Tell Me What Happened

[Jeff Linger]

So, Boston was a killer. I fell off pace massively in the last 4 miles, but felt I had the fuel, the conditioning, and the hydration to finish on pace. Is this a case of simply the course or did something happen that I'm missing? I wanted to keep going, my lungs were fine, my legs were simply trashed. I believe it was simply the course chewing my quads and calves up, but is it possible something else happened that I'm missing?'

My race report is here http://dandy.fastrunningblog.com/blog-04-20-2009.html

Thoughts greatly appreciated.

[Jon Allen]

Always hard to say, Jeff.  Marathons are fickle beasts.  I reviewed your training/race report and I would say a few things could contribute to your race performance. 

First, your observation about the shoes can play a factor- trainers may have helped save your quads.  For many people, the downhills early on lead to sore quads later, and it sounds like that was one of your biggest factors- did you do much downhill training on long runs?  I would also say that going out a bit fast hurt- your first 16 miles were ALL faster than your goal pace.  I know it is downhill and I know a bit of a slowdown usually occurs on marathons, but 5-10 seconds per mile over 16 miles can take a lot more out of you in the end than you realize (especially since there was a headwind, increasing effort for that pace).  The final thought would be in your training- you averaged 50-55 mpw from Dec-Mar, with only 4 runs of 19+ miles during that time.  For your relatively aggresive goals of 3:00 hour marathon and 11:30 PR, that may not have been enough.  I'm guessing a small bump in miles (up to 60-65 miles per week) and more long runs (2 per month or more) could push you over the hump.  This may be especially beneficial if you do St. Louis marathon again, where you may be more relaxed, as opposed to Boston which has lots of hype and is notoriously hard to PR on.

Remember, this is only your second marathon, so you can still learn a ton and see huge improvement.  Anyways, you can know you are not alone in missing your Boston goal.  My first marathon was Top of Utah, with a 2:49.  I did Boston the next spring with very inadequate training (I just got married, longest run of 14 miles, etc), and bonked hard.  My last 3 miles were at 10-12 min pace, and I finished in 3:41.  As you said in your race report, I was *THAT GUY*. 

[Jeff Linger]

Heh. Sorry you ended up being that guy once. As far as the early pace is concerned, my thoughts were that the pace felt good and that holding back may have actually hurt my quads more from the increased strain on the quads themselves that occurs when you hold back going downhill. The pace may have in fact hurt my quads in the end (calves too) but the good news is that the pace didn't have an effect on my conditioning. So that's good news. I think I just need to continue to strengthen the muscles. Yes, my miles were down early on, but four of my last 6 weeks were 65+ miles. Interestingly, it wasn't until that point that I felt I was able to maintain that sort of mileage week-in, week-out with the intensity at which I was training.  The good news is that I now feel that I am strong enough to begin training in the 65+ zone week after week. As far as hill training goes, I did significant downhill training, but it wasn't until Boston was over that I realized exactly how much downhill training was truly necessary. Live and learn.

[AndyBrowning]

First of all, running a PR at Boston is a great accomplishment.  I would agree with everything that Jon said.  The fast pace early on probably played the biggest factor.  Increasing the number of long runs will definitely help.  I also think that just by continuing doing what you are doing you will see improvements.  Keep at it and you will get there.

[Dallen]

It seems like your experience is close to the same thing that happens to most of us. Almost everyone dies on those last few miles. Most people who don't die didn't run fast enough. Only a lucky few run the perfect race and can hold on until the end.

[Sasha Pachev]

Jeff:

I do not think anything went wrong terribly except that you have overestimated your fitness for the course and the conditions. You were probably ready to run 3:03. It is easy to do when your aerobic capacity and the leg power exceed your fuel capacity because the pace feels sustainable for a long long time until it is too late. Additionally, you still have not developed what I call fat base pace (FBP), the pace you run when your primary source of fuel is fats. With a good FBP you can take risks because if you crash you are still running respectably.  If your FBP is not good, you have to pace yourself right or you pay dearly.

I do not know how to improve FBP except just be consistent, get your base mileage in, eat healthy, and wait. My FBP overtime improved from around 7:30 in 1999 to 7:05 in 2003, and then it plateaued. On a side note, knowing your FBP is one of those things that you wish you never knew, like the color of the bars at the county jail or something like that.

I would take this PR with a measure of happiness and continue plodding along. Sub-3:00, possibly sub-2:50, maybe even sub-2:40 will come eventually. Continue the training you've been doing. Long runs with a tempo, good base mileage.

[Jeff Linger]

Most people who don't die didn't run fast enough.

"The only true race pace is a suicide race pace ... and today seems like a good day to die" -- Pre

[Jeff Linger]

Jeff:

It is easy to do when your aerobic capacity and the leg power exceed your fuel capacity because the pace feels sustainable for a long long time until it is too late. Additionally, you still have not developed what I call fat base pace (FBP), the pace you run when your primary source of fuel is fats. With a good FBP you can take risks because if you crash you are still running respectably.  If your FBP is not good, you have to pace yourself right or you pay dearly.

Interesting stuff Sasha, thanks. Am I correct in understanding that you're suggesting that I did not, in fact, have the fuel to maintain the pace and that this complete turning to jello of my quads and calves is a result of fuel? I'm not quite sure how this connects. Help me out. I was in no way tired or exhausted, my quads and calves were simply mangled to scrambled eggs by, I suspect, the continuous up and down in combination with a potentially incorrect shoe choice. I wanted to keep the pace up, I had the energy to keep the pace up, but my leg muscles instantaneously were turned to musch at the bottom of the backside of HBH.

[Sasha Pachev]

Jeff:

I think the torn muscle was a factor, but the cause of the tearing was that you just ran out of fuel. A glycogen-depleted muscle easily tears. Or, possibly, we should say more generically an attempted muscle contraction with no energy to back it up tears the muscle. Possibly you could have saved a couple of minutes in this situation by backing off around mile 20 to 7:25 flat effort or so.

Actually a very common situation. You get into a good rhythm, clicking off good splits, have your sights set on a certain time goal. All of a sudden with the same effort you are 10-15 seconds slower. You've been speeding and now the trooper is behind you flashing the lights. It is time to acknowledge that you are busted, but most runners will just start trying harder, and I think that is where the muscle tear happens. The trooper radios ahead and gets your tires spiked. The right thing to do is ease off , try to find a good emergency rhythm, adjust your goals, and grab as much energy drink at the next several aid stations as you can. This could make you 2-3 minutes faster, sometimes more.

[Jeff Linger]

That sounds about right Sasha. As soon as I realized I wouldn't meet my goal or go sub 7:00s I simply looked at the remainder of the race as a cool down. Which is a good thing, I feel no lingering effects of the marathon outside of just slightly sore quads. That's almost gone as well. On an additional note, I knocked down 3 gatoraide endurance drinks after the marathon and felt a lot better.