Traveling - I was glad that I chose a relatively local marathon. It was very easy to travel back and forth to Philadelphia, which eliminated most of the stress surrounding the race. In addition, by running in a local race, a large number of my teammates ran as well. It helps a great deal to have people to hang out with the night before the race and to swap war stories with afterwards, as well as having the chance to see a familiar face on the course when you might need a quick pick me up. There were over 10 Flyers in all doing either the full marathon or the half and it was extremely helpful to have that support.
Weather- I was checking the weather report all week and unfortunately it was getting worse instead of better. Each day it seemed as if the forecast was getting colder and colder. Based on all of the weather reports, we were expecting the start of the race to be at about 25-26 degrees with the high for the day not going up above 35 degrees. I definitely do not like running in the heat, so I would take a cold marathon over a hot one any day. However this was pushing it a bit. I get hot very quickly in a race, so staying warm wasn't really the problem, as opposed to staying dry. I was able to get away with only a long sleeve base layer and my Nike long sleeve hand warmer top, running pants, and my new lightweight Nike Skullcap (this was perfect since my hair usually gets very wet). The start of the race was about 27 degrees, but the temps did not really bother me at all. I was fine after only the first few miles, when I even began to think to myself how comfortable I felt. It was as if it was 45 degrees outside for me. I think that the weather bothered some of the other Flyers alot more. The only problem for me came towards the end of the race when I began to slow down and my clothes were now soaking wet. The last few miles I was really feeling the cold.
Course - I thought the course was great. Except for a couple significant hills (mile 8 or 9 and at about mile 15 or so if I remember correctly), the course lived up to its flat reputation. After being used to the throngs of spectators at the NYC marathon, I was afraid that there was not going to be a lot of spectators lining the course to help give me a boost. Since the race started at 7AM, the first 10 miles of the course was pretty empty as expected. However, by the time I reached the halfway point, the number of spectators grew considerably and they were a fun and lively bunch. By the end of the race, there were so many people lining the narrow streets, that we all had to run single file from mile 26 to the finish line. I was pleasantly surprised by the crowds.
The race - I have been ready and waiting for this race for several months now and I was getting very excited for it to begin. I knew the training went well and I was ready and anxious to have a great race. The cold temperatures were not bothering me and I was ready to go. The first wave went off at about 7:08 or so and after they took off, I was pretty close to the starting line. At around 7:16AM, my day began. While at the starting line, I debated whether or not to join one of the pace groups, but I decided against it. I knew there was a chance I would regret it later on but, oh well.
I felt great right from the beginning. My original plan was to run at 8:40s and then adjust my pace accordingly at the halfway mark. I guess through all of the excitement, I went out faster than expected for the first 3 or 4 miles. I was running at around 8:20 and I knew that that was way too fast. I didn't want to derail my race after only a few miles, so I needed to slow down. I relaxed as much as possible after that, however, I was still running at around an 8:30 pace. Since I felt good, I didn't fight it and kept going as long as I could - exactly the same thought rationale I had at the Staten Island Half last month. The miles kept flying by and I felt strong and relaxed. There was only one big hill so far, at around mile 8 or 9, but I adjusted accordingly and ran my slowest mile up until that point (but still only an 8:52). I was able to cross the halfway point in an astonishing (for me) time of 1:50 and then was still be able to run an 8:30 pace up through mile 20 (I couldn't believe it), before starting to deteriorate after mile 22 for the remainder of the race.
Through 5 miles - 8:20 pace
Through 10 miles - 8:26 pace
Half marathon - 8:26 pace
I try not to get ahead of myself too early, but sometimes it is impossible not to with all of the excitement of a marathon. After hitting the halfway point feeling great, there was a small part of me that was wondering if I can actually finish at or around 3:40, but I came down to earth right away after that. I knew that I would not be able to keep this pace up for the rest of the race, but I allowed myself to dream for just a little bit. By mile 16 or 17, I was thinking that if I can just get to mile 20 feeling good, then maybe I had a shot at the low 3:40s. As we all know, fortunes can take a turn for the worse in a marathon in the course of a mile or two. By mile 21, I was starting to decline, and my thoughts went from low 3:40s, to 3:45
, to under 3:50, to "please let this race be over as soon as possible". The end of the race could not come soon enough. As with any race, there many things to learn from to use moving forward, I was very satisfied that I set a tough but attainable goal for myself and I achieved it.
Through 20 miles - 8:32 pace
Through 23 miles - 8:36 pace
Through 25 miles - 8:40 pace
Full marathon - 8:42 pace
It was a substantial risk to deviate from my original plan so quickly, but a calculated one. Should I have slowed down for a larger portion of the race, and then hoped that I had enough left to pick it up in the final miles? That is always the million dollar question. No matter how meticulously you plan prior to a race, there are no guarantees so I decided to go for it. In order to run a negative split and run faster as the race goes on, you need a lot of confidence in your pacing ability and energy management throughout the race. Even if I stayed with my original plan and ran at an 8:40 pace, would have I been able to keep that up for the entire 26 miles - who knows, but the answer is probably not. Even if I did, my overall time would only have been less than a minute faster than what I ended up running. Therefore, taking a risk in this case did not hurt me. As they say, that is why you play the game. There is no way to know what will happen to you in a race until you go out and do it.
The only reason I stayed at the 8:30 pace for so long was because of how good I felt. I was calm and relaxed and knocking off one mile after another. I hit the halfway point at 1:50 (which was considerably faster than what I had planned), but I did not drop off that much at all for the next several miles. Even though I hit the half going at a 8:26 pace, I wasn't struggling and was even able to hit between 8:34-8:37 for the next five miles. I was still going at an overall 8:30 pace up until mile 20. I was even able to hang on for an 8:45 and 9:02 for miles 21 and 22 respectively. It wasn't until mile 23 that my pace began to plummet quickly. My last 4.2 miles were a struggle. At this point, I needed to take the race one mile at a time. Mentally I was pretty spent. Even though I wanted to, I couldn't move my legs any faster. I contemplated walking for a little bit, but knew myself and if I started to walk, I would not be able to get going again. Also, I felt that I didn't work so hard for these last several months, to let my race unravel with only a few miles to go after I did so well up until that point. My last miles were 9:10, 9:19, 9:29, and 9:29 (last 1.2). Even though I was definitely hurting the last few miles, they were not nearly as bad as they were in 2006 when I hit the wall. Back then, my "wall" miles were approaching nearly 9:45-10:00 minutes and my only saving grace was the fact was that I was able to pick up the last couple miles in Central Park.
Although in my mind it seems as if I went out too fast and then crumbled at the end, I was proud of the fact that I was able to keep up a brisk pace for nearly the entire race. Looking back now with a clear head, my second half struggles (even though they seemed to last a long time) were only limited to the last 3 or 4 miles. My mile paces didn't really start to substantially decline until mile 23-24. As with any of my marathons, I knew that I would slow down towards the end, but my goal was to try and have my slowest miles not go above 9:00 or 9:05 - which nearly happened. In addition, another silver lining was the fact that the second half of this marathon was the fastest of my three so far.
First Half: 1:50:34
Second Half: 1:57:29
Mile 15: 8:32
Mile 16: 8:34
Mile 17: 8:34
Mile 18: 8:37
Mile 19: 8:58
Mile 20: 8:55
Mile 21 - 8:45
Mile 22 - 9:02
Mile 23 - 9:10
Mile 24 - 9:19
Mile 25 - 9:29
Last 1.2 miles - 11:23 (9:29 mile pace)
Post Race - There was quad soreness hours after the marathon, but very minimal soreness or discomfort the day after and beyond. This is much different than after my previous two marathons in which I was in pain for several days and it was very difficult to walk down stairs. I pretty much felt back to normal only 2 days later. I guess I can attribute this to my strengthening throughout the year. I will go for a light jog probably on Wednesday and get back into a running routine again next week. Hopefully my post marathon lull won't be too bad this time around. To try and avoid or lessen it, I need to keep my running light and fun through at least the end of the year. I won't push anything too hard.
Training - Looking back on the last few months and my time for this race, my training went very well. This was the first time out of my three marathons so far in which I felt very good throughout the entire training cycle. I never felt exhausted physically or mentally, no burnout, and I was able to recover very quickly from hard races and long runs. I even avoided getting sick or injured for the entire 4 month cycle. My weekly schedule worked very well for me - four days of running and switching off spinning and weights every other week. This allowed me to get two days of rest per week, while the cross training gave me a day off from the pounding on the roads while keeping up my leg strength. I will definitely keep up my "off peak" schedule that I did this past year in order to keep up my maintenance mileage in the winter months - including a long run of 8-10 miles per week and a weekly mileage of about 20-22.
Thoughts - As this is only my third marathon, I am still in the process of learning all of the nuances of the race. Each time I've run, I pick up several key learnings that help me in my next marathon. I'm excited to see that my time dropped over 12 minutes from my first marathon (4:00:09) to my third (3:48:03). It shows how much you can improve yourself if you put in the time and effort. Pacing is still the biggest thing that I need to work on. Although my overall time probably would not have been substantially different if I ran a consistent pace throughout, I probably would have been able to finish stronger and felt better in the later miles. I should definitely consider joining a pace group for the next marathon I do. From what I hear, the Clif Bar teams at Philly were almost dead on for every pace group. I wouldn't have to worry about my pace fluctuating early on, and it would probably give me a chance at at time in the low 3:40s. I can't believe that I am now a sub 3:50 marathoner - awesome!
Looking past my health issues for the year, it was a great year running wise for me. I got PRs in 4 distances (4 mile, 5 mile, 10K (twice) and the marathon). Things just clicked. I kept up my cross training, strengthened my legs, recovered well after hard runs and got faster. I will savor this year for a while and think about it when my running hits a rough spot or lull in the future (it always does)
