's much more fun to enjoy the race.

The water stations were a bit chaotic. In previous years, I would slow down, grab a cup, then walk over and throw my cup into the trash. But with an aggressive goal pace where I could be off by seconds, and running at 4:25 min/km, there is no graceful way to jog to the bin, gently toss the cup, and keep momentum. So I did the jerky thing and tossed the cup off to the side of the path after drinking the water. Now I understand why runners do it. I still felt like a jerk, but I also made sure to aggressively thank the volunteers for their work. 

Small Mistakes

I had to stop three times to tie my shoes. Each stop probably cost me 20-30 seconds to re-tie. It killed me. I had pondered just running with it untied, but I was so far from the finish line, I didn't want to risk losing a shoe or tripping and getting injured. It was an oversight on my part and poorly tied shoes alone cost me at least 60-90 seconds of time. 

Next time, I'm going to double knot and make sure nothing comes undone. Lesson learned.

 

The Home Stretch: Don’t Get Greedy

I was flying. I had just hit the last turnaround prior to heading to the finish line. Around 18 km in, I glanced at my pace. 4:07/km. I knew I had 3 km to go and was at around 80 minutes. At that point I knew that sub 95 minutes was all but locked in. But to be conservative I wanted to bank a little extra time. Then the thought came to try to gun for eve faster than 95 minutes. Can I get closer to 90 minutes?

At kilometer 19, I got my answer by way of a warning shot from my calf. It felt like a lightning bolt shooting through my right calf. But I didn't cramp and my leg didn't seize. It was as if my body was telling me "hey, keep this up and bad things are going to happen." Message received. So I backed off.

I did a few things -- I first slowed down to around 4:20 min/km, I dorsiflexed my ankles during mid strides in order to extend the calf (and thereby releasing as much tension as possible) as much as I could, and made sure my feet were landing under me. I could have ignored the warning shot and gambled, but it was a risky bet to make when I was still 2 km from the finish line. Overreaching could have meant a bad cramp, falling over, limping to the finish line, and letting the 95 minute goal pass me by. 

Instead, I realized that km 19 is not the time to chase a different goal. Maybe I can chase 90 minutes next time, but this time lets lock in a sub 95. 

Backing off worked and my calves stabilized. Without any more warning shots, I cruised in without any heroic kicks. Crossing the finish felt almost boring. 

My final time: 1:32:07

Nearly a four-minute personal best. No collapses. No desperation kicks. No shuffles or limping to the end in exhaustion. No drama, just steady, clean, restrained and mature execution. It was almost anti-climactic.

 Lessons Learned

I'm better understanding why pro runners look the way they do. If you weren't paying attention to their pace, it looks like they're just hobby jogging a 5k. But in reality they are running close to 4 minute miles but their faces and upper bodies look entirely relaxed, almost bored. That's because being relaxed and staying measured is the fastest, most economical way of running. 

For myself, I've spent most of my running career trying to protect my ego. That's not necessarily a bad thing -- being able to finish a long distance like a half marathon, still having gas in the tank, and to do so with a strong finishing kick does wonders for my self confidence. It makes me want to go again, which is exactly the feeling I want all runners to have when it comes to racing. 

In racing this is called the "sit and kick" which is basically hold back until the last leg of the course, then go all out and finish with almost a sprint. For most runners who are early in their running journeys, this is a totally valid race strategy and something I would recommend if you're trying to feel out a new race distance. 

The risk is that you might be holding back too much of your energy and you're leaving time on the table. 

I think for myself I've been doing the "sit and kick", or "negative split" strategy for too long. I need to up my game. I've done half marathons for almost a decade now and I know for sure I can do the distance with plenty of gas left in the tank. 

I'm ready to push myself a little harder in the middle of races, even if it means potentially blowing up in the back half of a race. I feel my ego is secure enough to entertain the thought of failure. It doesn't mean blowing up in purpose, mind. But what it does mean is pushing myself right to the edge of my own fitness, and running right along that edge without falling off the cliff. I feel like getting that warning shot from my calf was that edge and I wisely moved back just a little bit. For that last kilometer, I don't think I had the energy to kick even if I wanted to. And even if I did, I'd maybe shave off a few seconds. The risk of cramping wasn't worth the reward. What that probably means is that I'm growing and maturing as a runner.

Finding the edge your fitness is *not* something you want to discover in the middle of the race. That's playing with fire. That's why thresholds and tempo work is so vital. A threshold workout is literally working at a pace where your body is able to clear acid at the same rate that your muscles produce it. Understanding how that feels and letting your body sit at that pace teaches you to remain calm and to sit right at that pace* during race time. It helps you to know when to hold back, if you've still got a ways to go, or when to gamble and blow right past that threshold if you only have a few kms to go. If you can master this feeling and these calculations in training, you become a monster on the course. 

 

*Nerd footnote: each distance has its own pace. Without turning this into a lecture, threshold pace sits somewhere between 10k and half marathon pace and you should be able to hang on for about 60 minutes at this pace. In any event, knowing where you're at in relation to threshold is good for any long distance event.  

Tempo pace is kind of a fudge word that means almost anything. I consider "tempo" to be harder than easy, but definitely easier than threshold pace. Are you confused yet? yeah, me too. 

What Next?

I have the Vernonia Marathon coming up next in April. More thoughts on that later. Thanks for reading!