Pittsburgh Half Marathon Preview

Assuming I'm healthy enough to endure the 13.1 miles scheduled for Pittsburgh this upcoming weekend, I thought I'd benefit from a detailed course preview. Using the handy map made available on their website and some Google Street View image captures, I can do just that.
Overall the course is relatively flat, which is a relief. It will traverse a bridge five times. We start downtown on Liberty Ave. and then criss-cross the Allegheny River three times. This will provide the best view as we will be able to see PNC Park in the distance. It will also give us motivation to keep digging because going to a Pirates game is our post-race treat. After running west through the North Side of town, we'll cross the Ohio River on Western Ave. Bridge. Then, we have a long straight stretch on W Carson St. This will make or break my race. That is mostly because this street contains miles 7 through 10. Carson Street takes us all through the South Side, and then we hop onto the Birmingham Bridge to cross the Monongahela River. Following this last bridge comes the most difficult section in terms of incline. Forbes Ave. is a nearly constant uphill stretch that will test the weary legs. We will bend left off of it and catch The Boulevard of the Allies. The Boulevard is mercifully downhill. It will guide us home to the finish at Stanwick Street. And we'll all cheer "Let's Go Bucks!"...or something like that.

Course Map - Make it to the purple section!

I really like that the course for we half marathoners still gets to cross all three rivers that connect through the city. Those of us old enough to have made pilgrimages to Three Rivers Stadium for Pirates games in the 1990s can get a little nostalgic while making those crossings and recalling days of Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke. Some areas look a little rough around the edges, but that's to be expected in a big city when you have to cover 13 miles of it.

 As you can see in the elevation graphic, there is little to nothing significant until mile eleven. Then, the course goes uphill for roughly 1.3 miles. The elevation changes from 750 feet to around 975 feet. That equates to an average of about a 3.3% gradient over 1.3 miles. But once we've crested that hill, it's a steeper decent that takes us one mile to the finish line. Ah, what a release that will be.
Now for some street view pictures. Here is Liberty Ave. where we will begin:

On your marks, get set, Pierogi!

Here is the first bridge crossing, the David McCullough Bridge. It has a slight incline that doesn't show up on the elevation map so much.

Let the bridge hopping begin

Next, we see the Roberto Clemente Bridge, our third bridge crossing. This provides the best view of PNC and will likely be the height of my racing experience.

PNC Park aka McCutchen's playground

Then, we take the West End Bridge to get to, strangely enough, the West End. Here's the beautiful view into the Ohio River.

West Side ya'll

After jogging through the crowded, building-lined South Side on Carson Street, we will cross the Birmingham Bridge. Here is the view from that bridge back towards downtown where we finish.

Still a way to go.

Now for the bad news. I give you the uphill shot of the rough looking Forbes Ave.

I'm gonna need some water and a gel pack

And the good news. A long downhill portion on the Boulevard of the Allies

Mile 13 will be a beauty

We finish on the flat land at Stanwick Street. I'll take some fluids and lie down in all likelihood. Here's hoping to see some smiling friends at the finish. Check out the Pittsburgh Marathon Twitter page for all important race info.

Uphill April

The Stats: 3/24 - 4/19
4/17: 3.11 mi; 24'10"; 7'45" avg. pace
4/19: 6.01 mi; 49'27"; 8'14" avg. pace

This month started slow in terms of running. I optimistically packed some running shorts and socks for my trip to Peru, hoping to log a run in another country. The high altitude coupled with stomach issues made that plan all but impossible. What a missed opportunity! Upon returning state side, I looked to ramp back up the half-marathon training in anticipation of Pittsburgh.
I ran 5k last Thursday to test out the legs. Something seemed a little different. My legs felt really heavy for what is usually a short sprint around town. The beautiful weather made this run more tolerable and gave me a good pace. From there I looked forward to a weekend run.
With the Pittsburgh half marathon three weeks away, I knew I couldn't run 10 or more miles. That would ultimately lead to tired legs and risk injury. So I decided to try jogging an eight miler. I felt uneasy from the start on this run. My head was not prepared for being out on the road a long time. After a 7'41" second mile it must have really hit because I dropped to an 8'20" third mile. My stride was out of whack and I couldn't seem to adjust it to produce the least amount of issues. On Kanawha Boulevard I was fairly sure I would not make it the full eight miles. I stopped at the office and grabbed a water. Regrouping, I thought about making the jog back down MacCorkle Avenue. But I walked it out instead.
Later that day, I started getting knee pain. This time it was the left knee. Then, lower leg and foot pain developed. It was the same pain that sidelined me after the Parkersburg half-marathon in 2012 only in the opposite leg. I'm worried those are the early warning signs preceding a stress fracture. Since that run I have been resting, icing, and stretching. The Pittsburgh half is a big question mark at this point. I will continue to anticipate I am going through with it. I will have to get in at least one or two more training runs. If I can't do that pain free, I'll have a nice trip up north without breaking a sweat. But there's no glory in that. So here is wishing that rest and stretching can combine to get me race ready. I'd say there's a 40% chance I run right now. We'll see how that changes as next week progresses.