Bayshore Half Marathon Race Report
Event: Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City, Michigan
Distance: 13.1miles
Official Time: 1:37:30 (average pace: 7:27)
Place: 16th (age group)
Weather: cloudy, 62deg, kind of humid feeling (85%), wind not really noticeable - a pleasant breeze
When I signed up for this race last fall, I had big hopes of running a fast time, certainly faster than the 1:27 I ran in 2022. I had a lot of setbacks and injuries from December through May and I had to adjust my goal a few times leading up to the race. Ultimately, I focused my training on building up the distance of my long run while managing my current injury (iliopsoas strain). It was a balancing act of running as much as possible while still allowing my injury heal and to improve. (Read more about my injury & rehab here.)
Training
My training was easy running and strength and conditioning. (Because I was managing an injury, I didn’t run workouts.) I averaged about 20 miles per week. My longest long run in preparation for this race was 11 miles which I ran 10 days before the race, and on that day I had no pain at all! That run made me confident that I could do the HM relatively well.
Race Day
The weather on race day felt great after my two final weeks of training in really hot, humid weather. My husband and I did most of our long runs together in training and we ran together start to finish at Bayshore, which was really fun. The race starts out with a very big uphill, downhill, and another uphill. After that it’s mostly flat and gentle rolling hills along the bay which provided very beautiful and inspirational views.
Pacing
We did a good job of holding back early on, running with patience so that we could finish strong. I tried not to think about the whole distance at any point, but instead focused on ticking off one mile at a time. Around mile 8 I was confident that we were going to have a really solid day, and felt a little antsy to cut down the pace. But we were smart and waited until there were 2 miles to go, which was a good move because by mile 11 neither of us had much life left in our legs.
Splits
Our slowest mile was our first (8:35) and our fastest was our last mile (7:04). I always aim to run longer races with a steady pace and little progression, so our pacing was a success. While my result is a lot slower than I had initially hoped to run when I signed up, I’m really pleased with my showing based on the circumstances, and the event was a lot of fun. I plan to return next year with a few more miles of training under my belt!
Nicole Sifuentes is a full-time Running Coach for adults of all ages and abilities. She is a former professional runner and 2-time Olympian, and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Read more about her services, and schedule your free coaching consultation.
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