MMerkle - Outstanding job, we'll want to hear everything about it! Also, your post celebrating it was:

DK - You can use CAPS, this is the no filter thread! Freedom!!!! 🦅🦅
Also, ok, I may have exaggerated a bit. I took a look at the front page and the Kiwi points table tells me it's a 1% adjustment in pace.
I'm still unsure about a time goal though as I have no idea what kind of pace I'll be able to maintain through the trails in the beginning.

Jmac - Cool, yeah, it's probably the back. Like, from my ignorant perspective, the core provides stability, and the back is a key piece of the core.
If the back is not optimal either due to weakness in muscles or scoliosis, something like that, that stability will suffer and the muscles down the chain will pay for it.
I like to think that the big muscles should bear the brunt of absorption and stability during a run and if they don't do their jobs, other smaller muscles have to pick up the slack, including the fascia under the foot, the arch of the foot.
Though you can work out the arch of the foot, as usual, strengthening the whole body can help.

RP - I didn't realize but the Boston Marathon is in 2 weeks. When does your taper starts?

Andy - Here's hoping you and your family are safe.

Darkwave - Here's hoping Cherry Blossom goes well for you!

me - This was one of my hardest ever training weeks. A LOT of elevation with the highlight of the week being the maniacal 5x 4 minutes uphill on a 8 to 14% grade hill yesterday.

During the long run today I again hit part of the trail section and the 2 nasty climbs from the race course. I'm happy to report that I timed my climb again and I was faster this time. Practice makes perfect. One thing I've noticed while climbing the short hill of death was that this time, besides noticing that the ground is uneven stones, and that if I place my feet in the upper side of these uneven stones where I can place my full feet on the ground thus giving me more lift. Where as if I place my feet on the under side of them, my heels are off the ground and I'm not as strong.

I could see once again that a portion of the race course is still blocked and it will likely be blocked for months since they started working that section 6 months ago. They're working to contain the cliff rock so it does not fall down.

The race organizers have not said anything about changes to the course, so they're likely leaving it to the last minute.

Anyway, I have some very high levels of fatigue right now, so this week will have me possibly running flat ground and sleeping as much as I can to try to recover.

Also, the heart race monitor was completely bonkers today, it's time Garmin does something about it.

Weekly for period: From: 03/27/2023 To 04/02/2023

Total distance: 46.13mi

As for me, I've got the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler on Sunday.  Would like to break 71:19 as that earns me a mug (for running faster than the first female winner of the race).  Would also like to break 70 just because.

Congrats on the mug (and with time to spare)!

Salisbury Marathon Race Report: 

I'll first note that I am not nearly as sore as I normally am. Every marathon I've done before this one, I had to descend stairs by leaning on the railing and lowering one leg at a time, and I wasn't walking normally. This time going down stairs still sucks but it's not that bad. My quads are not nearly as beat up. Let's get into it.

Breakfast: One 16 oz bottle of water with a stick of LMNT (lemon habanero), a few cups of coffee, one Maruten Solid 225, and a peanut butter sandwich made with one slice of Dave's bread and organic peanut butter.

Mile 1: This was actually really key. I had the following conversation with myself after checking my watch: "Alright let's address the elephant right now. You tend to be a negative Nancy during marathons, and you need to work on your mid race head space. On top of that the weather is far from ideal and the mile markers are clearly going to be well ahead of when the watch beeps (and BOY were they, probably by 150 meters or so). What will checking the watch do for you? Nothing positive probably, so we are going to run this race darkwave style. Let's shoot for no watch checking until at least mile 20. Let's even consider just letting the time at the finish be a surprise. Let's focus on execution. In particular, not eating shit the last few miles. And taking water at every, or almost every station."

I did finally crack and check the watch at 2:55:XX in. Why did I cave then? Stay tuned.

Miles 2-12: These pretty much felt as consistent as my splits were. I fought some heavy wind miles 3-6 as expected. Passed a few people. Had some caffeinated Cliff Bloks between miles 7 and 8.5 ish. Also somewhere around 8 there were some wind gusts and rain that together pelted me a bit. My response, literally out loud: "Bring it the fuck on!" I took the advice of RP, Andy, Mark, and maybe a couple others. Don't let the wind get to you mentally, and don't fight it. When strong winds hit, I told myself I'm getting a short break in effort and it's keeping me cool. There was a pack of 4 in front of me I came close to catching, but eventually they pulled away. Oh well.

Miles: 13-18: Lots of wind. Especially miles 15-18. Around the half way point, I start to feel some fatigue both in my quads and overall. Got passed just at the half way mark as well. You've got to be kidding me. I've felt better at mile 16 on training runs than I do at this moment. This is bullshit. Fuck this sport. It must be nice for people who have fucking talent. Que the other me: "This is the exact shit I was just talking about. This isn't THAT bad. Get some more Cliff Bloks and water in you, hold steady until mile 20, and see how we feel then. Can you handle that?" Roger that. Started to feel better around 17, but the wind is pretty punishing.

Miles 19-23: Mile 19 is where you make a turn so the wind is no longer a head wind, and in fact was more like a tailwind, finally! And so I caught a second wind. I literally felt better at 19 than I did at 13 and by a good bit. Obviously felt better mentally as a result. I catch up to someone, we chat briefly. He says he's out of gas. I offer some Cliff Bloks because I know I won't finish all 3 sleeves. He passed on the offer and wished me good luck. There is some cool looking but also intimidating lightning not too far in the distance and then some rain kicks in, soaking my feet eventually. But it also cooled me off.

This stretch was fantastic. I was rollin. My strides were long and powerful and I had a great rhythm. I have NEVER felt like this at this point in a marathon. Is THIS what it feels like to have a good marathon?

Miles 23-Finish: Right around mile 23 my calves shit the bed. It's not horrible but it's bad. Well this is interesting, it has always been my quads but for once it's something else. Maybe it was in my head but my feet being wet and hence heavier seemed to make each push off more painful for my calves. I think to myself, you basically have a sitcom left. An episode of Seinfeld. Come on, you can handle that. I start to recite my mantras, which I've never tried before but this race I picked two. One from David Goggins: "WHO'S GONNA CARRY THE BOATS, AND THE LOGS!!!???" The other from Jay-Z, "World can't hold me, too much ambition." Say what you want, I think it helped.

A little after mile 25 I catch the guy who passed me at the half way mark. As I pass him, he shouts out "Hey man you're gonna be under 3!" WWHAAT? Is he serious? After all this I might STILL have a shot? No fucking way. What do I do? Do I check the watch? It must be close. I can't take it anymore. And this is where I broke and looked. A quick glance... 2:55:XX ... THIS IS GOING TO BE CLOSE, HOLY SHIT! I'm nauseas, have a side stitch, and my calves are shot. I'm not sure what I have left. I just need to hang on! Where is mile 26? It can't be far.

And then there it was. Just had to make the last turn to the finishing stretch. Waiting at the bottom of that stretch was my very excited girlfriend. What I didn't know was that the tracking app malfunctioned, most likely due to weather, and so from her perspective, and my parents perspective, something may have gone horribly wrong a long time ago. I can't believe this is happening. Through the finish I go.

Official Time: 2:59:26.9

Everything hurts like shit obviously. I lean over the railing for a minute trying not to get sick. My girlfriend pointed out there were Coke cans behind me, so I grabbed one because those always settle my stomach. It worked.

We then meet up with the guy from mile 19. He got a PR actually. We now follow each other on Strava. Off to the beer stand we go. I symbolically salute the 3 hour barrier, "To a worthy opponent, cheers."

MMerkle - great report (thanks for the shoutout).  I am so happy for you.

I think you accomplished two things yesterday.  You broke 3 for the first time, and you learned what a correctly executed marathon feels like.  I honestly feel that the second point is more important.  Once you know how to execute a marathon, you just go out and do that every time.  And your times will naturally improve from increased fitness and increased durability from experience at that distance (with some variation due to weather, choice of course, etc).

Steve - moving in that weather while sick sounds absolutely awful.  Fingers crossed that the improvement continues.

Flavio - that 5x4 minutes sounds unbelievably brutal.  Interesting intel on the course (the stones and your foot placement).  My gut tells me that your course scouting is going to pay off.

Marky_Mark - sorry about the DNS, but sounds like the right decision.

Andy - I'm assuming that you (literally) weathered the storm well?  We hope to hear from you.

JoshWolf - thanks for the congrats!

(and sorry to conflate AndyTN and JoshWolf - I think that's a party foul?)

mmerkle - LOVED the report. What a performance.

 

I think you accomplished two things yesterday.  You broke 3 for the first time, and you learned what a correctly executed marathon feels like.  I honestly feel that the second point is more important.  Once you know how to execute a marathon, you just go out and do that every time.  And your times will naturally improve from increased fitness and increased durability from experience at that distance (with some variation due to weather, choice of course, etc).

 

Completely concur with this—perfect execution. It’s too common that the way you felt for 19-23 comes at 16-20, and what hit you at 23 instead comes at 20. The grit and mental toughness developed during training can get you through 5k, but all the mantras in the world can’t sustain 10k once you’re in that zone. The flipside is finishing with the final 5k as your fastest—happened to me at Chicago, and it was an amazing feeling, but I know I left some time on the course.

An underappreciated benefit of running a well executed race is just proving that you can—it gives you that much more confidence every time you go out. It took me quite a few marathons before I even approached even splits. It got so once I hit the upper teens, I was just waiting for the wheels to fall off. If instead you expect to hold steady, it puts you in a much better head space and lets you focus on what matters.

It’s too common that the way you felt for 19-23 comes at 16-20, and what hit you at 23 instead comes at 20.

If you asked someone to succinctly summarize the difference between a good and bad marathon, I think you basically did it.

Congrats again mmerkle - I feel like you've really "grown" in the past 2 years since you first posted here and it's been fun to watch. I really do think you have at least 2:4X potential. I think darkwave hit on a key point: now you now how to run a marathon. Being able to work through rough patches earlier than expected can often be the difference between a good marathoner and a mediocre one. Unless someone really sandbagged their goals, the best race of your life is going to feel way worse than you expect somewhere between miles 8 and 15. It's something odd about the marathon imo - I don't experience that at any other distance to the same degree.

AndyTN well I usually just follow hansons. Final workout, 10 day taper. This time around I just pulled the workouts from their plan because I know them, my wife knows the schedule, and have had success with them every time. I abandoned their weekly mileage and just went with a goal o 60-70 mile weeks because I've had success with THAT as well, and other than weather/race it seems like I put in a good effort to stay around 60. The one 80 mile week really doesn't impact the overall average much. I think it worked well to show me I'm in really good shape physically and MAYBE was timed perfectly to hit the highest mileage 3 weeks out, do my last workout, then enter the official taper. It's just an odd feeling going into a race not having a really set taper. Almost like I should know what I'm doing and I'm scared of the power.

MMerkle - Great RR and I’m very impressed at your mental strength to push through in those conditions!  I underestimated you as I honestly thought you’d finish between 3:10 and 3:20. You are so young that you can improve vastly at all distances if you decide to pursue running at a consistent level. 👍

darkwave - Congrats on a great time….your comeback is looking good. 👍