Father's Day "Half Marathon" Long Run

Last year, I found myself in the middle of a long run on Father's Day weekend thinking "Hmmm... I could make this a half marathong just for fun." And I may have started a tradition, because I decided to do that again this year.

I woke up in a tent and checked the weather as it had been raining (but not "storming") off-and-on all night.

We were in the thick of it in SW WI.


The boys were not concerned.

BAD NEWS ON THE WEATHER. I just figured I'd still try it as I wasn't going to get far from the campsite (I'd run 3 miles one way, 3 miles back, then 3 miles the other way, then 3 miles back before adding on a few extra miles) and I wanted to get the run done - it was the best time for it all day.

It was humid from the rain all night. I figured this wouldn't be an "impressive" long run, but it could be good for me. It rained for the first 2 miles or so, and I was running into the wind - so the rain was pelting me harder in the face. When I turned to run harder for 6 "pace miles" in the middle, I was WITH the wind running easier. That was the first 2 miles of the harder 6 miles, and then the rest were into the wind (before running easier WITH the wind miles at the end). Again, not a sexy/fast run, but a good workout to do in the conditions.

Oh, and the last 10 miles or so were dry, but then it started raining harder as soon as I wrapped up my run and walked for a bit. I got the run done!!!

13.37 miles in 1:32:11.


Two personal records since wearing this Garmin.
(Never raced a half marathon in this Garmin.)


Last year's run was hillier as I ran OVER that big hill around mile 9,
back down the other side, and then back over it again!

(My "normal" long run has 260-290' of elevation change, last year's hilly WI run had 889 feet, and this year's had 732 feet with the main difference being not doing more on that biggest/nastiest hill this year.)

Here are all my splits:

3.1 mile warm-up into the wind: 3:41, 3:35, 3:42, 3:53, 3:45, 3:53, 0:42

6 miles at pace, flatter/faster at first, then more hills and into the wind: 3:13, 3:03, 3:04, 3:02, 3:08, 3:17, 3:16, 3:02, 3:18, 3:15, 3:18, 3:25 = 38:28 (6:24.67 / mile).

Then a bit moderate after an easier half mile though the end: 3:54, 3:33, 3:37, 3:40, 3:27, 3:22, 3:31, 3:25, 1:56 (0.27 mile)

Those 3:0x for 2 miles were nice, but then the hills got worse! My last "pace half mile" isn't usually my slowest, but that was 100% because of the hills. This beat me up nicely.

That 13+ mile run and then 1 mile walk as a cool down gave me 5 new Garmin "badges:"

- WALK STREAK has beeen 7 straight months of a 1 mile walk every day (since around Thanksgiving).
- JUNE RUNDOWN is 50+ miles of running in June.
- RIDE AND GRIND is 7 days straight of workouts that started before 7 a.m.
- JUNE STEP MONTH is 300,000+ steps in June.
- And JUNE TIME TO WALK is 15+ hours of walking in June.

And you can see the hills based on the "daily floors climbed" according to my Garmin. Hmmm... which day was my hilly run in WI?...