Executive Summary

3:28:35, for a 20 second PR, and BQ-1:25.

Background

My 8th marathon, and 5th with BQ goal (3:30). Last October at Victoria I finally made it with a 3:28:55, but not likely enough cushion to get in. I originally picked the Eugene Marathon on 5/7 for my next attempt. However in February an achilles problem came up which set me back a couple weeks, so I pushed it out to Newport a month later. This looked like a good target because it is flat, and even this late in the season temps are pretty cool at the Oregon coast. Although it is about a 6 hr drive, which I wasn't looking forward to either pre- or post-race.

Training

Pfitz 70 mpw plan, for my third time. Did the 12 week version as I'd been keeping up the training anyway, so 18 weeks seemed excessive.

Stayed healthy, stuck rigidly to the plan despite some business travel making it challenging, and did my MP runs at 7:45 pace. Managed to hit 300 miles in April, which is usually just a fluky calendar thing when it happens, but is still nice. Four weeks before race day, I ran a half PR of 1:35:16. Two weeks before race day, I ran a 5k; course was long but otherwise that would've been close to a PR as well. So I was feeling pretty good about my chances. Thought I might even be able to hit 3:25 for BQ-5, but decided to set a more conservative goal of about 3:27, to give me a reasonable cushion. My biggest concern was honestly the drive - I had not been dealing with any major running aches & pains, but sitting for long periods of time, just in the drive home from work, was aggravating to my hips & hamstrings. Just earlier in the week, DW decided she was going to come with. I was glad to have her share the driving load. (I ended up driving the whole way down, she drove the whole way home.) And oh yeah our anniversary was the next day.

Race Day

Took the day off work Friday to drive down, stayed in Newport Friday night. First thing I did when checking into the hotel was find out what time breakfast started. It was 6:30...and race time was 7:00. Great. So ran out to a grocery store and got a bagel (of unknown vintage), single serving package of peanut butter, and a banana. However we then went to a nice place for dinner, where they had a basket of awesome bread; took some of that back to replace the stale bagel. Got a good nights sleep, and woke up on my own before the alarm. Weather was perfect - mid-50s, mostly cloudy, a bit of a breeze. Planned to go out at a 7:50ish pace and try to hold it as long as I could.

The Race

Miles 1-20: Doing what I set out to do. Laid down 7:50s like it was my job.

Splits: 7:51, 7:50, 7:50, 7:42, 7:50, 7:52, 7:52, 7:51, 7:47, 7:48, 7:52, 7:51, 7:50, 7:51, 7:52, 7:51, 7:50, 7:50, 7:51, 7:51

Didn't get a half split - in fact the first race I've ever done that didn't even have a 13.1 marker. But I was pretty sure I knew what my average pace was.

Miles 21-23: This is where it started to get hard. Slowing, but not too much; told myself if I could at least hold 8:00 the rest of the way, I'd still be in good shape.

Splits: 7:59, 8:00, 8:12

Miles 24-26: This is where it started to get really hard. Saw I was slipping to around 8:30, but then mostly stopped looking at my watch and struggled to give it everything I had for those last interminable miles, and just hang on for dear life. It's pretty hard to do math at that point in the race, but I knew I was losing my chance at getting the kind of BQ cushion I was looking for, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

Splits: 8:29, 8:30, 8:37 (final 0.3 @ 7:49 - sort of ironic that I got back to my starting pace for that last little bit)

Finished at 3:28:35. PR by 20 seconds, for BQ-1:25.

AG 7/34, OA 74/440

Postmortem

Not sure what to make of it all. In a few days I will be happy with the result, since a PR is a PR, and that's two BQs in a row. And who knows, maybe by some miracle the cutoff will be more generous next year; it's pretty unpredictable. But in the immediate aftermath I am a bit frustrated. Conditions were set up as well as they could be for this race. Yes it's the third cycle in a row with basically the same training, and they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. But I have sort of been operating under the assumption that the continued accumulation of high mileage and regular speedwork would result in continued improvements. I do realize the longer you do this, the tougher the gains become. But maybe I have reached the limit of what I can get from this training plan. Or maybe I've reached the limit of what I can get from my body; not everyone is super-fast, and not everyone can get to Boston. So I view my choices at this point as:

1. Try the same thing again, expecting different results this time (people say insanity like it's a bad thing)

2. Try a different plan, or a coach (which I am probably too cheap to do)

3. Give up on marathons, or just stop caring about Boston.

I have to say #3 seems unlikely at this point. No one here would believe me if I said it anyway. Naturally I am already thinking about the fall. So we'll see.

Pics

Zelanie also ran this - we met at packet pickup on Friday.

Finish line pic from DW.

Finisher shirt & medal. Actual finisher shirt - given after the finish. And medal was not metal, it was glass. Art glass factories are a big thing on the Oregon coast.

This is about how far away Boston feels like to me.

Post-race lunch at Newport's own Rogue Brewery. I earned myself a delicious Mocha Porter.

Based on your training and your half, I really thought a 7:50 pace was going to happen.  Did the 7:50 feel like the right effort from the beginning and not forced?

What was your in-race fueling like?

What was the temp/sun?

I am the opposite and I am initially satisfied with my result until I have time to reflect and then beat myself up and question why I couldn't do better.

I think trying a different plan (or a coach) is a good idea. I have a Hansons 80mpw peak plan if you want it 

Anyway, congrats on the PR and your training commitment is very impressive;.

Nice write up DavePWordsmith. I think your mindset is just about where it's supposed to be for what it is we do. I do think you deserve a bit more credit for the way you executed though. You lost a minute thirty seconds the last three miles, other than that, you smacked this race all upside the head.

 

You could indeed change for the sake of change, but you're still improving, so it's hard to sell me on that at this juncture. I think you and Pfitz were made for each other, and it just might be that your next cycle gets you those 90 seconds you lost. Or not. But either way, you leave it all on the course when you're out there. You do not get cheated. #beast

Thanks! Laziness & inertia might well keep me on Pfitz. And honestly, another 20 seconds could make a pretty big difference when it comes to Boston. So who knows.

Congrats on the PR!

No idea as to where to go from there. Maybe a different plan might help break some more ground? Hard to tell since you're still improving, but maybe you need to try something different to get faster.  Still, great job!

Based on your training and your half, I really thought a 7:50 pace was going to happen.  Did the 7:50 feel like the right effort from the beginning and not forced?

 

What was your in-race fueling like?

What was the temp/sun?

 

I am the opposite and I am initially satisfied with my result until I have time to reflect and then beat myself up and question why I couldn't do better.

 

I think trying a different plan (or a coach) is a good idea. I have a Hansons 80mpw peak plan if you want it 

 

Anyway, congrats on the PR and your training commitment is very impressive;.

It felt just about right. As demonstrated by the fact I was able to hold it for 20 miles, I guess. There were times I had to push a bit to keep pace, and times I had to rein it in a bit. But never too much either way.

Fueling: Gu around 6, 12, 18, 23 (blackberry, vanilla, salted caramel, & caramel macchiato, for those of you scoring at home). Water at every aid station ~2 miles, also gatorade at a couple of them.

Temp was mid-50s; mostly cloudy, late in the race seemed like more sun and wind in my face, but everything feels worse at that point.

I am almost always disappointed after the race, then feel better about it later. It certainly would have made a world of difference to cut just 10 seconds off each of those last 3 miles. But I knew that at the time, and I could not have run any faster if a bear was chasing me.

I figured you'd recommend a change and/or coach. You have in fact already sent me that 80mpw Hansons plan, and it is terrifying.

 

That little downhill at mile 26 was nice,  but the gravel before the finish sucked.

 

Temps were 60 and overcast. Warmish for racing but not hot.

 

Did you end up seeing those HS kids who had never really run before anywhere on the course? I was wondering how their day went.

Thanks!

Yes the downhill at the end was nice, but thank god because most of mile 26 was uphill. And that gravel was annoying as was the fact that there was a 90 degree turn immediately before the finish. No long approach to the finish line.

I did actually see those HS kids & waved. They seemed to be doing OK, walking I think. I saw them in the results when I looked at the AG listing (two 17 year olds finishing at the exact same time) - they ended up around 5:40. For the benefit of the others reading - we met these two kids before the race. They asked me if I'd done a marathon before. Then, "is it hard?"  Neither had run more than 3000m before. One said he runs about 3 miles a day. But apparently a teacher said he'd give them an A if they finished the marathon. Oh to be young.

This is why I usually feel satisfied after the race - because I know I put it all out there.

But then later I wonder why I suck so much. haha

 

I always think mixing things up is a good thing.  I agree that Hansons plan looks awful. I meant to put the evil devil face there

For me, the feeling that I suck happens when I am actually doing the sucking. Like I am moving as fast as I can, and this is all I have?

If I switched plans, I'd probably still like something no more than 70mpw, and keeping a rest day. Before I went to Pfitz, which originally intimidated me too much, I seem to remember looking at two different Hansons custom plans. One was the 80mpw plan you sent me which looked ridiculous, the other one looked like not tough enough. I was thinking about cobbling something in between the two, and I realized that would've gotten me to about where Pfitz is. So I just went with that.

This was a well executed race, Dave.  Nice job.  That extra 20 seconds could make the difference between getting into Boston and not getting in.  I certainly think you still have plenty of room to improve on your marathon time.