It’s been a while since my last post, and I’ve got 3 posts worth of stuff to say. For the sake of convenience, I’ll put it all in one post.
The Race Report
The Market Street Mile on September 12 was my first race of the season. My hope was to set a new personal best mile (which was 6:31). I wasn’t sure how good of a chance I’d have at that, since I’ve been feeling slow pretty much all year, except during the Frederick Mission 10 Miler in March.
I had my usual pre-race Dunkin Donuts breakfast that Saturday morning before I headed to the YMCA to start the race. I got there about an hour early to get a good parking spot and to register. I usually decide at the last minute whether to run this race – if it’s too hot, there’s not much point. But it was in the 60s, so I was ready to run. I tried a little warm up jog 15 minutes before the race started, and immediately knew I wouldn’t be setting a personal best. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to run under 7 minutes. My legs were just not feeling peppy.
But, there was no backing out, so I toed the line with the other guys (there are 4 waves for this race – kid’s competitive, women’s competitive, men’s competitive, and a family fun run). I started off easy enough, and finished the first quarter in 1:35. That would put me on pace for 6:20, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold that pace for another three quarters. Sure enough, I passed the halfway point in 3:17. By the time I got to the third quarter, I was holding steady, but I had still lost a little speed, crossing that point at 5:00 flat. I saw my friends Karen and Justin a little after that point, and Karen had her camera ready, like she’s done for me every year I’ve run this race.
This is the part where I was dying.
I tried to give a cheerful fist pump, but I was operating at about 30% mentally from oxygen starvation, and couldn’t manage to make it look awesome. I finished in 6:41.65, which is better than I thought I’d be able to do after my warm up jog. Still no speed PRs set in 2015, grrrr.
The Relay for Hope
There are 8 running days left in the Relay for Hope! It’s hard to believe it’s been going on all summer. Robyn, Amanda, and I ran together to start on April 21 in St. John’s, and Lawrence, Augustus, and I finished off the Newfoundland leg with a quick 2 mile jog in Nova Scotia after we got off the ferry. I hope the finishing runners get to run together to complete the relay in Hope. It really is a team effort. I’d love to be there to watch it finish, but I’m a bit short on vacation time after spending 3 weeks in Newfoundland.
I’d be interested to see what the black and white composition book I left in the RV looks like now. The Newfoundland team filled in a few pages with inside jokes, biographies, drawings, and tips. I passed it on to Mark and Nishanth (two thirds of the Nova Scotia team) with instructions to keep it going all the way across. I still tell people I slept in Terry Fox’s room. Good times. There will be a finishing ceremony in Hope, BC, on October 14, with a media tour in Vancouver on the 15th.
Freedom’s Run
Oh, and this Saturday (10/10), I’m running a marathon.
Ever since I first heard about the Freedom’s Run marathon (which was maybe a couple years ago), I’ve wanted to run it. I had to skip it last year because I was doing the Marine Corps Marathon, but my schedule was open this fall. This will be special, because I actually may not run any more October marathons, just to cut down on the number of long (15+ mile) runs I have to do in the summer. We’ll see. I usually say this every year, but I always end up signing up for one anyway. There are no more October marathons on my bucket list after this one, though, so maybe it will stick this time.
For my carb loading this week, I might try to match what I ate in the days leading up to the B&A Trail Marathon in 2014 (where I got my PR of 4:34:34). That means Five Guys and Chipotle are in my future, and it’s hard to say no to that.
However, I don’t plan on going for a PR this Saturday, for a few reasons. First, I don’t think I’d be able to run a marathon at a 10:18 pace (that’s a 4:30 marathon) right now, even if the course were flat. Second, Freedom’s Run is not flat. It is actually a net downhill course, but there are a lot of rolling hills as the run goes through the Antietam Battlefield. I’ve actually run a couple 5ks in the battlefield, and those hills are no joke. They’re not long, but they are fairly steep, and they just go up and down, up and down. And it’s all around miles 18-22, which are already kind of a pit of despair. Third, I would prefer to save myself to set a PR at the Richmond Marathon, which is coming up on November 14, 5 weeks after Freedom’s Run. I set a PR the last time I ran Richmond (it was my fourth marathon), and it’s a very forgiving course.
So I’m thinking about a 4:45 pace for this Saturday, if I can hold on to it. That would still be my second best time. That’s about 10:53 per mile. My best long run in this training cycle was a 20 miler at about 11:54 per mile, but it was pretty warm that day. If I fuel correctly in the days before and during the race, I think I can hit a 10:53 pace.
Two big differences between a 1 mile race like the Market Street Mile and a marathon are the amount of mental preparation required and the impact of little mistakes. For the Market Street Mile, my mental preparation consisted of a warm up jog to gauge how I felt. But to put the plan into action, I basically had to be on point for the whole race. If you start out a mile too slow, you don’t have a lot of time to make it up. On the other hand, for the marathon, I’ve been ruminating for weeks about what kind of pace I would feel comfortable with. But I could easily run the first few miles a little slower than my goal while I dodge the crowd of runners around me, because there’s plenty of time and distance to make it up later in the race. And with a goal like “4:45”, I would be happy with anything in the 4:40s, whereas with a goal of 6:30 in the mile, 6:31 would not be good enough.
Also the marathon is just a lot longer. There’s that, too.
The weather is looking pretty good for Saturday – it’s mainly going to be in the 50s, and there’s a slight chance of rain. The run goes through some pretty scenic areas, so I hope it’s not too foggy. I’ll try to make sure to get some pictures.
Where am I running? 