Short Story: MTA Official Results

3^rd Marathon - Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon (+ 5k)

3:26:28 (PR by ~17 minutes)

Overall 164/1821

AG 15/138

Splits 10k: 48:15, HM 1:41:30, 20 miles 2:35:34

Disclaimer:

I must apologize for the recent alter-ego posting by that guy who must have hacked my account and changed my name to TaperBruce. Thankfully, things are back to “normal.”

Background:

I started running in March of last year and marathoner friends from church convinced me to train for a half in May. Well, that training went so well that I had actually signed up to run a full last September (Air Force) before actually running the half.  I ended up running another FM seven weeks later (Indy Monumental) and managed to nock 13 minutes off my time to get it to 3:43:25. Needless to say I was hooked on distance running and the marathon.

The Plan:

As my friends & I were looking to the calendar of races in 2013, I decided that I would have one goal race for the spring (Illinois Marathon), another for the fall (Milwaukee) and couple more thrown in just for fun. Being a planner, I tentatively decided to shoot for a 3:35 for spring and then see if I could whittle away the remaining minutes to hit a BQ in the fall race (3:25).

After Indy, I had purchased Pfitz’s Advanced Marathoning and settled on his 18/70 plan (since I had only heard good stories about how well it had prepared others). The only unknown was weather my body would handle the higher mileage. I built back up my base after Indy and in January started Pfitz.

Training:

Training over the winter months in Wisconsin was definitely not for the faint of heart (some of you may remember the icy beard avatar). I mainly ran outside for the bulk of my runs but thankfully was able to do my speed work on an indoor track. I ended up adding a few more miles to Pfitz’s plan by doing an easy run on Mondays (his cross/rest day). So, I basically ended up averaging a bit over 70 miles a week for the bulk of the training. Finally, I got to the speed work portion of Pfitz and I absolutely loved it. Doing those intervals let me see that I had a gear that I didn’t know I could hit. However, during training, it appeared that my original goal of 3:35 was a bit soft. I was able to hit my paces pretty easily and revised my goal marathon pace down to 3:30.

Race Weekend:

There were actually 5 of us from church who were running the Illinois I-Challenge this weekend. There were the two guys who got me hooked on marathoning and two ladies who have done multiple marathons but both of whom were doing their first race back after injuries (each had experienced a severe ankle break – separate incidents). My dear wife and two of our children would also driving down later (they would arrive about start time of the 5k) and this would be the first time any of them would see me racing.

The 5 of us went out to Biaggi’s for dinner and after the obligatory carb loading we all talked about our goal times and race strategies. The ladies were both planning on doing a run-walk plan since this was their first race back and were shooting for 4:10ish. One of the guys was coming off hip/knee issues and was hoping to run around 3:50 and the other guy was planning to run around a 3:35-3:40 pace. Finally, everyone looked at me and I said I had finally decided to go out with the 3:25 pacer group and try to hang on til the very end. They all have been encouraging me to go for the BQ this race because they’ve thought my training has been crazy (in a good way). Oh well, it’ll either be epic, or an epic blow-up.

We had all signed up to run the I-Challenge (sort of a mini-Goofy) that would entail running a 5k on Friday evening and then the full marathon on Saturday morning. We had all decided to use the 5k as a shake-out run and just have fun like scottydawg always seems to do (unfortunately I forgot my camera so don’t have photos for the 5k) though we did cross the finish line on the 50 yard line of the stadium side-by-side waving to the photographer. (I’m guessing that’s one I’ll buy)

Marathon Race Report

Race morning I woke up at 2:30 and couldn’t fall back to sleep. As I lay in bed I thought about race strategy and imagined running along the course. I did my undergrad & MS at U of I so I’d be running through my old “stomping ground”. I never did fall back asleep so I eventually got up and got ready for the race. Weather was supposed to be 46 at the start with it warming up to 60 for the day. That meant singlet & shorts along with the obligatory sunglasses. Breakfast was the usual bagel & peanut butter along with a banana and water. The other guys and I drove and parked at the Assembly Hall across the street from where we’d finish.

I made my way into corral A and settled to where I could see the 3:25 pacer and waited for the start. The wheelchair racers headed out and 2 minutes later we were running free.

Miles 1-5

I always seem to have tough time settling into a good groove during the first few miles and this race was no exception. I kept the pacer just ahead of me and tried to settle into a good routine. Unfortunately, it was fairly crowded and I seemed to be running with the flailing elbow group – how do people run like that? These miles run up from the stadium then along Green street right through campus – the streets still had the faint smell of beer from the frat house parties the night before, but at least they were clean. My family was along Green St and DW was shooting photos and here’s one of my zipping by them (far side in the orange and blue singlet) . I ended up taking water somewhere around the three mile point as the route passed into Urbana and started winding into neighborhoods. Somewhere along this point we passed a guy playing the bagpipes … first time I’ve ever seen that in a race.

Miles 6-10

Finally during this stretch I felt at ease and settled into a good groove. We were running in neighborhoods in Urbana by this point and people were lining the streets cheering along the route. I mostly just zoned out on the surroundings and don’t remember very much other than taking a gel around the 6 mile mark. We also ran through a curvy new subdivision road that was at the east edge of town and didn’t have any shade so this part was a bit warm during the race. Then we ran through Meadowbrook park along a narrow winding path. There were a couple of little wooden bridges in this park but the path was concrete so it was a bit pounding on the feet. I heard a couple of pheasants crowing through here and I heard from friends that they saw 4 does feeding later when they passed through it. Eventually, we exited the park and started back toward campus. I grabbed water at a couple of stations through this stretch, though for the life of me I can’t remember when/where. I do remember the park was really hot (out in the sun) and the first water station exiting was the Zombie station – folks dressed up like the living dead. I hesitatingly took water from the last zombie since I figured I should be able to out sprint him if he turned hungry.

Miles 11-15

During this part of the course we also ran by the dorms I stayed in for Fresh/Soph years and there were a number of frat boys out on the lawn at Sigma Nu with the big speakers blaring … just like I remember from my days there. Again, the stale smell of beer wafted over the course as we headed back toward the stadium. At this point the pacer was telling the half marathoners who were feeling good to kick it home. A number of them took off and at the 12.5 mark the halfers split for good and it was just the full marathoners left. They counted off and we had 12 people left in the group … 13 if you counted me as the parasite. We continued running back through campus and now passed along Green St again. I was feeling awesome through this entire stretch and passed my family again. I managed to give DD a high five and DS ran alongside to catch me for his fist bump. We continued along Green St into Champaign and passed under the train tracks with a praise band playing there. I was feeling really good here and momentarily considered ditching the pace group and going it alone, but decided against it.

Miles 16-20

We meandered through Champaign during this stretch and people still lined the streets. There was the occasional band playing but for the most part I was just ticking off miles. My legs still felt good and I took another gel here around the 16 mile mark. This part of the race course was also a bit windy and the pacer would continuously remind folks to group up and draft. During this phase we also had some uphills – nothing difficult but just enough to notice. It was also fairly windy throughout the back half of the course and we’d alternate between running directly into a head wind to a cross-wind. Unfortunately, I don’t remember ever having a tail wind. Why is that? Towards the 20 mile mark I was starting to feel fatigue in my right quad – not cramping but just tiredness. At this point I’m thinking that I might actually have a chance at breaking through to the BQ. We had lost a couple of people in the pace group and the latest count had us at 10 … 11 with the parasite.

Miles 21-25

OK, now this is where it gets serious. I was still feeling OK but was starting to focus on running form to make sure I was staying smooth and efficient. I took a gel just before the 21 mile mark and then took water at the next station. It was at this point that our pacer seemed to pick it up a bit … probably by 5-10 seconds per mile. Now, that really isn’t anything at mile 3, but here it was tough. I kept pace with him and there was one other runner with us. So, after this point it was just the three of us … all the rest of the people fell away. I knew it was going to be tough but was determined to hang these two as long as I could. There was another uphill here and we motored up and down for another couple of miles. Finally, we reached mile 24 and I remember running side by side with the pacer and other runner and then slowly falling off pace. They were only a couple of strides ahead but for the life of me I couldn’t close the gap. My brain said “pick it up legs” … legs said “nope.” My brain said, “but legs it’s just 3 or 4 quick strides and you’re there again” … legs said “then you do it, stupid brain” I decided to just run as strong as I could and not worry about it and slowly they pulled away … 10 yards … 20 yards … 40 yards … then I couldn’t see them. Now I was running all by myself and into a bit of wind and uphill. The only hill comes at mile 24 and I was on it alone. I found myself downshifting to granny gear to make it through that rise and this was the point I knew I wouldn’t make BQ this race. Oh well, it’s too far along the course to turn around and go back … may as well keep plugging away as best I can. I walked for about 20-30 yards through the final water station and took one last drink of water. I continued pushing through mile 25 and the crowd was great here cheering for me … one runner … yelling my name from the bib. It was tough … my legs were dead … but I kept pressing on. I passed back under the train tracks and ran up the short rise to have the stadium come into view. I was almost done.

Home Stretch

I’d love to say I kicked it into interval pace at this point in the race and managed to erase my deficit, but that wasn’t going to happen. Even though the stadium was in view I still had the last long mile to make it home. I kept running along and may have passed a few more runners/walkers at this point but I honestly don’t remember. Finally, I made the final turn off 1^st street and headed into the parking lot of the stadium. I ran down the short decline to the entrance onto the field and as I entered I heard my DS yelling to me. I gave him a quick wave and ran as hard as I could toward the finish line. I crossed the line, got my medals – the FM and the extra I-Challenge medal – then felt like I was going to pass out. I was lightheaded and needed to rest against the rail. The volunteers gave me a water and I started feeling OK so walked over to get a warming blanket and hug my family. Finish time 3:26:29 … not a BQ, but a PR by 17 minutes. I’ll take that any day.

We showered at the ARC (used to be called IMPE) and ate dinner at Papa Del's Pizza. Awesome trip ... awesome race ... awesome memories.

Legs feel amazing good this morning and no lingering pain or injuries ... only that post race fatigue. I'll take a day or so off and get back to training for the next one. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

Beautiful DW and stinky shiny guy

Awesome DD & DS and stinky shiny guy

Awesome friends ... I had finally warmed up and felt good by this point.

Nicely done Sir! I'm hoping to do the HM next  year.

Congrats!  Great time!  I can see you getting the BQ in the Fall you are so close.

And you don't look like your other avi sans beard.  Looking good!

I had to come and see how you raced this bad boy - I knew it was yesterday and I was DYING to see how you did!  Your training was beyond awesome and the progress you've made over the course of only the last year?  Yeah, you have mad talent!

I love that this race was a return to your old stomping grounds - I didn't realize that was the case.  3:26?!!?!?!?  You were thisfreakingclose to a BQ.  To drop from, what, a 3:56 FM to a 3:26 in a year?  CRAZY TIME!!!  I appreciated you describing pretty honestly how difficult the last 10K was for you and what you all had to push through mentally/physically, to finish the race strong....and you so did.  You didn't give up minutes or cash it in - you pushed on/through some yuck to finish pretty much on pace.  That's inspiring.  I loved all the pics of you and your adorable family!  I am so glad they were there with you to celebrate your huge PR and accomplishment in knocking out your 3rd marathon in your first year running - NUTS!

Congratulations, Bruce, to you on a ginormous PR.  I can't wait to see you at Lakefront.  That is where you are going to put up that BQ-goodness knows how many minutes.  Bravo!

That's a great PR!  You've sure come a long way in a short time.  I'm sure your BQ is just around the corner.  Congratulations from a fellow alumnus!

Congrats on a great run from a fellow Illini! I hope you enjoyed the Papa Del's =]

Awesome. Just. Awesome! Congratulations!

TaperBruce was kinda fun

Great race!!! Congrats Bruce! Your hard work paid off. GREAT PICTURES!!! Loved the detail of the RR!