Now that I’ve had a few days to ponder my marathon, I’ve come up with a bunch of random thoughts.
Given that I ran fairly even splits and moved up nearly 200 places during the second half of the race, you’d think I’d be over-joyed. While I am pretty happy – especially given my last 2 year of running – I can’t help but think there’s more in the tank. If you think about it, I ran a half in June in 1:26:38. If you double that you get 2:53. For discussions sake I’ll say I ran 3:08 (my time without 2 pee stops). That means I needed 15 minutes – or more than 30 seconds per mile – to run the second half. That’s a lot.
The McMillan calculator says I should slow down 9 minutes, or finish in 3:02. Sure everyone is different, but I’ve never had a lot of speed and I tend to get better the longer the distance. Maybe my times actually behave as a bell shaped curve, where they’re below average at both ends of the spectrum – short races and long races – and above average in that 15K to 25K range. That just popped into my head, so I haven’t given it a lot of thought.
While I always try to run even splits, I wonder if it’d be worthwhile to go out harder and hang on. I mean when I look at other people’s splits, it seems like the majority of people are running the second half 5 minutes slower than the first half. Maybe if I went out in 1:31, I’d still come back in 1:36 and run 3:07. But honestly, that doesn’t sound appealing to me. I guess that’s why I try to be conservative during the first half.
I must say that my quads have never felt so good after a marathon. I have no idea if it’s due to the adidas boost that I was wearing or not. But maybe there’s something to their “energy-returning boost” midsole. In any case, I’m a believer right now. Even though my legs feel great, I still plan on taking at least a full week off from running. I think the recovery is the hardest part of a fall marathon. The weather is absolutely stunning and I’m forcing myself not to run.
While I still love everything about Grandma’s Marathon, I have to mention that TCM is pretty awesome in it’s our right. The course is terrific. I love starting down town, heading by the Walker then along the lakes, the parkway, and the river roads before hitting Summit and coming up on the Cathedral and the Capitol. And I had nearly forgotten how awesome the crowds are along the course – it’s all pretty hard to beat.
I’m sure I’ll have a lot more thoughts on this in the near future, but that’s it for now.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Monday, October 07, 2013
TCM 2013 - RACE REPORT
Looking back, here’s what I wrote the night before the marathon;
That’s basically what happened – I went through the half in 1:34:32 and after that, things were “just okay” and I hung on for a 3:09:38 finish. While the half as a little slower than I wanted, it’s because I had to stop to pee at mile 11 and that cost me 50 seconds. Without that stop, I’d have gone through the half in 1:33:42. So my pacing was exactly what I wanted – during the first half my fastest mile was 7:03 and my slowest was 7:15. Another stop to pee at mile 15 cost me 50 more seconds. Without those stops I’d have been just under 3:08. Unfortunately, the clock doesn’t stop when you pull off the course.
Looking back at what I wrote, I think it was a pipedream to think I could run 1:33 / 1:32 or 1:34 / 1:31. The second half of this course is a grid and in order to negative split, the first half would have to feel like a jog. While the first half did feel relatively easy, it wasn’t a jog. And, history has shown, increasing the effort on the second half usually still leads to a 1-minute positive split – at least for me. With that said, my fastest mile during the second half was 7-flat (twice) and my slowest was 7:26. My last 5 mile splits were 7:24, 7:26, 7:12, 7:18, 7:22. Although I slowed on the hills, I ended up moving from 603rd place at the half to 412th at the finish.
I also like to combine my splits into 2 or 3-mile buckets because it eliminates some of the terrain. Looking at 3-mile buckets, here are my splits (they don’t include my two 50-second pit stops);
21:20 – 3 miles
21:27 – 6 miles
21:32 – 9 miles
21:32 – 12 miles
21:17 - 15 miles
21:20 – 18 miles
21:19 – 21 miles
22:02 – 24 miles
14:40 – 26 miles
I kind of forgot about this, but my last 4 of my last 5 marathons have been very consistent;
3:09:43 – Grandma’s 2009
3:10:36 – Whistlestop 2009
3:09:42 – Grandma’s 2010
3:24:41 – Grandma’s 2011
3:09:38 – TCM 2013
I guess the good news is that even though that’s a 4 ½ year stretch, I’m still running just as fast. And now that I think about it, the last 4 have been as a Masters runner, so yesterday’s race is my Master’s PR.
I should mention the weather. It was 45 degrees at the start, the flags were hanging, and the sun was coming out. I don’t think we could’ve asked for better weather – at least for anyone that broke 3:15. After that it started to rain, but I timed it well.
One thing that stands out to me in this race was running with this guy I didn't know, from mile 15 all the way to the finish. We were constantly passing each other back and forth and we never said a word to one another. Heck, I didn’t even know if he knew I was keying off of him. Once we finished and were in the chute we started talking about how much we helped each other. It was really cool – one of those things you can’t plan - they just happen.
I’ll end by saying that this whole training cycle has been a blast; changing my diet, shedding weight, mixing in cross training, cutting my mileage, feeling great for workouts, getting in some solid long runs, and just getting back on the marathon “horse” has been great. After the last 3 years of training, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to run a decent marathon again. So, it’s nice to be back.
Tomorrow I'd like to go through the half between 1:33 - 1:34. That way if I'm feeling good I can negative split and run 3:05. If things are just okay, I can still hang on for a 3:10.
That’s basically what happened – I went through the half in 1:34:32 and after that, things were “just okay” and I hung on for a 3:09:38 finish. While the half as a little slower than I wanted, it’s because I had to stop to pee at mile 11 and that cost me 50 seconds. Without that stop, I’d have gone through the half in 1:33:42. So my pacing was exactly what I wanted – during the first half my fastest mile was 7:03 and my slowest was 7:15. Another stop to pee at mile 15 cost me 50 more seconds. Without those stops I’d have been just under 3:08. Unfortunately, the clock doesn’t stop when you pull off the course.
Looking back at what I wrote, I think it was a pipedream to think I could run 1:33 / 1:32 or 1:34 / 1:31. The second half of this course is a grid and in order to negative split, the first half would have to feel like a jog. While the first half did feel relatively easy, it wasn’t a jog. And, history has shown, increasing the effort on the second half usually still leads to a 1-minute positive split – at least for me. With that said, my fastest mile during the second half was 7-flat (twice) and my slowest was 7:26. My last 5 mile splits were 7:24, 7:26, 7:12, 7:18, 7:22. Although I slowed on the hills, I ended up moving from 603rd place at the half to 412th at the finish.
I also like to combine my splits into 2 or 3-mile buckets because it eliminates some of the terrain. Looking at 3-mile buckets, here are my splits (they don’t include my two 50-second pit stops);
21:20 – 3 miles
21:27 – 6 miles
21:32 – 9 miles
21:32 – 12 miles
21:17 - 15 miles
21:20 – 18 miles
21:19 – 21 miles
22:02 – 24 miles
14:40 – 26 miles
I kind of forgot about this, but my last 4 of my last 5 marathons have been very consistent;
3:09:43 – Grandma’s 2009
3:10:36 – Whistlestop 2009
3:09:42 – Grandma’s 2010
3:24:41 – Grandma’s 2011
3:09:38 – TCM 2013
I guess the good news is that even though that’s a 4 ½ year stretch, I’m still running just as fast. And now that I think about it, the last 4 have been as a Masters runner, so yesterday’s race is my Master’s PR.
I should mention the weather. It was 45 degrees at the start, the flags were hanging, and the sun was coming out. I don’t think we could’ve asked for better weather – at least for anyone that broke 3:15. After that it started to rain, but I timed it well.
One thing that stands out to me in this race was running with this guy I didn't know, from mile 15 all the way to the finish. We were constantly passing each other back and forth and we never said a word to one another. Heck, I didn’t even know if he knew I was keying off of him. Once we finished and were in the chute we started talking about how much we helped each other. It was really cool – one of those things you can’t plan - they just happen.
 |
| High-fives at mile 24. Thanks to Terrance Lee for the photo. |
I’ll end by saying that this whole training cycle has been a blast; changing my diet, shedding weight, mixing in cross training, cutting my mileage, feeling great for workouts, getting in some solid long runs, and just getting back on the marathon “horse” has been great. After the last 3 years of training, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to run a decent marathon again. So, it’s nice to be back.
Saturday, October 05, 2013
GO TIME
Here I sit the night before the race. I don't have much to report from the taper. It's been pretty normal, meaning I felt great for about 2 week, but the last week I've only felt so-so. In my last post I wrote about a great run 2 weeks ago that include 2 x 3 miles at MP. Well last Wednesday I ran 7 miles, including 2 at MP. Those 2 at MP were at 7:13 pace, which is slower than two weeks ago - and they felt harder. So like I said, my taper has been normal.
The forecast looks pretty good; 45 degrees for the low, 56 for the high. The biggest concern all week has been the rain. After not having much rain for like 2 months, it's been raining off and on for 4 days straight. Right now they're saying "spotty showers possible". Another concern has been the wind. It seems like it's been really windy all week long, but now they're saying a 5 mpw N/NW wind.
Mainly I wanted to get a final post in before the race to mention my goals and race plan. Some people like to keep this stuff to themselves, but I don't mind sharing. Heck, it's as much for me if I ever want to come back and see what I was thinkng leading up to a certain race. Anyway, everytime I've been asked this week what I'm hoping to run I've said sub-3:10, but I think I have a shot at sub-3:05 on a good day. Right now my race plan is to go out around 7:10 pace, which equates to just under 3:08. If I'm a little slow, like 7:20s for the first 2-3 miles, that's okay. I'd rather be a little slow, than too fast - like I was at the COL 25K where I was trying to run MP and went through the first mile in 6:50. Tomorrow I'd like to go through the half between 1:33 - 1:34. That way if I'm feeling good I can negative split and run 3:05. If things are just okay, I can still hang on for a 3:10. Besides, I can't see a crash and burn if I run in that range for the first half. I'll have to look it up again, but I think anything faster than 3:05:41 and it'll be my fastest marathon in like 5 years.
Just over 12 hours till the start. GO TIME!
The forecast looks pretty good; 45 degrees for the low, 56 for the high. The biggest concern all week has been the rain. After not having much rain for like 2 months, it's been raining off and on for 4 days straight. Right now they're saying "spotty showers possible". Another concern has been the wind. It seems like it's been really windy all week long, but now they're saying a 5 mpw N/NW wind.
Mainly I wanted to get a final post in before the race to mention my goals and race plan. Some people like to keep this stuff to themselves, but I don't mind sharing. Heck, it's as much for me if I ever want to come back and see what I was thinkng leading up to a certain race. Anyway, everytime I've been asked this week what I'm hoping to run I've said sub-3:10, but I think I have a shot at sub-3:05 on a good day. Right now my race plan is to go out around 7:10 pace, which equates to just under 3:08. If I'm a little slow, like 7:20s for the first 2-3 miles, that's okay. I'd rather be a little slow, than too fast - like I was at the COL 25K where I was trying to run MP and went through the first mile in 6:50. Tomorrow I'd like to go through the half between 1:33 - 1:34. That way if I'm feeling good I can negative split and run 3:05. If things are just okay, I can still hang on for a 3:10. Besides, I can't see a crash and burn if I run in that range for the first half. I'll have to look it up again, but I think anything faster than 3:05:41 and it'll be my fastest marathon in like 5 years.
Just over 12 hours till the start. GO TIME!