Joined
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1,685 Posts
summary:<br>
2:59:35 (splits 1:27:25/1:32:13 = torture)<br>
i'm disappointed, but happy it's over.<br>
on the bright side, i met the selbs at the expo: what great people!<br><br>
mile/pace/avg heart rate<br><br>
1 - 6:44 - 142<br>
2 - 6:53 - 151<br>
3 - 6:36 - 154<br>
4 - 7:10 - 154<br>
5 - 6:22 - 154 (so that makes two 6:46s)<br>
6 - 6:30 - 155<br>
7 - 6:31 - 155<br>
8 - 6:41 - 153<br>
9 - 6:34 - 154<br>
10 - 6:41 - 154 (6:40 avg through 10)<br>
11 - 6:41 - 155<br>
12 - 6:30 - 153<br>
13 - 6:46 - 151 (half split 1:27:2x, nailed it)<br>
14 - 6:36 - 153<br>
15 - 6:44 - 153<br>
16 - 6:52 - 154 (uhoh, this feels too hard)<br>
17 - 6:54 - 154<br>
18 - 6:50 - 154 (downhill but still slow)<br>
19 - 6:50 - 152 (stopped looking at splits here, just run)<br>
20 - 6:54 - 152<br>
21 - 7:06 - 153<br>
22 - 7:11 - 152<br>
23 - 7:25 - 151<br>
24 - 7:26 - 152<br>
25 - 7:17 - 152<br>
26.2 - 8:51 - 154<br><br>
my pre-race plan: run a 1:27:30 half, about 6:40 pace, then run a negative split and finish below 2:55. bah! so much for the plan.<br>
timed my warmup poorly... ended up running race pace to the bag drop, then back to the corral, and pinning my gels on my shorts as they sang the national anthem. i think my bib number was tilted for the whole race... just a little too rushed at the start. oops, amatuer.<br><br>
started a little slowly, so my pace was a bit scattered through the early miles. brian from tucson was with me after mile one i think, and manny from another tucson group was there too. manny took off a little bit (huh?) and got up to 200m ahead of the two of us. there was a confusing split, where the marker must have been off. but brian and i were doing some pretty even pacing, and my heart rate was right where i wanted it, so the early miles went well. we were joined by a friendly guy, orange-shirt oregon, and the three of us hit the miles with even splits. i admit to drafting behind the two more than i led, but hey, i was the oldest guy of the three, so i was teaching them to have respect for their elders. oregon guy was a cyclist, and talkative, and a fine runner, so his chatting kept my mind off some miles.<br><br>
we caught my friend manny. as we approached, i surged up from our pack and pinched his butt. got a smile from him and a few laughs. his hamstring was hurting him, he yelled (wearing his mp3 player). he had problems this last week, had gotten some massage work, but looks like it was still a problem. he had a rough day, finished well behind his fitness level.<br><br>
we hit 10 right on pace; the clock read 1:06:42 so a 6:40 average, and i was elated. we had a few downhill miles then, so i stayed relaxed, and we hit the half tape right on the mark. executed the first part of my plan perfectly! yeah! would have been great to stop there...<br><br>
...but we turned a little uphill again after the half, and i knew something wasn't going well; it felt harder and my pace was slowing. this would be the theme for the next 13 miles. oops. oregon guy stopped at a portajohn; he and brian had gotten a 50m lead on me as i struggled a bit. but i was still picking off runners. we turned onto a flatter road, with some curves... no one was running the tangents, except me, so i got some easy pickings on that road. but i was realizing that i wasn't going to run negative splits, so i switched to plan b: run a 2:55.<br><br>
i caught brian just before we hit downtown scottsdale, and we turned down the last 8 miles... mostly all south, mostly all downhill (140ft drop over 8 miles, but i can feel that). brian was hanging on and we talked a little, but i could tell he was tired. he would slowly veer to his left, and we'd bump elbows. i'd move over, and he'd slowly veer again. he dropped back for a while and drafted, but after another mile or so i lost contact with him.<br><br>
even though it hurt more, i was still slowing down. on to plan c: set a pr (break 2:5<img alt="cool.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/cool.gif">. i remember running a few 6:50-ish splits; i'd see the split, curse a little, put my head down and try to run harder... next split, same. after a few i stopped looking at my splits.<br><br>
i hate running this way: start out too fast, and slowly die a horrible death. i hardly do it in practice... so it feels unfamiliar as well as painful. the only mental tool i pulled out was when i saw a slow split, and fear started creeping in, i tried to stay in the moment. i took a little survey of how i felt: it hurt, but all-in-all it was a sunny wonderful day, i was running well, the moment was good. i kept trying to run in the moment, and not panic over my back-sliding goals, or the fact i was being passed by people now. "the only thing you can do is run the best you can run in this moment right now, forget about the last mile and don't worry about the next one." it became my mantra. i tried to smile and straighten my running form.<br><br>
by mile 23, mentally i was on to goal d: break 3 hours. we took a little detour to avoid road construction. i knew it would be close, so i was trying to focus on short quick strides. back onto the road and oregon guy caught and passed me; i cheered him on. in the last mile, a guy with a 3:00 target time pinned on his back passed me. uhoh, it's getting way too close i thought. down a little hill, around a few turns (people were running tangents now!) and into the long finish chute. i remember the announcer reading a list of women who qualified for the trials as i approached the finish... finally i could make out the time clock, and it was still 2:59<img alt="mad.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/mad.gif">x, so i was there. no need for goal e. phew.<br><br>
(notes to self to read during next taper madness: )<br>
all-in-all, i had overestimated my fitness level. i ran my plan, but it was a poor plan to run this race. my fast finish long runs "predicted" a 2:53... my yasso 800s also predicted 2:53. next time i train for a marathon, i'll remember to add 6 minutes to the times those workouts predict! in retrospect, i was training about the same as i did last year, and i ran 60 seconds slower than last year, so no surprise really. next marathon, make a better plan, and err on the conservative side.<br><br>
brian had a rough finish, but still managed something like a 20 minute pr. a speedster from our group, todd, who has run more 110 mile weeks than i can count, ran 2:41, a 58 minute marathon pr! don't know how many women qualified for the trials, but i did hear that local favorite susan loken (a great arizona masters runner) had a hard day, not making the olympic a standard 2:39 (she dropped behind todd near mile 14). i do remember seeing a pavement message to her around 21... it was a big heart chalked in the road, with the simple phrase "believe susan". after i read it i remember trying to believe too, cause that's what the marathon is all about; apparently it didn't work for either of us today... but that's why we run the next race and test ourselves again.<br><br>
next up: the boomers mixed-masters desert relay on leap day! i am so so so so so so so looking forward to running with you guys and just plain having fun!
2:59:35 (splits 1:27:25/1:32:13 = torture)<br>
i'm disappointed, but happy it's over.<br>
on the bright side, i met the selbs at the expo: what great people!<br><br>
mile/pace/avg heart rate<br><br>
1 - 6:44 - 142<br>
2 - 6:53 - 151<br>
3 - 6:36 - 154<br>
4 - 7:10 - 154<br>
5 - 6:22 - 154 (so that makes two 6:46s)<br>
6 - 6:30 - 155<br>
7 - 6:31 - 155<br>
8 - 6:41 - 153<br>
9 - 6:34 - 154<br>
10 - 6:41 - 154 (6:40 avg through 10)<br>
11 - 6:41 - 155<br>
12 - 6:30 - 153<br>
13 - 6:46 - 151 (half split 1:27:2x, nailed it)<br>
14 - 6:36 - 153<br>
15 - 6:44 - 153<br>
16 - 6:52 - 154 (uhoh, this feels too hard)<br>
17 - 6:54 - 154<br>
18 - 6:50 - 154 (downhill but still slow)<br>
19 - 6:50 - 152 (stopped looking at splits here, just run)<br>
20 - 6:54 - 152<br>
21 - 7:06 - 153<br>
22 - 7:11 - 152<br>
23 - 7:25 - 151<br>
24 - 7:26 - 152<br>
25 - 7:17 - 152<br>
26.2 - 8:51 - 154<br><br>
my pre-race plan: run a 1:27:30 half, about 6:40 pace, then run a negative split and finish below 2:55. bah! so much for the plan.<br>
timed my warmup poorly... ended up running race pace to the bag drop, then back to the corral, and pinning my gels on my shorts as they sang the national anthem. i think my bib number was tilted for the whole race... just a little too rushed at the start. oops, amatuer.<br><br>
started a little slowly, so my pace was a bit scattered through the early miles. brian from tucson was with me after mile one i think, and manny from another tucson group was there too. manny took off a little bit (huh?) and got up to 200m ahead of the two of us. there was a confusing split, where the marker must have been off. but brian and i were doing some pretty even pacing, and my heart rate was right where i wanted it, so the early miles went well. we were joined by a friendly guy, orange-shirt oregon, and the three of us hit the miles with even splits. i admit to drafting behind the two more than i led, but hey, i was the oldest guy of the three, so i was teaching them to have respect for their elders. oregon guy was a cyclist, and talkative, and a fine runner, so his chatting kept my mind off some miles.<br><br>
we caught my friend manny. as we approached, i surged up from our pack and pinched his butt. got a smile from him and a few laughs. his hamstring was hurting him, he yelled (wearing his mp3 player). he had problems this last week, had gotten some massage work, but looks like it was still a problem. he had a rough day, finished well behind his fitness level.<br><br>
we hit 10 right on pace; the clock read 1:06:42 so a 6:40 average, and i was elated. we had a few downhill miles then, so i stayed relaxed, and we hit the half tape right on the mark. executed the first part of my plan perfectly! yeah! would have been great to stop there...<br><br>
...but we turned a little uphill again after the half, and i knew something wasn't going well; it felt harder and my pace was slowing. this would be the theme for the next 13 miles. oops. oregon guy stopped at a portajohn; he and brian had gotten a 50m lead on me as i struggled a bit. but i was still picking off runners. we turned onto a flatter road, with some curves... no one was running the tangents, except me, so i got some easy pickings on that road. but i was realizing that i wasn't going to run negative splits, so i switched to plan b: run a 2:55.<br><br>
i caught brian just before we hit downtown scottsdale, and we turned down the last 8 miles... mostly all south, mostly all downhill (140ft drop over 8 miles, but i can feel that). brian was hanging on and we talked a little, but i could tell he was tired. he would slowly veer to his left, and we'd bump elbows. i'd move over, and he'd slowly veer again. he dropped back for a while and drafted, but after another mile or so i lost contact with him.<br><br>
even though it hurt more, i was still slowing down. on to plan c: set a pr (break 2:5<img alt="cool.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/cool.gif">. i remember running a few 6:50-ish splits; i'd see the split, curse a little, put my head down and try to run harder... next split, same. after a few i stopped looking at my splits.<br><br>
i hate running this way: start out too fast, and slowly die a horrible death. i hardly do it in practice... so it feels unfamiliar as well as painful. the only mental tool i pulled out was when i saw a slow split, and fear started creeping in, i tried to stay in the moment. i took a little survey of how i felt: it hurt, but all-in-all it was a sunny wonderful day, i was running well, the moment was good. i kept trying to run in the moment, and not panic over my back-sliding goals, or the fact i was being passed by people now. "the only thing you can do is run the best you can run in this moment right now, forget about the last mile and don't worry about the next one." it became my mantra. i tried to smile and straighten my running form.<br><br>
by mile 23, mentally i was on to goal d: break 3 hours. we took a little detour to avoid road construction. i knew it would be close, so i was trying to focus on short quick strides. back onto the road and oregon guy caught and passed me; i cheered him on. in the last mile, a guy with a 3:00 target time pinned on his back passed me. uhoh, it's getting way too close i thought. down a little hill, around a few turns (people were running tangents now!) and into the long finish chute. i remember the announcer reading a list of women who qualified for the trials as i approached the finish... finally i could make out the time clock, and it was still 2:59<img alt="mad.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/mad.gif">x, so i was there. no need for goal e. phew.<br><br>
(notes to self to read during next taper madness: )<br>
all-in-all, i had overestimated my fitness level. i ran my plan, but it was a poor plan to run this race. my fast finish long runs "predicted" a 2:53... my yasso 800s also predicted 2:53. next time i train for a marathon, i'll remember to add 6 minutes to the times those workouts predict! in retrospect, i was training about the same as i did last year, and i ran 60 seconds slower than last year, so no surprise really. next marathon, make a better plan, and err on the conservative side.<br><br>
brian had a rough finish, but still managed something like a 20 minute pr. a speedster from our group, todd, who has run more 110 mile weeks than i can count, ran 2:41, a 58 minute marathon pr! don't know how many women qualified for the trials, but i did hear that local favorite susan loken (a great arizona masters runner) had a hard day, not making the olympic a standard 2:39 (she dropped behind todd near mile 14). i do remember seeing a pavement message to her around 21... it was a big heart chalked in the road, with the simple phrase "believe susan". after i read it i remember trying to believe too, cause that's what the marathon is all about; apparently it didn't work for either of us today... but that's why we run the next race and test ourselves again.<br><br>
next up: the boomers mixed-masters desert relay on leap day! i am so so so so so so so looking forward to running with you guys and just plain having fun!
