I’m not at the magic sub-3 mark, but as a former 5-plusser who was at 3:40 three years ago, my 3 minute, 40 second PR last weekend (3:05:58) makes me feel like it’s coming. Here is my race recap I wrote for my friends and family (I’m a 42/m, two kids age 10 and 6, FWIW):
Sunday was quite the experience - and quite different from big city marathons like Chicago, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee. (Chicago, which I ran from 2001-04, has around 40,000 finishers. Minocqua had 57.) At 6 a.m., we met at - I'm not making this up - the downtown American Legion, where a school bus drove us the ~26 miles down to the starting line, at a local high school. The weather was perfect - clear and in the low 50s, and expected to rise to the low 60s over the course of the next three hours. I went in with the idea of finishing around a 7:05-ish pace per mile and, specifically, breaking 3:05, if the race lent itself to that. Really what I cared about was putting myself safely below the anticipated Boston Marathon "cutoff."
My plan - I'm looking at it right now on my desk - was to run the first 10 miles at around 7:05, the next 10 around 7:00, the next three at 6:50-55, then try to race the last three, depending on what I had left. I made those plans, though, realizing they were tentative, and that if I just ran 7:05s the entire way, that would be just fine, too, bringing me home right around 3:05-06ish.
1 - 7:05
The start was interesting, because 10 to 15 runners broke out well in front of me. My the second or third mile, and maybe even sooner, I had passed most of them. I'm a slave to running my race, at my pace, these days, and it surprises me somewhat to see people competing at this distance who seem to be that unsure. I am always thrilled when I'm able to turn the first mile at my goal time. After all these years, I never hit the starting line without creeping fear that I'm under-rested, and am going to struggle to maintain any kind of pace at all. As usual, though, I was fine.
The first 10 miles, as you can see above, went according to plan:
2 - 7:04
3 - 7:03
4 - 7:05 (gel pack 1 taken at the start of 4)
5 - 7:03
6 - 7:04
7 - 7:05
8 - 7:04
9 - 7:05
10 - 7:04 (gel pack 2 taken at the start of 10)
I was genuinely surprised at how much I seemed to be cruising at that point. A few days before, I was hobbling around like a drunken homeless person, and everything hurt. After a few days of (relative) rest, I felt strong.
So I moved onto phase 2:
11 - 6:59
12 - 6:57
13 - 6:57
14 - 6:59
15 - 7:00
Some time during those 5 miles, a couple of things happened. First, I felt so good that I thought I might actually have a shot at attacking sub-3, or at least 3:01-02 range. I felt that strong. Second, my iPhone drained down to 10 percent, since the race was on a trail through the heart of the Wisconsin Northwoods. So I wrapped the headphones up, put the phone on airplane mode, and stashed it in my pocket. Not being able to disassociate myself from the effort as much without music, I could tell I was laboring a little more than I thought I was. I also passed up three or four people who were struggling mightily. The second half had to be a death march for them.
16 - 7:12 (hill) (gel pack 3 taken at the start of 16)
The hill came pretty early in the 16th mile, maybe at 15.2 or so, but I could see it from far back. I passed a guy as I went over it - he already seemed to be struggling. I ran up the hill. He walked. Regardless, by the time I reached the top, my pace for the 16th mile was well over 8 minutes, and I had to scramble just to get down to 7:12. Maybe I scrambled a little too hard. I still haven't mastered hills which is funny, because the other event I compete in each year is a skyscraper stair climb.
17 - 7:01
18 - 7:01
19 - 7:06
20 - 7:11 (gel pack 4 taken at the start of 20)
I was very happy that I was able to get back to my ~7:00 pace after contending with the hill, but it was never quite as easy again, and I could tell that I wasn't going to be able to bring it down into the 6:50s.
21 - 7:00
22 is almost always where I used to begin hitting the wall.
22 - 7:07
23 - 7:13 (uphill)
24 - 7:15 (uphill)
23 and 24 were tough, and it was only in hindsight that I realized that they were likely subtly elevated. I knew, though, that if I could stay in the 7:1x's, that I would post a 3-minute PR, give or take, which I figured would safely put me into Boston. As always, however, I had no idea what my legs had in store for me.
25 - 7:03 (downhill)
I was absolutely elated to turn a 7:03 at mile 25. Overjoyed.
26 - 7:11
For the first half or so of mile 26, I was running in the 6:50s and sometimes even the 6:40s. Now, I must say, the watch tends to jump around a little bit each mile and then stabilize along the way. But I truly think I was cruising. I had it in mind that I was going to make mile 26 my fastest mile, which would have been cool as hell. And I really thought I had it. But I think the second half must have been slightly uphill, because I started leaking pace without really feeling l was getting any more tired. Nonetheless, it's a great feeling to charge into mile 26 realizing that there is going to be no hitting the wall. Not on this day.
0.2 - 6:24
For the last 0.2, I sprinted. Was able to my kids a high five at around 26.15, which was awesome because there were no spectator spots along the course.
The finish line clock read 10:06:06 as I crossed, but we must have started a few seconds after 7 a.m., because my watch said 3:05:59 and my official finishing time was 3:05:58, which I assume is accounted for by me fumbling around for a moment to find the stop button on my watch.
Running a small marathon, I was able to find my family within a couple minutes, which was very cool. The downside of running a fast marathon in a small town: No places open for food at 10 a.m., so we wandered around for an hour before making our way to the local brewery where I enjoyed a plate of pancakes and sausage and a flight of all eight beers they make.
Great little town, by the way. I wish we'd had more time and got to do some water sports and enjoyed what the outdoors had to offer, but we hate two meals lake-side, including one at a place called "The Boathouse," which was fairly fancy pants and another at "The Thirsty Whale," in a 120-year old building on the lake.
And that's all I have to say about that.