The Third Time Is A Charm !

It took several attempts spanning the past five years but I finally earned my podium finish for the Glass City Half Marathon this past weekend! What follows is the background to this story and the race report of my third try. Thanks in advance for reading my post.

Background

For years I had always heard great things about the Glass City Marathon and Half Marathon hosted by the Toledo Road Runners Club. It’s best known for a relatively flat course that gives the runner few excuses for a poor performance. It’s also known as one of the better organized events. A race’s leadership and organization often go unappreciated by many (but not all) runners. Not by this runner, they know how to do it right in Toledo.

Race swag, sorry, my free beer glass is not in pic.

Back in 2019 I ran my first Glass City Half Marathon. When race day approached in late April of that year, I was a victim of minimal prep required to run any half marathon. Nonetheless I did run, and my results reflected my training that year. I finished in 2:11, well beyond my normal range of 1:45 to 1:55 back then. I also errored on my logistics. Toledo is about an hour’s drive south for me and I made the trip to the expo on Saturday afternoon, returning home after I picked up my race bib. Of course, this meant I needed to get up very early Sunday morning to drive back to Toledo, find a parking space, engage in my usual pre-race routine, and make it to the starting line by 6:30 AM! I somehow managed all of that and I thoroughly enjoyed the race and post-race festivities. I was hooked on Glass City despite my relatively slow performance.

It was a struggle for me to finish in 2019. I since learned from my mistakes.

There was no Glass City in 2020 thanks to Covid of course but the race was one of the very first races to return to real time road racing in 2021! This time I took advantage of my lesson learned in 2019 and booked a hotel stay in Toledo. Many advantages to doing this but frankly, I was still awake very early on race morning and managed to get to the starting line shortly before the 6:30AM start again. My 2020 race time was even a bit faster this time too! There are advantages to knowing the course now. I finished in 2:04 and a few spots off of a podium finish. Not a problem, while I enjoy being competitive. I also understood taking more than 2 hours to finish a half marathon was simply a matter of insufficient training. I have never been a big-time winter runner thus my spring racing results are not my best results. Surely 2021 will be my year to break thru at Glass City!

Well, I had high hopes for 2021 racing year. I was now in a new (older) age group and I knew that my strongest competition of runners were a year younger than me so yes, I was set to win my age group this year in Toledo!

My year started out good too! About a month ahead of Glass City I won my age group in the Rock CF Half Marathon in Grosse Ile (MI). Then a week later it happened! While on an early morning midweek run, I stumbled along the walk, fell and ended up with a broken foot. No running, in fact, no movement of any kind for the next 8 weeks at least! So, no Glass City for me in 2022. The good news here is that I was able to resume running in June and recovered to run well in my fall events.

Glass City Half Marathon 2023

I was looking forward to returning to Toledo and taking on the half marathon again, especially following a strong fall racing season. But then, as usual, winter happens, and my training is just not the same as in the summer and fall. I was able to work up to a couple of decent long runs in the weeks preceding Glass City but, nowhere near the extent of tempo and similar training runs needed to run a strong half marathon. So, I tempered my expectations accordingly and simply looked to be happy if I could run a bit better than my 2:15 finish at the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon seven weeks prior.

Logistics also played a part in my race experience. I paid a nominal extra fee to be able to pick up my bib on race morning thereby not needing to pay for a hotel or make two back to back trips to Toledo. Great! Except I needed to leave home not later than 4:30 AM to make this work. I managed, it worked, but barely.

It’s 4:00 AM and Zeus is saying, let me go back to bed!

The real anxiety for me this year was the weather. Pre-race temps were in the low 30’s and the mild breeze made it feel like the high 20’s. I really prefer to race in shorts and a singlet. Given the temps, I was definitely wearing a long sleeve shirt under my singlet. But my legs? I had raced in similar conditions in tights and regretted every step of that race. So I fell back on an old trick I learned in my high school cross country days, use Vaseline over my exposed skin to keep the air off. This combined with knee high compression socks did the trick. For the wind, I wore a clear garbage bag over my body and kept it on until mile ten. I was glad too as with every turn in the course it seemed as if there was a new head wind there to greet me.

The Early Miles 1-3

There was a slight change in the course route this year. A new starting line location that I thought frankly was much better than previous years. But, the first 3 miles ran along much the same roads as previous years but in the reverse direction. So what? Well, the reverse direction meant we were running a bit more uphill rather than downhill. Still, the inclines were not that terrible and it was early enough so as not to impact performance.

And they are off! Except it’ll be another 5 minutes before I get to the start line.

The first three miles were simply a warm up for me. I purposely ran slow like I would on any normal Saturday long run. Going into the race I thought if I could average a 9:45 pace for 13.1 miles I would be happy. My early miles were at 9:45, so I figured it was simply a matter of holding onto this pace. It felt easy. Maybe a bit too easy as I was constantly passing people, even this early in the race, was this a good omen or would it lead to my downfall in the later miles? Ugh!

The Middle Miles 4-10

Shortly after hitting the 3 mile mark runners were back on the old course and passed by the long starting corrals where this all started nearly a half hour ago. I suddenly felt the beginnings of a cramp in my hamstring. This is not unusual for me, my only concern was whether or not it would cease or cause my early demise in the race. I frankly forgot about it and it never bothered me again. I just kept running. I was looking for the actual 3 mile mark when I suddenly noticed that I had just past the 4 mile mark! Wow, that seemed to pass by quick. Another slight turn ahead and we were into the scenic part of the course. I was remembering previous years here, running through some beautiful neighborhoods, people out on their lawns ring cow bells and cheering us on.

Miles 4 thru 10 include some moderate hills or more accurately, slopes. Still, experience has taught me to run with my head up, look towards the runners ahead so I can run the tangents (a running term meaning to run the shortest distance around a curve). Despite these “hills” I was still slowly passing most people. My pace had slowly but steadily increased from the 9:45 range to 9:10 and still feeling just as easy. No need to push it any harder as I certainly did not have the training to support anything more.

Then as we approached the end of mile 9 there was a dreaded actual hill. Well, at least after 9 miles this certainly felt like a hill. I remember in previous years this “hill” caused me to stop and walk it. Not this year. I did slow a bit but not for long. There was one more turn ahead and then it would be onto the 10 mile mark!

Approaching mile 12 and I still am feeling strong. Continue to pass runners and anxious to get to the finish line!

The Final Miles 11- 13.1

I knew that once I made this final turn to head towards the 10 mile mark that the relatively mild winds would now finally be at my back. Per my race plan, when I did cross the 10 mile mark I yanked off my garbage bag and was ready to push this final 5K to the finish line.

Except for another mild turn and the final leg into the Toledo Rocket Stadium and finish line, most of the final miles are along a straight road. There’s also one more decent hill that challenges runners just before the 12 mile mark too. Despite these challenges that lay ahead, I started to push my pace a bit. I was running in the 8:50’s nearly a full minute per mile faster than I was just 10 miles ago. Yes, I was still passing even more people. Of those that I passed, I gave a critical eye to see if they even might be in my age group too. Nope, not a one, so I thought maybe, just maybe I could do this podium finish thing! I was going to give it everything I had.

When I came to that last challenging uphill just before the 12 mile mark I again remembered walking this hill in previous years but not this time. I held steady and thought only about the final turn and the inviting long downhill to the finish line. It was now only two traffic signals ahead of me. Just take down one traffic signal at a time I told myself then the downhill.

Well before I knew it, I was at the final big turn and that nice inviting downhill. Despite being downhill it still is not easy to keep pushing, but push I did. Now I was really passing runners too! 800 yards to go, 400 yards to go, 13 miles and now only a tenth of a mile! Now is the time to also get in the clear for the photographers at the finish line! I was determined not to let that last runner ahead of me get in my picture so it was an all out spring as I entered the stadium for the final 40 yards or so, and there I was, running alone in space as I crossed the finish line!

Finish

Somewhere along the 11th mile I had passed the 2:05 half marathon pacer and I knew if I ran strong enough there might be a chance to break the magical 2 hour mark. I did run as strong as I could and as I approached the finish I saw the time clock reading about 2:06. Not to be disappointed because it took me at least a few minutes to get to the actual starting line, so it might be close to the 2-hour mark.

YES! Finally! The finish line, time to celebrate!

No, following the post-race goodies line, beer line, and pizza line, I had a chance to see the results. I had finished in 2:01.23.9, my fastest Glass City Half Marathon and a First Place finish in the 70-74 age group! Not to shabby for someone who only has been running about 20-25 miles a week recently, and most of those miles were very slow-paced miles. So, I am quite happy with my results and intend to step up my training for the rest of the spring and into summer racing season.

If it’s on the internet, it must be true! Overall: 862 of 2,187 runners.

Next up, The Bayshore 10K, Traverse City, MI. May 27. Stay tuned.

Thanks again for taking the time and interest in reading my post, I hope that it may inspire you to run and race a bit more. Please post your comments below, I look forward to seeing. Thanks.

Coach Lee, aka, “The Running Architect”