Beginners and Beyond

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Really fucking long Sugarloaf Marathon race report (Read 40 times)


From the Internet.

    I needed revenge after a bad fall marathon and I GOT IT, YO!

     

    TRAINING was monstrous this time around. I averaged ~62 mph from January 1 through my last taper week, even factoring in a week of <20 when I was sick and another cutback of 50ish. I had 7 total weeks at/over 70 during the cycle, peaked with 5 consecutive weeks over 70, and hit 75 the week before taper, when I ran 15 for my MLR and 23+ for my long run.

     

    I did a TON of volume but not a whole lot of faster quality. That had me a little worried at first, but my sort-of-tune-up half went well (1:41:15 on a tough day, as part of a 19 mile run and at the end of one of those 70 mile weeks). By the end of the cycle I felt incredibly strong. I’ve always been better at the shorter distances and I really needed some aerobic fitness on top of that to run a good marathon. 8:00ish per mile is cake - but not at all for 26.2 miles in a row.

     

    PRE-RACE:

     

    Moose convention! My other internet running group's mascot is a moose so this whole weekend was really delightful for us.

     

    Rolled into town on Friday and had a great weekend. The condo we rented was super cool. Maine is really pretty.

     

    There were 3 of us running the marathon, one running the 15K, one runner's fiancee stayed with us, and my mom drove me. It was awesome having people to commiserate/freak out/eat bland carbs with before Sunday and just as awesome having a couple of non-runners around to transport and care for our neurotic asses, haha. I slept like a baby 3 and 2 nights before the race, Saturday night I slept OK but woke up a lot. Just excited and way too full of carbs/water. Aaron reminded all of us to stay hydrated, to the point that it was kind of ridiculous, so I’m 100% going to pay him to remind me to hydrate before every race from now on.

     

    Race day dawned dark and cold. We got up around 4 and I struggled through breakfast. Forced down an entire cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter and some coffee with almond milk, some more water. I wasn’t really hungry but wanted the best chance of getting through the race without a nutrition-related bonk.

     

    Dressed, packed everything up and checked it all a bunch of times, left my phone for my mom to take with her to the finish, and we headed up the mountain to the hotel to catch the shuttle to the start. Race outfit today was singlet, Lulu shorts with a million pockets for gels and miscellaneous, my good arch-hugging socks, Adidas Tempos, and my white Headsweats hat. I’m not a superstitious kinda person but this is my race day hat. I debated forever on whether I would bring my handheld bottle or not, but in the end I brought it and I’m glad I had it.

    The start was COLD but there was a warming bus where you could sit/stand to warm up and the bag drop was quick and efficient since the race was so small. I popped my secret weapon (2 Immodium) about 30 minutes out from the start. We dropped our bags about 20 minutes before the start and headed onto the bus to warm up for a while.

     

    I kind of wanted to stay on the bus forever and just sleep, it would be SO MUCH EASIER and more pleasant than running a goddamn marathon that I paid money and traveled for, why am I so stupid, but at 6:50 we went back out into the cold, and I jogged for a couple minutes and did some dynamic stretches. GO TIME. Couple of announcements, then the gun and we were off!

     

    I'ma put the splits right up front and you all can refer to them as needed.

    | 1 | 8:01.7 |
    | 2 | 8:11.6 |
    | 3 | 7:59.5 |
    | 4 | 8:05.5 |
    | 5 | 8:08.1 |
    | 6 | 8:00.2 |
    | 7 | 8:01.0 |
    | 8 | 8:07.0 |
    | 9 | 8:39.6 |
    | 10 | 8:14.6 |
    | 11 | 7:51.2 |
    | 12 | 7:45.7 |
    | 13 | 7:54.3 |
    | 14 | 7:54.1 |
    | 15 | 7:58.5 |
    | 16 | 7:47.8 |
    | 17 | 7:53.2 |
    | 18 | 8:01.0 |
    | 19 | 8:03.0 |
    | 20 | 8:49.6 ** |
    | 21 | 7:53.8 |
    | 22 | 8:01.4 |
    | 23 | 8:06.8 |
    | 24 | 8:11.9 |
    | 25 | 8:18.5 |
    | 26 | 8:26.2 |
    | 27 | 2:23.9 (0.34 miles) |

     

    RACE: 


    **Miles 1-10** I lined up in a pretty good spot because the first mile wasn't a huge energy drain. I don’t remember really fighting for position or weaving much at all. Just tried to settle into a reasonable effort and get warmed up. Through mile 1 a bit too fast ,but feeling good. All through mile 2, my hands were still freezing cold and my shins and calves were tight and I was just angry, but I was back on planned slightly-slow pace so I didn’t feel worried at all yet. I spent the next few miles just trying to run from my glutes and relax my calves and feet. I’ve started off feeling this way before and I typically warm out of it by mile 5 and like magic, when I hit 5 I was feeling much better. The flat/gradual downhill of the first 5ish miles got monotonous and I found myself wishing for a hill. Pretty sure I started taking sips of water here and there before 5 but couldn’t tell you for sure, I just know that I usually try not to get to my first gel without any water in my system.

    5-7 includes a couple of rolling (very gentle) hills, which I appreciated; I took my first gel on a downhill and took my time getting it down. Water to wash it down and rolled on toward the worst climb of the race.

    The mile 8-10 hill that I was so worried about all year? Piece of cake. Absolutely nothing to some of the monsters I’ve run in training. The first climb was a little worse than the second, but even that wasn’t bad at all so early in the race, and you got a LONG flat/downhill stretch in between the two major climbs so it doesn’t really feel anything remotely like 2 full miles of climbing. I didn’t start feeling like I was climbing until 8.5 or so, and although you don’t start losing elevation until 10.5, I chewed up and spit out that hill at like 9.8 and was cruising back up to speed before we hit the downhill. I lost a little time, but way less than I thought I would on those two miles. All those targeted hill sessions during training paid off!

     

    **Miles 10-19ish** The downhill miles were crazy fun. Mantra here was “tiny quick steps, lean into it, don’t shred your quads”. I even enjoyed the steep part. I got urgently hungry around 11.5 and in a panic, popped my second gel. All fine.

     

    Through the half (I estimated it at 13.2 because my watch was very consistently off by 0.1 at every mile marker by that point) in under 1:47. Not feeling SUPER awesome, not <3:30 is in the bag awesome, but awesome enough to keep on rolling more of the same. I passed some people, some passed me back, I never really found anyone to hang and talk with but that was fine. I spent a lot of this race in sort of a weird, somber mental place. Not DARK, but not really optimistic in any way. Whenever things started to feel a little hard in the miles before 20 I thought to myself “you’ve EARNED this. It’s YOURS. But you’re still going to have to fight for it.” I think there was a time around 18 or so that I was positive 3:35 was gone, which was stupid looking back at my splits for 17/18/19, but marathons are weird. What a dumb hobby. I had my third gel in there somewhere, which is a victory because I know it was ~6-7 miles after the second but I can’t remember exactly when I took it (i.e. no nausea to mark the occasion).

     

    **Mile 19ish-21** The sun came out and the shade left somewhere after the half, and I got hot and salty as hell and my hands started to feel stiff, which is my sign that I gotta keep drinking and take a salt pill or feel like total garbage in a few miles. I stopped at a water station somewhere in mile 19 to refill my bottle and take my salt pill - it’s a fucking horse pill and I didn’t want to choke on it. Lost about 50 seconds there fumbling with the bottle and the bag I’d stuffed the pill in, but I don’t regret it at this point because I might have lost way more than that later if I hadn’t stopped. Pressed on and dropped a 7:53 mile 21, which I am super proud of - that showed me that I still had some fight and some energy to get through the end. I hadn’t bonked or crashed and I had less than an hour to go! Within that mile I passed a girl who’d traded the lead with me a few times over the past 20 miles and, wayyyy too perky-like, that asshole that you definitely don’t want to talk to at mile 21 of a marathon where you’re baking in the sun, asked her if she was going for a BQ too, and told her there’s no way we could crash too badly if we made it this far already and I’d see her in Boston next year. That was the first moment of the race where I allowed myself to think I’d have a shot at the BQ.

     

    **Miles 22-end** were a fucking war of attrition against the stupid 26.2 distance. Who the hell decided that we should make *that* number of miles something important? I was running out of optimism and running on sheer hatred of this dumb race. I was too close to stop. The sun was hot and I was tired and annoyed. I started feeling like I would urgently have to puke if I didn’t slow down, so I slowed down a touch, but only so I wouldn’t waste any time puking before the finish line instead of after. My fourth gel was safely tucked in my back pocket but I was too close to risk it at this point and didn’t feel like a sugar-related bonk was coming. My legs felt as great as they could feel at mile 22+ of a marathon, just the stomach starting to complain now. 8:06, 8:11, 8:18. Just past the mile 25 marker our long-finished 15k runner was cheering like a crazy and that was the boost I needed to get through to the end. I told her I was going to puke at the finish line and pushed with all that my stupid little legs had left once the turn to the finish was in sight. Mile 26 was 8:26, last 0.34 on my watch was ~7:00 pace. I can’t wait to see if they got finish line pictures, my face probably looks absolutely murderous. I floated through the timing mats, made my way to the very first portapotty in the row for a good dry heave, and came back out to find some sustenance and get my medal. Gatorade, some orange slices, an apple juice and a chocolate milk - nothing even threatened to come back up. Success! Chip time was **3:32:41.6**.

     

    Finish line pictures courtesy of Maine Running Photos - other on-course photos are still being uploaded:

     

    AFTERWORD


    I’m incredibly happy with how I paced this thing. Looking back after the fact, I went through 13.2 on my watch (so probably the actual half mark) in 1:46:36, 1:46:05 for the rest. Seriously couldn’t have done any better; I wish I could have found a few more seconds for a better BQ buffer, but I honestly think if I’d tried to find them early on I’d have paid them back and then some later. -2:19 isn’t too bad, and this is just slightly more than a 15-minute PR over my fall race, so I’ll take that!

     

    I’m still having weird body issues. I can’t help but wonder if I’d have had a better buffer if I had come into this training cycle a bit lighter. My race photos from New Bedford totally shocked me, I look *huge*. I’m not overweight at all from a health standpoint and I put in a shit-ton of training without getting injured, but I am really solidly built for a distance runner and that messes with me sometimes.

     

    Up next: totally undecided, which is kind of exciting! Need to start recovering and see where my body is at in the next couple of weeks; I may want to run one of the last-chance BQ marathons to try to shave off a minute or two (not sure if I will be able to), or I might run Baystate for a 2019 qualifier/to improve my 2018 registration if I get in, or I might skip a fall marathon altogether and just run 5K/10K and a low-key half marathon. I’m due for big PRs pretty much everywhere below the marathon and I’d love to start chipping away at that sub-20 5K goal. For now, I’m gonna finish this victory beer (yes on a Monday night go ahead and judge) and go get some SLEEEEEP. No 4 AM wakeup calls for a little while! Big grin

      I averaged ~62 mph

      Whoa. You ARE fast!

       

      Truly awesome performance. Super impressive splits. You trained your ass off, and clearly raced your heart out; you totally earned that BQ.

      Great report too. You made us feel like we were there -- the stupid 26.2 distance...the running on sheer hatred...the dry-heaving at the finish (yes I've done that too).

       

      Really happy for you. Good luck in whatever you do next!

      Dave

      workinprogress11


        What a great RR!  Congrats again on the well deserved BQ. You worked your ass off for it. Best wishes for whatever is next!

        PleasantRidge


        Warm&fuzzy

          You trained hard, then nailed it. Wtg!

          Runner with a riding problem.

          onemile


            Nice job. You certainly put in the work and it paid off!

            LRB


              Whoa. You ARE fast!

               

              lol - You don't miss much!


              From the Internet.

                Whoa. You ARE fast!

                 

                 

                LOL! I typed it in Pages on my computer and it autocorrected mpw.

                 

                Thanks guys! Big grin Super happy with this one!


                delicate flower

                  Awesome training cycle and great race execution, Lauren!  You really paced that race well.

                   

                  We've got quite the group of folks on the BQ bubble for 2018.  You and I are only two seconds apart.

                  <3

                  GinnyinPA


                    Congratulations Lauren.  That was a well fought race.

                     

                    And no, you are not in any way huge.

                    Cyberic


                      Beautiful splits Lauren. Congrats on the race. You deserve it: you trained hard enough.

                      LRB


                        TRAINING was monstrous

                         

                        Could not have put it better, you've been in Beat Mode the entire year. Yours was a very impressive cycle that culminated in a perfectly executed race (well, as good as one could expect in those conditions!). I'm not sure I could put up those numbers even if I wanted to. From my viewpoint, they are sick, really.

                         

                        You were sort of a mess after your race last fall, so it's nice to see you hit one out of the park. Congrats!

                           

                          Could not have put it better, you've been in Beat Mode the entire year.

                           

                          I am feeling in Beat Mode right now.

                          And at some point soon, Lauren is going to beat all my PRs.

                          Dave

                          LRB


                             

                            I am feeling in Beat Mode right now.

                            And at some point soon, Lauren is going to beat all my PRs.

                             

                            lol

                             

                            She is ascending for sure!

                                

                              She is ascending for sure!

                               

                              Yeah, lookit the YTD mileage.

                               

                              2 Cyberic99 1275.96 mi 166:14:46
                              4 Lauren. 1234.06 mi 183:56:51.84
                              6 onemile 1149.47 mi 160:02:05.55
                              9 DavePNW 1107.89 mi 163:31:22.74

                              Dave

                              LRB


                                 Yeah, lookit the YTD mileage.

                                 

                                I'd rather not. lol

                                 

                                You guys and gals are chewing that shit up. 👍

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