Race Information |
- Name: Staten Island Half
- Date: 10/11/2026
- Distance: Half Marathon
- Location: Staten Island, New York
- Time: 1:24:46
Goals
| Goal |
Description |
Completed? |
| A |
Sub 85 |
Yes |
| B |
Sub 87:35 (PR) |
Yes |
| C |
Sub 90 |
Yes |
Splits
| Mile |
Time |
| 1 |
6:41 |
| 2 |
6:33 |
| 3 |
6:31 |
| 4 |
6:19 |
| 5 |
6:33 |
| 6 |
6:25 |
| 7 |
6:21 |
| 8 |
6:24 |
| 9 |
6:39 |
| 10 |
6:25 |
| 11 |
6:00 |
| 12 |
6:10 |
| 13 |
6:24 |
| .1 |
6:20 |
5k Splits (According to Strava)
| K |
Time |
| 5K |
20:27 |
| 10K |
40:24 |
| 15K |
1:00:28 |
| 20K |
1:19:39 |
About me
25m - was always active in sports (not particularly great at any) and took on running winter of 2024. 1380 logged miles, 750 YTD.
Backstory / Training
This was my first official training block. I attempted to train last year for a half, and did about 70% of the training and ran a spring race in 1:44:49 at a max effort. 4 months later, I ran a 1:44:44 at a flatter course in a summer race (I never dealt with heat during training, so I was in for a pretty big surprise where I had to slow down towards the end). At the time I had a marathon I was already committed to and had a slight knee pain that caused me to completely take off up until 2 weeks prior to the marathon, where I did a 15-mile week followed by a 50-mile week and then ran the marathon in 3:58:xx. That was the hardest thing I have ever done, especially after losing all my fuel at mile 18. After this, I decided I need to start taking my training seriously if I want to see actual results. Especially since I had an original goal of 3:30 for the marathon.
I was sticking to about 25-40 miles a week and decided to play around with the idea of where I can be fitness-wise. In April of this year, I ran a 27:14 in the 4-mile, and I was curious if I would be able to break 20 in the 5k. I signed up for a 5k 2 weeks later and ran a 20:49. At this point I decided to get a coach. I knew my biggest issue was accountability, where it was very easy for me to skip runs and then beat myself up for it. I signed up for a 5k 2 months later, where I finally broke 20, running a 19:53, a 19:41 2 weeks later, and then broke 19, running a 18:51 (on a track) 3 months after the original 20:49. This is where I decided to take my HM training seriously. I signed up for an October half where I decided I wanted to break 90. I would not have ever thought I would get here this quickly, but here I was, aiming for something I thought was a ceiling for at least a few years.
I started incorporating strides and getting in speed work, which I found extremely challenging. I would struggle (still hit within the margin of the goal) with my workouts, such as 3x2s and 2x3s at 6:45 pace. This was getting me worried if I wanted to be able to maintain this for the entirety of the race. I ended up running a tempo run on a decent weathered day in August and paced alongside a stranger and managed to shave off 9 minutes and 42 seconds off my half and run a 1:32:44. This is where my mindset shifted, and I decided that sub 90 was well within reach and wanted a more aggressive goal of 88. I signed up for a time trial half 2 weeks later and ended up running a 1:26:35 while testing the waters at an 89-minute pace. At this point, my A-race goal was just swept, and I had to decide what my new goal would be, if this 86:35 was a fluke, or if this is something I can beat in a month's time. I decided my new goal would be sub 85… And every time I told people about this goal, I knew this would be a stretch. My coach went with the idea and started giving me workouts to test the paces.
At this point I was running 35-45 miles a week, and I was always tired, but I got there and was doing my workouts.
One of the final weeks of hard workouts, I had 6x1 at 6:25-6:30 and ran a 6:27 average and REALLY struggled. I hit the pace, but my legs really weren't happy with the workout, especially knowing I had 8 miles at 6:30 2 days later, when I went for it, I ended up doing 8 miles at 6:37 and started beating myself up a bit because I really couldn't imagine going 8 seconds faster per split for 5 more miles.
I finished that week with 48 miles and dropped down to 6 the following week because life got in the way and I got a pretty rough cold. I knew that at that point, I wasn't going to be gaining any new fitness but had to make sure my legs were ready for the pace and my HR wouldn't skyrocket from a recovering body. On the week of the race I did 6x800s at 3 mins and then tapered down for the rest of the week, running my runs at a 7:30-8:30 pace.
Pre-race
I actually had a decent night of sleep, getting in about 7 hours even with me waking up 4ish times over the night. The weather was less than ideal; the rain that was supposed to start at 10 am has now moved up to 7 am, with it being spritzy. I brought 4 gels + 1 emergency gel and loaded up my half tights. It took me about an hour to get to the race and waited 15 minutes in line to use the bathroom. I had about 5 minutes to warm up before I had to head to the corrals. My legs felt relatively good, but I was still unsure if I would be able to shave almost 2 minutes off my time. I met up with the 2 other people I will be running 85 with, and we decided to start off the first 5k with a slight elevation at 20:30, then drop down to 20:00 and maintain until the elevation post 8 miles, where we will try to go off effort. Then 3 minutes before the gun was set to go off, I had to pee and decided I did not have time, and my only choice was to hold it in.
Race
For the first 5k, we clocked in around ~20:30 (I manually lapped at 3 miles 19:51 because I didn't know they would have 5k markers; I adjusted moving forward). The effort felt a little bit tougher than I would have liked it to. I kept swerving to stay with the 2 other friends I was running with that I think exerted more energy than I needed to so early into the race. Post 5k, it was really flat and felt super controlled. We kept form and stopped by some of the water stations to get Gatorade. Only choked once. At the 10k mark (I lapped at 3.25 to adjust for the 5k time at 20:50). This part was quite the surprise. We were running with Tailwind for the last 20 minutes and had absolutely no idea. We turned at that 6 mile mark and audibly gasped. We were hit with this intense headwind as we were running alongside the ocean. I told the runners beside me, along with my 2 pack, to tuck in and take charge. I led for about a mile before we decided it wasn’t doing much and fell into our normal positioning. I also lost a gel at this point, which made me so happy my wife convinced me to bring an extra. Mile 8 we hit the big uphill, and yet somehow we kept through the pace. We clocked in 15k at 20:11, which had 2 miles of headwind and a mile of uphill. At this point my watch was showing us as averaging just about an 85 min pace, and I was worried about clock time versus watch time. I told the 2 people I was running with (I have been shouting out our 5k splits thus far) that we need to speed up a little to ensure we hit our goal. 15-20k was hard because at this point the ground was filled with puddles and avoiding potholes.
We navigated the terrain that probably has not seen a repavement in about an eon with a strong 5k split of 19:23. I look behind me, and 1 of us has dropped back, so it was just the 2 of us with a goal in mind and legs that were getting hit with fatigue. My friend has also started to slowly gain distance from me, where I made the decision that it wasn't worth the surge and risk burning out the final mile. On the final stretch, there was this STEEP uphill section that lasted maybe 2 minutes, but wow, that completed maxed out my effort pace. I ran that 50 ft of elevation at a 6:30 pace and crossed the finish line in 84 minutes and 46 seconds. My socks were drenched, I was cold, and I had nothing left to kick after that elevation. The 3 of us finished in 84 low, 84 high, and mid 86.
Post-race
I think it is insane to think 5 months ago, I failed at breaking 20 in the 5k, and this weekend, I ran faster than my 5k pace for an entire race. I am not naive enough to think that this was strictly off the work I put in this training block. I know many people who run way more consistently than me and longer than me and have yet to break 90. I also know there are many who debut with a sub-90 and end up running low to mid 70s and I hope to get there one day. Comparison helps me strive for goals that feel unachievable, but I also know we are all running our own race, and we all got to that start line regardless of where we started.
I am really proud of this race effort and wanted to share it. I am running the same marathon again this year and might be toying with the idea of going sub 3. Not sure yet that it's achievable so soon without building to 50 MPW consistently. Time will tell.
StatenS
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