Race #11- Big Sur Half-Marathon, November 11
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Team JaS Wraps Up the Season with
Top Age-Group Finishes! |
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Over the past five years, we had
only missed the 2004 edition of the Big Sur Half-Marathon. We liked this
race! Winding along the same bike and run courses as the Triathlon at Pacific Grove, the half-marathon foot race toured
Lover’s Point, Cannery Row and Fisherman’s Wharf. Last year, we ran in tandem
toward a PR for Jami but this year we would be running our own individual
races as we were both relatively uninjured and healthy. Unlike other male-dominated races,
the Big Sur Half-Marathon boasted 60% women out of 3590 entrants! |
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Sherwick 1:26:51, 5th age-group, 62nd
overall men |
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“The first three
miles went by rather quickly as I clocked a 6:29, 6:34 and 6:29. As the race
approached the coastline, my splits dropped off due to ferocious headwinds
never before experienced on this course. I drafted shamelessly behind two
other runners who seemed to be involved in their own battle. I had no
specific goal-pace in mind and was just running as comfortably as my body
would allow. Thankfully, I didn’t experience much pain in my ribs having had
three weeks of much-needed recovery from the last
AFM race. As the turn-around
approached, I lost touch with the two runners I had been drafting and was now
busy fighting off a runner who had been shadowing me for the last few miles.
His annoyingly loud footsteps matched his heavy cadence as he plodded behind
me. I didn’t want to have to listen to that for the rest of the race and used
the slight uphill to the turn-around to drop him. Soon my attention focused
on looking for Jami as this would be the only chance during the race I would
be able to see her. As we passed
each other I glanced at my watch and noticed that she was already 3:30 back.
I knew that a PR would be hard for her to attain with these winds but willed her
to push strong on the return trip as we had the year before where we negative
split the second half of the race. Soon I was at Lover’s point and turning
the corner onto the run course of the Triathlon
at Pacific Grove. Having done this triathlon countless times, I knew that
it was a mere 1.5 miles on the paved trail before we descended down into
Cannery Row. I was looking forward to the Row and the spectators gathered
along the short chute before the course rose up again onto the foot trails.
Their cheers became my cue to muster enough energy for one last push. I was
happy to see a 6:27 after six miles of mid-6:40s and once I got onto the foot
trails, I gained additional motivation to push the last mile even harder to
run the fastest split of the race @ 6:22 for mile 13! Although I was a few
ticks off my best time for this course, I gained two positions after the
turn-around and surprisingly received a 5th place award for my
efforts! I was especially happy for Jami for an even better 2nd place
among an even more populated women’s class!” said Sherwick. |
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Sherwick on his way to a 5th place out of 205
competitors |
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Jami 1:32:09, 2nd age-group, 15th
overall women |
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“I had thoroughly prepped for this
race. I knew what I had to do in order to break 1:30 for a personal best: I
studied the course, calculated my split times and average goal pace. I stretched
more than usual, got plenty of rest in the days leading up to the race and
was well-hydrated. I was even prepared for rain, but mother nature had a
different forecast for 2007- wind! This was my fourth time doing this race
and I have never experienced much wind on this course. One would expect just
the opposite for a race which runs right along the I was aiming to arrive at mile six
by 41:24 (a 6:54/mi. average) and I knew that was attainable based on
benchmarks in training. My first mile was a 6:37 and I immediately thought,
“great, money in the bank”. However, my second thought was, “slow down or
you’ll be making major withdrawals later in the race!” I backed off to 6:50s for the next two
miles. It was during the fourth mile that I arrived at the windiest part of
the course where the slightest hill required more effort than usual. I
sheltered myself from the wind as much as possible by drafting behind bigger
runners. At other times I was fighting the wind alone. My effort was high,
but the resulting pace was slower than I could afford. Before long, the wind
was starting to take its toll as I registered 7:00+ miles. By the time I had
arrived at mile six, I was at 41:44 minutes, 20 seconds slower than planned.
Now I would have to run almost 10 seconds per mile faster (~6:48/mi) for the
remaining 7.1 miles in order to PR. I
pushed hard but the wind pushed back harder. Physically it was draining, but
mentally I didn’t waiver. I drew upon even worse conditions I had endured
last year during Ironman
New Zealand which was in fact shortened due to incredibly high winds. In
that race my feet were literally blown from underneath me and running in a
straight line doubled the amount of energy required! Drawing upon that
experience made me mentally stronger as I ran past the drummers beating their
big bass-like drums near the turn-around. The rhythmic beat seemed to build
my energy and I smiled as I picked up the pace! Right after the turn-around, there
was some reprieve from the winds. Although it was temporary, the sudden
disappearance of the wind allowed my feet to move faster than they had all
race- like I was floating through the air! Nevertheless, I was only able to
manage a couple of 6:50s with my average pace on the return trip at 7:07/mi.
I passed four people (including one woman) but in turn got passed by nine
people (including a woman) and so I slid back five spots over the second half
of the race where I normally gain positions. I crossed the line a
disappointing two minutes slower than last year, confused as to what happened
out there. It wasn’t until I saw the results, that it was clear that
conditions played a major role. I finished better than the year prior (2nd
vs. 4th in my age-group and 15th vs. 21st
overall). The overall elite winning time was a full two minutes slower than
last year with most of the elites running 1.5 to almost 4.0 minutes slower
than in 2006- now that’s telling as elites are much more consistent in their
times! Honestly, I’m still disappointed that I didn’t achieve a personal
best, but at the same time I gave it everything I had on the day and didn’t
let up for one moment. I’m thankful for the lessons learned in this race and
how it capped off a great season!” said Jami. |
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Jami battled fierce winds the entire race |
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Enjoy
the ride! –- Team
JaS
Special thanks to: |
