I completed my third marathon today with a time of 3:14:55 (3:50 June 2012, 3:47 October 2012).

My marathon pace for this training cycle was 6:51 (2:59) and based on the Daniels race equivalency chart (the equivalent times came in the 5k and 10k).  I pretty much nailed each marathon pace run but ultimately decided that there was simply not enough evidence to support the notion that I could hold that pace for 26.2 miles.  My half marathon time suggested a 3:04 and that is what I went into today's race as my target.

The Race Day Plan

I know there are many runners whom warm up before the marathon and get right into marathon pace (MP) once the race starts much quicker than they otherwise would.  With my goal time being a loose 3:03 to 3:05 however, I decided that I would race it like I trained for it, and run my warm up as a part of the race.

This started off great as I tracking towards a 7:30 third mile until the Ambassador Bridge showed up.  In the past I have made the fatal error of maintaining pace while climbing during races and did not want to repeat that mistake so early in the event today so I ran by what I felt was MP effort instead.

Mile 1 - 8:01

Mile 2 - 7:45

Mile 3 - 7:48

Over into Canada we went and now I am looking to find my groove, having spent the third mile climbing however, I decided to go one more mile moderately and then get down towards a sub-7:00 where I ultimately hoped to stay.

Mile 4 - 7:23

Mile 5 - 7:02

Mile 6 - 6:58

Mile 7 - 6:59

This pretty much went as planned and right as I was feeling good about things the tunnel back to the states decided to show up just after mile 7.  The Garmin satellite dropped upon entering it and I was left to run by effort which was fine.  Down, down, down, we went and I ran with quick feet but did not feel that I overexerted myself.  Oddly, there was no leveling off as once we stopped going down, it was time to go up, up, up.

Upon exiting the tunnel and back in the D we ran for about a quarter mile or so and went right into another tunnel (a freeway).  This was a new twist on the course as there is some type of construction on the old course.  So down and into it we went then up, up, up and out of it and to the left and up, up, up to street level and to the right and up, up, up some more, fuck man.

My pace was all over the place and with losing the satellite in each tunnel and all of the climbing I was left to run by perceived effort.

Mile 8 - 7:48

Mile 9 - 6:20

Mile 10 - 7:20

I can tell you with almost 100% certainty that I did not hold a fuckin 6:20 pace for an entire mile and I was shocked when I saw it but am at a loss for it. I do not know maybe I did, or maybe the time lost due to the dropped signal between mile 8 and 9 was divided wrong by the stupid watch, who knows.

As it was, up until this point I was simply unable to find and hold any sort of rhythm and looking back I suppose I should have just ran for pace, I did not obviously but I do not regret my strategy there.

To illustrate the ups and downs of the course were the push-rim cyclists, whom I passed and got passed by a half dozen times.  This was highly unusual as those guys are usually gone from the word go and you never see them again.  One in particular however, did not drop me until mile 22, that is incredible when you think about it.

In-Race Nutrition

For the life of me I have been unable to take a gel during any training run or race this year.  I would leave for my MP runs this summer with 2 gels and return with you guessed it, 2 gels.  Today I left with 5 gels to take at 5 mile intervals and I returned with...wait for it...

...5 fuckin gels! 

This is a well supported course however and water and Gatorade was in great supply and the aid stations were plentiful.  Sometimes I took water, sometimes I took Gatorade.  A few times I took one of each, but each time the cups were filled nicely and the volunteers did a great job making sure you got the cup in hand.

I am not going to use this as an excuse but I would have liked to have taken in more calories than I did.  It is something I need to continue to work on and I will.

It's a Marathon not a Sprint

The half marathon point is where this race heads towards the hood and away from downtown and all those overpasses and bridges.

For this time I just focused on maintaining a good solid effort and not letting the fact that I had so few sub-7:00's get to me.  I felt fine physically, but was frustrated at my lack of any consistent rhythm.

Still trying to find my groove, I would have my best stretch of the race beginning after mile 10.

Mile 11 - 7:07

Mile 12 - 7:06

Mile 13 - 7:01

Mile 14 - 7:07

Mile 15 - 7:09

Mile 16 - 7:12

Mile 17 - 7:21

Mile 18 - 7:17

Mile 19 - 7:09

Mile 20 - 7:15

Mile 21 - 7:22

I had an attitude adjustment during this stretch as I accepted the fact that a sub-7:00 overall pace was not in the cards for me today.  We talked about it (myself and I) and I was okay with it.  I mean, you can have all the plans in the world but going out there and actually pulling it off is another story.

Mile 19 was up and over the bridge to Belle Isle while mile 22 was up and off of it, it was at this point when the numbers started to drop and I really had to focus to keep the wheels from falling completely off.  It looks like they did anyway but I can assure you I was giving it all I had, it just did not show up in the pace window, crud.

Mile 22 - 7:34

Mile 23 - 7:45

Mile 24 - 7:44

Mile 25 - 7:43

I spent the entire race hitting mile markers a quarter mile ahead of the actual marker on the course and hoped that at some point the course would correct itself but it never did.  I suppose I should have reset my watch at mile 2 when I first realized it but what's done is done.  Garmin measured the course at 26.44.

I bring that up because the last mile I really tried to kick it in gear and when 8:11 showed up as my final split I could not believe my eyes.  I still think there was something amiss there and maybe there was...me.  lol

Perspective

This was not some long drawn out miserable affair, the race came and went pretty quickly.  I really did not struggle and felt great for most of the event.  This despite being passed by seemingly a dozen pace teams in the first 3 miles, most of whom I reeled in save the last two (3:05 & 3:10) that I could not.

Hindsight

So confident that I could run a 3:05 that if you would have told me before the race that I would run a 3:15 I would have wondered aloud what in the hell happened that I came in 10 minutes off my goal time.  Well, a fuckin marathon happened, that was no joke yo!

In the end I am not going to let failed goals be the overriding theme of the race.  I basically ran the entire thing knowing I was not going to reach any of the goals I set for myself.  That being the case you cannot just fold up the tent and go home, you still have to run.  I did that and am satisfied with my overall effort, and I own my final race time.

Ultimately this was a great experience for me, one that I look to learn from and give it another go at some point in the future.

Thank you for reading!

Congratulations on the PR, even if the final wasn't what you hoped.  It sounds like you had a good race, but a challenging one.  Were your previous races on the same course?

Congrats on the huge PB! I'm familiar with all of your marathon paces, either imagined or real. Based on what little I read about your training it seems you had some ups and downs - getting it done but not crazy about doing it. You have a good bit more speed than when I was running 3:12-3:15 marathons but I actually enjoyed the training. I think at the time I was still in bed with the marathon. After 20 of them I learned it's something you should enjoy to maximize your speed potential. Of course, the training matters but being excited about what you're doing does too. I would go to bed looking forward to my morning long run. Some people just aren't built for the marathon or like me, lost their passion for it.

Run inspired.

Great job, man. To take 2 years off of marathons & drop in to put down a 3:15, at :ahem: your level of maturity, is straight up awesome.

Seems like not only did we run the same race, but we sort of ran the same race, from the standpoint of pace trends. Other than yours was a hell of a lot faster. Some of my comments on your comments, on the race itself:

- when did you get there? I was so worried about parking & traffic, i showed up at 5:30, 1.5 hrs before race time. Which I thought actually worked out OK.

- i honestly did not feel too affected by the up & down of the bridge & tunnel. Helps that they put them early in the course (4&7), when i still felt really strong

- dropping the garmin for a mile in the tunnel screwed me up a bit mentally, although not sure what it did to my pace. No idea why i didn't plan better for it & just use my watch to time that mile. Did yours pick the mileage back up after getting out? Mine lost 0.8-0.9 miles completely, told me i only ran 25.5 yesterday.

- No idea (because I never study course maps) that we were going to be running on the Lodge. More lost garmin running under the overpasses.  But mainly it just felt weird running on a closed-down freeway. Especially since that was going to be my route to the race in the morning, until i saw their FB post at 10:00 the night before that it was going to be closed.

- i don't have a problem taking gels, took all my 4 on the planned schedule. And yes the were water stops all over the place, so no problem timing the gels, and i felt I got plenty to drink. Although funny, some places overfill the cups so they splash all over; folks here must have been instructed not to, because I can't tell you how many cups I got with 1/2 inch of water in them.

Anyway, I know you always prefer the speed over the distance. And i think you train year round for shorter races, and then grudgingly insert a marathon cycle when needed. It may be if you want to achieve your potential and get that 2:59, you need to train a bit more marathon-focused year round. Of course I'm no expert, and many say the training for 5k & marathon is the same up until the couple months before the race. But it's all degrees.

Great race, man.

- i honestly did not feel too affected by the up & down of the bridge & tunnel. Helps that they put them early in the course (4&7), when i still felt really strong

To clarify I was not affected by any of the climbing.  I just made the decision (and stuck with it) that I would not try to sustain goal pace while climbing.  In the end that may have been a mistake as I certainly had the energy to do so.

I planned to be there around 5:50 but didn't get to my spot until 6:05 due to the cluster fuck that was the closed roads.

I had the auto-resume and timeout features disabled on my Garmin, not sure if that is why I got data for those miles or not.

I was still on the island when you saw the 3:10 pace group leaving it by the way.  I had run them down by mile 10 and actually ran with them for quite awhile until they pulled away around mile 21 or so.  Ironically I ran by one of their pacers walking during mile 25.

Congrats on the huge PR!  I think you have 3:05 in you; however, yesterday was not the day to run it.  Sometimes you are ready and the day just does not help.  Excellent performance, notwithstanding.

LRB, did you think a sub-7:00 pace was too ambitious, or did you just not have that in you on this day?  I am guessing the latter?  Your training and your HM time certainly suggest you've got faster marathons in you.  But hell, you can only run as fast as your body allows on any particular day.  It sounds like you made that mental adjustment just fine and ran as well as you could have.

You may not have hit your goal, but you just ran a hell of a marathon.  A 32 minute PR when you're already well under four hours is tremendous.  If you're looking for another marathon, you'd probably have no problem meeting that Boston cutoff.  

Congratulations, although your PR is now better than mine and now I am sad.

Rick, congrats on the huge PR! I'll be in Detroit for the 2015 FP. Half for sure, maybe the full.