Robie Creek and Idaho Potato Half Marathon analysis

After completing the Wilson Creek 50k in January, the next goal would be preparing for the Robie Creek half marathon.  Now for those of you that do not know about Robie Creek, they call this the toughest half marathon in the Northwest.  Robie Creek starts with a nice 2100 foot climb in the first 8 miles, taking runners up through Rocky Canyon and reaching Aldape Summit.  Then it's a steep descent downhill to Robie Creek.  

The training plan called for hills...lots of hills.  Luckily, Boise is prime running for anyone training for a hilly race.  Most of my training runs would either be outdoors on the trails, or on a treadmill simulating hills.  

I implemented three types of hill workouts into my training regimen...

1. Steady Aerobic Hill runs: 15-60 minute efforts.  These sessions were important to complete.  I would keep my heart rate below 150 but wanted to get used to grinding uphill for extended periods.  I liked doing this workout on a treadmill because I wouldn't have to run any downhill and smash my legs.  
2. Medium hill repeats: 2-5 minute efforts x 5-10 repetitions; I would usually mix in a few 5 minute, 3 minute and 2 minute efforts into a session.  These workouts are disguised speed work and helped my leg speed, strength, and efficiency to run faster uphill.  
3. Shorter hill repeats: 30-60 second harder efforts; I would usually do these repeats after an hour of aerobic running.  These repetitions would help my legs turnover and push some faster paced running up the hill.  

Here is workout I completed about 1 month out from Robie Creek...

The goal of this workout was to simulate racing efforts with lots of hill work spliced into the session.

30 minute warm up easy running

Main set: 

1x 1.5 mile on a 4% climb

Once I hit the top of the climb, I then did 3x 90 second harder hill reps

Then hit a controlled tempo effort going back down the 1.5 mile hill to the start of the workout.

I repeated this set 3 rounds.

Total mileage was 17 miles for the workout.  

This was a good day of specific hill running to prepare for Robie.  

The few weeks leading up to the race, the weather was all over the place.  Snow was dropping and race day conditions were up in the air.  We knew the course would have ice and snow up at the Summit but we wouldn't know how much until the day of the race.

Luckily, the weather turned for the better and we had a nice day to run.  We still had ice and snow to manage however it wasn't too extreme.  

Since this was my first Robie Creek experience, I wanted to manage my energy in a smart manner, especially climbing through Rocky Canyon.  

The gun goes off and 2000 runners went.  It is easy to get caught up going out too fast at the beginning of a race.  I stayed within myself and went out strong and controlled.  The first mile is flat, and then the hills arrive.  My main mantra was stay relaxed, stay present and grind without burning up matches.  

Miles 1-5 went by quickly and I was managing some good uphill miles...

(6:52, 7:54, 7:09, 8:26, 8:46/mile)

Miles 6-8 were a different story...(9:13, 9:21, 10:16)

There was no reprieve from the hills at this point.  Make it to the summit was my mindset.  I knew I was saving some energy for a very fast descent but the last mile definitely hit me and was harder than I expected.  

Once I hit the summit, we had snow and ice to deal with.  I didn't take any risks here, but I did use this time to my advantage, settled my heart rate, took a gel, and regained some much needed energy.  The ice and snow eventually were gone and the last 4 miles would be fast!  (6:15, 5:49, 5:53, 5:49 respectively)

I sprinted into the finish line area with a total time of 1 hour 41 minutes (7:49/mile pace).  

For my first Robie Creek experience, I felt that I executed a strong and consistent race, placing 50th overall out of 2000 runners.  

After Robie, I knew I would have 4 weeks until my next event, the Famous Idaho Potato Half Marathon.  This next race was a completely different mindset as it is a flat and fast course and I really wanted to "sharpen the blade" and work on my speed.  My body wasn't too beat up post Robie, but it definitely was fatigued.  The objective was to spend 1 week in recovery mode, dropping my overall running volume and allowing the body to recover.

I then went to work on prepping for this next race...

My running volume stabilized around 35-40 miles per week and workouts included lots of intervals at or below half marathon pacing.  

One workout in particular was a track session performing 15x800s, all at or below half marathon pace.  I completed this workout two weeks before the race.  This workout is a solid half marathon or marathon specific workout as it tests your stamina and ability to maintain your pacing throughout the longer session.  

I started off at 6:25/mile pace (3:13 for the 800) and gradually descended to running the last four 800 reps at 3:05, 3:02, 2:55 and 2:45 respectively.  With only a 200 meter steady jog in between reps, I was very happy with the execution of this workout.  I knew I was feeling strong, fast and ready to go.  

Life still happens, and boy, race week was a busy week.  Between work, kids sporting events, coaching those sporting events and everything else, my body was definitely working.  I did my best to get good sleep at night, get in shorter but quality workouts to stay sharp and allow the body to fully bounce back.  

I would say, I was at about 90% going into this race.  Tired yes, but mentally ready to push.  

My plan for the race was to run by feel, and squeeze as much as I could out of myself.  I wanted to start fast and at a pretty good clip.  First mile 6:31, mission accomplished.  Then I got into a nice rhythm and descended into the 6:20s for the next 5 miles, running 6:23, 6:21, 6:24, 6:26, 6:21.  

I felt good at this point, but knew that I needed to settle down just a bit on my pace, so the next three miles went 6:33, 6:36 and 6:36.  

As the miles were winding down, my mantra in my head, "just hang on".  I was still clipping away at a good rate and needed to stay relaxed but I was starting to fatigue a bit.  Hold on baby.  Miles 11 and 12 were 6:42.  

With one mile to go, I took a deep breath and told myself, "finish this thing!" Last mile was 6:31.

Overall time of 1:26:30 (6:30/mile), placing 16th out of 500 runners.  

My analysis of this 1st half of the year is that I AM BACK!  Meaning, that I am back to running similar times than when I was in a peak state of running in the years of 2015-2017.  It takes a tremendous amount of consistent work to make this happen.  It is not easy.  However, I am motivated more than ever and I love the process of working towards a goal.  Performing on race day is icing on the cake.  The day to day journey of making it happen is what I live for and what truly builds the individual.  

Moving forward, FULL RECOVERY!  That is my main objective over the next 2 weeks.  I want to allow the body and mind some recovery time.  I will workout and run but with less structure and intensity.  I will focus on strength in the gym and cross training to maintain my fitness.  

Summer and Fall racing will happen.  

For now, I will take a break and bring it back in a few weeks.   

Remember, goals worth achieving take lots of time, dedication and consistency.  You either commit to doing the necessary work or you don't.  Either way, it is always a choice.  

Cheers to the long term journey and making it happen!