Drake Half Marathon 2023: The Redemption Run
Have you ever had a race get into your head? I don't mean lingering in the back of your mind a few days beforehand. I'm talking about a race not only buying a home in your mindscape but also adding a pool where they throw wild parties that would make frat boys blush in shame.
I'm talking about the Drake Half Marathon.
How Drake Got Into My Head
Always a tough race, this one took on a far more significant prominence after two consecutive years when I experienced problems with my left IT band.
As many runners know, the IT band is a tendon that can become swollen or irritated if it rubs against a hip or knee bones. It produces a sharp pain on the outside of the knee that grows excruciating enough that a runner almost always has to stop to walk.
I gained this key medical knowledge after aggravating my left IT band at Drake in 2021. Not knowing any better, I pushed through the pain for the final four miles, resulting in excellent finish, but at the cost of two months recovery afterwards.
One year later, after weeks of solid training and wearing my favorite blue racing shirt, I'm lined up at Drake University, ready for what I hope will be a PR on this course that will wipe away all vestiges of 2021's race.
A sound strategy that went like clockwork until mile six, when that same IT band flared up again. With my next race only three weeks away, I grudgingly made the tough call to shut it down and walk the rest of the way. It was the right decision from a medical standpoint. By avoiding injury, I did well in my next three races. But having runner after runner after runner pass me for seven miles planted seeds of doubt about my ability to do this race. I knew such thoughts were pointless. But irrational or not, I realized that I'd never get past those worries until I ran Drake again.
Strategies for Drake '23
A year is long time to wait for a race. Long enough to not only replay what happened time and time again, but to also develop the following strategies.
Build a Stronger Base. Simply put, have my legs accustomed to going longer distances by increasing the mileage of my Saturday morning runs.
Practice Running Downhill. Mile three of Drake is nearly all downhill. To lessen the impact on my IT band, Coach Ives at The Body Project, advised me to shorten my stride and lean my torso slightly forward
Strengthen My Hips. Weak hips are a common condition for runners. However, they also contribute to IT band problems. In order to correct that, I incorporated a series of exercises that I did three times a week.
Run a “Practice” Half Marathon. The cornerstone of my well-intended strategy was to run the St. Paddy's Half Marathon in March. What better way to prepare for Drake than already having what I'd hoped would be a successful half marathon under my belt? Nice idea. Only Mother Nature decided to turn Des Moines into Northern Siberia. making the race not only a bone chilling adventure, but one where that same IT band flared up at mile seven, forcing me to walk most of the final portion of the race.
St. Paddy's Fallout
The unanticipated outcome of St. Paddy’s brought to the surface all the anxieties I had hoped to conquer. Preferring an objective approach, I looked back on those races and workouts when my IT band had acted up. To the best of my memory, they had occurred either when I was fatigued from over-training or a lack of conditioning or when temperatures had been colder than expected. Additional internet research supported that cold temps could be a factor with IT band pain. If so, that presented a problem that could be easily resolved with warmer attire and a bit more sweating on my part.
Unfortunately, that didn't completely dispel pointless worries and needless speculation as the race drew closer. Relief did arrive about five days before Drake with my mind finally saying, "Enough." I'd done all that I could in preparation for the race. It would work or it wouldn't. No way to know until I ran it.
The Race Itself
Mother Nature once again pulled the rug out from under us again with “feels like” temps in the mid-twenties on the morning of the race. This translated into wearing double layers for the top and winter leggings. My beloved Oregon Ducks wool cap completed the ensemble. Colder than I liked. But nothing I couldn't handle.
A sold-out race started at 7:30 am, giving me a sizeable crowd of runners to weave through for the first three miles. Mile four presented that same long downhill I’d trained for these past months. With Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty” buzzing in my ear pods, I diligently focused on following those techniques I'd been practicing.
So far - so good.
Mile six came and went without incident - putting aside a needless mental obstacle. I still maintained a controlled pace, staying in the low seven-minute per mile range.
The next mental hurdle awaited me at mile nine where that IT band had started its nonsense in 2021. The only sensation I felt from it was a brief twinge, akin to what I'd feel when I picked up the pace in speed workouts. It would always quickly go away under those circumstances. And to ensure that it did in this race, I ran about twenty strides of high kicks to my glutes to further activate my hamstrings - taking pressure off the IT band. This was another technique offered by Coach Ives.
The only issue I faced came with my left hip tightening up at mile ten. But since something always tightens up for me in the final miles in half marathons, I didn't give it much thought, focusing instead on reaching that final mile. When I did, I tucked my wool cap into the back of my tights and allowed the start of a smile to ease onto my face. That smile couldn't help but widen as the course took us through a huge crowd of Drake students whose raucous cheers provided a welcome adrenaline surge as we rounded a corner that led onto the college's famous "Blue Oval" where we’d finish the race, With Journey’s “Wheel In The Sky '' blasting in my earbuds, all the frustrations of the previous two years melted away with each stride to that finish line.
Final result had me at 1:34:13, placing 61/671 runners with a 7:07 per mile pace and first place in my age group. More importantly, I could focus on other races now that I'd successfully evicted this one from my head.
The Aftermath
I have to say it comes as a tremendous relief to put Drake back into its proper perspective. A tough half marathon, but nothing more. It's also wonderful to know that all my work on the IT band paid off.
What do you think? Any advice or recommendations? Any similar experiences to share? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook.
Congratulations on an incident-free race. It must be nice to get that monkey off your back. And thanks for another compelling read.