S. Canaday wrote:
Okay I'll bite (and honestly this is the first time I'm posting on this thread...you can believe me or not...I don't really care).
First off, congrats to those that hit the OTQ/BQ and/or got PRs out there. We were lucky the weather was nice and cool.
Also thanks to those of you who have supportive/constructive comments.
I just wanted to clear some things up from my point of view:
1. Diet. I eat plant-based vegan. While diet is certainly important for running performance I don't think it's the biggest factor (negative or positive). I've seen super talented guys in college eat total crap and they will still be lean and clean my clock. I seem to recover pretty well and feel healthy though. My iron/B12/protein are fine. I don't think me being vegetarian/vegan is the main reason why I missed a sub 2:19:00.
2. I think the main reason I missed the sub 2:19:00 was a lack of specific training/racing focus. My girlfriend/coach Sandi and I knew it was going to be close....a matter of seconds (not minutes)....as we predicted. If I had hit the standard the best I was thinking was 2:18:30-2:18:40. Coming off a disaster at the UTMB-100miler and some weak running at the Speedgoat 50km I had been slogging around in the mountains at 12-min pace most of the summer. When I started road training again this fall I found my legs had lost some power/stride length and anything under 5:30 pace felt more like a sprint. I ran some pretty slow track workouts (like 3:14/km pace for repeat 1km's) and it took months to get any sort of "speed" back. It's a pretty tough transition as steep mountain racing/trail ultras work the legs very differently (at least for me). I ran the Xterra trail half about 6-7 weeks ago and it honestly wasn't as specific as the pace as slower (5:40-5:50). I probably should have maybe done a road half and some more 10km races or something. Hawaii was a fun trip though and you have to remember Hoka (and most of my sponsors) mainly sponsor me as a trail-mountain-ultra runner....not a road marathoner. I think it comes down to gaining running economy/efficiency back and stepping away from the road/track for months/years certainly makes one "lose" a bit of speed...especially if they are going after a half/full PR at the OTQ level.
3. Like I said the time schedule was tight (16-17 weeks or so). Sandi would have liked me to do more workouts like 4 x 3-miles during a 22-mile long run and hit pace (I only did it once and I couldn't hit pace). I also didn't follow all her training 100% as we compromised on some things (gym work that i was lazy on etc.). She is a great coach (obviously I'm biased). A few more speed sessions and quality long runs dropping faster than MP for extended periods probably would've helped. But we would have need more training weeks. We'll see as I'll continue on now!
4. I probably ran my marathon PR at Hansons because I was fresh out of college (where I trained for 2 marathons and specific track 5km/10km events) and mainly because I focused on half and full road marathons exclusively for 3.5 years in a row. The first time I ran Boston under Hansons I averaged 130 miles a week for 7 weeks straight, ran the workout paces all on target, and then had a really bad day and ran 2:24 (on a really fast weather day at Boston). When I ran 2:16:52 I was hitting 120-125 miles a week consistently for 2 months and coming off a "speed segment" with my buddy Tim Young where we ran 64-min in the half that winter. We were 100% focused on the road marathon. Nowadays I'm obviously all over the place with trail-ultra events and a few road marathons and it makes things a bit more inconsistent. Again though, I'm a trail-ultra runner who just likes to run in more competitive road races. Making the Olympic Trials is always an amazing experience and so that is why I am road racing again. It is a very special and competitive race to take part in.
5. I was actually pretty happy with my new gels today. No stomach issues and not a horrible bonk. I obviously slowed down the last 10km and ran some 5:30s, but really the issue felt more mechanical and I was breathing super hard. In fact, I felt so bad at mile 16 I thought about dropping out because I knew I was working really hard and I might bonk really hard after mile 20. Even though I slowed, I moved up 3-4 places in the final 5-6 miles or so. You can view GPS data and mile splits on my Strava profile.
6. I failed. It happens. I don't have any excuses as I did the best I could and executed the way I wanted to. I was fortunate to toe the starting line healthy without a cold/flu and without injury. The weather was very good. We had a little "OTQ" pack of about 4-5 guys for the first 12 miles but it split apart right before the half. After that all of us ran solo. I could feel a little wind (5-6mph) on some sections in the last 12km, but honestly even if there was no wind that would've have made a difference for me as I obviously missed by nearly 1 full minute.
7. I'll keep trying. I might fail again. It happens. I like the challenge and I'm addicted to social media...so I'll be sure to put it all out there for those that like to follow along. I'll do trail-mountian-ultra races mainly this year, but I'm not going to avoid competitive events like the Boston Marathon etc. If you don't like to follow along it is pretty easy to unfollow/ignore my social media though. In any case, best of luck with your running!
Gelsareuseless wrote:
I think part of Sage's problem is gel powerbar consumption during the race, it's probably one of the worst thing you can do while racing, feeding your body with that kind of shite. I saw on his instagram that he was going to use some gels during the race, it can be only hidden advertising but I doubt it he said several times that he use those gels in competition. Jake Robertson said that he used to run in a fasted state during his morning training in Kenya, those guys run 40k @ sub5 pace on a hilly terrain just with water.