Romaostia Half Marathon 2023 Race Report

Goal

Goal A: sub1:35

Goal B: sub1:40

Goal C: Finish the race

Training

I started my training block at the start of December in the hope of running the Lisbon Half Marathon. The initial plan was to break my Half Marathon PB of 1:25. After the first week of training, I got a high fever, but I kept on training. A day later I tested Covid positive, and running 16km with Covid in 0-degree weather crushed my body. It took me more than 2 weeks to properly breathe and walk 10 mins nonstop. I knew I couldn't do speed workouts, so I ditched the plan of the 1:25 Half Marathon and decided to finish my Rotterdam Marathon training. I was sure I could run somewhere around 3:15-3:20 for the full marathon with a decent 15-week training block. I was going to Lisbon in the first week of January, so I decided to run Rome for my Half Marathon.

The plan was simple for the HM. 5 Tempo runs before the race.

• 1st Tempo run: 6km at 4:25mins/km. I ran an all-out 6km and realized, I can barely run 10km at 4:30mins/km. Which will turn into a 4:45mins/km HM pace or a 5:00mins/km FM pace.
• 2nd Tempo run: 7km at 4:07mins/km. I decided not to look at my Garmin and go with the feel. This was a lot better than I expected.
• 3rd Tempo run: 8km at 4:10min/km. I figured out 4:10mins/km is my current tempo pace and on a perfect day I can run 1:30 HM.
• To be sure of running a good HM: I did a mock 21km with the last 16km at 4:30mins/km. This was hard and I was on 75-80kms/week mileage. But it gave me the confidence to run at 4:25-4:30mins/km pace in Rome.
• 4th tempo run: 10km at 4:10min/km. Perfect run. I was sure of running 4:20-4:25 in Rome.
• 5th tempo run: First 3km were at 4:22mins/km and I immediately stopped. I felt some pain in my ankle. And decided not to push myself. It's always better to undertrain instead of overtraining.

At this point, I realized I am pushing too hard and should be content with 4:25-4:30 in Rome. A week before the race I ran 32km and 5 days before the race, I ran 5x1000m at 3:50mins/km, which caused a huge pain in my plantar. The next few days were tough. I was planning on running 80km during Rome HM week. But throughout the week I was limping and felt like I won't be able to finish the race. I reduced the intensity. Weekly mileage was just 56km.

Course

Romaostia is hilly but it's a pretty fast course. The weather is almost like the Delhi Half marathon. It gets hilly from 9th-12th km. But I knew I usually speed up after the 12-14th km, so it was the perfect course for me. I was put in the elite section because of my sub3 FM timing. I felt like an outsider in that section.

Prerace

Since my plantar was hurting, I knew I won't be running all out. So I was enjoying my trip to Rome. Explored the city. Clicked a lot of pictures. I was not allowed to take the foam roller in my handbag, so I was still in doubt about fatigue building up because of so much walking. There was a 1:35 pacer bus. So I decided I will go with them. And if I will have any energy left I will speed up. 1:35 will be a good hard run for 3:10-3:15 FM next month. I ate 2 bananas and took 2 gels for the race. Wore my gloves to look cool. Lol. I had to wrap my knee, plantar, and ankle with kt tape. Since I was running a race after 3.5 years, I told myself to give my best and forget about the result.

Race

Start: There was so much crowd that I was not able to see the pacers. I felt good initially. No pain. I kept going with the feel. Garmin was fluctuating a lot. So, I went with my gut feeling.

2km | 8:25: I dropped 4:12mins/km in first 2km. Plan was to run between 4:25-4:30. This was a completely suicidal pace. I was feeling good. But I thought I won't break 1:30 anyways, let's dial down the pace.

4km | 17:00: Next 2km I ran in 4:21mins/km. This was still more realistic. 1:30 bus overtook me. I looked behind but didn't find the 1:35 pacer. People were overtaking me. But I concentrated on my race and decided not to go with the crowd. People always come back in the last.

6km | 26:00: First water stop was at 5th km. I was so thirsty. I was not used to drinking water every 5th km. I need water every 1-2km. I sucked one gel, drank the water, and threw the water all over my body. The next 2 km were again at a 4:21mins/km pace. I felt like 1:32 can be possible.

8km | 34:39: Next 2km were in 4:23 and I realized I was definitely slowing down. I was thirsty at this point. The sun was directly on my head.

10km | 42:45: I tried accelerating a bit in 9th-10th and stupidly I didn't realize I dropped 4:03 pace. Phew. I got some water after that. But I had one more gel left. I drank the water. My body was hurting a little bit. And I saw a huge hill for the next 2 kilometers.

12km | 52:50: I took 4:32mins/km for the next 2 km. It was one of the hardest climbs of my life.

14km | 60:00: I was running with another guy for the last few kilometers. I asked him, how many more hills are there and he said this was it. It's flat from now on. I said fuck it and decide to go all out. 13th km I ran 4:17mins/km and 14th I dropped a 3:52mins/km split. I think that was my fastest split in any half marathon to date.

16km | 68:15: I kept the momentum. At this point, I was overtaking everyone left and right. I ran the last 2km at a 4:03mins/km pace. And I took my last gel at 15th km and did the calculations and realised I can break 1:30 if I keep the 4:15mins/km pace.

18km: 1:16:25: Last 2 kilometers were tough. I was hurting but thanks to the high mileage my body didn't shut down. I ran 4:12mins/km and I knew 1:30 is still possible. Just keep seeing a 4:15mins/km pace in Garmin.

20km: 1:24:58: I overtook the 1:30 bus and at this moment I knew sub1:30 is happening. I started giving high five to people who were cheering for me. Few people were overtaking me but it didn't matter to me. I was getting my sub1:30 anyhow.

21.1km | 1:29:30: Last 1km was pretty emotional, I wasn't even sure of running 1:35 last night and I somehow pulled sub1:30. I didn't sprint in the end. I kept my running form. Jogged to the finish line.

After the finish, I hugged a lot of people in the end, who helped me in parts of the races. Some of them thank me, to keep pushing the pace and helping them to go sub1:30. With even splits, I could have broken the 4:10mins/km pace but that wasn't the goal. I think sub3:10 is definitely possible in Rotterdam. I just need to keep my training.