2019 Sub 3 hour marathon thread (Read 680 times)

Nimmals - if you were one of those guys in the 3 black singlets, I definitely was creepily looking at you guys because I thought the jersey’s said “runner’s edge” which was my go to store in high school.

Fin - good to run into you, sorry you had a tough day. I wanted to stay longer to chat a bit more but I was just so confident going up that first hill I didn’t want to lose the momentum. By the the end of heartbreak I think my balls were smashed as well. I had to rush out of Boston to make a work conference for tomorrow, would have loved to join you for a beer after. Also what is the “recovery position” (or should I not even be asking)

MMC - it may have just been the weather, it was just so sneaky out there (see below), it’s so hard to tell at the end of 20 miles in a warm marathon whether it’s nutrition/bonking or dehydration.

I thought the overall weather was okay for the first half. It didn’t feel like it was getting to me, and I thought the slight breezes kept things cool. I realized though that was all a lie once I got into mile 21/22 when I felt thirsty. I don’t think I’ve ever felt thirsty in a marathon before (because I’ve been lucky with all 3 of my NYC races being below 60). When that sun poked out, it got downright hot.

Thanks for the congrats everyone. I’m very excited to run CIM and not run another NYC/Boston. I’m so tired of running large uphills more than 18 miles into a marathon. I hope some other folks besides just Swim sign up, would be good to get a good group going there. I think CIM has become the premier place to go run a fast time.

PS next marathon I’m going to stop thinking I can just find people. It’s impossible. There were at least 3 other people wearing the same rain suit that Andres recommended, and none of them were Weather. I only happened to see Fin because I saw “garscube” out of the corner of my eye and recognized that name from all his Strava runs. I searched all over that corral and couldn’t find either of them. Rookie mistake.

Sub 2:50! Talk about BOTT. I love it. Go get it 

 

Fin - good to run into you, sorry you had a tough day. I wanted to stay longer to chat a bit more but I was just so confident going up that first hill I didn’t want to lose the momentum. By the the end of heartbreak I think my balls were smashed as well. I had to rush out of Boston to make a work conference for tomorrow, would have loved to join you for a beer after. Also what is the “recovery position” (or should I not even be asking)

 

I guess it must have some other name here. It's the lying on your side with your head back so you can't swallow your tongue position. The dude was out of it and I thought he was going to go down and hit his head so just got him on the floor and a lady from the crownd got a medic. I wasn't exactly being a hero cos I was already on a walk break.

Well done guys.  The course is not easy to get right.  When the conditions aren’t great it makes it even more difficult.

weather as someone that loved all the Daniels WO s i can definitely say I over extended during them.  Maybe not the case for you but maybe something to take a look at.

Nimmals - if you were one of those guys in the 3 black singlets, I definitely was creepily looking at you guys because I thought the jersey’s said “runner’s edge” which was my go to store in high school.

 

 

JMac that was me lol I ran as a guide/support Runner for Alex  an Autistic runner from Long Island. I did not sleep all week as he spent the whole two nights kicking and wouldn’t you guess he finished with a blister where is entire heel came off. So for him to run 2:48 was incredible when I saw his foot I wanted to cry. It breaks my heart how he hurts himself.

JMAC congrats on a great race you were going for a similar time so glad you got it. Oh yes I run for Runner’s Edge.

Also, regarding the BAA 5k:

Congrats DW on the AG placing, that is excellent.

Nimmals: Congrats on a great run! 16:03 and first in AG, that is outstanding. You will get that sub 16 next time.

JT:  Awesome result yourself!  Congrats!  Are you taking some time off as well?

Nimmals: that is a blazing fast 5K.  Nice job.  Sub 16 is easily in reach.

JMac:  You and Finbad both went for it right the get go so don't beat yourself up over that positive split as it is very easy to do.  Congrats on the PR!  I'm still blown away at how well you seem to do come race day especially after the injuries and time off before that.  You think you will go back to a Q2 type plan or just follow up with what you did this spring? What did you think about the Boston course compared to say NYC with the hills?  I think you doing your Q runs in Central Park could have been the big difference.  I just can't replicate rolling hills or any sustained kind of downhill running here.  Also having to ride a bus 1-2 hours and waiting around for another 1-2 hours is just a hard process to go through compared to the local races I run here. Even for the bigger local races I can jump into the start with less than 1-2 minutes to go!

MMC:  Congrats on the PR & sub 3!!  Interesting that you also started to cramp up a bit as well.   Luckily for me it kept going away and I never had to fully stop as I would kind of slow down through the last 2-3 water stations.   Then it almost seized up on the slight uphill on Hereford, but then sorted itself all the way to the finish. Maybe my feuling was off too as I've run in way worse conditions than that - strange!  Good luck with the GRE!

Sling:  Great result even with the pre-race logistics!  Hey beating Jimmie Johnson is sure good in my book

Steve:  Lol and you may be right   I love the hard training aspect and felt really good for most if not all my cycle (except for the last week).  In fact I don't think I ever missed a single workout regarding pace or effort, but then race day was just slightly underwhelming. At the end of the day I'm still happy with my time and anytime you can compete and FINISH a marathon, especially when things go south, is worthy of a kudos.

As for me: I wouldn't call it a bad day any means, just a bit disappointing with how well my workouts were going into this.  Also sucked to see my marathon PR literally in front of me with less than 100 meters to go (even missed that by 7 seconds).  I think I started out pretty conservative (especially with the crowding) and then once it opened up I would say my marathon "pace" effort level seemed like it was in the 6:15-6:20 range instead of what the 6:05 range my training cycle was showing which was a bit off from the get go?  Maybe that's the Boston course more than anything speaking compared to Florida? Who knows what would have happened if I pushed just a bit harder early on.  Yes it was pretty humid (I've done much worse - lol) even at a slightly slower pace, through the half and even through the first 2 hills, but then every so often around mile 18-19 I would get random calf and eventually hamstring cramps in my legs that would thankfully go away after a few seconds.  Needless to say I was pretty nervous about either seizing up so perhaps that played a role.  This would continue all the way through the finish, but was never bad enough that I had to stop or stretch.  Picked it up on the backside of heartbreak, but by mile 22-23 the slow fade continued as the sun was out in full force by that point.  Got to see my parents right at mile 23 which helped get me through as well.  At the end of the day I ran my 3rd Boston in a row, finished them all, and ran a course PB on Monday

Not sure what is next, but I have a few season ending 5K's coming up in 2 weeks if I can recover well enough.  Won't run at all for more days and then will keep it EZ (which is likely needed) for the most part.  Unfortunately, we are about to enter summer here yet again

I'm just chiming in with agreement to what was said above, but...

a) Boston is a hard course to get right.  And some runners handle that type of course better than others.  Marathons are always cruel, but there's a greater chance of your final time not matching your fitness on that course than on others.

b) I wasn't there on Monday, but I understand that the weather got tough out there.  Not impossible to PR, especially if your PR was weak, but hard to impossible to run a time that day that would match what you could have run on a flat course on a better weather day.

c) It is so very easy to leave your race out in your training.  I think there is a myth that one is supposed to be dragging during marathon training, struggling.  And that if you're not, then you're undertraining.    In actuality, I think very few people get marathon training correct; probably 9 out of 10 serious marathoners overtrain, with 7 or so of those able to dig themselves out during taper.

Nimmals - I know I congratulated you on Instagram, but congrats here as well on a great 5K on Saturday and a great service on Monday.  Not-so-random question, since I know you were third master as well.  Any idea how we get our $?  Do they mail it to us?  In every other race where I've won prize money, they've either given it to me right there, or had me fill out paperwork before mailing the check a month later.  I have no idea what's going on here.  I emailed the BAA asking if I needed to do anything, but no helpful response so far.