Today I ran a time trial marathon, long story. I did figure that very long races like a marathon, along with the shorter races of 800 meters or less, lose the least in the absence of "race energy", allowing time trial performances to be similar to the real thing. Because I don't have a GPS watch, the decision of where to run was pretty much made for me: Gateway trail, so I could have mile markers. The route actually worked out quite well, I started just after a mile marker near the Rotary park, and ended at the end of the bike line at Norell and 120th. It was warmer than you might expect with a low above 60 degrees, although once I got into the woods it felt significantly cooler. I planned a "gun time' of 6:30 to optimize cool temps and light. I wore my old green Next%s.
The race: My plan had been to try to run 5:30 pace, for about 2:24. My PR was 2:27:20, but I thought this would be an easier course (MapMyRun shows I did about 600 feet elevation gain, vs. >1000 in my first 2 marathons), and I hoped I had done a better job carb loading than before. My first "almost mile" was 5:30, which was a bad sign. I sped up a bit and next ran a 5:38. Then I sped up again and ran 5:31. This did not boost my confidence. At a couple points, I considered turning around and giving up. I decided I should push through for my pride, even if I had to hobble back at 6 minute pace. I was just concerned because early miles at let's say 5:20 pace had felt so easy in previous marathons. I think this may have been due to the race adrenaline perhaps, but I wasn't sure early on. I stopped for water four times, trying to limit it to 15 seconds each time. I am still not quite sure if I took 6 gels or 7. I could've sworn I made it through seven, but I had one leftover at the end. I could really feel how drinking water after taking a gel helped it digest instead of sitting in my stomach making me sick. I remember feeling kind of sick at mile 14, but knew there was water coming up and that taking a gel now was an investment for later in the race, so I'm proud I did. It was kind of windy today, but the Gateway trail is pretty covered, so I only felt it once I got to the end and had to battle. After running the last couple miles without markers seemingly pretty slow, I was optimistic to see I did my first half in 72:23. I have learned that in marathons, at least for me, you don't just gradually feel worse and worse. Instead, things ebb and flow. Sometimes I felt more sick, other times I felt good. At some points I felt almost burst of energy as perhaps my body was processing the carbs and giving permission for me to run fast. I started out pretty quick on the way back, and was able to hold it together going up the hills of miles 17-19ish. I knew once I got to 20, it would be mostly downhill. And then what happened is that I was able to hold it together. The back miles were nothing compared to my last two marathons. If I had to run 4 extra miles at the end, I would've done way better today. I felt inner thigh cramping like twice at the very end. And no bonking. So that makes me feel like I did a good job with carb loading. Still- I know I'm not nearly as competitive at this distance as I was at shorter distances. In fairness, it's not like I can run a sub-14 5K off my current training, either. But ultimately today felt like a longer, harder long run. I feel like I'm missing a piece. We'll see if I ever figure out what it is. Still, happy to have run a negative split!
Someone told me "one more week!" assuming I was running the Twin Cities marathon. Someone else kindly asked if I was ok at the end and said they were my "cheering squad" after I explained what I was doing. Funny they were concerned because I was doing *way* better than my previous ones. No sprawling out in the medical tent for 30 minutes or shivering and hardly being able to walk. I did inaugurate leaf catching season, with two grabs during the race!
Splits: 5:30 (not a full mile), 5:38, 5:31, 5:34, 5:36, 5:32, 5:31, 5:27, 5:31, 5:35, 5:33, 11:21 (past mile markers), 11:21 (same thing and same time!), 5:24, 5:33, 5:34, 5:31, 5:33, 5:41, 5:34, 5:25, 5:31, 5:39, 5:11 (not a full mile).
After multiple mappings, I got that the route was 21.07 km each way, or ~11 seconds short. My overall time was 2:24:27. So I'll call it 2:24:38. I don't know what to say about the water stops. In a race someone would hand you the water. If you just added that time to my time, it would be 2:25:38 or so. So maybe right around 2:25:00 would be the most fair.
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