Short version: A wild and wet 3:41:28 in a “B” race training effort.

Details....

For me this was a trip to NH for a family visit followed by a drive south to Lowell, MA for a marathon.  I somehow managed to miss meeting Denise at the Expo--she missed my call, I missed hers--and I'm still not quite sure what happened there.  That was disappointing but everything else went smoothly.

Weather: This one will be remembered for the weather.  Nothin’ like a little Nor’Easter to liven things up.  Cold (which I like) in the upper 30s/low 40s I think.  Rain (which I don’t).  The first half of the race wasn’t bad, just a light drizzle but then it let loose and we got drenched.  The rain was accompanied by an intermittent gusty wind that ensured you felt the damp cold.  By mile 15 or so my feet were drenched.  The puddles just got bigger and deeper and eventually unavoidable as the water runoff from the road poured into the runners’ lane.  The waterlogged shoes definitely took their toll.  My feet started feeling a little numb from the cold—which was a mixed blessing.  It made running tougher but it meant I didn’t feel (or even know I had) two big blisters I developed on the outside of my big toes. 

Nutrition:  I went with 4 GU’s (6, 12, 18, 22) and a banana.  My attempt to have a cereal bar was foiled; by the time I pulled it out, the heavy rains had somehow seeped into my plastic bag and I had sludge.  Yuck.

Clothes:  A bit tricky with this weather but I went with shorts and a long-sleeve shirt, a baseball-style running cap and some light gloves.  That turned out to be about right.  I wore the gloves for the first two miles, took them off for about 10 miles and put them back on when the wind and rain picked up and my hands were getting raw, red, and numb.

The race: This was a bit of a strange race for me since I went into it knowing that it wasn’t an “A” race—something I’ve never done before with a marathon. 

So what was it?  Well, with a broken toe at the beginning of this training cycle (which mucked things up for weeks) and a pulled leg muscle during taper, I decided this race would be a chance to test my fitness and readiness for a stronger push in Philly a month from now. 

What does that mean?  At first, I thought I’d do this as a training run, keeping well within a comfortable pace.  But what would that teach me?  That I can run slower than I want to?  Duh!  So at the last minute I decided to run 20 at goal MP pace (8:00) and then back off big-time and just coast in, not worrying about overall time.  If I couldn’t do that, then I’d know I needed to scale back my 3:30 Philly ambitions.  If I could do it, then I’d know my goal was realistic.

The planned worked…mostly.

I went out in a pretty steady groove staying at just over an 8:00 pace.  There were clocks every 5 miles so I used those as my gauge to stay on track:

Mile 5   40:02 (8:01)

Mile 10  1:20:15 (8:03)

Mile 15  2:00:33 (8:02)

Mile 20 2:40:58 (8:03) [official split]

Those are actually Garmin times (with laps set at 1.01), but my Garmin stayed very accurate the whole day. 

After 20, my mission was accomplished.  Now my plan was to just slow down and coast in at a comfortable pace, whatever that felt like and not worry about overall time.  I did three miles at about 9:10 and then BANG my legs just gave out.  No cramping, my pulled muscle—which I felt the whole day but was never an issue—was holding up, but I just had no energy.  Part of it, I’m sure, was mental; there was no incentive for me to keep pushing.  But it seemed like my legs decided 23 miles was plenty and they were calling it a day.  My quads, especially, were just exhausted.  Unfortunately I had another 3 miles to do in the rain and wind; slowing down meant it felt much colder.  Yuck.  Bottom line: this turned into a final 5K jog/walk in nasty weather.

When I saw how bad the weather was going to be, I decided to forego the shuttle bus from my hotel and drive.  The last thing I wanted to do was stand around shivering in the rain while I waited for a bus.  Good decision.  Clinging to my foil blanket in the trembling cold, I wolfed down some post-race soup and sandwiches and quickly darted (okay, maybe slowly wobbled) to the car and headed to the best hot shower I’ve had in a long, long time.

Funny story:  A sure sign I was tired: during the last 3 miles I thought “Well, I’ll pace myself and come in under 3:40.  That'll be a nice time”  I checked my Garmin and was fine.  There I am sluggishly trotting along, I see the mile 26 sign up ahead, and it suddenly dawns on me.  Doh!  I forgot to factor in that last little 2/10 of a mile at the end.  And that’s how you end up with a 3:41:28.

Lesson:  The lesson learned, I think, is that my goal 8:00 pace for Philly is within the realm of possibility if I run smart and get decent weather—but it’s gonna be close.  I’m a bit worried that it all went south so fast late in the race but I take heart from the fact that I was able to hold on nicely for 20 at that pace even under some very unpleasant conditions. 

On to Philly!

Most impressive.  Now that's it over, conquering the weather as you did must be a greta confidence booster.  You have time to recuperate and put on the finishing touches for Philly. 

Congrats!

A

Tramps

A very nice "B" race. Great pacing all the way thru 20 miles and a nice effort to back off  and cruise home.

Hope you enjoyed the family visit and good luck in Philly !

Tramps - you got just about my worst fears of marathon weather, and it didn't even slow you down!  Great racing, and yes, I think it bodes very well for Philly, if those pesky out-of-your-control factors come together okay.

Why do you set your Garmin for 1.01 miles - does that give you more accurate mile-splits?  I noticed that my Garmin was off enough at Sunday's race that I miscaculated a bit (I know it's not completely accurate, and my pace band was supposed to be my check for that, but I forgot it).  My Garmin said that my ave pace was 8:41 (below 8:45 was my target), but the reality ended up being 8:49 ave pace (because the Garmin had the distance longer), which put me 2 minutes over my goal.  I don't know if I could have pushed harder, knowing that, but I wish I had known I was that far off.

Lowell H.S. must have spotty cell phone service - can't believe we were there at the same time - problem is i don't think you look like the pic in your avatar - lol.  I wore my MVS red/black fleece that has my name on it in hopes you might spot that ........ oh well, hopefully another time.

 Denise--yeah, I think you're right.  I called you from just outside, then I left my phone on and went inside.  Just as I was leaving (outside again) I checked and saw your missed calls.  Oops.

You're right about my pics too; I'm much more handsome in real life.

BTW, where's your RR?!

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Holly,

my Garmin always measures long giving me false fast pacing feedback.  So I set my "laps" to 1.01 (instead of the usual 1-mile default) and the "average lap" reading is usually quite accurate.  This means it's measuring 1.01, 2.02, 3.03, etc.  It'll end up adding 0.26 to a marathon; 26.2 + 0.26 = 26.46, which is exactly the final reading I got yesterday.

You ran well and within yourself and I think a 3:30 at Philly is more than possible---it's a fast course there and surely the weather can't be worse?!

Impressive pacing and pretty focused aside from that .2 oversight. Sorry about the bonk, but I bet it's pretty linked to the mental as much as the physical.

What did yo think of the course---the bridge?

I was thinking about you on Sunday - wondering if you were struggling with the same weather, or worse.

You did just fine considering the sloppy conditions and your plan-ahead to coast in at the end.

The weather-gods have been paid-off, and Philly will be yours.  Looking forward to your next report!

 (I may try your Garmin trick - I'm always playing math games with Garmin-error, and it gets old after some number of miles)