Today was my fastest half-marathon since August 2023 and my first blister in at least 10 years. Running many miles each year, my feet were toughened. I need to get the miles up again.
On December 8, 2024, I finished my tenth Blue Gray Half-Marathon.
This race was the 24th Fredericksburg Blue & Gray Half-Marathon. Other Civil War Battlefield locations have unassociated Blue & Gray Half-Marathons, most notably, Gettysburg.
I finished the race from 2002 to 2006. In 2007, Race Timing Unlimited and I started timing the race. Until 2019, I was the race director for the event, and I don’t run in races; I supervise.
Since my retirement in 2020, Arsenal Events has been the race manager, and I again started running the race. Yes, we held a race during the COVID panic of 2020.
Over the years, the race has had many start-and-finish venues and courses, varying from pancake flat to net downhill to hilly. In 2017, I moved the start/finish venue to Old Mill Park and designed the current route.
Since 1993, I’ve completed a race of at least marathon distance yearly. This year, my longest races have been four half-marathons. And my longest training runs have been 10 miles. I haven’t logged a day longer than 13 miles since my August 3 race. The previous 2024 race finishes all exceeded 3 hours. My goal today was to finish; under 3 hours would be nice and keep my heart rate under 150.
My long run pattern has been to run 6 minutes and walk 2 minutes. I started the race without a pattern in mind. I thought I would walk the ups, pick locations to run to, and walk some after reaching that spot. Using the 6/2 pattern, my 10-mile training runs have been around 130 minutes. However, the final couple of miles were a struggle.
I woke up at 5 am, leaving home by 6:30 and getting a parking spot close to the start line.
The forecast was mostly sunny, with start temperatures of 42 degrees rising to 55 by my expected finish time. The dew point was a great 20 degrees. Winds of 6 mph were expected.
With that forecast, I wore shorts over compression shorts, a singlet over a long-sleeved shirt, a neck gaiter, gloves, a ball cap, and my new Saucony Triumph 22 shoes I bought about a month ago. My longest run in these shoes was 6 miles. I pulled the neck gaiter up over my ears to keep them warm.
I did a 24-minute warmup with 3-minute walk segments, including a short run and one 3-minute run segment. I returned to the park in time to hit the bathroom and hear the call for the FARC group photo.
To be prepared, I wore my single bottle belt with an initial mix of UCAN energy and wrapped an overshirt around my waist. I planned and drank on the walk break after each mile. I refiled at the water stops at 6.4 and 10.5 miles.
At the gun, I mixed into the back of the pack and ran to the bottom of the park exit hill. I walked up the hill and then started running again on Caroline Street. My legs weren’t feeling great, so 8 minutes into the race, I set my interval timer to the 6-minute run and 2-minute walk pattern.
The first 5.25 miles are a loop and a quarter of the Heritage Trail and Canal Path with a side loop on the roads below the college. There are a few sneaky hills on the circuit. I synced my walking on those uphills.
My first five mile splits were 12:09, 12:50, 12:07, 12:18, and 11:46.
After mile 5.25, the course takes a spur up Fall Hill into Celebrate Virginia South. Fall Hill goes up 233 feet in just under a mile. The average gradient is 4.5%, with a maximum rise of 12.5%. Today, that six mph wind was in my face as I headed up the hill.
The May Historic Half uses the parallel Hospitalization Hill, which is shorter with a slightly higher average gradient but only a 10.5% max.
In Blue Gray, the significant hill is in the sixth mile, and the Historic Half comes in the eleventh. Though longer and steeper, the sixth-mile hill gives runners time to recover before finishing.
I walked the remainder of the sixth mile with a 14:18 split. The course continues climbing.
The course flattens and turns onto Gordon Shelton Blvd, mostly downhill to the slave memorial turnaround. To be nice to the police, I hooked onto another runner while crossing Carl Silver Parkway. Splits for miles 7 to 9 were 12:33, 12:32 and 12.51.
The nine-mile mark was slightly before the apex of the I-95 overpass. Once over the top, I ran the entire downhill of mile 10 in 11:08. My race time after 10 miles was 2:04:38. I started thinking, “Keep them under 15 minutes”.
Once at the bottom, the course completes the last three-quarters of the Heritage Trail and Canal Path loop with a side loop on the roads of Normandy Village. There is an extra down and challenging little up in the Village.
My 11-mile split was 13:11. Around this point, I started feeling a hotspot on my right foot.
After leaving the Village, my focus changed from waiting until my watch alarm went off to “I can make it to Washington Avenue, then Caroline Street, then the finish in six minutes.”
My 12th mile was a 13:14. Like my 10-mile training runs, I faded toward the end.
Once I got back to Caroline Street, I ran to the finish. My 13th mile was 13:04, with a 62-second final tenth. In that final push, my heart rate peaked at 151.
My finish time was 2:45:06, 9 minutes faster than 2023, placing 215th overall, 136th male, and 13th of 16 in the 60 to 69 age group.
I’m happy about breaking 3 hours and setting a Garmin PR for 10km and half-marathon. I need to work on my late run fades.
The hotspot on my foot never held liquid. I’m becoming a tenderfoot.