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Vermont City Marathon - slip, slip, slipping away from my goal (Read 104 times)


delicate flower

    Here’s a recap of my 4th marathon, Vermont City in Burlington, VT, which I ran yesterday.  This was my first marathon in 19 months after a quick stint on the DL with ACL reconstruction in my left knee.  Scroll to the bottom for the results if you ain't got time for no readin'.

     

    Training:  I had been running well since last summer, so all I did was make a few adjustments to my training.  I didn’t want to stick with a set training plan because I didn’t know what my knee could handle.  So, all I did was increase my weekly mileage and add the long runs.  I averaged 60 mpw for the 12 weeks prior to taper, and peaked at 67 miles.  Most of my runs were in the 8-10 mile range.  Compared to last marathon in 2012, I was about a minute faster per mile on all runs on average, and 90-120 seconds faster per mile on my long runs.  I did five runs of 20+miles and averaged just under my marathon PR pace (8:35).  I thought I trained very well.  My training and recent race times pointed to a 3:20-3:25 finish (7:45 pace), so that’s what I aimed for.

     

    The race:  The weather forecast headed into the race was 50 at the start and peaking at 70, with a chance of scattered showers.  Lining up in the starting corral, my stomach was grumbling.  That bothered me.  I thought I had eaten enough.  I was also already starting to sweat.  I didn’t think much of it.  It was warmer than predicted without a cloud in the sky.  I got preferred seeding, which was nice.  About five minutes before the race started, I was looking around at the crowds and started thinking about the last 15 months.  I started to get a little emotional.  It wasn’t lost on me how far I’ve come during that time, and I was just so happy to be lined up for another marathon.  I belonged here.

     

    My plan was to go out at 7:45 pace and hold it steady.  After the typical pre-race stuff, the wheelchair division was off, followed by the runners about two minutes later.

     

    Miles 1-6:  7:42, 7:25, 7:44, 7:19, 7:33, 7:45

    Nice and steady the first 10K.  The crowd support was insane the first few miles.  People were lined up 2-3 deep in spots and they were loud. There was a fair bit of downhill in the beginning of the race so some of miles were ahead of pace.  By mile 3 I was already lathered up pretty good and had sweat in my eyes.  I thought it was too early to be that warm, but my HR was in check and it felt easy, so I just held steady.  I grabbed a cup of water, sometimes two, at every water station.  I downed a gel every 40 minutes, and took a squirt of Perpetuem from my handheld every two miles. Facebook reported my 10K split as a 7:15 pace.  That was incorrect for those of you who saw that (see mile splits above).  Not sure what happened there.

     

    Miles 7-13:  7:39, 7:56, 8:10, 7:40, 7:58, 8:08, 8:14

    Miles 4-9 were out and back on a closed expressway.  No spectators here and no cover from the sun.  After hitting the turnaround, I got to see the field behind me.  It was pretty cool.  Among that sea of about 4,000 runners, me and DW managed to spot each other.  She was running a two person relay.  She darted across the median and we high fived.  Miles 8 and 9 were uphill and so my pace slowed here.  I tried to keep the same effort and not force the pace.  I got off the expressway and settled back into goal pace.  The course went back through town and through all the spectators.  So cool!  I crossed the 10 mile mark right on schedule.  I first felt fatigue around here and that concerned me.  There was way too much race left.  Goal pace started to get hard and my pace already started to slip, and thus began my rapid fade.  I crossed the half split in 1:42.  That was right where I wanted to be, but the fade was on and I knew there was no stopping it.

     

    Miles 14-20:  8:15, 8:24, 8:57, 8:40, 8:26, 8:39, 8:54

    After the half checkpoint, the course worked it’s way onto a bike path along Lake Champlain and through some residential areas for a couple of miles.  Nice scenery, but I was too warm to care.  The biggest hill of the course is up Battery Park Hill at mile 15  Someone said you can “hear it” coming, and that was a perfect description.  Huge drums being banged and screaming spectators.  The hill was a half mile at 13% grade and was lined with spectators shoulder to shoulder.  I lumbered up the hill.  It was tough but the crowd support was awesome. Strava says I ran the hill at 9:30 pace.  I’m cool with that.  The course trended downhill the last 10 miles, but I could not pick up the pace.  I had given up the goal pace was just trying to keep ahead of PR pace (8:35).  Even that got hard.  I was trying to stay ahead of the 3:30 pace group but I knew they’d pass me eventually.  I was hot and there was very little shade protection.  I was suffering.

     

    Miles 21-26.2:  8:55, 9:03, 9:19, 9:18, 9:15, 9:19

    Begin the death march.  I was ready for this to end.  I had started dumping water on myself, something I had only done once before in a race.  I also ran through any sprinkler I saw.  I was trying anything to stay cool but with little success.  I wanted to walk but kept telling myself to just keep running.  Walking would only prolong this agony.  The course turned back onto the bike path along the lake for the final four miles.  Finally some shade protection, but too little too late.  I did find a pace that I could maintain so I stayed there.  Slow and steady.  By now I just wanted to get the PR and be done with it. The bike path was pretty awesome though.  When the path crossed the handful of intersections, there were so many spectators crowded around that there was only enough room for runners to comfortably go single file.  It was nuts.  I also got the “joy” of seeing relay runners flying past me left and right.  I was envious of their fresh legs.  With a mile to go, I could hear the circus that was the finish area.  Almost there.  Despite the assurance from some spectators that I was “looking good” and “looking strong”, I was fairly certain that I looked like hell.  Approaching the finish line, I raised my arms in victory, because despite my rough race, it was not lost on me that I was about the cross the finish line of a marathon and with a seven minute PR to my credit.  I crossed the finish line and immediately approached by a medic.  I was fine for having just ran a marathon.  I got my medal, grabbed a water, found a spot on the grass, and plopped down on my back exhausted.  Marathon #4 is in the books.

     

    The skinny:

    Official time was 3:38:42.  7 minute PR

    OA:  488 / 2613 (top 18%)

    AG:  70 / 209

    Goal missed by 13 minutes

    12 minute positive split

     

    So what happened?

    Any advice, thoughts, constructive criticism here is welcome.  I thought I trained well and would run faster.  Was I not as well prepared as I thought I was?  Was it just the heat?  The temps got above 70 with little sun protection.  This was only my second run this year in that kind of warmth.  One could say I went out too fast, but 7:45 pace seemed reasonable.  It’s not like I went out with guns blazing.  It seemed like a fair goal.  Maybe it was nutrition?  Having a grumbling stomach before the race started certainly couldn’t have helped.  Maybe it was a combination of everything.


    While I didn’t hit my goal, I’m still ok with my race.  I know a bunch of people that ran this and literally nobody hit their goal.  I did the best I could, and let’s face it, a 3:38 marathon ain’t all bad.  I’m running Philadelphia in November.  I will reload and make some adjustments to my training.  

    <3


    delicate flower

      a few pics.

       

      Finishing the race.  As you can see, I wasn't entirely upset despite my whiny RR.  (tried to link to the pic directly to the website but that doesn't seem to work)

       

       

       

      Joy soon turned to death look and I pretty much felt like I look.  This picture is so bad it's good.  LOL

       

       

      This is around mile 14.

       

       

      Success!

       

       

      Depleted selfie while waiting for the rest of the gang to finish

       

       

      Shirt and medal

       

       

      Medal.  It's a nice one.

       

      <3

      Jack K.


      uʍop ǝpᴉsdn sǝʇᴉɹʍ ʇI

        As far as advice, I have none. The only thing that I could see is that maybe you went out too fast, but on the other hand, you had an amazing cycle. 7:45 doesn't seem too fast after training like that but then again you had three very fast miles in the first six. I don't know... If anything, I would say it was the heat. If you are like me, and it sounds like you are, you just can't run in that. It is pure misery. When I read your account of the death march, I had a flashback to my L.A. Marathon experience. It's a double edged sword; you can't run in that heat yet you don't want to walk because you are only prolonging the agony. Ugh...  Don't worry about it. You have many more marathons in you. Plus, you had a nice weekend in VT. That race sounds fun, what with all the crowd support. Very nice...

         

        Edit: I just saw your pictures and that sun looks very, very bright.

        GinnyinPA


          Congratulations on the PR, and most important, on a successful return to running after your surgery.

           

          What was the humidity?  That will get to you even worse than heat.  Also a possibility is allergies.  I've found that my long runs lately are miserable because my allergies make it hard to breathe and the meds tend to dehydrate me.


          on my way to badass

            I don't think we take the heat seriously enough (all of us especially in the NE). Over 50F with sun is toasty after the winter we had. You did great!

            Still waiting for the perfect race picture. 5K PR-33:52 , 10K PR 1:11:16, First HM 2:42:28

            Just B.S.


              Very similar temps to our mararthon (me, hubby, Happy Lily) May 11 when it went to 75f.

              9 DNFs/220 runners and several hospital trips. After the frigid weather we trained in all

              winter in your area and farther north in ours its amazing any of us could regulate our temps at all.

               

              Perhaps you went out took hard but you did great and in better conditions sub 3:25 is yours for the

              taking.

               

              Congrats!

              Brrrrrrr


              Uffda

                Congrats Baboon on coming back from injury and PR'ing in the marathon! I'd like to see how many people have ACL surgery and have that comeback.

                 

                You've been training and racing well, and I was surprised that you slowed as much as you did. The 2 mile uphill in full sun sounds like the culprit. That would sap your energy pretty good. I see yo wore a hat, good call there. Maybe you want to try wearing a tank top instead of something with sleeves? You just need to wear some sun screen. I just try to wear the lightest stuff I can in the heat.

                 

                As far as training goes, I see one missing item from what I did: LRs with MP miles. I had 2 different runs of 18 miles, 15 at MP. When I looked at your log you had a number of 8 and 10 mile runs at GMP. If I were you, I'd switch some of your 20 mile runs in to 2 mile w/u + 15 at MP + 2 mile c/d.

                 

                Another thing I don't quite understand is your Threshold running. I see you have a lot of medium paced runs, but I don't know if that's Threshold. One thing it could be is that I come from a background in Daniel's, and I know other philosophies have different methods. I know I'm interested in picking up Pfitz for my next marathon.

                 

                Again, good job! I hate the heat and I think it took a toll on me in my last marathon and cost me time. It sounds like the same thing happened to you and you battled through it.

                - Andrew


                Hip Redux

                  You got some awesome (both awesomely good and bad LOL) race photos!!  Big grin

                   

                  Congrats on the new shiny PR Smile

                   

                  LRB


                    Carrying weekly mileage of 60+ for 12 weeks is impressive, proving you are nothing if not driven and determined.

                     

                    You will get your BQ!

                    happylily


                      When I was tracking you, they had you at the 10k mark in 44:00. I thought that you were a little nuts going out so fast. But that must have been a mistake (or I need glasses), because now I see that you did not start out too fast after all. I have no advice. All I can say is that your training paces this spring were similar to mine last spring. My 10k and HM were similar to yours (43:00 and 1:35), my 10 mile time was indicating a 3:22 (1:11) and I ran Boston in 3:27. It was about 57F that day. I'm 100% sure that with a 40F day, on a good course, you have your sub-3:25. What you have to do now is grow that speed and endurance over the summer and make sure you get yourself to Phillie uninjured. At that moment, you'll probably be good for a sub-3:20, maybe 3:15 with higher mileage. So, no advice, just predictions. :-) Great race nonetheless, great PR, you fought a good fight, Phil. Congratulations!

                      PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013

                              Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013

                      18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010

                      B-Plus


                        First of all, congrats on the PR! What you have done post-surgery is most impressive.

                         

                        That result and stupid fade leaves me scratching my head with the great training you've described and the other great race results you've had. I have no advice. +1 to LRB's BQ comment and go kill it in the fall.


                        No more marathons

                          Babs - the marathon has just too many variables - hard to tell what single thing, or combination thereof rears it's ugly head and gets in the way of our goals.  But first and foremost heat is a killer.  It may have been reading above 70, but with the sun directly on you, feels like would have been higher.

                           

                          Soak in your PR, hit it again in Philly.

                          Boston 2014 - a 33 year journey

                          Lordy,  I hope there are tapes. 

                          He's a leaker!

                          meaghansketch


                            Congrats on the PR, but sorry you didn't meet your goal.  You must be feeling a lot of mixed emotions, especially considering how far you've come since your surgery.

                             

                            My guess is that it mainly comes down to the heat.  Spring marathons can be tough since you probably haven't had time to acclimate again to heat and humidity.  I know someone else who was running the same race and she was definitely feeling both the heat and the hills.

                             

                            You put together a really solid block of training, and although you could probably adjust a little here or there if you feel like there's areas you could improve, I think the biggest thing would just be running in cooler temperatures, and/or having adjusted better to warmer ones.  I think your result would have been quite different if the temperatures in the end of the race had been closer to 55 or so.  Philly should be cooler than Vermont was yesterday.  Train hard and go kill it.

                            Docket_Rocket


                              Congrats on the PR.  Sorry you had a disappointing time and there is nothing particular to pinpoint about why.  I just want to point out that you probably started out too fast for the conditions of the day.  No matter how acclimate you can be (and you were not, which is another factor), the temps will affect your pace and it is up to you to do so and when you don't, the last portion of the race becomes slower.  I still think you did great and that you have your BQ ready to go.  Pick a goal in the Fall and you will see.

                              Damaris

                               

                              As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

                              Fundraising Page


                              Mmmmm...beer

                                Congrats on the awesome PR!  I know it's not what you were hoping for, but the heat can have a huge affect, especially when you haven't had a chance to do any hot weather training.  Your training was great, imo.  I think with another cycle like you just had and a cooler race, you'll nail your goal. 

                                -Dave

                                My running blog

                                Goals | sub-18 5k | sub-3 marathon 2:56:46!!

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