Race Week, Easy Run with My Sister, & Running the Brew City Half Marathon in Milwaukee (Half Marathon Training - Week #16 Recap)

In this weekly blog series, I plan to share a training recap as I prepare for Brew City Half Marathon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It will include an overview of my training plan with the good, the bad, & the ugly which every runner undoubtedly experiences along the way. Enjoy and let me know if you have any feedback or thoughts based on your experience.

Monday, April 17th:

From summer to winter in 24-hours. Such a drastic change in weather but I always welcome the variety. Truthfully, after only a week of 70-80 degree temperatures I was already for things to cool off.

For my run today, I had scheduled one final speedwork session before race day. It consisted of 5-miles with 1.5-mile warm-up at easy pace, 20-minutes at threshold pace, and 1.5-mile cool down at easy pace. It’s such a simple run in it’s design but packs a mighty punch to run in a sustained manner at a higher intensity.

With a break in the snow, I decided to head out the door and run over to the Oak Leaf Trail in Shorewood. I knew this would be the perfect spot where I didn’t have to waste time driving and could knock it out in between work calls.

Since the temperature was 35-degrees, everything felt relatively easy overall. I knew the heart rate would be lower then a week ago so I also had to be careful not to get overzealous on my pacing which would create excess soreness or an injury setback within days of the race.

I left from home in Riverwest and ran 1.5-miles to warm-up adequately and arrive on the Oak Leaf Trail. When switching my Garmin watch to the prescribed 20-minutes at threshold pace workout, I realized shortly thereafter that this was an old workout with outdated paces. It was just too slow for my current fitness level, which is a very encouraging thing to see at this point in my training, but I decided to roll with it anyway even though the Garmin would periodically chirp to say, “too fast!”

11-minutes down the Oak Leaf Trail and 9-minutes back while keeping the heart rate between 170-175 beats per minute. I usually run longer on the first half of each segment assuming I’ll be able to progressively increase my pace on the way back so the total distance covered is relatively the same. Honestly, I was feeling strong. Cool temperatures and light snowfall made it an enjoyable run. Also, it was quiet and peaceful as I only came across a handful of other people walking, running, or riding bikes since the weather took a quick change back to winter.

On the way back I did a much better job then the week prior achieving zone 2-zone 3 heart rate which can be attributed to the cooler temperatures. After 1-5-miles at easy pace, I arrived at home with 10-minutes to spare before my next work call.

This run was a good confidence booster at this point in the training since my pacing was strong and my body held up well. The hip has been getting progressively better each week and I’ve been diligent about my home exercises to resolve the tendinopathy.

Later this week I’ll knock out 4-miles at easy pace (Wednesday), 2-miles at easy pace when my sister gets into town (Friday), and then the half marathon (Saturday). 16-weeks later and we’re finally here.

Wednesday, April 19th:

In between rain drops and lightning strikes, I headed out for a 4-mile run at easy pace. The dog and I got back from walking down Bradford Beach as a rain storm with some hail rolled in. After waiting 30-minutes for things to clear, I saw an opening and set out.

One reason I wanted to get running despite it possibly raining again was because the weather was comparable to what I might see on Saturday morning. The weather app is calling for 35-45 degrees with the possibility of rain and snow. That meant I could see how my clothing felt in similar conditions to make a smart choice on race day.

The goal for today was simply to keep things light. This meant zone 2 and low zone 3 heart rate  on relatively flat terrain.

I decided to run a loop from Humboldt, East Capitol Drive, Oakland Drive, Locust Street, and back home. Last time I ran this loop was when my calf cramped, knee hurt, and things fell apart… Fortunately, today went rather effortlessly. This was partly due to the reduction in mileage during the taper, and a perfect, cloudy, 42-degree day.

Tomorrow my sister and mother come into town and we’ll enjoy some sights before completing the Brew City Half Marathon on Saturday. I’m looking forward to wrapping up this training cycle and shifting gears in the coming months.

Friday, April 21st:

After eating some eggs and bacon with the family, I succeeded in convincing my sister to head out for an easy 2-mile run. We had agreed to this earlier in the week, but as race day drew near she become more resistant to the idea in place of gentle stretching and sightseeing. Luckily, she’s easily persuaded!

The goal was to spend a few minutes loosening up the legs. With race day tomorrow, super easy pace was the goal and simply getting out there to run. This would be my final training run for the Brew City Half Marathon and I was anxiously ready to move forward.

We ran from home in Riverwest and actually decided to head over to the Oak Leaf Trail by East Capitol Drive in Shorewood. I had been telling her about the race route for tomorrow and thought it would be good to show firsthand. Although this added a little extra distance, it was a nice “field trip” to get prepared.

2.5-miles later and we arrived home ready to take on the day. We talked through a general race day strategy and were ready to see where that took us on Saturday. With the weather report improving each day, we looked forward to 40-degree temperatures and party cloudy skies.

Saturday, April 22nd:

Race day was finally here and we were ready to get down to the Lakefront for the Brew City Half Marathon. I was prepared with a handheld water bottle, 3 gels, and a small bag of honey nut cheerios to snack on during the ride over.

Kristen dropped us off in the closest parking lot which made it convenient to not think about parking and those logistics. For a few days leading up to the race, I jokingly told my sister we would jog over to warm-up. It was only 3-miles but she didn’t seem too fond of this idea and repeatedly shut me down.

The first stop was hanging by the port-a-potty to go the bathroom before lining up in the mass of people. In fact, two bathroom stops later and we were ready to find our place near the start line. Race day jitters or a weak bladder? Who knows! But this has always been my case since I played sports as a kid.

Our plan for this race was to start slow and gradually build throughout the race. I created a simple pacing strategy that I knew would be reliable since it’s a fairly flat course. With feedback from her training, 10:00-10:30 was our goal for the first 3-miles before entering into the 9-minute range and finishing as fast as possible.

As the announcer started the race, we waited… and waited… It took us 8-10 minutes to get moving from where we were positioned and I watched marathoners, half marathoners, and 5kers, cross the start line and wind through some cones to cross the bridge over Lincoln Memorial Drive to the Oak Leaf Trail. It looked like some kind of obstacle course race, however, once on the Oak Leaf Trail it’s a long straightaway to just go.

For the first 3-miles we ran while trying to monitor pace vs. effort. The pace on my Garmin seemed all over the place but it could have been due to the crowded path and difficulty falling into a rhythm that caused us to either be too slow or too fast. To provide a visual, the Oak Leaf Trail is approximately 10-12 feet wide with dirt/grass on either side before the woods. This became a problem constantly throughout the race as you just couldn’t run your own pace.

At the 3-mile marl we began to pick up our pace and opened the first UCan Gel. The second water stop was at 3.75-miles so the timing was good to grab a water if necessary. I had the handheld water bottle but my sister forgot hers, and Amazon did not deliver a new one on time to my house, so we had to fill up a plain plastic bottle multiple times throughout the race.

Based on our pace and the other runners around us, we ended up on the heels of a man and woman running what felt on point for what we wanted at that part of the race. We essentially played follow the leader for 3-miles which took the thinking out of it and allowed us more easily pass other runners since they paved the way.

Throughout Shorewood and Whitefish Bay there were quite a few spectators along the route which surprised me. The race company created three spectator locations but the locals filled in some very good areas that would’ve lead to miles and miles of boredom. From the belly shirt guy wearing a wig with a cowbell to children waving signs and waiting for their mother/father, it kept boredom to a minimum on the minimally changing Oak Leaf Trail.

At this point, some of the faster marathon and half marathon runners came flying past in the opposite direction which was impressive to see. The race changed from everyone going in one direction to now the Oak Leaf Trail being a tight, two lane road. We consistently passed on the dirt & grass since the middle of the path was between runners moving in both directions.

Between miles 6-7, we got to a turnaround since the course was an out and back. There was a water station and what turned into a congested mess of runners holding pace since passing became too difficult. Kristen and my mother were hanging out here but weren’t prepared since the tracking app must’ve been off slightly. We ran past yelling and it was funny to see the surprise on their face. Fortunately, in only a few minutes they’d get a second attempt to see us as we rounded some cones and looped back around.

After leaving this congested area, consuming another gel around mile 7, and pushing on, we knew it was time to continue progressing the pace. My sister felt strong and I gave her a preview of what was to come through Estabrook Park as that was probably the only area which consisted of any “hills” on the course. Throughout training I have run through here to get some variety although I wouldn’t call it difficulty. However, when the entire course is pancake flat, even small hills can be perceived as harder then they truly are.

As we got closer to Estabrook Park in Shorewood, things started to get interesting. Although we were feeling strong and the pace picked up with more openings to run freely, the weather began to shift. People were unsure if it started to drizzle rain or not because it wasn’t not super noticeable, but mother nature had other plans…

For 20-minutes we were running through heavy hail and moderate winds. My sister said after the race, “For most of the race everyone was having a good time talking with their friends and then it became lifeless.” The silence was felt and the energy of motivated people dropped off noticeably. I personally like these situations because it breaks up the boredom of just running and separates people who have the mental strength to push on.

We turned from Estabrook Park back onto the Oak Leaf Trail and only had 3-miles left in the race. I took my final gel around mile 10 and continued to pick-up slowly. This section was nice because we people were more spread out. Some cramping off to the side, some walking, and others running along with the finish line in sight.

I could hear my sister breathing more heavily at this point and she shifted from beside me to just behind. As I glanced over my shoulder, I could see her white hat so I knew she would continue fighting to keep up unless I slowed down. So we pushed on feeling the closeness of the finish line.

My mind always shifts to time at this point and it’s something I did throughout training during speedwork. “Only 18-minutes left. You can do anything for 18-minutes.”

Earlier in the race she got notifications from the race tracking app on estimated finish time. Due to our slow first few miles I knew we could get the time down closer to her half marathon personal best once we fell into a rhythm. So the goal from mile 11-13 was to just run and see where we ended up.

It’s always easier to gain momentum with the race winding down, passing other runners, and the thought of a warm brat waiting at the finish line. Our pace progressed to 8:30 and we were able to finish strong. Kristen and my mother were waiting at the finish line cheering as we rounded the corner and it was nice to be done.

With a finish time of 2:07:17 and my sister right on my heels, we had an enjoyable race. I’m not so sure I’d do this race again due to the congestion, since that certainly held us back many times, however, my goals were consistency of training and to improve my cardiovascular system. Both of these were achieved weeks ago so the race was primarily focused on having fun running with my sister for a few hours.

Over the next few weeks I’ll have some down time and switch gears. I was invited by some friends from Nashville to do the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim hike in late August. This actually fits more of what I had planned with less running miles, more strength training, and spending some time in the woods over the summer.

For those of you who are reading this for the first time or have followed along over the 16-week training recap, I hope it didn’t put you to sleep but provided a lens into my training as well as some science to the why behind things. When you focus on the enjoyment of the process and stay consistent you’ll always end up ahead.

Thanks for following along this week! If you have any questions or want to talk about creating an individualized running and injury prevention plan for you, click here to learn more about Running Coaching and fill out the form. 

Onward to some rest & recovery!