To say I had a up and down year in my sophomore year of running is an understatement. It definitely was a year I learned a lot about myself as runner and how humbling this sport can be sometimes. The year was off to a roaring start with a new PR at the half marathon distance on my hometown course. A PR that probably went to my head a bit thinking I was better than I actually was as I got set to run my second marathon at Gettysburg. I felt I had a pretty good cycle post-half marathon and set out for a 3:35 goal. A goal that was probably too aggressive considering my PR was 4:12. That race was a “bad day” I’d just sooner forget. Gettysburg is a tough rolling hills course and I went out too fast. It caught up to me around Mile 18 with cramps in both of my calves. Race goals shot and lucky to be able to run/walk rest of the way humbled in my epic failure.
I was frazzled to say the least after my performance at Gettysburg and needed to figure out how this would not happen again. I was knocked down, but not out and definitely was getting back up.My failure would give me new drive and focus as I decided to spend the summer building my base mileage to 55+miles per week. Once I recovered from Gettysburg I put forth a 12 week base building plan to build my base before i would start HM training later in the summer.
Originally I was not going to run another marathon this year as could not find a race that fit in with my busy family's schedule. Stumbled upon the NCR Trail Marathon. it's traditionally run on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend and perfect race to get some redemption and put Gettysburg behind me. Having off from work before and after Thanksgiving was a bonus also. Registered for race and re-worked my HM plan to a 16 week marathon plan. Training went really well and I was confident about a big PR on November 26th.
My goals for NCR were - (A) 3:40-3:45, (B) sub3:40 if race going well, (C) 3:45-3:50, (D) run a strong race and not walk like my 2 previous fulls and only walk thru water stops, and (E) have fun on race day! I put in the work and felt that most of these goals were well in my grasp.
Race day arrived. Left house a little after 5:30am to give myself plenty of time to get to race down in Sparks Glencoe, MD with race starting at 9am. It was just under a 2hr drive from PA. Really good that I did this as I will explain. Following directions I printed off of Google Maps and also map them on my iPhone and was going to get there with plenty of time to spare. Directions got a bit foggy and took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up 7-10 miles in opposite direction of where I needed to go. Getting stressed that I would not make it to start on time as it was after 8am at this point. calmed myself and looked at map on my iPhone and figured out I needed to get to I-83. Thought positive thoughts that I would make it as I trained too damn hard for this not to make it to start in time. Got on I-83 and made it to business park where there were shuttles to start at Sparks Elementary School. I made it there in the nick of just making last shuttle. Relieved to be on shuttle I was very frazzled as I still needed to get my bib#, check my bag, and hit bathroom one last time with just 20 minutes before race started.
Got my bib# and found some RWOL friends who were running also. They saw I was all out of sorts and told me to relax as everything would be fine. Hit bathroom one last time with minutes to spare and walked to start. Legs were feeling good and I was ready to go primed to run in my 3rd marathon.
NCR is on a rail trail of crushed stone & dirt. Advertised as flat and fast with first and last 2 miles on hilly roads. Downhill going out and uphill coming back which I knew was going to be a challenge at Mile 25. Weather at start was in mid-high 40's with weather on warmer side by time I expected to finish in in the 60's. Abnormal temps for this time of year, but I was ready for this and whatever was going to happen today I could not do anything regarding the weather. Gun went off and I was off.
Mile 1-5 - Plan was to start off slower than MP first mile or so and run at MP from there. First couple of miles downhill until we hit NCR trail and splits for first 2 miles were at 8:35 and 8:34 right at MP. Downhill played a big part in that even with me taking it easy until we got to trail. I got on trail and kept it at MP with splits of 8:37, 8:28, and 8:32. Feeling good after first 5 miles and keeping on pace. Garmin was not off by much with a +0.3 per mile at this point.
Mile 6 -10 - Walked thru water station to take an Endurolyte and pop my first gel. Took too much time with that as Mile 6 split was 8:50. Mile 7 a little quicker at 8:20,and splits of 8:37, 8:36, and 8:38 to get me to Mile 10. I saw a guy wearing a MCM shirt and reminded me of my first marathon just one year ago and reminded how far I have come since then. As I passed him he told me I was looking strong and made me feel really good. Popped another gel and realized lost my Endurolytes as I never zipped up my running belt after Mile 5. it did not concern me much as I still had plenty of gels and really could not do anything about it. Garmin caught up to mile markers. Still feeling strong at this point and happy race was going well so far.
Mile 11-15 - by Mile 11 some runners were making there way back as turn-around point was coming up around Mile 13.5. Some more runners telling me I was looking good and always amazed how encouraging the running community is. We're all running brothers and sisters no matter how slow or fast we all are. Splits of 8:45, 8;31, 8:34, 8:22, and 8:39. Hit mat at 13.1 point at 1:52:21 for an avg pace of 8:35. Right on target for a 3:45. Not bad, but still a lot of miles to cover yet. Garmin was -0.3 at this point.
Mile 16-20 - Still feeling strong at this point, but Garmin was all over the place for this stretch due to heavy tree cover. One minute I would be running 11:00 pace and then next I would be running 5:55...yeah whatever 405.:) This was evident with the 9:14 split at Mile 17, but had a good split of 8:16 to counter that last split. Rounded out Mile 20 with splits of 8:49 and 8:56. Not sure it was Garmin or just a slowdown as temperature crept up to near 60-65 degrees. I was tired, but still feeling strong. I was feeling good that i got past the point I fell apart in my last marathon and was confident I was going to finish this strong.
Mile 21-24 - This is part of race where many runners feel the marathon actually begins. I was definitely getting fatigued and temps were wearing me down a bit. Mile 21 I got a side-stitch and definitely fought thru it rubbing spot on chest and went away eventually. I had a mild fade with paces in 9:10-9:15, but still holding strong even with legs getting heavy. I started counting steps. Anything to get me closer to finish. I was determined and was not going to give in to being fatigued.
Mile 25-26.2 - back on the road and off the NCR trail at this point for final stretch to the finish all uphill. A challenge at Mile 25-26 and that last hill at Iwo Jima on the MCM course has nothing on these hills.:) Definitely a gut check as I ran up the hills with everything I had left as was evident with splits of 10:36 and 9:51. Reached the Mile 26 marker and finish line was in sight. It amazing at this point you just find something extra and run strong to the finish. I hit the mat at 3:51:21. REDEMPTION!!! A new 21 minute PR! Take that Mary! I yelled out a big scream so excited for the new PR and so proud of what I just accomplished.
Not really upset I missed my (A) goal by 5:22 and (B) goal by 0:22. Weather and last up-climb had a lot to do with that. Still a big win in my book. More importantly I got my redemption on Gettysburg and proved to myself I can do this marathon thing, ran the whole race, and had fun the entire time until the hills at the end. Nice way to finish off my running year and springboard for my 2012 goals. Going to take what I learned from this race and apply it to my training for the next one namely more progression runs and start doing hill repeats so fade not as bad at the end next time.
Thanks for reading!
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