Race Report: Philadelphia Marathon

The Philadelphia Marathon is a race that has been on my schedule many year. It is close to home, a nice course to run, and the timing is perfect for both my schedule and my desire to race in cooler conditions. Of all the race distances I have raced, the distance I have been the most inconsistent at is the marathon. It should come as no surprise that  I've had some very good races and some very bad races in Philly.

Late last week I posted up my thoughts Sunday's run and what I wanted to accomplish, what I would consider a success. I defined success based on two things - discipline and process. You can find that post here.

On Saturday morning I woke up early and ran an easy three and a half miles with some strides at the end of the run. After a stretch, a shower and a hardy breakfast, I headed down to Philly with The Mayor and The Queen. What would normally be a 75 minute drive turned into a 2 1/2 hour slog due to a major accident that shut down rt. 309 for 6 hours. Sitting in stopped traffic is never the ideal situation, it isn't any easier when you are full of pee because you are very well hydrated energy at the end of a taper week. Fortunately, the company made it a little more bearable. We did finally make it to the expo, picked up our race packets, walked the expo floor, then headed to our hotel for a little r&r.

Sunday was an early start due to the 7 am start time and the "heightened security" around the staging area. In the pre-race materials it was highly suggested that participants get to the race site by 5 am as the security would be tight. We decided a 5:30 arrival would make more sense. We walked through security, waited in the port-o-john line (why are there never enough of these at any race), dropped our bags at the UPS trucks, and hit the starting corrals.

Rant: I get that in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing in April there is a need to increase the security around big city marathons. I get that. What I have a problem with is a security plan that makes no sense. All they did was have a perimeter with a limited number of entrance points from  the art museum on the west and the start/finish area to the east. While would be fine, except there was no bag checking, or pat downs, let alone metal detectors. We literally just walked right in with only a "good morning" from "security."

Back to the race ... The conditions were as ideal as one could ever expect with a light breeze and temperatures around 50 degrees. A no excuses day made my time goal of a 3:15 finish time (with a BQ time of 3:25 as my fallback) reasonable. Still, success would be truly defined as sticking with my five predefined goals. This race was about discipline and process.

So how did I stack up against my five pillars of success?

1. Start the race at a controlled pace without burning off too much energy trying to get space. Here I was successful. The Mayor and I started at the back of our start corral, crossing the start line approx. 2 minutes after the start of the race. The first three miles were really tight with less space than I like to have. It was uncomfortable and I had the urge to weave around some of the slower runners, which would have happened in years past. This year, I kept my discipline and eased into the race with my first three mile splits coming in at 7:45, 7:36, 7:20.

2. Pace the run for a negative split. The time goal was a 3:15 and I hit the 10k mark in 46:34, the halfway mark in 1:37:19, and the 30k in 2:18:12. Good pacing for the most part, but a little fast from 10k to the half, which had more to do with the terrain than me actually pushing the pace. Success.

3. Proper fueling. I have a real bad habit of just forgetting to take on nutrition. Here, I drank water at all but two of the 17 water stops and took a Power Gel at miles 8 and 17 as planned. My stomach wasn't an issue and energy levels were fine to the very end. Success

4. Push myself in the last 10k.So I did and I didn't. I was on pace for 21 miles to get the 3:15. And then my hip flexors tightened up like you wouldn't believe. Forced to walk a bit my attitude remained positive and I decided to gut it out the best I could. I stayed positive for the next few miles, even as the periods of running got shorter and shorter. Then it happened. Mile 25 was a dark place for me as I mentally started to check out. It was also by far my slowest mile at 9:58. I did the math and knew I could still get the BQ, but I was in that mentally dark place. Half Success

5. Leave it all out there on the course.Yes, I broke a bit mentally. Still, I think I gave it everything I had. More important than the breakdown is the fact that I came out of it to finish up as strong as possible. I'm sure it looked ugly over the last few miles, but I got it done. Success

Overall that's a 4 1/2 out of a possible 5 which we can call a win. Unfortunately, discipline and process did not result in a sub-3:15. Instead, I finished in an official time of 3:24:04 and a 7:46/mile average pace, which did not come as a surprise to me.

Going back over my training I had some really good long runs. Four weeks out I had a great 20 miler on the tow path with Phil, followed up one week later with a 17 miler on the roads. At that point all things were looking and feeling great. But ... isn't there always a but ... the day after the 17 miler I woke up with a strange pain in my right quad. It was a muscle strain which led me to take five easy days with no running. When I got back to running I did a 10 mile long run, not the 20 I had intended to do. Also, once back running I stuck to flat terrain so as to decrease the muscular stress.

It worked, in that I got to the start line ready to run. In getting to the start line, however, I gave up some strength as well as my last long run. No training block goes exactly as planned, but I have to believe that losing the consistency and mileage when I did factored into how the final 10k played out. Not making excuses, it just is what it is.

Finally, I want to give a big shout out to everyone who raced last weekend, and specifically Cassie (3:04:02, 5th in F20-24), Danielle (3:25:18 6th in her AG), Barb (2:08:20 in the half), and The Mayor (1:41:16 in the half).

I want to give an extra special shout out to The Queen, who completed her first half marathon in an official time of 2:35:21. What she did on Sunday was a huge accomplishment and is much more impressive than anything I did last weekend. Cannot express in words how proud I am of her.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Thoughts on this Weekend's Philly Marathon

There was a time when the marathon was the focus of my training. I was a runner - not a great runner, but a runner - and the marathon was the defining distance in my mind. I raced other distances, sure. But my training was built around a spring and fall marathon.This went on for a number of years, eventually leading to cross-training, which led to a duathlon, which led to a triathlon, which led to a full Ironman ... but even as the level of craziness in racing increased, I always managed to ran a standalone marathon every year. It was just something I did ... until 2012.

I did start the D&L Marathon last November, but pulled out with a hamstring injury around mile 19, making 2012 the first year since 1999 I failed to complete 26.2 miles. It's now been more than two years since I finished my last marathon.

With my focus on triathlon the past 7 years the marathon has taken a back seat, almost an afterthought. In fact, my training for a marathon always came AFTER my last race of the year. Talk about an afterthought!!!

This time around I am not taking the distance for granted, and have made a few changes to my prep. For example, I actually have been preping specifically for a marathon. Getting ready for the Rev3 Half/Full Triathlon I made sure that my run mileage was up and my long runs were sufficiently long for marathon training, as opposed to get through 13.1 miles off the bike.

The taper has also been a real marathon taper with just enough running, no bike mileage, and a few short swims to work off enough idle energy to keep me from going insane. Rest time is actually rest time as well, including more sleep (not 8 hours, but more than the 5 I usually get). For me this is big. I don't like to slow down and I don't like the taper.With that said, my last "real run" on Thursday morning went well. Not exactly where I want to be on race day, but the legs had life in them. This gives me hope for a good race.

As for what I'm expecting to do on Sunday morning ... first, I don't plan on making any of the mistakes I have made in the past. I've gone the distance enough to (hopefully) not sabotage myself with stupid. To do this I am focusing in to process and not a goal time, although I do have that in mind as well. If I don't get that goal I will run to the top of the stairs in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum and throw myself down them in disgust be fine. IF I stick to a sound game plan. So what will define success?

1. With more than 25,000 participants the Philadelphia Marathon is a big race. There is also a 1/2 marathon running at the same time. These two facts make it challenging to find pace and stay in control in the first few miles. Thus, goal number one: Start the race at a controlled pace without burning off too much energy trying to get space.

2. Pace the run for a negative split. The best run marathons are run either evenly paced or at a slight negative split so it doesn't make any sense to put "time in the bank" when that really doesn't work.

3. Proper fueling. I have had a habit of getting behind on liquids and calories. I need discipline.

4. Push myself in the last 10k. While I really, really like the pain of pushing the limit while on a bike, I find it less enjoyable on the run. As Macca would say, "embrace the suck." As we discuss within my circle of friends - Rule #5!!!

5. Leave it all out there on the course. Doesn't matter what I feel like on Monday because this is my last race of the year. You might see me at some small, local races, but I will be participating, not racing.

So there you have it, my definition of success for Sunday's race comes down to one word: discipline. I have to fight my inner urge to do stupid and stay focused.

And ... with all that said ... it really comes down to two numbers: Three Fifteen. That would give me a qualifying time for Boston, 2015. I'm 44 now and will be 45 then so a sub-3:15 gives me enough space from the BQ standards to qualify and get a spot come race day.

Good luck to everyone else who will be racing, including Cassie, Danielle, Barb, The Mayor and The Queen.

If you have an interest you can get race results here.

Stay focused. Train hard.
Jon