Hey folks, hope everything is going great for this morning's racers! Looking forward to the results, and reports from yesterday's marathons. Think there were at least two of us running yesterday. I'll start with my stats and week -
Male 43, 5'11" 170 lbs
Sunday - 5 miles at 7:39 pace
Monday - 3 miles slow, 2 at MP, 2 miles slow
Tuesday - 4.6 miles easy
Wednesday - 4.6 miles easy with 6 strides
Thursday - 4.6 miles easy
Friday - 2 miles slow
Saturday - .5 mi warmup, Marathon
Finally, marathon week! Tuesday I jogged 3 miles, than ran 2 miles at what intuitively "felt like" marathon pace. Watch said 6:44.7 per mile. The rest of the week was easy mileage, a few strides, 2-mile jog on Friday.
The weather was near perfect yesterday morning. The race is a small, rural event, less than an hour from home, so no hassles. Certified course, accurate mile markers. It's a loop, with plenty of parking at the start/finish, no problems stashing warm-up gear, etc.
As usual, before leaving home, I had a cup of coffee, a slice of toast with jam, some water. I brought along a couple gu packets with me, and planned to alternate Gatorade and water at the aid stations. My girlfriend lives an hour away in the opposite direction, but trekked out to cheer me on.
The Marathon:
A few hundred runners gather as I toe the starting line. Gun goes off, and here we go! I'm feeling good, a few small groups are forming as I reach one-mile at 6:46. There's a group of three guys a little ways ahead, so I pick up my pace slightly to catch them. We run together for a few miles, I check my watch. It's a simple Timex Ironman, and I don't bother hitting the split button. But I do some rough mental math at 2, at 3, at 4. So far, so good.
A little further, though, the group seems to be slowing, or maybe just slower than what I'm feeling as "my pace." So I forge ahead on my own. I catch a solo runner, run alongside, get antsy again, and move on past. The roads are quite empty, and I find myself running alone.
I'm running by feel. Glances at my watch give a rough sense of the splits. The pace feels brisk but comfortable - "marathon pace!" I reach halfway at 1:28:30. A 90-second cushion. That's 6:45 per mile, although I don't do the calculation at the time. (Very close to my 2-mile MP "test" on Monday)
At 15 miles, I see my girlfriend cheering me on, I catch another runner, and keep going. I'm still running by feel, but the pace is" feeling" more challenging, and some doubt creeps into my mind. At 17 miles, I'm feeling better, and slowly reel in a young guy ahead of me. When I reach him, he hangs with me. He's only 17, it's his first marathon, and he's aiming for sub-3.
We run together. At 20 miles, he's struggling. I encourage him, tell him to just hang with me, and we'll break 3 hours. He starts to lose ground, so I slow a bit to let him catch up. But as I get back on pace, a gap develops. Again, I slow enough for him to catch up. And again he struggles. I look at my watch, getting nervous about sub-3. Finally, I wish him luck, and settle back into my intuitive pace.
The next few miles are challenging, but I stay on pace. Gentle rolling hills give me something to think about besides the mile markers. A solo runner ahead presents a target. My math is a little fuzzy making me nervous about the 3-hour goal. I don't dare ease up. I pass the runner, but the next guy is a half-mile ahead. Solo effort from here. Just a couple miles to go.
I cross the finish at 2:56:03. 1:28:30 first half, 1:27:33 second half. 6:43 average pace. 9th overall (308 finishers), 4th master. Sub-3 for the first time in 20 years!
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During my 4-month training cycle, I logged a total of only 11 miles within "marathon pace range" (6:40-7:00). Except for the 2 miles earlier this week, none of those were targeted pacing -- mostly just closing miles during progressions. Still, right from the gun, my "perceived MP" (6:46 at 1-mile) was within 4 seconds of my final overall pace.
I don't subscribe to the MP emphasis of many training plans. Train faster, train slower, and trust your intuition on race day.
BTW, that 17-year-old kid faded to 3:03, still very impressive, and he was ecstatic with the result! His parents approached me afterwards, and told me how much he appreciated my help and encouragement. That was nice.
Later yesterday, my girlfriend and I went out to an upscale restaurant to celebrate. I surprised her with a diamond ring. Running had brought us together, so I chose marathon day to ask (she said "yes"!). Our first date was an impromptu lunch after the Toronto marathon six years ago. We hope to be running together for many years to come.