NAVY-AIR FORCE HALF-MARATHON (race report):

This is a new race that was added this year to the Navy 5-miler and follows much of the course of the Cherry Blossom 10-miler, though it goes further up Rock Creek Parkway. It's mostly flat, but there are some rolling hills on Rock Creek Parkway, and we were running into a slight wind from the north for part of the race. I went out fast, thinking that one of two things would happen, either of which would be fine: a) I might have a great day and end up with a fast time, or b) I might soon feel very bad and the second half of the race would simulate conditions late in a marathon. Scenario b) transpired, as my paces illustrate:

mile 1 - 6:18
mile 2 - 6:19
mile 3 - 6:19
mile 4 - 6:24
mile 5 - 6:29
mile 6 - 6:26
mile 7 - 6:32
mile 8 - 6:32
mile 9 - 6:48
mile 10 - 6:48
mile 11 - 6:54
mile 12 - 6:53
mile 13 - 6:42
finish - 1:26:34 (6:36 avg. pace)

We hit the headwind in mile 4, so the minor slow-down there wasn't a big deal. But by 5 miles I was in what felt like a rough patch that lasted the rest of the race. One good sign is that the pace I eventually slowed down to in miles 11 and 12, which felt like a crawl, is 3:00 marathon pace. If I can hold that pace after 20 miles in six weeks, after having run roughly the same pace the entire way, then I'll be happy. This race was discouraging but probably quite useful both as training and as a sign that for now I should set aside dreams of running a marathon any faster than just barely under 3:00. That'll be hard enough. This half-marathon time, in fact, corresponds on both Daniels's chart and McMillan's calculator to just over 3:00 for the marathon. I'm sure that I could have run faster if I had started at, say, 6:25 pace. Still, I don't have much wiggle room to get under 3:00 and will need to pace conservatively. Incidentally, at 10 miles I was 13 seconds behind my time five months ago at Cherry Blossom, which went much better for me than today's race. I'll take the 6 minute half-marathon PR, though, which is what I get for not running one in a year.