Background: I had originally planned to run the Monumental Marathon again in November but I had problems with my achilles and a vacation that caused me to take too much time off in July so I decided to find a December marathon instead. CIM is supposed to be a fast course with good weather so that was my pick. Training went well and I ran the most I ever have with the hardest workouts. I think I averaged around 68 mpwGoals: I didn’t really have a tune up race, minus the half I ran very early in training but I thought I was in better shape now than that. I ran a fast 20 mile workout that averaged 7:20 pace, with the last 14 miles at a 7:13 only a few days removed from another hard workout so I figured 7:20 was a safe bet and possibly faster.
Start: I had planned to start with the 3:13 group but I was in line at the portapotty until 5 minutes prior to the start and couldn’t get through the crowd in the corral so I actually started closer to the 3:28 group. It was crowded in the first mile but I didn’t have much trouble getting on pace. People around me were running fairly fast and that mile was downhill. I had planned to start around 7:20 but be open to running faster if the effort felt right and when I found myself running 7:15-ish and it felt very comfortable and almost easy I just went with it.
Miles 1-10: I was in a GOOD MOOD the first 10 miles and feeling optimistic. The hills were bigger than I expected but never had 7:15 felt so good. Even with the hills, the effort didn’t feel hard. But it was constant up and down and they weren’t rollers to me, they were legit hills. The course was actually kind of pretty. Fall colors and palm trees. The weather was perfect and it was sunny and almost no wind.
Miles 10-15: By mile 10, I still felt great. Yeah I had some pinging in my legs but I didn’t feel like I was working too hard at that point. Somewhere between mile 10 and mile 13 I started getting irritated that the hills kept coming. Went through the half in 1:35:32 on pace for a 3:11. A bit after 13 there were a couple longer hills and I was starting to be OVER it. Looking forward to the flat that was supposedly coming. My legs were starting to hurt which was concerning but I thought maybe they would be okay once I got to the flat part.
15-18: By around 15 my legs were legit hurting. I was particularly concerned with how sore my right quad was becoming. Both of my quads hurt and my legs in general. Uh oh.
After mile 16 it was mostly flat but by mile 18 my legs couldn’t keep up anymore. Right quad felt on the verge of cramping and by 18 my legs couldn’t keep pace and I started the slow down.
18-26: Everything from there out was a struggle. The 3:13 group passed me (I had passed them fairly early on). I felt like I was jogging but I couldn’t make my legs go faster and they hurt so much anytime there was a slight incline or decline it was extra painful and I thought that quad was going to stop. I thought about dropping out. I also decided I don’t want to run NYCM after all.
By this point I figured I was losing too much time to even PR. I didn’t look at my watch anymore because I got sick of seeing 8: xx on it and I kept thinking my friend who was aiming for a 3:20 was going to pass me. Really I had no clue. I managed to pick it up a teeny bit for the last two miles. I just so badly wanted to be done. That last mile and a half just felt like forever.
When I saw the finish line clock and it said 3:16 something I ran as hard as I could manage thinking maybe I could PR after all. 3:15:51 ended up being my finish time which is a PR by just over one minute.
Post race analysis: So I guess I went out too fast for my fitness on this course. I thought the effort felt right but my legs couldn’t hack it. Should have gone out slower and lesson learned. I am a bit disappointed because I thought my fitness was better than this but at least I still managed a small PR.
And I still had fun… in the first half and meeting up with LRB and Zelanie
Hills kill.
There is a bright side: you showed toughness by staying in there and still got a PR. You PRed by one minute in a bad race when your previous PR had been a good race. So your fitness is definitely up there. Now you need to figure out how to translate that super fitness in a great finish time. And when you do, because you will, please tell me how it's done.
No more marathons
Nice. PRs are always nice. Now for that sub 20.
Boston 2014 - a 33 year journey
Lordy, I hope there are tapes.
He's a leaker!
Warm&fuzzy
You're pretty damn good at this running thing. You had to eat the hills, but still cleaned your plate. Congratulations!
Runner with a riding problem.
Are we there, yet?
I hear you on the course description. Congrats on not throwing in the towel and coming away with a PR anyway.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
Repeat after me: you are faster than this course showed. Trust me. PRIng in such a much hillier course than Indy is good! Congrats! You might have thought you quit but the fadeout wasn't too bad. Now run Chicago and a 3:13. Thanks.
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
Refurbished Hip
You amaze me! Congrats on the PR, but I also believe that you have something faster in you. What's coming up next?
Running is dumb.
"I thought about dropping out."
A skateboard would've come in handy. Although with the condition of my legs, I might still be out there on that thing. lol
It's weird how that fatigue just came out of nowhere. I would've slowed down earlier but there were no warning signs as with other hilly courses that I needed to.
While not what you wanted, take solace in the fact that you hung in there like you did, and PRd on a "PR" course.
Marathoning is hard. Congrats on PR-ing a tough race. Repetitive rolling hills like that wear you out and break your spirit. I had those during my May marathon, during miles 13-19 - same as you, I hoped the flat following that would allow recovery, but the hills had already broken me.
You had an amazing training cycle. I was exhausted just reading about it every day. I felt you had 3:10ish in you, and thought you were underselling yourself with the plan to start at 3:13. So I was hopeful when I saw the 3:10ish pace at the 10k and the half. But I guess it wasn't meant to be. As it turned out I guess you went out too fast, but I don't blame you one bit, and I hope you don't have regrets. If you know your goal, sometimes you just have to go for it and let the chips fall where they may. If you had started slower, you might've finished stronger, but how much time would you have really gained overall? A minute or two? You still PR'd, so mission accomplished. As you know, I am totally envious of your marathoning abilities.
So - back to Monumental next year? With the same kind of training you would destroy that one.
Dave
Love the photos! I'm glad you decided to walk the finish and get those.
It was great meeting you and I hope that you enjoyed the experience at least some. I know it felt awful, but your splits don't look that terrible from here anyway. Congrats on hanging in there on a tough day!
Cyberic - Thanks, I think I just need to run a course more similar to what I train on. My legs were not prepared for this and I am a poor hill runner. I am usually better at gauging the appropriate effort from the start but I underestimated the damage I was doing to my legs
bluesky - Thanks and YES!
PleasantRidge, more like, they chewed me up and spit me out but thanks
WCRunner - Thank you!
Damaris - I'm not risking Chicago weather
Mandy - thanks. I will probably make a go at the sub-20 5k again as much as I hate running 5ks
LRB - I'm glad that you felt the same way about the course as I did and yeah, it was like I went from feeling great at 10 to being worried at 12-13. Strange because the hills didn't feel hard to me and I was running them at a very appropriate effort level
Dave - Thanks. I was really hopefull too because really the effort was feeling so comfortable those first 10 miles. I had always planned to be open to running faster if it felt right and it did. I didn't feel like I was "going for it". I felt like I was pacing by effort like I had planned. I just didn't know how the hills would affect my legs even though it didn't feel like I was running too hard at all. I don't want to think about another marathon right now.
I don't want to think about another marathon right now.
OK. We'll give you 48 hours.
Barking Mad To Run
Congrats on the PR...sounds like, in the end, you won over the hills!
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
Congrats on the PR. That course sounds very tough, when we were in LA last fall, there was hardly anything I would consider flat. I assume that is much the same as you head north. The course does look pretty and you got a vacation somewhere with no snow!