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| Qualified |
Going to college in Boston, I was turned on to the Boston Marathon from the jump, and when I ran my first marathon in the fall of 1999, as a senior at BC, I was curious if I would come close to qualifying.
I did not.
The next few marathons didn't really get me much closer to that goal, and after a 3:25 (15 minutes off the qualifying time for my age back then) instead of pressing harder to drop that 15 minutes, I gave up on ever running a BQ. It wasn't meant for me, and I wasn't meant to run that fast for that long.
I remember reading something by The Oatmeal where he talked about his running resume, which was not too shabby, but he did make a comment along the lines of (paraphrasing) "I can run an ultra and a 1:30 half-marathon but I'm not strong enough to run a Boston qualifying" and that stuck with me. How did he just know that he wasn't "strong enough" to qualify? And me...I had no frame of reference for ultras or 1:30 half-marathons (my first half came after my 6th marathon, and I clocked in at close to 2:10!) This guys seems to know what he's talking about, and he just knows he doesn't have it in him to qualify. "Well, I'll adopt that for myself when people ask me about my past life as a marathon runner." And I used it! At least a few times, people asked me if I ever qualified for Boston, and I said, "no, I'm not a strong enough runner to qualify for Boston."
Considering I ran sparingly for 5 years, it is really about the last 2 years, in the making. 2 years of gradual building up miles, about planning for races in 4 month increments, about doing speed work, hills, and developing consistent patterns. Not just running, but running hard. And, it was about finding people to run with--people faster than me. To push myself to keep up.
And I took care of myself. I tried to make sure I didn't push too hard too fast. And maybe I was lucky. During the Boston training, there were a few minor set-backs...winter illnesses/viruses. Philly training went smoothly, I didn't miss any training days. Sugarloaf training went very well...I started out the plan with a bit of a nagging injury, but my body settled in during the nastiness of February.
TRAINING RECAP:
Oh...February. Snow storms twice a week...snow storms every Sunday and Monday....every day (well) below average temperatures. Two lane roads down to 3/4 of a lane, with hardly room for cars, and certainly no room for runners. Ice. Wind. Darkness. So cold the waterbottle I carried on one long run froze on me! Another runner weighed his running clothes after one long run, and the clothes weighed 8 lbs. After spending the better part of the month working out on a treadmill, with some good workouts at the Reggie Lewis indoor track (when they weren't closed due to the snow!) and long runs on Sunday AM (when the drivers weren't too plentiful.) And long runs simply consisted of running a 5 mile loop in JP on repeat. After all that, getting out to Phoenix for the 1/2 marathon was heavenly. And crossing off the first goal of the year, a sub 1:30 half, felt so rewarding... But, who am I kidding...mainly I just remember that Phoenix weather!
And most of March wasn't that much better than February! So, so, so much headwind. April got nice though...I remember some pleasant runs in April, and that's when I hit my peak block of training, which went well. I was pleased to peak at 75 miles in a week. That was exactly what I hoped I could register in this cycle. And I hope the next marathon cycle this fall yields an 80 mile week, and I hope Boston 16 training peaks at 85.
So, the training was slow at first, then winter struck with a heavy hand, and then April came and I put in hard work. May arrived and shortly after, so did the two week taper period.
As for the marathon, I planned things, and things went to plan.
DAY PRIOR RECAP:
We drove up Saturday after T-ball. I was a bit nervous on the way up, but I was happy to have my family there with me for the happy distractions. Seeing my kids get so excited for the hotel room, and bringing them with to the bib-pickup so that they could experience some of the excitement there. Really, I was just happy that they were there. I felt so terrible after Boston '14, when I ran by Curran on Heartbreak and he didn't even pick me out of the sea of people (Rory was asleep) that I made a 1 minute stop to say high to them in the middle of the Newport marathon.
This was really the perfect race for them to watch me. They were able drive along next to me, pulling up ahead of me to cheer me on and hand me drinks (I've since come to realize that this is technically illegal, and I just read an article about a Race Director in CA having to DQ the winner because a guy on a bike handed him a water bottle.)
Our B&B was ideally located near the finish line, and the owner made a great effort to help the runners. She served us breakfast at 4:30 AM! And an extended Sunday checkout was no issue at all. From our B&B, we drove the reverse course Sat evening back to about mile 11 of the race, to Sugarloaf Ski area, which is where the number pickup was. After that, we made our way back towards the finish of the course, where there was a large Italian restaurant at around mile 18 or so. We had a nice pre-race meal, although by that point, I was starting to get a little finicky and impatient...pre-race nerves. After dinner, we found a convenience store (at the finish line) that had ice cream sandwiches for the kids, and we took a drive through the Vermont hills at dusk. It reminded me of the when we were kids, and we would go eat dinner in Spring Green, and then the drive back to the country house would usually come at dusk, when it always seems to get cool and dewy. We drove for a bit to maybe get the kids a bit sleepy, but the ice cream negated the car effect.
They were VERY bananas when we got back to the hotel, and I tried to go to bed with them at around 8:30 or 9pm, while Caitlin went down to the reading room to make a fire and do some school work. I actually fell asleep fairly early, maybe around 10pm, but then awoke in the middle of the night, maybe around 2am, and as far as I could tell, I didn't fall back asleep after that point. This is basically what happened prior to Philly too. Too many nerves to sleep. After spending 4 months preparing, daily, for this moment, sleep is not easy to come by the night before. I tried to spend time visualizing how I would feel and my effort levels throughout the race, which had been helping me fall asleep all week, but it just wasn't happening. It wasn't worrying me...I've been in this boat before. I knew I had gotten good sleep for the last few days...a few less hours the night before wasn't going to undo my efforts to get there.
PRE-RACE AM RECAP:
The alarm went off at 4am, but I was already awake. I had laid out my gear in the bathroom the night before, so I got dressed and made my way outside by 4:20 for a very slow (9-10min/mile) job to start waking up my legs. I've read about doing this slow 10-12 min jog 3-5 hours before the race from two separate sources. My thought was, if anything, it might get my bowels moving. Lucky for me, I was also about to enjoy my first cup of real coffee since Europe.
Breakfast was 4 pieces of wheat toast with honey. Oatmeal, that I had trouble finishing. Juice and coffee. I completely forgot to eat the banana I had brought with me, either at breakfast or on the bus to the starting line.
I drank water, and I caught a ride with another runner to the finish line, where we boarded a bus at around 5:15am to take us 26 miles back up the road. The bus driver tried to lighten up the mood, but folks on our bus were either too tired or too serious to play along. We arrived at the starting line well before 6am, and the race is at 7am. No lines at the porto-pottys when we arrived, so I took advantage, and then I just found a nice spot by the lake and relaxed for a bit. At 6:30, I took my beans, and started a light jog warmup off and on for the next for 15 minutes. Then, take a GU with the last of my water, and get to the front of the starting line. I felt good and ready by then. It was clear skies, and very calm.
Start the watch up, and wait for the starters gun.
RACE RECAP:
The first half mile of a marathon is dangerous. Everyone takes off...after a quarter mile, a quick check of the watch and I was right at 7 min pace...SLOW DOWN. I know better than that...7:20 pace to start out at...ease into the race. That meant letting a lot of people zip by me the first mile and a half. Fine. I passed plenty of the back over the next 18-20 miles, but what I really want to remember is the sight of many of them (a dozen or so?) really struggling over the last 4-6 miles. That's why you take it easy the first 1-5 miles of a marathon.
I was unfamiliar with the first 9-10 miles of the course, which we had not driven the day before. The first 4-5 were actually quite scenic. You wind through a few lakes that, at 7:30 in the morning, were quiet and peaceful. Serene. I found my grove through that stretch, and started running the tangents. The road had a bit of camber to it, but it seemed like more bend to the left anyway, so I was content to ride the yellow stripe. Funny how many guys ran on the far right hand side the entire race, when the race directions were clearly that the entire right lane of the road was our course for the morning.
I didn't fall in with any one particular group in this stretch, but I do seem to gravitate towards any runner within 10-50 meters in front of me, and then once I'm running next to him, I look ahead to the next runner for me to move up to.
Then, came the hill. Alan expect this to be 7:30 pace (I had originally suggested a faster pace for that mile) and I was LUCKY to keep a pace under 7:45-8:00 on the hill itself. I don't think any of my mile splits captured how much we slowed down climbing those hills. But, the hill was over fairly quickly, which brought me to the third and final piece of coach's advice, now in play on the downhill...which was steep. And I tip-toed down it. I made a conscious effort to not let my legs go free on that downhill, for fear of what it would do to my quads, at mile 11 of the race.
The race had been very quiet with spectators up until that point, but then we went by the entrance to Sugarloaf and there was a nice sized crowd there cheering. 2-3 miles later, I had the first family siting. The stood on the right-hand side of the road, and Curran held up a small water-bottle for me to take. I really liked that part.
I think it is really important for our kids to see me racing marathons, and I hope they are able to remember me like this later in life. Some of my earliest memories of my father are playing soccer with him on Sunday mornings, and also riding my bike along side him as he would go for evening runs from Madison into Monona. I also remember being VERY impressed when he would talk about his day at work and tell me that he went for a run at lunchtime along the lake. That seemed really cool to me then (as a 10 year old) and it seems really cool to me now. Since Curran was born, I haven't played in any soccer leagues, which is too bad because now that I'm in shape, I would probably be having a great time! And I want him to see me play soccer, but I also am afraid of injuring myself. So, for now...no soccer, no softball...just running. So, for them to make it to a race and get to be such a big part of the day (I saw them 4 times over the back-half of the marathon) was very important to me. And their support on the course gave me a HUGE lift. I would just press on until the next point I was expecting to see them. This race was perfect for that. They could pull over pretty much anywhere, see me run by, hop into the van, pull out and drive right next to me and up a mile or two before repeating.
So, the family aspect lifted my spirit through the fast downhill sections of the race (miles 11-20, basically) and I rattled off nearly every mile in the 6:50 (or faster) range.
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| hitting the finish line |
However, after their last visit at mile 21...I was on my own until the finish line. I was moving past a lot of people now ("a lot" maybe isn't the best description...its a small race) and no one was passing me...I was a stronger runner at that point than all the guys I was coming up on from behind, but I was starting to wear down and I could feel it now. I knew I had to keep eating GU, but I was in the frame of mind where I really didn't want to bother with the packets. I did though...and that stuff is so freaking amazing. I normally feel the lift from it in 5-10 minutes after taking it. Late in the race though, the lift form it didn't last even a mile, but every bit helped.
At this point in the day (past 9am now) the sun was getting higher, and I was sweating. A lot. It was getting hot out there. For perspective, when I finished (at 10am) Caitlin told me it was already over 70 degrees. More than a few dixie cups of water went on the back of my neck.
Over the last few miles, the course flattens out, and the benefit of the (mostly) dowhill experience I was enjoying over the last 8-9 miles was gone now. I felt pace slip right away, and it was all that I could do to keep the pace at 7:20. In retrospect, this last 10k best signifies my improvement over the last 4 months. 7:20 was my target pace for Philly, and it was a reasonable target for me at the time, and I held it until the end and then I struggled in at ~8 min miles. At Sugarloaf, I held a (diminished) pace the last 10k that I could hardly run for my long runs at the beginning of the training cycle.
This last section of the course, I was now very familiar with, after driving it 3 times in the last 12 hours. I knew there were some small ridges (very short, and not steep) to climb over, and that I needed to climb them hard, and build momentum on the downside. The last GU I took, which ended up largely on my hands I noticed, did kick in for me and helped me a great deal. I consumed GU at miles 0, 5, (they didn't have it at 9, so I took my beans instead) 14, 17, 20, 23 and that seemed to be about the right level to keep my churning without upsetting my stomach. I feel I consumed an adequate amount of water, and the right mix of water vs. Gatorade, and that was after missing 2 water stops because the first one wasn't prepared for us and later in the race, there were little kids manning a water stop who were more afraid of getting wet then about getting cups into the runners hands. But, they're out there volunteering, which is awesome. Its kind of a hard job for little kids! Back to the race, I knew at this point I had built enough of a cushion below 3:08, that I just had to keep a decent pace going...again, like Philly, I found myself between two goals in the last 10k, and not confident enough in my legs (really though, I think as much mental as physical) to get after the stretch goal (3:05) but well ahead of my 3:08 target so, as long as I didn't slow to a walk (or over 8 min miles) I would be fine to BQ.
Not that I enjoyed this stretch! I just count off the miles..."1 more mile until a 5k left"..."1 more mile until 2 miles left" ..... "1 more mile until 1 mile left"...."less than a mile to go, time to push harder." That's basically my internal dialogue with myself.
Coming into the town of Kingfield, the crowd support picked up. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was in 30th place, so the fans were still sort of just getting settled in at the finish line. As I was making the right turn towards the finish corral, I saw Caitlin and the kids...the photo above was taken just after I saw them as I approached the finish line. And then, I crossed.
Afterwards, I found a grassy spot and lay down. Cait and the kids find me right away, and I'm so happy to see them. They've seen me do something that I've thought about accomplishing for over 15 years....and its my minute to just lie there and soak it in...unfortunately, my legs felt destroyed. If I lie there, I feel something like cramps coming into them, but if I make an effort to move, they reject that idea too. There is no way to get comfortable, so I just kind of roll around. And of course, the kids are restless after spending a couple of hours riding around in the van on a hot day, so they want oranges from the runners only refreshment area, and they want my chocolate milk...and the little cooler of post-race refreshments (choc milk for the whole family, coco water, regular water) I packed for myself was left in the hotel room (Caitlin had a tough time corralling them out to the car, and she was nervous about missing me at our pre-arranged drop spots)
Here's the 7:05 plan and the actuals splits. I was fine (maybe too fast?) through 13 miles, and even more ahead of pace through 20 miles, but over the last 6 miles, I gave up about 20 seconds a mile.
And here are the Garmin details (I hit lap at the 1 mile to go sign)
Focusing on Cadence and Stride Length, I actually did a fairly good job of maintaining a 180 cadence throughout the back-half of the race, and even over the last 6 miles when my splits slipped to ~7:20. It was my stride length that shortened up on me. My stride shortened on the downhill sections (which I believe would be a natural occurrence?) but then once it flattened out, I really didn't/couldn't do much to get it back to 1.3+
After 20-30 minutes of rolling around and the kids starting to lose it a bit...we headed back to the van to go check out. I didn't realize it, but I finished 3rd in my age group and won a ceramic mug trophy! Unfortunately, they won't mail it to me and aren't returning my emails suggesting other ways that I could retrieve it. I was in such a great mood for the rest of that day. Hard work had come to a conclusion with a result I was proud of and completely satisfied with. The rest of my year also came into focus...no trying to find a late summer marathon to make another attempt at. Now I can return to the rest of my goals...a great Falmouth Road Race and then preparations for an Ultra.
The post-race shower was...awkward. The shower was built with a very low/diagonal ceiling, so I basically had to kneel the whole time, which my legs hated. Then we headed to Portland for lunch and some walking (I was getting around much better by then) and a post race Sushi lunch on the Portland waterfront. And a beer! My first in a week, at least. It was DELICIOUS.
Next up...the BAA 10k on Father's Day to try and run sub-40 and secure myself a spot in the first (non-elite) corral at Falmouth!
