Half Re-Cap

The jagged skyline;

Verdant green and azure blue,

Slices through the hills.

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

 Sunday morning at the Ventura half marathon I ran my first road half marathon in 10 years, as far as I can tell, and will give myself a B+.

 My goal was a 1:25. I finished at 1:26:41. I did work the day before which involved 4 hours of hiking, but I don’t feel that threw me off much.10 years ago I ran a 1:25 so not a terrible rate of deterioration.

 This was my first experience racing in the new super shoes; the carbon plated Saucony Endorphin Pros. They felt great but I don’t have any experience in other shoes of their type, nor do I recall what I use to race in.

But given my time and how comfortable they were, I’ll definitely use them again. I did see a lot of Nike’s out there, but I’ll stick to the Saucony’s and am very much looking forward to trying out their plated trail shoe when it comes out later this year.

And speaking of trails … Next up is a 50k trail race. Haven’t done one of those in a bit either so should be interesting to see what the rate of decline will be over that distance. Though with trails that’s so much more complex to determine.

I wish the new Salomon Pulsar Trail Pros were available. I love the Ultra Glides and if the Pros use the same last and foam but boost it with some kind of plate and manage to come in a shade lighter, I’d love to break a pair in and give them a go.

The trail event is the Valencia 50k. It’s been postponed the last few years. I’ve run it before a few years before that but am determined not to look at those results. I’m aiming for under 5 hours. Usually I’d take a peak at past results and if the course is new to me look and see what others in my age group have done.

But I just want to go into this fresh. I’ll look over the course schematic and  profile to figure out aid stops and get some idea of the course layout, but I don’t want to over think it. My last few trail races, though shorter, were run on courses that I didn’t know much about and I did fairly well just letting the course and feel dictate how I ran. I’m going to stick to that approach for the most part and see if it’ll work over a longer distance.