Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 10/19

Week 3 of 16

Goal Race: Houston Marathon (Or USA Half Marathon champs)

Total miles - 102

Monday - 14 - 8 easy AM / 6 easy PM

Tuesday - 20 - 3x2mi tempo with 3min jog in morning / 8 easy PM

Wednesday - 17 - 11 easy AM / 6 easy PM

Thursday - 16 - 9 easy AM / 7 easy PM

Friday - 14 - 8.5 easy AM / 5.5 easy PM

Saturday - 6 - 6 easy AM shakeout

Sunday - 15 - 1.25+ warmup, Denver RnR Half Marathon in 72:45 (9th) - 1 easy cool down.

Felt good. Course was nice and hilly and at altitude so I got a solid workout. Fastest I've ever run at the end of a 100+ week.

Is this 3 x 2 mile tempo week? I think The Stone Cutter, RunnersFix, TheGarbageDisposal, and I all reported doing this workout this week. Though apparently I messed up by doing it on Friday rather than Tuesday.

The Stone Cutter: I also had a weird headache this week. Not sure what it was, but after the Tuesday workout I was trying to do some grading and couldn't because there was one of those spots in my vision like I'd just looked at something bright and I couldn't read well because of it. I think it was because I hadn't yet fully rehydrated properly from the run in the warmer conditions, but it still sucked.

Anyway, good job getting the week back on track! I was also considering doing an alternating tempo of some sort soon.

Pikachu: Glad to hear you're starting to get obvious signs things are heading in the right direction. Keep up the good work!

pewow: Congrats on achieving your goal! Sounds like a very intelligently executed race and you dug deep when it counted to make sure you got it!

NP1112: Hope your body starts coming around to the reduced mileage in the next few days! And are you really complaining about hitting 77 miles when you planned 80?

Netwerk Errer: Glad to hear that your ankle has healed up just like you had hoped. Best of luck next week!

RunnersFix: Nice week, and nice workouts. Looking forward to following your buildup for Houston!

Hereford: Nice looking week with some good ancillary stuff. What was the rest on the Thursday mile repeats?

Slartzio: Glad to hear you're enjoying your training!

KBXC: Tough luck with the illness getting close enough to the race. Make sure you get on top of it this week!

cmm268: Sorry to hear that you didn't hit your goal, but I'd say that being off by 33 or 34 seconds in a marathon pretty much counts. Good job!

HS_Runner_XC: Glad to hear that the team's doing well! Keep up the good work and keep cranking towards that goal!

renewed marathoner: "farm work." Don't see that in too many people's training logs! Good luck on getting a PR in the next 6 months! Since the quality of training over the next 6 months can depend a lot on the weather, what's winter usually like where you are?

Distance Fan: Awesome to hear that you did unexpectedly well in the 10k and today despite feeling off early in the week!

Nop200: Glad to hear you had a better experience in the rain than I did this week. Is your teammate (appendix near bursting) all right?

TheGarbageDisposal: Nice looking week, and congrats on the mileage-adjusted PR!

Pikachu - 3 great sessions! Your paces compared to mine look "so freakin' damn good." :)

Forcerunner - Again, congrats on a great race. From the weeks you posted, you had a very consistent cycle and were rewarded for it.

StevenJ - I noticed the 3x2mi thing too. Although it looks like I also screwed up by going off 4:00+ minutes recoveries instead of 2-3 minutes, haha.

pewow - Congrats again! I am glad for your sake you don't have to remeasure your workout route. :)

NP1112 - Less than a week to go for race #1, I am jealous! Despite feeling a little off right now, I will echo your advice: "Don't be afraid!" You are going to turn some heads there, I just know it.

Netwerk Errer - So glad to hear the ankle is mended! Best of luck in your final preparations for Dublin.

Runnersfix - I know you are still building your volume, but you have definitely got that solid "Runnersfix" schedule already clicking. I am already liking what I am seeing.

Hereford - You seem to be like clockwork with those 80mi weeks. Keep at it man, your workouts are looking great!

Slartzio - I am so glad you are "enjoying this format right now." Isn't that really what it's all about?

KBXC - I am sure it's not what you want to hear now, but you'll be the better after coming out of your week of trials. Your team knows it can count on you when the going gets tough - you should take some awful pride in knowing that.

cmm268 - I hope you know I was just joshing you with my comments earlier. I am envious of your marathon consistency. No matter what, you just always seem reliable on race day. :)

HS_Runner_XC - Despite your rough day, I am glad the team was able to hang on for the close win. Same thing, I think your experiences this week will make you stronger come the more crucial races.

renewed marathoner - I think I should add some farm work and frisbee to my training schedule, sounds like fun. No salsa dancing this week? :)

Distance Fan - Sounds like we both ended our weeks well after starting off shaky. Not much longer to go, keep up the solid work!

Nop200 - Sounds like you had a glorious run in the rain on Thursday. Very strong week overall.

TheGarbageDisposal - I think you easily hold the LRC record for most competitive HMs run in a year! I am astounded how frequently you can pump out those type of efforts, very workmanlike.

Thanks for the congrats all! Here's my week:

M - 4/5 + Strides

T - 2.5 mi @ Feel - 5:16, 5:06, 2:32 + 2x2min, 2x1min

W - 8/3

R - AM: 8mi w/ 2 x 90, 60, 30s pickups with equal rest. PM: 3.

F - 4/4 + Strides

S - 5/3 + Strides

S - Columbus Half Marathon - 9th in 69:06 (HM in 68:40) / Might shakeout later.

Total: 81+

Race Report: Up at 4:30am to shakeout then headed Downtown at 5:45am. There was an Elite meeting area a few minutes away from the start so I met up with some of my teammates and we hung out there for a bit until it was time to warm up. Did 2 miles with a few minutes tempo for warmup then got back to the room to change into flats. Headed down to the start at 7:05am and got in a few hard strides before the gun. The start was awesome, with fireworks and super loud music. I took manual splits the whole way at each marker: 5:11, 5:06, 4:58 (big downhill), 5:10, 5:12, 5:03 (downhill), 5:19 (back uphill), 5:19 (back uphill), 5:12, 5:21, 5:19, 5:29 (last uphill), 5:52 for 1.1 (5:14 pace).

The first few miles felt great. I was running essentially solo the whole way, with the lead Kenyan marathoners sitting behind me the entire time. Something funny around 7 miles in, the top Kenyan moved up beside me and looked at my bib to see what race I was in and I assured him "Don't worry, I'm only running the Half." The group of guys were more than content so sit behind me so I really didn't get any help with the pace, but what are you gonna do? The course:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6466082

starts downtown and goes out on a straight before looping a neighborhood and coming back. So during that whole stretch coming back towards Downtown the wind seemed to pick up and I really started feeling it towards the end of the race.

I went through 10 miles right around 52:00 and tried to hold on for dear life. The 12th mile had a sizeable hill where I felt my quads lock up, but I just tried to keep moving and finish with whatever I had left. Course seemed a bit long... my Garmin and others read right around 13.2, with mine splitting the HM in 68:40. Once we finished we got to go into the "VIP" tent and I got a massage for the first time, which actually made it possible to walk afterwards! Thanks everyone for the support and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about everyone posting on this thread during the race! I thought my first go at the distance went at least semi-well and I can't wait to try my hand at another in the future.

Forcerunner wrote:

I thought my first go at the distance went at least semi-well and I can't wait to try my hand at another in the future.

Are you kidding, that's a monster first effort! Especially since you weren't quite familiar what to expect during training or the race. Holding on like you did the last 5K is all the more impressive given the late hills.

And that bit about the Kenyan marathoner checking out your bib is priceless! I can assure you that will NEVER happen to me in a race, haha.

Stone cutter – thanks for the shoutout. Nice alternating tempo. Solid long run too, that’s the fun way to do it.

Pewow – congrats on sub 30. Nice splits too!

Np1112 whats the goal pace for the 50 miler?

Forcerunner nice sub-70 half! One day I’ll shoot for that. Seems like a ways away

My week:

Xc goals:

A goal: 25:45 8k B goal: sub-26 C goal: PR(26:15)

Last 13 weeks have averaged 74 mpw. My taper was 70 last week and 55 this week (35 in 5 days pre-race)

M 9.5 easy

T 9.5 w/ 6x(3min on/2min off)

W 5 recovery at night

Th 6 recovery at night

F 5 too fast w/ 5x strides

Sa 8k xc race, success!

Su 10 easy

Total 55.05, 6:58/mi avg

Tues: easy fartlek, aiming for 5:15s for ons and just easy run pace for offs. Had trouble hitting pace for first 3-4, but didn’t worry too much. Paces were ~5:20/6:50

Sat 8k race: short RR below

Didn’t care about mileage this week, just tapering. This weeks race was my favorite race of the year, so I really wanted to be well rested. Didn’t feel very good all week, I was expecting to be hitting easy 6;40s on my easy runs but the paces remained at 7:05ish until Friday, when we averaged 6:40 for the run. Didn’t feel tapered even the morning of the race during warmup, but I knew I could still run fast.

RR: woke up at 5am, 3hr drive for 10:30am start. Temps were mid 70s, which is obviously warm but on a flat course it could be much worse.

My race plan was to go out in 5:00-5:10 in the lead pack. Usually running 25;30s gets you top 5 in this race, so I assumed the leaders would be around 4:55. Turns out this was a fast year, and the leaders went out way fatser than predicted. My whole team did this race, and 3-4 teammates went out ahead of me in 4:54, 4:58, 4:58. One or two were with me at the mile(or 1600m) in 5:03. After my 5:03 I began moving up the field. I knew that others would go out too fast and try to slow it down after they got that mile 1 split. I was right. At mile 1 I was in about 100th place I’d guess. (ended up 22nd) ran 5;13.x for mile 2 to put me at 10:17 for 3200m. perfect so far, still passing lots of people constantly. After 2 miles I had my other teammates in sight again, and at mile 3 (4800m technically) a pack of 3 of us hit 15:31 together (5:14 3rd 1600m). felt like I had run 5:20, so it was a great feeling to still be under 26:00 pace. Just after 3 miles I pushed ahead of my 2 teammates, feeling that I was stronger at this point. Never saw them again, and I knew I’d be our club’s top guy today. The club’s 8k record is 26:47, but at mile 3 I wasn’t thinking about it at all. Just trying to pass runners. Hit 5k in 16:05 (3rd fastest 5000m ever, fastest off-track). I’ll call that a 5k xc/road PR. Hit 6400m in 20:45, another huge PR. That’s about 20:52 for 4 miles, previous PR was 21:0x from this race last year (26:15). With 1600 to go, I just needed 5:15 to crack 26, but a 5:02 to get the club record. Started pushing hard, but was mostly alone. Passed a few loners in this last lonely mile, and even lapped a bunch of people (course is 4-5 loops). No idea what place I was in, but figured top 10 based on the last few years. With about a half mile to go there were 2 guys battling it out about 80m ahead of me. Finally caught them on the home stretch with 120m to go, but they had something left that I lacked and they both surged ahead. Took an agonizing look at the clock to see 25:3x. finished in 25:48.7, just a second off our clubs 8k record, but a solid #2, and fastest ever on this course. 22nd place.

What would I do differently: not much. There’s no way I could over 10 sec faster. I didn’t go out too fast, used up the tank, and ran perfect splits (considering a fast start to get decent position for first turn on the narrow start)

Summary: 25:48.7, 1600m splits: 5:03-10:17-15:31-20:45. 22nd in race, 2 team points. (lots of unattached runners in this one, stanford’s redshirts I guess)

thanks for reading.

Garbage: solid race at the end of a 100mi week. 3x2 better than the last time? Did you use the VIP bathrooms? Lol

StevenJ: thanks! Already feeling a bit better tonight. It was more the way i did the mileage. I planned for less at the end of the week. To have less miles on my legs closer to race day. If that makes sense?

Stone: thanks man. That means a lot. I will try to remember that come race day!

Force: congrats on the 13.2 mile debut and PR lol. Any rough idea for the next goal?

Reed: ummm...good question. A goal: 6:44. B goal: 6:50. C goal: sub 7:00. And really sub 6 hours I would be happy with. Top 3-5 would be stellar too. Hell of a race!! Looks like you nailed the taper and had an awesome week.

I don't know what the hell happened to me this week. Something about being sick but I really ran myself to hell and back.

Monday: 9 miles at 7:56 pace with some hill sprints, feeling strong.

Tuesday: Very bad cold (low fever, home from work, extreme fatigue), hobbled through 5 miles at 8:05 pace but shouldn't have

Wednesday: Still sick, coach said no workout, 8.5 miles easy

Thursday: Off, starting to feel better

Friday: Feeling better, 3 at 7:46 pace

Saturday: 8 with XC 6K in 24:48 (more later)

Sunday: Couldn't walk when I woke up, somehow managed to jog five miles at 9:00 pace, felt like a penguin, light cycling after (cycling actually helped a little)

6K race: This is a very hard course and last year I ran 24:44, so the time actually wasn't that bad. But oh my god, I felt bad. I ran this on pure willpower, or honestly, on pure hate, because I was really pissed off about something totally unrelated. It was hard even warming up on the course so I knew it wasn't my day, but I tried to stay positive. Felt good the first loop, pretty bad the second loop, and by the third loop I have no idea how I even managed to keep running. But I refused to do anything sensible like back off or drop out and finished the race with my entire body in searing pain.

After the race I couldn't walk in a straight line, had tunnel vision, and honestly screamed once I got across the finish. Something was really, really wrong. My throat and lungs burned and I had to use my inhaler and my legs were shaking and buckling under me. I tried to jog a cool down and only managed a mile before giving up.

The searing pain didn't even go away when I got home. My legs kept hurting all day, not like normal soreness, but more like the searing pain you get when you surge up a hill at the end of a race. It was just like that. All day.

And then when I woke up the next morning, I still felt like that. I spent like an hour last night reading about rhabdo to make sure it wasn't that. I'm still monitoring my pee color because it can show up like 48 hours later.

I'm just going to reset and think about next week, provided I can walk tomorrow. But I have no idea what happened. I guess I just wasn't ready to race so soon after being sick, and between that and pushing myself so hard, I really screwed up my body.

Also I've been super MIA from comments in this thread recently, again for personal reasons, but I promise I'll make an effort to comment tomorrow

Nice weeks so far!

My week was a taper/recovery/I'm unmotivated but already committed to one more race-type week.

M: Rest

T: 8.5 easy (60')

W: 6 slow (45')

Th: Rest

F: 8.5 total; 3 mile warmup, 3 x 1.45 mile loop w/3:00 walk in 8:06, 7:46, 7:30 (5:35, 5:21, 5:10 per mile); 1.5 cooldown.

Sa: 6 easy (46')

Su: 4 easy (32')

Total: 33 miles

Back for comments:

Cutter - more good consistent training. Your T, F and Sun sessions were great. Better to be "up" for the workouts and "down" for the easy days! 5 weeks left - keep it up.

Pikachu - great week, man. If these are your paces just to build back some basic fitness, then I can't wait to see the numbers you put up when training at full steam with an "A" race on the calendar.

StevenJ - sounds like some tough conditions Tuesday. But kudos for sticking with the workout. I like the "minuteage" statistic.

Pewow - great race and congrats on hitting the goal. That's huge!

NP - yeah, the body tends to freak out a bit in taper mode. But I'm sure you know not to panic too much. Hope it's just a niggle that resolves itself. Maybe it's just your mind f%#¥^ng with you. :)

Netwerk - glad to hear the ankle is back in business. What kind of sessions are you planning for this week?

RunnersFix - awesome run on Friday. What is your goal MP?

Slartzio - glad the format is working well. I think that whichever approach keeps you fresh, healthy and excited about running is the best one.

KBXC - long term, you'll get more out of this setback than you would have from racing faster. Even still, your second place finish is impressive and you helped seal the win for your team. That's admirable and you should be proud.

cmm - Great race, man. You continue to impress. Congrats on the PR! Hope you've enjoyed a cold beer (or seven) by now. You earned it (them)!

HS Runner - similar to KBXC, you put the team in a winning position. That matters a lot. Keep up your consistent training and the race times will come.

Renewed - I hear you. Sometimes I feel like I'm just not genetically cut out for this endurance stuff. But then I post an unexpected PR or have a great healthy training cycle and I feel reborn. With time I get more wisdom on what works best for me and what my body can handle. Hopefully you just need to find your own personal balance.

Distance - nice MP effort. Good luck with the taper. Stay smart and patient.

Nop - we're cut from the same cloth; I love to run in the rain too. It's great when nobody else is out on the road and I'm churning away mile after mile at MP or tempo pace. Good psychological strength. Plus it keeps me from overheating.

Garbage - great HM! That's a really solid result not long after your 26.2. How does the 72:45 compare to your HM PR?

Force - awesome job, man! The only time I see a Kenyan in a race is from behind. Way behind. Really glad to hear the thread motivated you. It helps me too, even with just my uneventful weekly training runs.

Reed - hell of a race and a killer result to build from. Congrats!

Xenon - rest up. The last thing you want is to be laid up for a month. You've built up good fitness and it'll be waiting for you when you're back in a few days.

Ghola - you've earned the down week after your killer BAA race. Enjoy it! Are you taking advantage to consume a few beers or junk food? :)

SJ - the rest between the mile repeats is a 400m jog, roughly 2:30. If I overdo one of the repeats a little at, say, 5:40, then I might rest for 2:45-3 min.

Big congrats to cmm, ForceRunner, and reed. You guys are all monsters, and I hope to be as fast as you (or within spitting distance, at least) someday. Enjoy your postrace celebrating!

NP112: The hay is almost all in the barn now, and you've got a heck of a lot of hay there. I think it's natural that your body would feel a bit confused. That's a sign it's used to all that mileage, which is a good thing!

Stone: Good to hear your week turned around like that. I usually have at least one or two weeks per cycle where my body recovers more quickly than I expected and I smash late-week workouts with surprising ease. Never had one that late in a cycle, though. I think that means good things for Philly!

It was 80k of easy-medium running for me this week, with one exception. I ran a marked road mile on Friday in 4:52 at all-out effort. Considering I clocked a 4:53 a few months ago before the big LT and VO2 portions of my most recent marathon cycle, and running around 90 per cent effort at that, I was kind of disappointed. But my legs felt a bit squishy. I think I might have a bit of fatigue in them still from the marathon.

So I'm not too fussed. The Strava course record is 4:45. which I hope to take in the spring. I'll try once or twice more if I can fit it in before the snow flies.

If I can't get close (or at least under 4:50), then I'll probably try again before or after the Vancouver Half Marathon, which is May 3 and looks like a very attractive race to me right now....

Running: it's the best!

Hereford- Just doing one workout this week. 8m w/4@MP. Everything else will be easy with a few accelerations thrown in to keep my legs ticking over. It's a strange week because the race is on Monday so it's just kind of an extended wait.

Once and Future- Come on man!! You're killing me here with the wait. I know Amsterdam is a party city but it's like 1PM. How did it go?

Netwerk: I had a running buddy who ran Amsterdam in just under 3:10. He's posted the crap out since the race. He said a couple guys pushed him out of the way to pass at 21 miles, but he stayed close and blew their doors off in the stadium. Maybe Once & Future was one of them! He's posted a bunch of pictures of pot shops. Maybe Once is busy there or in the red light district!

I'm feeling encouraged, I was 4 seconds behind this guy at a half 1 month ago. We both took the same wrong turn and ran long, but I figured it out and saved him some steps. No way I go out at 3:10 pace though. Of course he started at about 3:03 pace through 15k.....

Goal Race - Half Marathon (October)

Goal Time - Sub 1:30 (B: Sub 1:33 - DONE)

Other Goals (2014 or early 2015) - Sub 20min 5k, Sub 40min 10k

Plan - Daniel's Half Marathon Plan (3rd Edition)

Mon - 6.75 miles - steady (7:33)

Tue - 5.5 miles - easy (8:07)

Wed - 7.5 miles - 2x(10min T + 2min jg) + 2x(5min T + 1min jg) + warm/cool (T-pace 6:42)

Thu - 4 miles - easy (7:57)

Fri - 3.25 miles - very easy with girlfriend (9:59)

Sat - off, unplanned

Sun - 11 miles - easy (8:29)

Total = 38 miles

Only one week to go before the big race next Sunday, so this week was the beginning of the taper. The plan takes it down to only the one quality session this week, with a shorter long run than usual.

Monday's run was with my club and was a good fun, although my legs felt pretty heavy after my workout the day before, which had been 13 miles, broken down as 45min E + 30min M + 20min T + cool down (E-pace 8:17) (M-pace 7:10) (T-pace 6:44).

Wednesday's workout was a big success; had no difficulty hitting T-pace (was aiming for 6:44) on what was a reasonably windy day. Good to get in 30mins of work at faster than goal pace.

Took Saturday off completely; but I don't feel too bad about that as we probably walked a good 10 miles + during the day.

Felt pretty awful for most of the day on Sunday, but I'd recovered enough by early evening to get out for a run. Felt fine for the first 6-7 miles, but the last few were not so good. All my own fault though - late night out on the Saturday, and it seems that I just can't really handle drink anymore!

So a mixed week overall. 38 miles is down from the 45ish, that I've been at for a few weeks now, and the coming week will probably be around 35 of so, including the race.

The aim this week is to relax, eat well, and stay hydrated. Looking forward to Sunday's race now, but feeling a bit nervous at the same time. The plan is to go out in 6:49 a mile and no faster; this should give me a bit of a margin for error as I ran slightly more than the 13.1 distance in the same race last year. Hopefully I can hold 6:49 pace through to mile 10, and then look at bringing it home slightly faster!

Hope everyone had good weeks!

Goal- Sub 3 Marathon in Philly

Non workout days are estimates as I don't use my GPS those days but I've mapped some after on map my run.

Mon- 15 miles @ 6:43/mile (last few were in the 6:20's

Tues- Off

Wed- 10.25 miles (est 7:45)

Thur- 10.5 miles (est 7:45)

Fri- 7.5 miles (est 7:30)

Sat- Baltimore Half- 1:24:22- A side stitch developed on Mile 3 and I couldn't shake it. Ran way too much extra on my GPS 13.39 (a lot of the extra was around a lake where I didn't take the inside and should have) 1 mile warmup, 2 mile cool down. Was hoping for 1:22 high.

Sun 11.5 miles (est 7:45)

Total 71 miles

Height 6' 2", Current weight is 189 would really love to get down to 185 by Philly but I seem to be stuck around 190.

Stone Cutter- Impressive week especially overcoming the migrane. That 18 mile progression run should really instill some confidence that sub 2:50 is very possible.

Comments later today--here is the tremendously boring race report for those interested.

My hotel was perfect location for the race—it was actually where the elites staged. I left the room around 6:40 and made my way down to the start corrals since the course information said the corrals closed at 7am (which didn’t make sense for a 730 race). There were only 4 corrals for 18,000 runners between the full and half so I wanted to get there early anyway and stage at the front of Corral A so I didn’t start in too slow of a group.

I got to the front of corral A and was thankful I remembered sweats to donate as the temps were cold—41 at the start. Perfect for running though although I could have used about 5 degrees colder;). I just relaxed for 30 minutes and listened to the band and/or DJ. I ended up finding a teammate just before the start and also chatted with him for a few minutes before the national anthem and start. The start of the race was pretty crazy with fireworks and insanely loud music.

For the race, I decided to disable the autolap feature on my watch and would just press the lap button myself at each mile marker.

Mile 1 – 6:05 (1.02) my goal was to go out by feel although I would sneak a peak to make sure I wasn’t too fast. There was a slight uphill right at the start and given the masses of people I just tried to run straight and not fall victim to weaving and/or getting caught up with the half marathoners in paces I could not sustain. The first mile of any race is always interesting with the people who start at the front and that don’t belong there causing havoc for everyone. I stayed away from this commotion though and fortunately could just run.

Mile 2- 6:02 (1.03) mile two took us down Broad St and I knew I would be seeing my family at the mile 2 MM which always makes for a quicker mile when you have something to look forward to. I also passed a lot of runners in these first two miles who were at the front of the corral but should have probably started a little further back.

Mile 3- 5:41 (.98) slightly downhill mile and this was on an out and back portion of Broad St so of course I was already dreading the back portion as I knew it would be a slight uphill There weren’t really any groups to run. My goal was to take water every water stop and I stuck with this strategy.

Mile 4 – 5:58 (1.03) – Miles 4 and 5 were back through residential areas and really nothing to write about running and trying to keep the running rhythm.

Mile 5 – 5:54 (1.01)

Mile 6 – 5:45 (1.01) – took my first Roctane right before the mile 6 water stop. My strategy coming into the race were Roctanes at 6,11,16 and 21. My time on the 10k mat was 36:41 and I knew I was right around where I needed to be as I was shooting for 36:xx

Mile 7 – 5:59 (.99)

Mile 8 – 5:51 (1.00) – Saw my family here again and gave them the gloves I was wearing. Definitely starting to sweat and glad I hadn’t worn the arm sleeves like I planned on the prior evening. At this point, I was still feeling pretty good as we ran through German Village.

Mile 9 – 5:53 (1.02)

Mile 10 – 5:51 (1.00) – the runners around me had really thinned out at this point although there were a few here and there.

Mile 11 – 5:58 (1.02) – nothing in this mile except I did eat my 2nd Roctane right before mile 12

Mile 12 – 5:54 (.99) – I knew I would see my family on High St right before the half marathon turn for the finish line and after seeing them with the turn I was completely on my own. There were 2 runners about 20 seconds up the road after the half marathon turn.

Mile 13 – 5:59 (1.02) – I kept telling myself just make it to OSU stadium. These next few miles were straight up High St and were pretty desolate. I was running completely by myself and there were few spectators so it was really like a tempo run. My half split was 1:17:23. I knew I was still on track but in the back of my mind had hoped for sub 1:17 and knew running a dead even or negative split would be tough with the upcoming section from 15-19 consisting of turns and hills.

Mile 14 – 5:54 (1.00)

Mile 15 – 5:57 ( 1.00) – I think we entered the campus during this mile and thus started a slew of turns.

Mile 16 – 5:59 (1.01) – unfortunately here is where the wheels came off the bus slightly. There were so many turns in this section of the course and we also ran through OSU stadium. It was a cool experience, but was not ideal for a race when you are trying to hold a pace and PR. They had you do an out and back before entering the tunnel to go into the stadium. The tunnel was a downhill-then you ran across the end zone track and then of course uphill tunnel out of the stadium. Just a lot of turns in this section in general and it really got to me for some reason.

Mile 17 – 6:00 (1.02) – I knew these were the uphill miles and “uphill” is relative because they were rollers if you even want to call them that. The elevation profile of this course is flat but I knew 16-19.5 were the “uphill” portions and they put me into a bit of a discomfort. My legs were starting to scream a bit and I was mentally having trouble staying focused.

Mile 18 – 6:06 (1.00) – You ran on a paved trail in this section and through a corn field. We exited and were back into the neighborhood and I was starting to get really worried about the next 7 miles.

Mile 19 – 6:11 (1.01) – I had a guy pass me here at a decent clip and when I looked down I realized he was probably running the pace I needed to be running as I was well over 6. I brought the mile back down to 6:11 and this mile was a turning point for me. I knew the hill was ending and also knew I would see one of my wife’s friends who lived right on the course around 19.5 for a bit of a energy boost. I was aware my pace had slowed considerably and figured my 2:35 was gone but was determined not to let a PR slip away on a perfect running day with so much work over the summer.

Mile 20 – 5:54 (.99) – I had waited all day for the final 10k to see what I had and it was time for the marathon to start. It helped that there were some downhill miles here as well. I just tried to stay focused on my running and at this point I had switched to Gatorade and decided against my last Roctane. My 20 mile split was 1:58:51 and at this point I was resigned to not running a sub 2:35 as I knew I needed a solid 1:58 or 1:57 to have a shot.

Mile 21 – 5:52 (1.02) – This mile was almost a disaster. I was looking at the ground and just kind of zoned out when I heard someone yell you need to turn—I had missed a right hand turn and fortunately the street marshal caught me after only a few feet to tell me. I would have kept running for sure and this would have been absolutely embarrassing way to ruin my marathon. Also in this mile was a square type loop that included a nice downhill followed by unfortunately another uphill.

Mile 22 – 5:57 (1.02) – my family was here again in this mile around 22.5 and seeing them helped to rejuvenate my spirits. I was able to pass a runner here and although 2:35 wasn’t happening I wanted a solid PR.

Mile 23 – 5:51 (1.01) – These are the miles where you keep telling yourself just get to the next mile sign and see what you have. Then you get to the mile sign and negotiate with yourself to say one more mile before you let loose. Unfortunately for me I compromise way too easily in times. I also stopped looking at my watch entirely during this mile and said I would just run hard for the finish.

Mile 24 – 5:55 (1.00)

Mile 25 – 6:05 (1.01) – the best sign on the course in my opinion is the Mile 25 banner. We made our way back onto Front st during this mile and I knew the course from walking to dinner and running it the day prior. A downhill stretch before an uphill finish after the mile 26 sign.

Mile 26 – 5:52 (1.00) – I felt like I was running fast in this mile and I guess compared to the previous mile I was I was a little worried about the finishing stretch as I knew the last quarter mile would contain a lot of half marathoners and I prayed I wouldn’t have to dodge them.

Mile 27 – 1:11 (.23) – I just ran hard up the small uphill to the finish line and could see the clock read 2:35…

My GPS had 26.44 miles at 2:35:33. So I guess with perfect tangents I would have had my sub 2:35. No complaints though from my side and was pleased with a personal best and a top 15 finish. A little disappointed, yes but just means I need to work harder next time. Being 5lbs heavier from Boston probably didn’t help either!

One of the cool features is that it tells you how many runners you passed and that passed you. In addition my pace ended up being almost dead even except for the middle section of the course. Also pleased that I was able to finish strong and move up over the final 10k.

Here are my stats:

10k: avg pace 5:55, passed 51 / passed by 0

Half: avg pace 5:55 passed 7 / passed by 0

16.3: avg pace: 6:07 passed 0 / passed by 0

20 mile: avg pace: 5:56 passed 2 / passed by 2

Full: 5:56 passed 5 / passed by 1