Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon race report

The morning after the Richmond marathon, I woke up feeling sorry for myself. I knew that dropping out was the right decision and that there was probably nothing I could have done to prevented my bad day, but it still hurt. I had just spent fourteen weeks training and knew that I had been ready to run a huge PR.

I didn't know if I really wanted to try again, but by mid-morning I was on marathonguide.com browsing December and January marathons. Turns out there aren't all that many. Or at least that many that don't require a flight. I ran the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon two years ago (also after another bad marathon), so I knew it was probably the best option. But that time I had eight weeks to prepare and after Richmond there were only four. I wasn't feeling too strongly about it until I noticed that there were only three spots left. I talked it over with Lauren and realized that I would probably be disappointed if I waited because I wanted to think about it and the race sold out. So after a quick call to my coach, I registered, booked a hotel and committed myself to four more weeks of training.

I spent most of that first week "recovering" by driving across the country. When I got back, I jumped back into training and it wasn't easy. My motivation was all over the place, but I told myself to push through the next few weeks. Shortly after I registered, I learned that a teammate of mine, John, was also running. John is a marathon machine who tends to run one or two marathons a weekend (he's done all 50 states and is almost to marathon #100). I knew that he had paced other teammates at races during the fall, so I asked if he had any pacing plans for the race or if he was planning to attempt a PR. The answer to both of these questions was no and he said he would be happy to run with me. With this plan in place, it was just up to me to decide the goal time.

Taper brain left me feeling less than confident about my abilities at the beginning of race week, but on Wednesday I suddenly became strangely calm about the whole thing. I ended up telling John to pace me to a 3:45 (the original Richmond goal) and decided to wear my watch, but not look at it at all. I wanted to have the data afterwards, but wanted to let John set the pace. So I set my display screen to show distance and heart rate (and I wasn't wearing a monitor). While I know that I am capable of running a 3:45, this decision was mistake #1 of the day (more on this later).

I was more nervous about this race than I've been for a marathon in a while. I slept very poorly on Friday night and had trouble eating my normal pre-race breakfast. I think my biggest fear was a complete Richmond repeat. If it was another really bad day would I stop again? Or would I finish regardless? To me, one DNF was a fluke, but two was a pattern.

Fortunately the race day logistics were a breeze and didn't add any stress to my day. My hotel was just two blocks from the start and I had no problems meeting up with John. After a few minutes of chatting with our amazing spectators, we were off and running.

The first few miles went by quickly. I had been hoping for a lot colder day, but at least it appeared that it would remain overcast and there wasn't much wind, so I tried to be thankful for what we had. John and I chatted for a while and he would periodically check in with me and try to assess how I was feeling. I was relaxed early on and hoped that I had a good day ahead of me. Around mile five I ate for the first time. In Richmond, I had first known that things were going wrong when I started burping up my first gu. I've always had a somewhat difficult time getting gus down, and with that memory still fresh in my mind, I made the decision to stick with Honey Stinger chews during this race. I would eat on the same schedule, but three chews instead of a gu. Mistake #2. For some reason, I had it in my head that three chews was about the same number of calories as a gu. I would learn after the race that it is actually about half.

My stomach was not perfect on this day either, but certainly much better than it had been in Richmond. All of the nerves before the race meant my stomach was churning. I was burping a bit, but it wasn't awful and I could get the chews down. I got to see my spectators around mile 4 and it was nice to wave and give them the thumbs up as I went by.

Miles 1-6: 8:48, 8:40, 8:39, 8:39, 8:37, 8:32

Around mile 7 we headed onto a crushed gravel trail that we would stay on for the next few miles and we picked up the pace slightly, as per the plan. I remembered really enjoying this portion of the race when I ran it back in 2010, but recent rain made it a bit more challenging this time. There were a lot of giant puddles which required weaving around and a lot of concentration on foot placement. It was also somewhere in this section that I started to feel like it was going to be a tough day. In theory, we weren't yet running at marathon pace and I was definitely working hard. I said as much to John, but tried not to focus on it, and kept pushing along. He pointed out that I wasn't drinking enough and told me I needed to finish the bottle I was carrying before we saw our spectators again, which would be somewhere in the 11-12 range. So I ate my chews again and focused on drinking.

Miles 7-11: 8:38, 8:36, 17:20 (8:40 pace, missed the mile 9 sign), 8:32

I swapped out water bottles when we passed our cheering squad and got a big energy boost from seeing them. However, when Jess asked how I was feeling, the best response I could come up with was, "Eh." It was already harder than I would have liked and I knew it was only going to get worse.

I got a bit of a second wind in miles 12-13 and started to feel more positive about the fact that I could hold this pace and maybe even pick it up a bit. At halfway we passed the only clock on the course and it read 1:53 (turns out our actual split was 1:52:05). Since up until this point I had no idea how I was doing, seeing the clock was an encouraging sign. If I could just stay steady in the second half, my goal was certainly within reach.

However, as we wound our way through the state park and took on the only "hills" on the course, I really started to struggle. John was encouraging, telling me to just stay steady up the hills, and take advantage of the brief downhills. Still, I knew that I was in trouble and was slowing down. It wasn't particularly warm (50s), but it was incredibly humid so I started dumping cups of water on my head at every water stop. This seemed to help a bit. John told me to make sure I finished my water bottle before we got back to our friends (around 20) and encouraged me to eat more. I listened to the water advice, but stubbornly insisted that I was eating enough. Hey, I was on my regular schedule! I was also still burping and eat more frequently sounded extremely unappealing. He could tell how much I was dragging and perhaps if I had listened, things would have been better.

Miles 12-19: 8:36, 8:37, 8:47, 8:40, 8:52, 9:02, 9:10, 9:10

We came back over the bridge to our cheering spectators and I swapped out water bottles again. They were so encouraging, which was good to counteract the dread in the pit of my stomach. I was feeling pretty terrible and I still had 10k to go.

To be honest, I don't remember a whole lot about the next few miles, other than the fact that I was miserable. John was running slightly ahead, trying to get me back towards marathon goal pace. I didn't work (at least in terms of picking up the pace), but I just focused on his back and told myself to keep moving. He would ask me how I was doing or encourage me to eat and drink more and my only response was a death stare. Sorry about that John! You're the best, really! I was wondering why in the world I had ever thought marathons were fun. Why did I need to prove myself and finish one this fall?

Somewhere right before mile 24 John had pulled ahead again and I just couldn't will myself to keep moving. I slowed to a walk. I could see the mile 24 sign in the ground ahead and told myself I would run again when I got there. John turned around to see me walking and got really concerned. I managed to grunt out that I would run again at the mile marker and he walked with me to that point. I did start running again, though it was not at all quickly. There was a water stop around mile 25 and going into it I told John that I was going to get a Gatorade, walk to drink it and then I would run all the way to the finish.

When we started running again, John asked me if I wanted to know our overall time. I immediately said no. I knew that my 3:45 goal was far out of reach at this point and I was afraid that I wasn't going to break 4:00. I knew that if John told me I needed to run a fast last mile to get there, I would feel totally defeated. I think that even if he had told me I needed to run a 10:00 mile, I would have been worried that I couldn't do it. It was better not to know and just get myself to the finish line. He was encouraging me to pick up the pace for the last mile, but I really just didn't have it in me.

Miles 20-26: 9:08, 9:08, 9:36, 9:47, 10:33, 10:18, 9:30

Finally after passing the 26 mile sign, I managed to muster some sort of kick. I couldn't wait to stop running, but I was also dreading seeing the clock at the finish line, as I had convinced myself that it was going to show a time starting with a 4. So it was actually a pleasant surprise to turn the corner to run the last 200 feet and see 3:55. I was so ready to be done that upon crossing the first set of timing mats, I almost came to a complete stop. Fortunately, John yelled at me that I needed to cross the second set and I managed to keep moving.

Last .2: 1:46 (7:56 pace)
Final time: 3:55:45
(second half: 2:03:41)

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that my initial reaction was disappointment (well, after the absolute bliss of standing still and NOT RUNNING ANYMORE). I know that I should have been thrilled to run my first sub 4:00 marathon, but I knew I was capable of so much faster than 3:55. I think that it wasn't the time I was disappointed in as much as the way that I ran the race. I had blown up in the second half and I should have run a smarter race than that. I also completely gave up in the last 10k and without John there with me, I don't know what would have happened.

Fortunately after a hot shower and lunch (and beer!) with friends, I was in a much better mood.

Given the extended season, and my motivation issues for those last four weeks, and the weather (so humid!), I ran the race that I had in me that day. 3:45 was always the goal and I gave it my best shot. I may have fallen short, but I still PR'ed (by six minutes!). And, most importantly, my marathon time no longer starts with a 4!

Now, two weeks later, I know that a six minute PR on a day that I made several big mistakes is a big achievement. The most debilitating mistake was my fueling. Normally I will eat five times during a marathon and one of those times will be chews. This time I only ate chews, essentially cutting my calories in half. No wonder I was dragging in the second half! I need to figure out a gel solution and maybe it is not Gu. Let the fueling experiments begin! I also think I would have been better off telling John the goal was 3:50. He was spot on with his first half pacing for a 3:45, but think that a few minutes slower to start would have made a big difference for me in the second half. However, that's one of those decisions that easy to second guess post-race and going into the race I didn't want to sell myself short.

I can say with confidence that I have come nowhere close to my marathon potential. I can't wait to give it another shot, though I'll be waiting until the fall to do so. Spring 2013 is going to be all about teaching myself to race and figuring out how to stay in that uncomfortable zone when my brain is screaming to ease up. Bring on the 5ks!

I would be remiss if I didn't end this recap without expressing my thanks to everyone who made race weekend as great as it was. Thank you to John for pacing me to a new PR and putting up with my horrible attitude (and death stares) for the last 90 minutes+ of the race. Thank you to Amy, Jess, Steph, Lauren and Lauren for being the most amazing spectators ever. Knowing I was going to see you (and then seeing you), made such a big difference. The end of the year always leads to reflection and I feel so thankful to have such great friends and to be a part of such a great team.

Spring 2013 plans?

On Monday I took a step towards determining my spring 2013 race plans, by throwing my name in the hat for a race lottery.

It's not as much of a commitment as it seems since no credit card was involved. If I'm selected in early January, I'll have 48 hours to handle over my money and register. I'm not quite sure if 2013 is the year to do this race, but I do know that I want to do at least once in my life. It's been in the back on of my mind since high school, when a girl from my club swim team did it. So, for now, I'm leaving the door to 2013 open.

Post "marathon" fun

In anticipation of enjoying the off-season to the fullest, I had a lot of things planned for after the Richmond marathon. Of course the race didn't go quite as planned, but I didn't let that stop me from enjoying myself!

I spent two fun days with Lauren, celebrating her birthday and doing lots of BIG THINGS.

BIG THINGS like chopping off all my hair.

probably should have stopped here because this is a great look

Then I headed on a three day road trip with friends, to help someone move to Colorado

 self timer focus fail

I spent the weekend in Boulder, and reaped the benefits of 48 hours at altitude. I figure I'm looking at least a minute per mile off all my times.

 

I made it back East just in time for a short work week and Thanksgiving, which is my favorite holiday. Lots of eating and no need to go shopping. What more could you want? It was good to spend time with family and friends that I don't see often enough.

Isn't this how you would want to spend the day after Thanksgiving?

Now it's back to life as "normal," but the past two weeks were just what I needed. 



Richmond Marathon race report

Sometimes you have the day that you've been dreaming of, the one that's always in the back of your mind during every track workout and long run. The one where running at goal pace is hard, but manageable, and you execute the race plan just the way that you laid it out beforehand.  And other times you find yourself someplace you hoped you'd never be.

I did not finish the Richmond Marathon on Saturday. My legs just felt a little off from the start and I started burping up my first gel shortly after taking it at mile five. I was still right where I wanted to be at that point, holding a nice relaxed pace for the first 10k. So I tried not to be worried and hoped I would settle in soon.  There was a nice long downhill shortly after the 10k mark that made it pretty easy to pick up the pace. But when I reached the flatter and rolling sections after that, my pace started creeping up. I tried Honey Stinger chews at mile 10 when the thought of another gel made we want to gag and barely managed to get them down. I felt like I was working significantly harder, but was running slower than I had in the first 10k. It's one thing to feel that way in the 20s, but at 10 it was rather concerning. I spent the next few miles debating my options and trying to pull myself out of what I hoped was just a rough patch. But by the time I hit halfway, I was pretty sure that I was done. I decided to get to George and the CAR cheering squad at 17 before making any final decisions, but I more or less knew what I was going to do.  An excruciatingly long mile 16 on the Lee Bridge only further cemented my decision and dropped out just after mile 17 when I reached George.

Obviously I was extremely disappointed, but I know that continuing on for those last nine miles would have been even worse than stopping. I've done that before in a race I knew that was over at halfway (in Baltimore in 2010) and run/walking the second half, while watching my pace get slower and slower, was not an experience I wanted to repeat.  I didn't cry and while watching the rest of my teammates finish I never once wished that I was finishing too. Dropping out was the right decision on that day.

I could spend hours trying to figure out what happened or if there was anything I could have done to have prevented this, but in the end that's not worth my time or energy. It was simply a bad day with extremely unfortunate timing. We all have them during every training cycle and it just so happened that this one fell on race day. I know that it says nothing about how I trained this fall or my abilities. Nor does it make me a quitter. Sometimes things just don't break your way.

Richmond Marathon Training - Week 13

Monday October 29
Elliptical - 60 minutes
The rain from Hurricane Sandy had already started on Monday morning and the pools were closed, so I opted to take advantage of the fact that the gym was open to get in an hour of cross training. It was nothing special, but I was glad to be able to do something.

Tuesday October 30
Run 7.4 mi
1600 (7:00), 1200 (5:05), 800 (3:24), 400 (1:35)
An impromptu afternoon track workout. We were lucky that Hurricane Sandy didn't cause major damage in the DC area and by Tuesday afternoon it was still raining but the wind had died down. Since many of us ended up with the day off, a group got together mid-afternoon to do the interval workout for the week. The 1200 was a bit fast, but other than that I was happy with how I executed the workout.

Wednesday October 31
Run 8.0 mi - AM
I've really enjoyed running with the CAR morning group this training cycle and I headed out for one last run with them. It was also nice to cut it a bit short and turn around early.

Yoga - 75 min - PM

Thursday November 1
Run 5.15 mi
I fit in the run commute that I would have normally done on Monday. It had been so long since I'd taken the shorter five mile route to work that I almost forgot what it was!

Friday November 2
Run 6.2 mi
5k tempo - 22:36 (7:21/7:14/7:09)
This was exactly the tempo workout I needed to end this training cycle. It was dark and cold the entire time, but I just focused on putting in a hard effort and slowing picking up the pace.
Saturday November 3
Run 9.5 mi (avg pace - 8:50)
Last "long" run before the marathon!

Sunday November 4
Rest

Week 13 - 36.25 mi
Ah, the second week of taper. The time when my brain finally realizes that it isn't getting enough workout time and the crazies begin. All in all, I think I held it together pretty well. I'm hoping that my legs are busy recovering and will be fresh and ready to go on race day!

October Recap

Miles: 234.7 (+ ~6 miles in the pool)

X-Training: 10 (1 pool runs, 1 swim, 2 elliptical sessions, 6 yoga classes)

Rest Days: 4

Race(s): There's No Place Like Home 5k - 22:02

Ice cream flavor of the month: Peanut Butter Caramel Brownie (for some reason this one has been forgotten in recent recaps. I'm bringing it back!)

New gear: A new pair of Brooks Ghosts for the marathon and a pair of neon orange Nike Pegasus for feeling fast.

Workout goals:
Run a lot - Done! October ended up beating out September as my highest mileage month ever.

Recover well - After feeling some tightness towards the end of September, I made sure that I did my PT stretches almost every day in October. I only skipped them when I went to yoga since I figured that gives me plenty of stretching time. I did a good job getting 64 (or more) oz of water a day and for the most part got enough sleep. Swimming suffered a bit, but it will be back post-marathon.

I feel confident that I did what I needed to do in October. I put in lots of miles, started taper and set a new 5k PR. I managed to keep up with my PT stretches, yoga, hydration and sleep, so hopefully I've done everything necessary to get myself to the start line on November 10 ready to race. I still find it hard to believe that the training is done and race week is here, but I'm working on getting my mind in the right place.

November Preview

Workout goals:
Marathon PR - I know that I've put in all the work I need to run a PR in Richmond. Now I just need to rest, believe and execute.

Yoga, swimming, and anything that isn't running - I plan to take some time to be completely lazy after the marathon, but after that I want to do whatever I feel like doing on a given day. I'm hoping to get to yoga more than once a week and get myself back into the pool on a more regular basis.

Races: Richmond Marathon - November 10

There's No Place Like Home 5k race report

Last year I raced an 8k two weeks before the Philadelphia Marathon and I thought it worked out very well. So I had it in my head that I would probably do a race last weekend from the beginning of the training cycle. Saturday happened to be my brother's wedding day, so it was also appealing to only have to fit in a 5k in the morning, rather than 14-15 miles. I found a two different options and as wedding weekend plans came together and I knew I'd be heading up to the Frederick MD area on Friday afternoon, I signed up for the There's No Place Like Home 5k in downtown Frederick.

This was the third annual race, so I checked out the results from 2010 and 2011 and knew that it was a relatively small race and I would most likely have a shot at being one of the top women, assuming the race wasn't crashed by a high school cross country team. The race wasn't chip timed, so I started right on the line.

When the race started a handful of guys took off ahead of me, as well as one woman (in green to the right of me in both pictures). I debated trying to match her early pace, but I could tell it would require picking up the pace more than I was ready to do at the beginning of the race. I hoped that I could keep her lead to a reasonable distance and reel her in later on.

When I warmed up I previewed miles 1 and 3 of the course, so I knew that the first mile was flat or downhill and so I tried not to worry about being too fast at the beginning. Within about a half mile I passed one or two guys who had clearly gotten sucked into starting out too fast. I could see the first place woman about a 100 meters ahead of me, but I wasn't making any progress. I left my watch on auto lap because I wasn't sure how well a small race would be marked and my Garmin actually beeped after I had passed the mile 1 sign. 6:52

The second mile was a loop that I'd cut out of my warm up and involved some rolling hills through a pleasant neighborhood. Definitely a lot more up than mile one and lots of speed bumps, which occasionally made for some awkward stepping. I could still see the first woman, but she was getting slightly farther ahead. The road was pretty windy and after I few minutes I realized I shouldn't be following the road as much as I was and should be at least trying to run the tangents. I avoided looking at my Garmin as much as possible and focused more on running at a hard effort. This time my Garmin beeped well ahead of the mile 2 sign. 7:07

By this point I was pretty sure that my goal of reeling in the first woman in the third mile was probably not happening. She was gaining ground on me and not showing any signs of faltering. So I just tried to pick up my pace and get back to sub 7:00. I knew that there was a longer hill in the middle of the mile, so I had it in my head that once I crested that I would really go for it. I'm not sure how successful I was, but I tried! I never saw a mile 3 marker, but once I heard that Garmin beep I tried to pick up my turnover even more. 6:58

I could see the clock for the last long straight away and watched the seconds in 21 minutes ticking away. I was trying my hardest and thought I might make it, but I saw 22 right before I crossed the line. 1:08 (.17 - 6:51 pace)

Final time: 22:02
2nd woman
6th overall

When I finished the race I felt like it had been relatively hilly. Not steep hills, but lots of rollers. I will note that when chatting with the winner afterwards, I kept my mouth shut when she mentioned how hilly it is running in Frederick and that it was nice to run on such a flat course. Garmin data backs her up and shows I totally distorted reality. Total elevation gain was 33 feet.

I talked with the winner and her friend for a while after the race and they tried to convince me to run another 5k that was being held a few blocks over at 2pm. When I mentioned the wedding at 3:00, they told me the faster I ran, the sooner I could get there! While this was tempting, I didn't see my brother or new sister-in-law being too thrilled with that idea. Perhaps if I had raced in my bridesmaid dress...

The other highlight of this race was breaking out my new neon orange Nikes. They just look speedy and I have never gotten so many compliments on a pair of running shoes. Big round of applause for Nike for making the Pegasus in so many fun colors. I wish other shoe companies would follow their lead.