Miaoli 13.1+ Practice Run

About a month ago, I made plans to run the Miaoli Half-Marathon. I set a goal to finish sub-1:40 and put myself on my own training schedule with some suggestions from people on RunnersWorld.com. Many told me it was too soon or that my shoes weren't enough for the amount of training I've done. I'm the type of person that hears that and wants to go HARDER!
I took the train to Miaoli last night and stayed at the wonderful Jessica Chen's house. She teaches 30 or so kids every night so when I arrived, her house was still a little crazy. I had fun talking to the kids and even played Bomber-Man with a few of them. One of the kids fathers was preparing for the 26.2 in Miaoli on the same day. He told me about the course and drew me a quick map.
Waking up early has never really been a problem for me. Today was no exception. I woke up at 5:15, ate some granola, and set out. Running in Miaoli is 10x better than running in Taichung. The air is better, the scenery is more rural and beautiful, and there's actually places to run! I took Jing Guo Road past the Miaoli Sports Complex and ran about 7 miles alongside the river until I hit the High-Speed Rail bridge. I met a fellow runner preparing for his first 26.2. We jogged together for a few minutes, but his pace was a little slow, so I said goodbye.

I ran 15.76 miles in 1:51:26 with an average pace of 7'04". My 13 mile time was 1:31:53, so I think it's safe to say that my 13.1 time was sub-1:40. T-minus 2 weeks until my first 13.1 with my sights still set on running Ironman Fall 2013.

MILE	TIME	AVG.PACE
1	7:15	7'15"/mi
2	14:11	6'56"/mi
3	21:20	7'09"/mi
4	28:23	7'03"/mi
5	35:26	7'03"/mi
6	42:19	6'53"/mi
7	49:27	7'08"/mi
8	56:26	6'59"/mi
9	1:03:26	7'00"/mi
10	1:10:27	7'01"/mi
11	1:17:34	7'07"/mi
12	1:24:44	7'10"/mi
13	1:31:43	6'59"/mi
14	1:38:50	7'07"/mi
15	1:46:06	7'16"/mi

Another 13.1 run for the books...

The weather this week has been cool and nice, which is unseasonable this early in Fall for Taiwan. I expected this Saturday morning to be the same as last night the air was still cool enough to push a hard 20 min bike sprint on my way home. I set out at 6:15am or so and knew that no matter what, I was going to hit 13.1 today. I ran out of water at mile 9 and had to ask a tea shop for a refill. The heat was killing me by 7:30am! I ran along the new and unopened highway along the river in Taiping, hugging the wall for the limited shade it provided.
I ran 13.18 miles in 1:41:21 with an average pace of 7:41/mile. I need to bring that down to 7:36 in order to hit my goal of a sub-1:40 half marathon. Two surprises happened on this run. One, I got a huge second wind just after the 10 mile mark and held a solid race pace the last 2 miles. Second, I got a blister in a spot where I've never even had a hot spot. By mile 9 I started feeling loose skin but pushed on. Surprisingly, I still had some juice at the end, so next week I think I'll do a 14+ at a slower pace.
When I got home, I opted for a nice cold soak in the bath. No ice, just cold water. I was really hoping for a long nap and some old X-Files with my wife, but we have to go to Taipei for an 8-hour commercial shoot. It sure beats teaching English!
3.5 weeks until my first 13.1.

MILE	TIME	AVG.PACE
1	7:56	7'56"/mi
2	15:30	7'34"/mi
3	23:07	7'37"/mi
4	30:37	7'30"/mi
5	38:16	7'39"/mi
6	45:56	7'40"/mi
7	53:46	7'50"/mi
8	1:01:49	8'03"/mi
9	1:09:35	7'46"/mi
10	1:17:31	7'56"/mi
11	1:25:15	7'44"/mi
12	1:32:49	7'34"/mi
13	1:40:05	7'16"/mi