I had the most fun of any
marathon to date in this one. It was not all fun and games though.
With minimal marathon specific training and about 1/3 less avg miles per
week I really got everything I could out of myself today. It was the
coldest marathon I have ever run. Starting temperature was around 30
degrees and it stayed in the 30's throughout the race, but the sun was shining
and the leaves were in full foliage. It made for a beautiful race.
The course is not easy, but it sure is fun! Lots of twists and turns
around lakes. The wind was tough at times, but with all the turns, we
never had to run straight into it for too long.
I got to the race around 6:45 and about an hour to use the
bathroom and rest in the warmth of the Metrodome. I had a granola bar and
a cup of coffee around 5am, so I was starting to get hungry. I took one
Powerbar gel to fend off a growling stomach.
I decided to go with spandex shorts and a very lightweight tight.
My upper was moisture wicking under layer long sleeve top and a singlet.
I wore my compression socks with some lightweight mittens (inside I used
hand warmers) and a lightweight cap that covered my ears. Compared to
everyone in my coral I was way over dressed. My wife said of anyone that
finished under 3 hours I was the only one wearing tights. Not once, did I
get too hot and the tights did not bother me at all.
The race started right on time. Not knowing what to expect I
decided to run a conservative first mile (6:34) and gradually work the pace down.
With the cold temperatures, it was nice to use a slower start to warm up
my tendons. The race starts in downtown Minneapolis so my GPS was going a
little crazy running through the tall buildings. At one point, I looked
down and my watch said I was running 15 min. pace, so I just ran the next mile
by feel splitting a (6:20).
The next mile was another laid-back split of (6:15). Although, this
strategy did not give me a great chance at a PR, it did give a good chance at a
strong finish. A strong finish was something I badly needed coming off
such a grueling finish at Boston. I took my second Power Bar
Gel at 20 minutes thinking over fueling would be better than under fueling.
With how I have fallen apart in the latter stages of my previous marathons, I
wanted to try an every 20-30 min fueling of carbs. I also focused
on going after the Poweraid and less of water + electrolyte pills. I
brought along three electrolyte pills for the second half of the race if I felt
I needed them.
This was also a good marathon to run because I would have family
support. My wife, father-in-law, and sister-in-law were amazing support.
They were there for me at mile 4, 11, 18, and the finish. I cannot
believe they were able to catch me in so many locations. At mile 11 my
father-in-law was going to give me some gels and he had forgot, but managed to
sprint up to me and hand them off.
Back to the race - I settled into a nice rhythm and found a pack
of about 5-6 masters runners to draft off of. Miles 4, 5,6,7,8,9,10,
& 11 felt great! My splits went 5:58,
5:58, 6:05, 5:59, 6:04, 6:01, 5:58, and 5:56.
The wheels started to fall off a bit after mile 11. I
started to get a calf cramp in my right calf and I could tell I needed to back
off or it was going to seize up on me. Therefore, I dropped to a6:12 and continued that trend for the
13th mile splitting 6:11.
I came down with an overwhelming urge to use the bathroom due to GI issues as
well just after the 1/2, so I lost about 40-50 seconds with my pit stop.
After that, I would have no more problems, so I am very glad I did what I
needed to do. With the pit stop, my 14th mile split was a 6:56.
Miles 15-17 were tough miles. My body was feeling off, so I
took another gel and focused on getting down more Power aid not that my GI was
feeling better. At mile 16, I was feeling down on myself and I was
playing mental games to push through a difficult time. My body was
starting to feel tight and I was slowing down. I managed a hard
fought 6:04 15th mile split after the bathroom stop and a 6:07 through mile 16. At mile 17,
I took a Cliff shot and got a boost that got me up the ramp onto the Franklin Bridge.
On the way down the bridge, I took three electrolyte pills as well.
Within a 1/2 mile of taking the pills and the Cliff shot I rebounded!
My form came back to life and I got another boost seeing my family at
mile 18. At that point, I knew I had a fighting chance of running a solid
time. Miles 17 and 18 were slower going 6:13,
6:17 due to hills and wind.
Mile 19 was straight into a heavy head wind, so I focused on
running relaxed. I lost a little more time going 6:21.
Miles 20-about 24 are uphill out of the Mississippi river valley.
This is when every marathon before this one I have struggled to maintain
pace. I fought hard in this section of the race climbing the hills and it
gave me confidence and momentum going into the final miles. I went6:16,
6:22 (took a gel), 6:37, 6:32. I managed to hold my place and pass
several runners in that 4 mile stretch. When I got to the top of the climb,
I was feeling ready for a strong push to the finish.
I ran the last 3 miles in 6:13,
6:06, and 6:00 on my way to
my first strong finish. I passed A LOT of people those final 3 miles; it
was so nice to be on the other end for a change. Final result was my second
fasted marathon time and only off my personal best by about 3 minutes.
When I finished I made it over to the massage tent and found some
warm liquids. I was very pleased with my time given the struggles during
the race. The conditions may have been a mild factor due to the wind on
performance, but the cool air was very much welcomed in my opinion.
My overall training for this one started out strong in the
early summer months, but the heat of the summer wore me down and I was not able
to keep the training going mentally or what seemed like physically.
Combine that with a heavy racing schedule in early spring and the Boston Massacre
I am happy I made it to the start line of this marathon.
My training on paper did not look perfect. I averaged 67
miles per week and completed very few workouts. Since my motivation was lacking
to do hard workouts, I sought out races to keep my fitness sharp and only raced
and ran easy the rest of the week. On non-race weeks, I did light
workouts and kept training mentally relaxed. My longest run in the 2
months leading up to the marathon was one 19-mile run (long 30K race).
The rest of my long runs were 1/2 marathons at controlled paces. My
taper week was non-typical as well, only running four runs.
It is time for some time completely off running. I have
hamstring tendonitis or sciatic issues (pain sitting and extending my leg out
in the gait) I have been battling off and on since Feb. and I have had runner's
knee for a full year now. I am taking a full 10 days with no running and
looking very much forward to the time off!
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