Notes
5km and 7.195km paces:
4:34 4:43 4:49 4:43
4:48 5:06 5:27 5:31
See ""Feedback"" for report.
Calories: 2986.0
Feedback: KDG -- May-30-10 3:38:34 pm
5km and 7.195km paces:
4:34 4:43 4:49 4:43
4:48 5:06 5:27 5:31
I honestly don't regret the fade pacing at all. Despite believing that
3:21 was highly unlikely as a finishing time, I was undecided until in
the corral about whether to pace with the 3:20 bunny, 3:30 bunny, or
go alone, but was leaning to the 3:20 choice. Once I chose opening
3:20 pacing, I believed there was a good probability of the last 10km
being a death lope or worse, and it turned out to be pretty severe but
I don't think felt as bad as 2007. This pacing allowed me to really test
my limits, I wasn't going to BQ anyway today (3:21), it allowed me to
run for quite a while with fitter looking people at a better jogging
pace, refresh my familiarity with moving forward on totally spent legs
etc. 3:31 is a BQ for me in September, so this result shows I can
quite easily do that if I choose, using a more conservative pacing
especially on an easier but IAAF-legal course (e.g. Toronto
Waterfront) with equally favourable weather.
After catching the 3:20 bunny in the first km (the initial 10m gap
grew much larger as the race started due to congestion), I followed up
to around 24km. For some reason the bunny paced the first 5km at 3:12
(4:34/km) pace but I wasn't about to let the bunny get away. I found I
needed to stop sometimes at water stations to get enough fluid which
the bunny did not do so often I would need several minutes to catch
the bunny again.
I spent most of the time for the first 30km or so concentrating on
keeping my mechanics in as good order as I could. Most people around
me had far better mechanics though there were a few other defective
runners. I remember the cambered exit or on-ramp being quite a
challenge. I found the numerous downhills challenging as usual, and
worrisome, wondering what toll all this pounding would take later
on. I had no real complaints from the body for the first 25km except a
few hints of abdominal cramps. I was taking gels every 30-40 minutes
or so, consuming in total 5 (compared to 1 in my last marathon).
I thought I might stick with the bunny until 30km but at 24km I had an
abdominal cramp which forced me to drop pace and stop for 30 seconds
once or twice. Since the bunny pace was already the fastest I was
willing to go, this meant the bunny was gone for me.
A nice progressive linear fade in my pace started at this point,
25km. The first 5km was a voluntary fade. I wanted to relax and lose
the ab cramp susceptibility. Also worrisome signs of fatigue were
starting like a tightening left outer quad which seems to be the most
significant direct cause of my big fade. Much later the right one
started. This is the same as what I experienced in 2006 and 2007. I
would expect it is glycogen depletion in those particular areas of the
muscles, and coming on relatively soon due to agressive pacing, but
perhaps there are other things going on which could be addressed with
targetted strength training. Running more efficiently at this pace
would also probably help. If it is glycogen depletion in the muscles,
then more agressive carbo loading might have been good for a couple of
minutes since I didn't do that as agressively this time.
At 31km I ran by my daughter, then surprise again at 34km. That is
appreciated of course, and now I can ask them just how bad and how
funny I looked. Somewhere in 31-34km I stopped for a few seconds to
stretch my quads.
I was watching for McShame to pass me. He may well have been ahead, but
I suspected not and I was correct. I guess he did pass me but I never
successfully recognized him.
In the last 7km my ability for any kind of stride length was fading so
I upped the cadence by feel. The watch log shows I maintained 184-186
in the last 7km compared to 175 earlier (typical for MP) despite much
slower pace. I have little doubt this was a good idea. The speed was
determined by cadence and my stride length was at maximum. I'm sure it
looked pretty funny and painful. Despite using this technique, the
very mild downhills were still very ugly. People were passing me but I
think there is fade going on in most of them as well and the speed
differential is not very high. It doesn't bother me at all. More of a
concern was if one of those passing runners or one of the sub-1:30
half marathoners who I think were merging even lightly bumped me, I
would probably fall over. I wondered if I would make it to the end
without walking or having to collapse. I did manage the last 7km
without any walking or stops except one stop at a water stop for the
drink. I was watching for the the 3:30 bunny to pass me in the last
1-2km but missed that somehow. Somehow missed seeing/comprehending
the elapsed time on the watch (auto-cycled display) in the final
stretch. I thought I would be under 3:31 or even 3:30 based on seeing
4:59 average pace. Perhaps if I knew I had a shot at under 3:31 I
would have been able to speed up to meet that. I may have had another
minute in me but that is about it and I suspect it would have a big
cost. In the end, my average pace for the last 12.195km of progressive
total bonk was 5:29/km or right about comfortable LSD pace though it
felt very different.
Under 3:31 would have been better but reasonably happy with this
result though I must say I was completely sick of marathon training
more than a month ago. That's just me, I'm sure it's just great for
many others. I'll probably do another or a long trail trip at some
point but I'm in no big hurry. Now onto recovery, trails, swimming,
tri-a-tri cheering, ...
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