To say I was disappointed last year after my fifth marathon in Harrisburg is an understatement. After that race I decided I was going to take a season off and work on getting faster at another distance and come back to the marathon in the fall. I did just that this spring at the half marathon distance taking 5+ minutes off my PR. It gave me hope that I had a faster marathon in me and decided that would happen in 2013 in Philadelphia this fall. Never really thought about a BQ this year but after the Boston tragedy it really got me thinking and something I wanted to do even if I believed I was 100% ready for that kind of goal this year. No matter the goal I was going to try the Hanson approach to training this time around.
Decided on the 20wk plan from their website, but turned out it was more than I could handle not hitting quality runs, PR mileage month, and to top it off pretty much by overtraining getting bronchitis and DNS my tune-up half marathon at RnR Philly. Once well again, I downgraded the plan to the advanced Hanson book plan. That seemed more manageable and hit all my quality runs and felt really strong going into the taper. Confidence was riding high even with a less than stellar tune-up half in Gettysburg, but felt that I had a good chance of a BQ in Philly. About 2 weeks before Philly found out due to my family schedule I would not be able to stay in Philly nite before and essentially have to drive up to Philly race morning. Not the ideal scenario for race day, but sometimes you got to play the hand your dealt.
I woke up before the alarm as usual on race morning but a little different when it’s 2am in the morning. I got on the road just before 3am and was not too tired. It must have been the adrenaline of race day. I arrived in Philly just after 5am, parked the car and met up with my friend Thom who had my bib for me since I missed packet pick-up at expo. Put on my bib and entered runner’s village to find my friends before start. Friends spotted me and we hung out for a bit before start. I walked up to start with my friend Kevin since we were both in same corral. Chatted for a bit about race & we parted ways as I eased my way up close to 3:15 pace group. Race started and we were off.
Miles 1-5 – 7:35, 7:23, 7;53, 7:27, 7:32First part of race is flat and fast and really had to keep my legs in check to not go out too fast. Did a pretty good job with that especially at Mile 3 to stop and use the port-a-potty.:) Weather was still ok at this point and just trying to run even splits in 7:25-7:30 range.
Miles 6-10 – 7:30, 7:51, 8:00, 7:35, 8:10Really dialed in at this point keep to my race strategy. Miles 7-8 a bit slower to account for some hills but back on point at Mile 9. Stomach started to feel off at Mile 10 and had slowest split of day so far as temps started to climb.
Miles 11-17 – 7:48, 8:11, 8:26, 8:33, 8:51, 16:42, 15:37Stomach really started bothering me now with a side stitch to boot. Mile 12 I started having DNF thoughts and thought about going right down instead of left with the half marathoners knowing full well it was not my day and a BQ was not going to happen. Passed Mile 13 and split marker and decided to stick it out a bit longer. By Mile 14 I started feeling dizzy a bit and running out of steam and really was thinking about turning around to DNF. I just could not bring myself to do it though and pressed on. Mile 15 was different story about halfway thru I decided to stop before I passed out. Stopped right next to med tent to sit to decide what I was going to do. You would have thought sitting next to med tent the med personnel would notice. Not really. Took them a few minutes but they had no Gatorade/Gu to give me to help me out. My friend Kevin came along and saw me and stopped. He ran ahead to next aid station to get me some Gatorade as I walked behind him. Met back with him and got something in me along with a Gu too. I was mad as yet another marathon blew up on me and needed to decide what plan was going to be. Kevin was off to continue his race as I was at Mile 16. Decided I would try to run again as I was feeling better. Damn humidity got to me I think as it was unseasonable warm for November and last 2 months training has been 20 degrees cooler. Out of my control and started running again.
Miles 18-23 – 8:48, 8:13, 8:36, 8:19, 8:24, 8:40 Felt like I got my legs underneath me again and decided today was not the day I would have my first DNF marathon. I was going to finish this thing. Somewhere between Mile 18-19 I caught up to the 3:45 pace group. I thought if I could hang with them I still could salvage this race with a small PR, but my main concern was just finishing. Not sure what pace the 3:45 pacer though a 3:45 was but he was all over the place as I hit 7:45-8:00s paces at times. Just went with it as I could maintain this unlike other marathons. Felt pretty good considering it was Miles 20-23. I really attribute this to my training this cycle. More on that later. Lost pace group Mile 22 at water station but they blew by me at Mile 23 when I stopped for some Gatorade one last time. I was not going to try and catch them again and just run till finish.
Miles 24-FINISH – 8:27, 8:56, 8:08, 7:45 By Mile 24 lost a bit of steam and just tried to hang in there. I got to Mile 25 and just gave it all I had left till finish. Crossed finish in 3:50:46. By far not my best marathon nor my worst, but just happy to finish. Probably pushed myself a bit too much at end in warm temps as nearly passed out at food tent at finish. Great volunteers let me sit and got me some apple juice to drink to get my sugar levels back up. Once again no med personnel were anywhere to be found.
Another marathon not going as planned, but not really bitter about it like I have been in the past. This time it felt different. I actually think this was my best marathon effort even if it was not a PR for me this day. Weather was not favorable for my BQ goal, but I finished this race strong the last 8 miles and did not give in to my DNF thoughts by running my fastest last 6.2 of any of my 6 marathons. This gives me hope that I will put this altogether soon and punch my ticket to Boston. It’s all about keep moving forward.
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