Notes
Glass City Marathon
I dunno. The marathon is a difficult beast. I feel better about this one than the last four though, so there's something to be said about that. I tried to run relaxed and keep things reigned in for the first 8 miles. Then decided to hold it for another 16. Then thought I should maybe wait to pick things up at mile 20. But at mile 16, I turned on my music and that kicked off a new gear, and I probably went too fast. I "bonked" at mile 20, it feels like, with the next few miles really hard to run. Miles 23-26 were just "get it done," but not as painful.
What did not go well: the weather, starting the training cycle injured, training for three weeks, taking a two-week break, then having to go to run/walking; getting high and running too fast miles 18 and 19. Apparently, I ran a little faster than I should have in the earlier miles, too (mile 9), but I was feeling in control, and relaxed control was my main goal going into this race with the weather as predicted. I didn't look at my watch except when it flashed it's auto lap. The rest of the time it was set on clock time.
I do wonder if fueling may have been an issue. I tried to return to my "roots," fueled at 5K and then every 5 miles after that. Maybe it wasn't enough? I could tell at the miles right before refueling that I was starting to have to work harder. So I had one at mile 18 and by the time I got to mile 21, maybe I was running short? I don't know. Still experimenting on that front. The honey stingers were good, but the first station didn't come until mile 11, which made me nervous!
What went well: no quad pains or cramps of any kind (weight training for the win). Fueling, not being sick, mentally in the right mindset... seeing two deer!! We ran on a beautiful course through residential parts of Toledo and also on a trail, and a deer bound across the path 50 yards in front of me, with another frozen in the trees to the right. It was stunning (glad it didn't run into anyone, though)
Split Time Pace
3.18 Miles 25:10.2 7:55
6.2 Miles/10 K 23:38.8 7:50
8.05 Miles 14:15.9 7:43
11.55 Miles 27:40.7 7:54
15 Miles 27:32.6 7:59
21.05 Miles 46:56.7 7:46
More notes from the forum post:
Hi all! Thanks for the kind words here darkwave, mmerkle, and flavio and on Strava others of you. It was indeed a tough race in rough conditions, but I feel like I've run in worse. I’m sure Boston this year ended up warmer with the sun and lack of shade. We had 100% cloud coverage and quite a bit of rain, which made things feel cooler even if it never went below 64 degrees. I am also indeed more acclimated to these temps (65F with 60F dew point is a rare day in Florida), so that helped, too. People say it was windy (and according to apps, we ran more than half the race in a 10mh headwind), but I don’t remember it that way, probably because I considered it a relief.
65°F 🌦️ Dew pt.: 59°F | RunFeel™: (5/10) wet, windy 😓 | 13.7 mi in 10 mph headwind |
I also believe that despite taking two weeks off running 3 weeks into training and having to slowly build back for 4 weeks after that, while not ideal, was still better than getting injured closer to the race. I include my graph of training (all activities, so you can see the cross training) from Jan. 8 (plan start) to April 28. Note, I actually started training a week after getting Covid and still injured, and realized three weeks in (with the help of my doctor) that I couldn’t train through my injury, which is why I took the break.
<img alt="My graph" src="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/ee79c847959346c1980f3d1c085def95/tools/graph?l12=2024-04-29&g12=2024-01-08&zsm=12&zdg=1&x=12&y=20&t=0" />
As one can see, I tried to replace the missing running with cross-training, and it helped the return to running feel better. It was definitely worth it, despite long, boring slogs on the cross trainer, since I managed to have 6 weeks of solid training and my paces were getting to a nice spot by the end. Would I have liked to run more miles and have a longer cycle? Sure. I think that would have helped keep the pace through the last miles. Did getting injured make me up my strength-training game and prevent sore quads during the race? Absolutely. Not fighting through quad pain for 13 miles is quite nice. My Achilles was never an issue (though plantar fasciitis is starting to be) and my knee, while not 100%, was still loads better than Philly. It also helped a lot that I wasn’t sick like I was before Philly.
For anyone looking for a destination race, Glass City is a fine marathon. The course is mostly flat and quite beautiful, if quiet. We ran through residential neighborhoods, around a park, and on a trail, and a deer bound across the path 50 yards in front of me, with another frozen in the trees to the right. It was one of those magical moments. The race is pretty well organized and not too big, and I can highly recommend a B & B (not more expensive than the local hotels) in Toledo.
I also got high during the race, between miles 18 and 19, and I think not reigning that in led to surging too soon (I should have stuck to my plan of controlled restraint through mile 20 and then doing a fast finish like in my workouts).
The marathon is a difficult beast. I like CK’s evaluation of how to succeed at it one just had to keep working on oneself, and it will come to one. I feel better about this one than the last four, though, so there's something to be said about that. It helps that I got my negative mental attitude out of the way earlier in the week and arrived at the race optimistic and prepared for the worst. Relaxed control was my main goal going into this race with the weather as predicted. I didn't look at my watch except when it flashed its auto lap. The rest of the time it was set on clock time.
In regards to pacing, I tried to run relaxed and keep things reigned in for the first 8 miles. Then, I decided to hold it for another 16. Then thought I should maybe wait to pick things up at mile 20. But at mile 16, I turned on my music and that kicked off a new gear, and I probably went too fast. I "bonked" at mile 20, it feels like, with the next few miles really hard to run. Miles 23-26 were just "get it done," but not as painful.
I do wonder if fueling may have been an issue. I tried to do more of what I did during training, excluding the 300 calories for breakfast (can’t stomach much more than before 6am in the morning). I fueled at 5K, and then every 5 miles after that. Maybe it wasn't enough? I could tell at the miles right before refueling that I was starting to have to work harder. So I had one at mile 18 and by the time I got to mile 21, maybe I was running short? I don't know. Still experimenting on that front. The honey stingers were good, but the first station didn't come until mile 11, which made me nervous! I did have three Gus on me to tie me over, though.
So that’s that. I barely ran a BQ, so there’s literally no buffer, so I’m probably not running Boston 2025. But I already found my peace with that before the race as well. Now, I just want to stay injury free (keep working on my PF and knee) and train for a fast 5K again. Don’t know if I’ll sign up for a fall marathon. I’ll probably sign up for a local ultra and start getting into 100-miler training since the March 2025 Hungryland will come quickly enough.