Monday Morning Marathon Mashup

When I set out to train for this marathon, I had a schedule of long runs plus some intense speed and tempo training laid out by Colby. Thanks to my friends who ran with me on long runs and Allison who was with me on all of the speed work (and some long runs), I completed every single workout on the list. There were two 7 mile speed workouts that I shortened to 5 miles, and the 3 mile "day before the race" warmup I was supposed to do on Saturday I shortened to 2 miles. I kept telling myself that if I did EVERYTHING on the plan, a 4:15 marathon would be easy (yes, I drank the well water that Colby has been serving me for 3 months).

I made my Zune playlist on Saturday night and had my headphones on while I was lined up about 100 yards behind the 4:15 red pace lizard at the race. My thoughts were this... 4:22 is acceptable, 4:15 is great, 4:10 is unexpected, and just stick to your plan.

The plan was to get out the gate slowly (in the high 9s), and settle in to a comfortable 9:40 through the bulk of the race and kick it up if I had anything left in the last 5K and negative split the course. Most importantly, don't get out to fast and don't let your heart rate spike early or on the few hills that the race actually had.

I was pretty nervous the first couple of miles wondering if I could get my heart rate down and if I could sustain a 9:40 for the length of the race. I finally caught up to my pace lizard and sat on his ass for a while, letting my heart rate come down to the low 160s which I knew I could sustain for the length of the race. Around the 3rd water stop, my pace lizard slowed to get some water so I moved in front of him and never looked back. As long as he was behind me, and I maintained a pace in and around 9:40 I would come in under 4:15.

The excitement of the race and all of the people running by me naturally made me want to speed up, but I kept aiming for the 163 heart rate zone, which had me running in the low 9s. I was putting more room between myself and the pace lizard, but was still in the right zone to sustain for a while. I kept waiting to "hit the wall", and I knew I had a LOT of race ahead of me so I was just trying to stick to plan.

I ate the GU when I planned to, I drank when I planned to, I took the hills slowly (which you all know is impossible for me) and I kept within the right pace so that I had something left for the end. My body felt decent, some aching in my right hamstring, my feet and ankles, but nothing serious. I just rocked out to the music, enjoyed all of the spectators and trudged along.

It had been sprinkling for most of the race, but started to rain steadily around mile 8. The temperature was perfect, and this was no different than all of the rainy soccer games I've played in... I actually loved the conditions yesterday. Somewhere after 15 miles or so it was getting tougher to maintain a lower heart rate and stick to a low 9 pace. I let myself get back up to the 9:40-10 minute pace for a few miles to conserve some energy. The course was relatively flat with only 3 hills. One came between miles 16 and 17.5 which was a climb up to a bridge and to it's apex. It was worth it, the view from the top was spectacular, even on a rainy and foggy day. After that, every time we had some hill climbing, it was followed by a wonderful downhill or flat section which allowed me to speed up to 8:30s but keep a low heart rate. That really was the story all race, do whatever you can do but maintain the right heart rate zone.

I didn't get ahead of myself all along because I was waiting for "the wall", and I didn't know if I would have the energy for a good push the last 5K. Mile 20 passed and I thought, all I have to do is go out for a morning run with the girls and this race is over. Mile 22 passed and I thought, this is just like going around the 4 mile block with the girls. By 22 I was feeling more tired, but no major pains, and I could see that if I stuck to mid 9s, I could probably come in under 4:10. Or at least I thought I could, my watch wouldn't start at the beginning so I wasn't sure exactly how many minutes I was off.

The best part about the course was that I really didn't think I could make any significant move near the end but because it was flat, it made it easier to kick it up a gear going into the finish. The last 5K I started running in the low 9s, high 8s and passing a lot of walkers and slower runners. Around mile 24 I was feeling my right hamstring and calf, and was starting to get some shin pain in my left leg. But with 2.2 miles to go, I just kept thinking that it was all easier than the speed training I had been doing all along. I channeled everyone I could think of on that race at some point. Allison and Kirk, Jessica and Nancy, the other ladies we run with, Colby (even pretending his skinny little legs were in front of me and I was just chasing him), my family, Brent and the family, Julio, you name it. The rain even made me think of some old soccer captains running beside me pushing me to keep going (lame I know but hey, whatever it takes right?)

The music was wonderful, it helped me tune in but tune out at the same time. So I kept pushing, picking up the pace steadily the last 3 miles. The course was deceptive because there were balloons marking the miles but near the end, there were lots of balloons and other things all over so you couldn't tell when you hit 26 miles or where the finish was until you actually got there. I really picked it up the last half mile. I sprinted through the finish, couldn't really breathe but it was all worth it! I negative split the course (even if it was just by a few seconds) and finished in 4:07:46. Here are the splits:

10 Km (58:38)
8.9 Mi (1:23:38)
Half (2:03:56)
17.5 Mi (2:46:16)
20 Mi (3:10:41)
21.1 Mi (3:21:44)
Finish (4:07:46)

Overall I'm thrilled with the results, but more importantly with the training I put in to get there. On marathon day, you can be as prepared as possible and you never know what you'll get. On the spectrum of outcomes, all of the stars aligned, and the running Gods come through for me yesterday. Had things gone the other way, I would have been disappointed but I still would have been proud of the work I put in, and the improvements I've made as a runner and in my general health over the last few months. I'm sore today (pretty sore), but nothing compared to Seattle, and probably just a little more than a really hard mountain conditioning class.

What's next? I'm just going to enjoy this experience and not plan any events until I'm certain I want to train again. I was thinking about a half Ironman in June, but right now I'm not into the idea at all. I am nervous about weight gain now that I won't be putting in the miles so I will be getting back to the gym on Tuesday morning for a light workout. I won't do anything too intense this week, but I am going to try to keep the diet in check and do a little each day to recover and to get back into the swing of working out for fun and overall health.

I still have my NY registration which I think I'll run the first week of November next year. More on that later this week...