Beginners and Beyond

12

RR - Snohomish River Run Marathon - 10/15/2017 (pics added) (Read 51 times)

    Executive Summary:

    3:23:39 for a PR by 4:46, and BQ-6:21.

    Pre-race, I could not in my wildest dreams have imagined I'd be typing these numbers. It was an incredible day.

     

    Background:

    This was marathon #9...number 9...number 9. I have been shooting for Boston since about #4, when it became 3:30. Ran my first BQ last October with #7, at 3:28:55. Then after a very solid training cycle, squeaked out only a tiny improvement at #8 in June with 3:28:25. My goal for that race was ~3:27:00, for "enough cushion to get in". Ha. Of course my BQ-1.25 didn't get me in, but what was more discouraging was how far off I was from the 3:23 cutoff. I was sort of wondering if I'd plateaued, and would just start getting slower with age, and the BQ would be getting farther out of reach. At least until I get a slower qualifying time in another 2 years. So things were looking bleak.

     

    Training:

    My last 3 cycles were the Pfitz canned 70mpw plan. I was pretty happy with it, but thought it might be time to switch things up a bit. (1) reduce some of the tedium, and (2) maybe changes in training stimuli would bring some improvement. I am not a student of training methods nor the physiology therein, quite the opposite. I really just want someone to tell me what to do. I'm too cheap for a coach, but I bought a McMillan custom plan online. They design a schedule based on a very detailed questionnaire you submit, covering your running history. They build in in other races you want to do, as well as any anticipated scheduling issues e.g. travel. Some comments on the plan vs Pfitz:

    - peaked at about 70mpw, more or less the same.

    - fewer "true" LRs, only 3 at 18+

    - more LRs with MP, generally although fewer MP miles

    - tempos were typically in interval form rather than continuous

    - a higher ratio of LT pace to VO2Max pace runs...haven't really analyzed, but felt that way

    - Pfitz gives Monday off, it became my religion. McMillan gave Monday as an optional 4-5 easy; I opted to take it, because why not. Ended up with a 90-day streak including the race. (Which will in fact end the next day. Although log doesn't show the full streak, due to a trip to Japan which screwed up the time zones. I did stick to the plan that week though, which was no easy feat.)

     

    Overall it felt more or less comparable to my other recent cycles in terms of difficulty. I didn't feel any faster or better trained. I generally hit paces for all the workouts, but it seemed like more effort than it should have been to hit pace during my MP runs. Raced 5k/10k/HM during the cycle, and did not come close to PRing any of them. Going into the race, did not feel I had improved much.

     

    Goal:

    I had planned to target 3:27 again, despite the fact that this might not be enough based on the 2018 cutoff. But I didn't really think anything much faster than that was achievable. People have been saying you need to go for BQ-5 to be sure. But I decided this didn't make any sense; the cutoff could just as easily be 5:01 as 4:59. And I didn't want to risk a blowup going all-out for 3:25.

     

    In my June race, I went out at 7:50ish pace. I was rock solid until 20, kept it fairly close till 22, then 23 & beyond slipped to 8:30s. Decided to try the same thing for this race, and see if I could hang on longer.

     

    The Race:

    I picked this race because (1) pretty flat course, (2), likely cool weather, (3) this company puts on pretty well organized races, (4) it was 20 minutes from my house. The downside is that although this race is a pretty longstanding half (600+ finishers today), this is the first year they added a marathon. So certainly a risk of debut bugs, and a very small crowd so a lot of long lonely late miles. It looked like 150+ had registered, but there were only 104 finishers.

     

    Race Day:

    Weather was perfect: 40 at the start, low-mid 50s at the finish, no wind, clear skies.

    At the starting line, I felt kind of meh, did not think I had anything special going on. But went out intending to execute the "how long can I hold onto 7:50ish" plan. The answer turned out, quite astonishingly, to be 26.2 miles.

     

    The race itself -- was really boring. Which is awesome. When you've been on a plane and someone asks "how was your flight", my answer if nothing went terribly wrong is "uneventful". Because that is the best possible outcome of air travel. Same for marathons. This race was very uneventful. I usually list my splits, but you can look in my log, it's pretty monotonous. I kept chugging away, laying down 7:50 +/- a few, waiting for the inevitable crash. It just never came. Of course the effort increased, but never got totally miserable. I felt totally in control. Hitting 22-23 and realizing I may be able to hold on to the pace was an incredible feeling. Thought about seeing if I could push it harder, but decided not to press my luck. I finally decided to pour it on when I hit 25; mile 26 was 7:28. I looked at my watch frequently during the race to check pace, but literally never looked at the total elapsed time at any point. I knew if I could hold onto the pace I'd be happy with the result, and I really didn't want to be doing any finish time extrapolations with marathon brain. So it may sound strange, but approaching the finish I honestly had no idea, and I could only see a clock for the half. Thought I had a decent chance of sub-3:25. I was in complete disbelief, as well as of course pure elation, when crossing the finish line, looking at my watch, and seeing the 3:23.

     

    Finish: 3:23:39

    My first-ever negative split (probably - there was no official 13.1 split)

    PR of 4:46, BQ-6:21

    AG 1/6, OA 9/104

     

    Amusing anecdote: I never use pacers because I'd rather run my own race. Plus they are notoriously unreliable - of course there are some very good ones, maybe the majority, but it only takes one bad one to ruin your whole day and destroy months of training. Worse than official pacers however are unofficial ones. Chatting with a guy at the start, I told him my goal. He offered to pace me; I said sure, knowing I would do my own thing anyway. He ends up pulling way ahead of me by mile 2, and after a while I can't even see him. Until I catch up to him at mile 12; he says "I'm cramping up, go get it, you're doing great!". Thanks bud.

     

    Final Thoughts:

    No idea how I pulled this one out. Race conditions were perfect, but the last couple have been OK too. The new training plan? Maybe, although it didn't seem like it was so radical. The course measured a bit short too, although it was USATF certified, so who am I to argue. Probably a combination of things, but still hard to wrap my mind around this big an improvement in only 4 months. Not that I'm complaining. Take that, plateau.

     

    Next up: likely Eugene Marathon in April. Goal TBD.

    Dave

    Coastal


      Damn nice marathon!  Enjoyed the RR.

        Wow Dave! I'm blown away by your improvement in such a short amount of time. Fantastic RR. Big congrats sent your way 

        PRs:----- 5k: 17:48 (2019)   5M: 29:36 (2020)    HM: 1:24:37 (2017) Scheduled: ???


        Hip Redux

          Excellent!   Boston, here you come!!

           

          Half Crazy K 2.0


            It's great to see that it all came together for you. You definitely deserved a favorable course, weather, health, etc. Congrats on the huge PR. How far in advance can you book a hotel in Boston?

            GinnyinPA


              That was a really well executed race. Congratulations on the huge PR and excellent BQ!

              RunningOnSand


                Awesome race and PR! I also enjoyed reading your RR. Boston bound!

                oldfartrunner


                  Awesome Dave!  Plateaus are like that, usually when you come off one it is pretty big in my experience. Keep at it, you got faster times in you!  

                  workinprogress11


                    I'm so happy for you!  I know how much you wanted this and how hard you worked for it.  You will run Boston as a qualifier. Congratulations!

                    onemile


                      I felt totally in control. Hitting 22-23 and realizing I may be able to hold on to the pace was an incredible feeling

                       

                      This is just awesome. So glad you got to see the results of your hard work and that you surprised yourself yesterday.  When I saw the updates from the tracker and you were going faster than planned I figured you must have been feeling good.

                       

                      If I were to guess, I would say it is the cumulative effects of the last 3 marathon cycles.

                       

                      Congrats again!!


                      delicate flower

                        Man, you freaking rocked that.  That's got to be a good feeling when the last 5K is your fastest.  That is something I've yet to experience.  It's great to finally see you so happy about a marathon.  They are still dumb though.  Congratulations on a great race.  Hopefully I can join you in Boston.  The pressure is on me now!

                         

                         

                        It seems to me that you ran so well because all your hard work finally came together on race day.  We have days when we have bad runs, and those days sometimes happen on race days and it sucks.  We also have days when we run great, and when that happens on a race day it is magic.

                        <3

                        Docket_Rocket


                          Awesome, Dave!  I am so happy to read your numbers and the fact that you smashed that goal to pieces.  Well deserved.

                           

                          I wonder if the change to McMillan was key, although I always thought you had a better PR than your prior one in you anyway.  The change in LR length and different focus, etc.  In any event, I am very happy for you!!!!!

                          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

                            Thanks everyone!

                             

                            This is just awesome. So glad you got to see the results of your hard work and that you surprised yourself yesterday.  When I saw the updates from the tracker and you were going faster than planned I figured you must have been feeling good.

                             

                            If I were to guess, I would say it is the cumulative effects of the last 3 marathon cycles.

                             

                            Yeah I have always assumed it's the accumulated mileage and training. It was just surprising that it would come in a big jump like this, but who can figure these things out.

                             

                            What was weird was that I did not really feel any different for the first ~20 miles of this race than for the first ~20 of the last one. Only felt better from there on out. Had no idea until then that this would be the race of my life. I guess that's not really weird at all, that's just how it goes.

                             

                            Man, you freaking rocked that.  That's got to be a good feeling when the last 5K is your fastest.  That is something I've yet to experience.  It's great to finally see you so happy about a marathon.  They are still dumb though.  Congratulations on a great race.  Hopefully I can join you in Boston.  The pressure is on me now!

                             

                             

                            It seems to me that you ran so well because all your hard work finally came together on race day.  We have days when we have bad runs, and those days sometimes happen on race days and it sucks.  We also have days when we run great, and when that happens on a race day it is magic.

                             

                            YES. You better nail yours. Which you are fully equipped to do. And then onemile needs to sign up for 2019.

                             

                            And this was certainly the definition of "race day magic". It was indeed magical. Normally I would have included in my report stuff about the isolated stretches of the race, spots on the course which were poorly marked or needed someone directing traffic, issues with coordinating my gel schedule with the water stops, having to fight through the slower 4-across half runners we joined for the latter part of the race, etc. But when things are going good, none of that shit matters.

                            Dave

                            LRB


                              Had no idea until then that this would be the race of my life. I guess that's not really weird at all, that's just how it goes.

                               

                              That's awesome on any level.

                               

                              You said you were going to take care of business and apparently you meant it. There are not enough superlatives for not only the overall performance, but the 26th mile that was 25 seconds faster than your slowest mile, so I'll just say you done good. 

                              KCRuns


                                Congratulations!  That's a HUGE PR!

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