The Next Step

Better day for running today (32) and light wind. Today I did my last MP run before the marathon. The target was around 7:20 pace. I did a couple of miles warmup and then the MP miles. I felt pretty good and hit the splits as planned. The legs still feel a little tired for some reason but the pace felt easy. Weather for the marathon still looking good. Looks like it will be in high 30's for the start. Plan on cutting the miles back the rest of the week and may even take a day off.

59:41 (7:28 avg)

It was pouring rain this morning so just ran on the treadmill. I had an easy day planned anyway. I just ran real easy and felt pretty good. I do have a little bit of a sore throat this morning so I hope that doesn't turn into anything more serious. Plan on taking the miles down and just running easy the rest of the week. I am traveling to Huntsville on Thursday for some business meetings on Thur and Fri then the race on Sat.

49:57 (8:20 avg)

It was cool (30) and windy day today with a few snow flurries. I just did an easy 5 miles as I continue to taper for the marathon. Nothing special today but started real slow and gradually picked up the pace as I went along. I will be traveling to Huntsville tomorrow early so I am thinking about not running tomorrow and then doing a short run on Friday. The weather for the race looks great as it will probably be in the 40's for the entire race. Hope it stays the same. Also, I need to finalize my plan for the race. I have went back and forth on a couple of pace/strategies so I need to decide and commit to the plan.

40:07 (8:01 avg)

I had to get up real early for travel to Huntsville then a full day of meetings after I got there so didn't run today.  I plan on doing an easy 4 miles tomorrow.  The weather changed some but should still be good.  It will be a little colder at the start but I think it will warm up quickly. 

 I think I have committed to a plan for the race after looking over the race profile and map.  There are some late hills in the race and I want to try to finish strong so plan to go out a little easy and then seeing how I am doing around 18 miles.  I have to remember that goal is to get the BQ which is 3:20 for me so have to make sure that I don't get carried away and start out to quickly then miss the BQ.  So plan to go out around 7:30 and hopefully be able to run a negitive split. 

Huntsville, AL.  It was cool out this morning (30) but no wind.  Just did a easy 4 miles to shake out the legs before the marathon.  Also, did a few strides toward the end.  I felt good and ready to go for tomorrow.  It has cooled down  some here so probably will be in the low 30's for the start and warm up into the 40's by the finish.  A little cooler than I was hoping but still real good.  I am still thinking my best strategy is to run easy the first half and then see what I can do from there.  Both marathons I have ran I have struggled toward the end and need to make sure that I hold enough back to be able to hold my pace at the finish.  The BQ is the goal (3:20) so I will run for that time and if I feel good toward the end try to pick it up.  Would love to run a negitive split but we will see.  Main thing for me is I want to enjoy this one.  Like I said I have ran two marathons and both were a death march the last 10k so I don't want to repeat that. 

31:37

Ran the BQ and improved PR by around 20 minutes.   Short report:  Race went pretty good didn't feel my best but held a good pace most of the way.  I gave back some time the last 6 miles but not too bad.  Rolling hills were taking there toll on this flat lander.  Now I have to drive 6 hours home.  More later....

Full Report:

First of all I have to thank everyone on the blog that has given my advice and for the examples that they have set in their training. I know that I wouldn't have achieved the BQ without you.

Slept pretty good and woke up early for a light breakfast before the race. I was feeling pretty good and because I got up early didn't enjoy the waiting around to start. I was ready to get going. The weather was good with around 32 at the start, sunny with some light wind. My main goal on the race was to get the BQ and if I felt good maybe run a little faster. Taking some advice that Jeff gave me earlier to have 3 goals for the race depending on how I felt I would decide after the first few miles if I felt good enough to push it some or settle back to my main goal of just getting the BQ. Since my main goal was the BQ and a little over 7:30 pace was my BQ pace I decided to go out around this pace and see how I felt. Then if I felt good go for the other goal which was 3:15. Here is how it played out:

1st, 2nd - 14:51 (missed the first mile split, I was running real easy at this point but my legs felt flat and that concerned me. Decided at this point that I would try to run 7:30 pace and not push for anything faster. This turned out to be a great decision)

3rd - 7:18 (a little faster than I wanted but still trying to settle into the right pace)

4th - 7:29 (back on pace)

5th - 7:25

6th - 7:29

7th - 7:23

8th - 7:24

9th - 7:21 (slight downhill)

10th - 7:28 (miles 10 thru 13 were into the wind and I was mostly by myself so even though it wasn't that windy still enough to notice)

11th - 7:21

12th - 7:27

13th - 7:23

14th - 7:27

15th - 7:24

16th - 7:37 (this mile was all up hill and the biggest hill on the course)

17th - 7:41 (still running up the hill)

18th - 7:21

19th - 7:23

20th - 7:35 (starting to feel the rolling hills. Any time that I was going up I slowed down)

21st - 7:53 (probably my worst mile. There was a long gradual hill and I lost some focus here. Had to get my mind back on the target and get going again)

22nd - 7:39

23rd - 7:50 (trying to hold it together but my legs were really feeling it. Didn't have a whole lot left)

24th - 7:44 (Still struggling but starting to believe that I had the BQ if I could just keep moving)

25th - 7:56 (I wanted to push to the finish but just couldn't get the legs to move like I wanted to)

26th and .2 - 9:43 (right as I passed the mile maker I got a pretty good cramp in my left calf. I thought to myself "you gotta be kidding me." At this point I knew that I had the BQ if I could hold any kind of pace but that didn't include having to deal with a cramp in the leg or it getting so bad that I would be forced to walk. Luckily I slowed down a little and after about a minute or 2 it went away. After that I tried to pick it back up to the finish but didn't want to get the cramp again so just held it together to the finish)

I was happy to get the BQ and the 20 minute PR especially on a day that I didn't feel I had my best stuff. I felt like I did a good job holding back for the half of the race because at that point I could have pushed it harder and I am sure that I would have paid for it later. This is also the first time that I felt like I held it together pretty good to the finish. My pace did fall off over the last 6 miles but it wasn't real bad. I am still unsure about this whole marathon thing. I feel like I should be able to do better than I do especially based on shorter distance races that I have run. But the good thing is I have ran 3 marathons and been faster in each one and for someone my age I guess that has to be considered success.

The 6 hour drive home by myself wasn't too much fun but I did get to call a lot of friends and family to tell them about the race. But the stop at DQ for the Reese's peanut butter cup blizzard was pretty nice.