First, it was great to finally meet fellow forumites
EdM, Steve Paull, Bob Blackburn, John Gallagher, Amanda, Joe and Kim Ferguson, LyndaS, John M. Rosa, Mike Miller and Joan
for the first time! And to see DanW and Crab again. Most of us met for dinner Saturday night and at the race site Sunday morning.
A great forum encounter!
Now, the race.....Warm.....Humid.....Just the conditions
I don’t like to race in, especially a marathon. So, of course, that’s what we had. Not so bad as to be oppressive.
But, enough to have an effect on race performance....especially for guys like me with some body mass. The temp at race time
was in the mid‑50's and reached the mid‑60's by the end of the race. Not brutal, but a bit warm. The relative
humidity was reported to be 100%, although it didn’t feel that badly, and the sun shone brightly. Although warm and
humid, it actually didn’t feel as bad as it was. There was a nice cooling breeze, but it was from our back for almost
half the race. The breeze helped a lot when we were running into it. So did running in the shade, and there was a fair amount
of it on the course.
A week ago when the weather was forecasted to be
good for Philly, I was fairly confident that I had a good shot at a sub‑4 hour race. A 10k race two weeks ago....a set
of Yasso 800's last week....recent LSD’s and training run paces....all seemed to confirm that was a reasonable target.
So, I had a “realistic” goal of 4‑hours in mind, with a floor goal of 4:12, which was my time at Philly
2 years ago, and a ceiling goal of 3:55, which would beat my time of last year by 2 minutes and would be a new second‑running‑life
PR.
When it became obvious that yesterday would be warm
and humid, I decided to adjust those goals by 10 minutes. Good thing I did. I was very comfortable standing around before
the race in a singlet and shorts. Not a good omen for beginning a marathon.
Discounting the 1997 MCM, in which I ran only 22
miles at a very easy pace, I’ve only run one other marathon under such warm conditions and that was an MCM in 1986 when
temps 10 degrees warmer than yesterday cost me an estimated 15 minutes in my race performance (3:28 vs what should have been
somewhere around 3:15). That was the only calibration I had on how much of an affect to expect from yesterday’s weather.
So, I settled on a race plan of running about a 4:10 pace (9:30‑9:35/mile) for the first half and then adjust, based
on how I felt at that point and not being surprised if I faded to 4:15 or even slower.
My numbers.....my clock time was 4:11:57. My net
time was 4:10:54 for a 9:34 average pace. So, I missed my “adjusted realistic”
goal by 54 seconds......I’ll take it! J My splits were
57:44 (9:37 average pace) for the first 6 miles, which included a jam‑packed 10:21 first mile; 55:41 (9:17 average pace)
for the second 6 miles; 57:21 (9:33 average pace) for the third 6 miles; 59:18 (9:53 average pace) for the fourth 6 miles;
and 21:33 (9:43 average pace) for the last 2.218 miles. My half marathon split was 2:04:03 (9:28 average pace) and the second
half was 2:06:51 (9:41 average pace).
A number of RW and Merv forumites met at Philly.
I started the race with Crab (Rob), Pat, Darren, Steve, Amanda and Bob. I lost sight of Bob at the start. Steve and Amanda
immediately ran ahead of us. Crab, Pat, Darren and I stayed together. About 6‑7 miles into the race, Joe and his wife,
Kim, came up from behind and joined us. We all ran together until the big uphill in mile 10, when the others pulled ahead
of Crab and me. I’m not a strong uphill runner and Crab’s PF was bothering him. However, on the big downhill in
mile 12, Crab and I blew past the others. After that, we saw only Pat again, who caught up to us in the 13th mile. I knew
at the halfway point that I was working a bit harder than I should be and that negative splits were remote. I even began to
worry about a crash at 18‑20 miles and a “survival shuffle” finish....especially after we passed the Art
Museum at the 14 mile point at headed out toward Manayunk with the breeze to our back. All of a sudden, it became obvious
just how warm it was!
Pat, Crab and I continued to run together until
Crab dropped out just before the 15 mile marker when his PF problem became too painful to continue. Pat and I continued on
together. Through 18 miles, we had run a reasonably consistent pace. Then, we slowed a bit on the uphill climb through miles
19 (our slowest mile of 10:28) and 20 (9:44). I expected to get that back after the turnaround at 20.2 miles. I was working
very hard at that point, but still felt strong.
However, shortly after the turnaround, I felt a
quick ripple run through my right calf. Not quite a spasm and far from a cramp, but enough to keep at eye on. I felt a few
more, so I eased the pace just a little through miles 21 and 22 (9:55 and 10:08) to keep them from getting more severe. Damn!
Mile 22 was a nice downhill mile and I couldn’t take advantage of it. It was the third slowest mile of the race for
me! L I told Pat to go ahead and use what
he had left, but he said that he was also struggling and would stay with me. The ripples went away and I eased the pace back
to 9:35 and 9:30 through miles 23 and 24.
Pat caught a cramp at the 23 mile marker and stopped
to stretch/walk it out. Just after the 24 mile marker, my left adductor suddenly tightened and hurt. Not quite a cramp, but
not far from one. That gave me something else to watch. L
It continued to feel tight, like it couldn’t decide whether or not to cramp, so I eased the pace again through mile
25 (10:04). Then I thought, “What the heck. The Art Museum is in sight and the finish is in front of it. It’s
an uphill slope to get there. That will work my legs a little differently. Maybe the tightness and ache will go away. And,
if I force a cramp, I can hobble in and still beat my time of two years ago. Push it.”
I did and the tightness went away! My pace for the last 1.218 miles was 9:26. Not a barn‑ burning finishing kick,
but it was all that was left in me. I left nothing on the course.
I’m satisfied that I almost ran the best race
I was capable of yesterday under the conditions that we had. If I could have run even or negative splits, I probably would
have raced a little better and broken 4:10. I think pushing the pace a little in the second 6 miles prevented that. It was
my fastest of the four 6‑mile sets....and it included two of the three most significant hills on the course in miles
8 and 10. (The third coming in miles 19‑20.) I ran my fastest non‑downhill mile (9:10 in mile 7) in that 6‑mile
set. I took the lead in our little pack, pushed the pace that mile and knew I was doing it. I don’t know why I did.
I just felt like doing it. I even carried the push into the uphill mile 8, after which our “pack” moved ahead
of me. (I don’t push up hills. J) Of course, the two downhill miles (9 and 12), which I ran in 8:50 and 8:46, were also in that 6‑mile
set. I think the pace of those 6‑miles probably set me up for the muscle ripples/spasms that I felt in miles 21‑25,
which, in turn, cost me a sub‑4:10.
I finished 23rd of 49 in my age group.
However, 3 guys in my age group finished within a minute ahead of me. If I had known they were there, I would have started
my push sooner and to heck with the adductor! J
My legs were trashed pretty badly for the rest of
the day. Just walking was an effort. But, for the first time following a marathon, my hips ached more than my legs. It was
deep in my hips, both front and back. They also bothered me some during the last half of the race. I think my arthritis might
be worsening a little. I have an annual checkup with my doctor tomorrow and will have to discuss it with him. He isn’t
a runner, but his wife is. J Leg cramps woke me up a few times last night, but they stopped by 2 AM. Then, they felt fine this morning
and while driving home from Philly. Just a little tight and sore after sitting for awhile. I wanted to stretch them out. I
decided run a couple of slow, easy miles this afternoon to warm them up first. My legs and hips felt a little sore and achy
for the first mile. But, then they were OK, so I ran 6 miles. The last 3 miles at my normal easy training pace of 9:45‑10:00/mile.
I didn’t get the sub 4-hours that I wanted this
fall, but that’s OK. We can’t control the conditions for a given
race. We can just deal with them as best we can. I’m satisfied that I ran an equivalent sub 4-hour effort yesterday.
Jim2
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