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marathon

Looking Ahead

May 4, 2011 by Kristy 20 Comments

So that Boston itch remains UNscratched.  What next?  Funny you should ask…

Two weeks ago Matt put the idea in my head to search around for another marathon prior to September (when Boston 2012 registration opens up).  This way I wouldn’t have so much pressure to BQ at the NJ Marathon (especially since I didn’t train to BQ).  I told you he was my biggest cheerleader and supporter.

After Sunday’s race, I didn’t think I was mentally up for doing this again.  But a changed perspective has me thinking that if I don’t go for it again, I will regret it.

I found a somewhat local marathon on September 11th, the day before Boston 2012 registration opens.  I had to laugh because their FAQs clearly state:

Per the Boston Athletic Association: A qualifying race run on September 11, 2011 can be used to register for the Boston Marathon as soon as September 12, 2011.  The Boston Athletic Association verifies races online through our Results page.

Well, that’s all I need to know.  So I’m in!  Sign me up 🙂

This actually works out well time-wise for me.  I get to take a brief break, go to Ireland, and not worry about training (this makes Matt  very happy).  Then when I get back I will still have a full 15 weeks to train.  And you bet I’ll be training to BQ this time around!

NJ Marathon Recap

May 3, 2011 by Kristy 22 Comments

I’ll break this recap up into 2 parts – the first 13.1 and the second 13.1 – because I feel they were very different races and routes.

A very early wake-up call! Like my I Support Adoptions logo?
And pimpin' out the blog on the back. Don't judge the Race Ready shorts!

The First 13.1
When we parked near the start it was 6am and the sun was just starting to come up.  It was chilly out – high 40s – and no wind whatsoever.  Perfect race weather.  When we lined up at the start it was close to 8am and the sun was shining brightly.  It was warming up…fast.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky so I knew all hopes for a cloudy day were off.

During mile 1 I realized my iPod wasn’t working right.  The music was playing but there were no words and all the songs were mixing together.  Instead of freaking out, I decided to play a “name that tune” game.  That got old real fast.

My game plan for the first 13.1 were to run smart and hold back.  I watched the 3:50 pace group race way ahead of me.  Their balloons were always within sight but they were going out way too fast.

The course was really nice for the first half.  We ran through neighborhoods and gorgeous houses.  People were out on their front lawns with hoses (thank you!).  All the runners around me seemed quite chipper and chatty.  Of course, this is always the case during the first half 😉  Ever notice how quiet it gets at mile 20?

The marathon started at 8am and the half marathon didn’t start until 8:30.  Around mile 8.5, I got passed by the winner of the half marathon.  Seriously?!  He was running that fast.

Splits:
M1 – 8:57
M2 – 8:42
M3 – 8:46
M4 – 8:49
M5 – 8:39
M6 – 8:45
M7 – 8:41
M8 – 8:39
M9 – 8:42
M10 – 8:28
M11 – 8:40
M12 – 8:30
M13 – 8:30

The Second 13.1
I was feeling really good crossing the halfway point (as you can see from my splits at miles 12 and 13).   In fact, according to my pace chart, I was closer to a 3:45 finish time that a 3:50.  Yet, the 3:50 pace group was still ahead of me.  I never trust pace groups.

Before I started the race Matt told me to “go for it” (meaning go for the BQ).  He told me to leave everything out on the course and don’t finish thinking “I could have gone faster”.  He knows me too well.  I’m a conservative racer.  I only run the pace that I trained for.  In order to BQ, I had to go faster than what I trained for.  If I failed miserably, I knew I would probably still PR.  So I decided to ignore my Garmin for the second half (GASP!) and run based on feel.  Gusty move for this conservative racer 🙂

I banged out miles 14 to 19 fast.  The course during those miles was awful.  A long, straight stretch of black asphalt with nothing but sun beating down.  I could feel my face getting redder and hotter by the minute (sidenote:  since I knew my chances of getting dehydrated were high, I chugged 2-3 cups of water at each aid station…beginning at mile 2).  At mile 19 I was annoyed for numerous reasons:
1.  The course was pissing me off.  We would go down random streets and go around random lakes just to make up mileage.  I could always see all the runners ahead of me and where they were going.  There was so much twisting and turning.
2.  This bald guy next to me kept launching snot rockets.  Like every 10 seconds.  Loudly.  I couldn’t loose him either.
3.  The sun was pissing me off.
4.  My left quad felt crampy.

At mile 20, my quad really hurt so I stopped at the aid station and stretched it.  At this point I knew I wouldn’t BQ and I was OK with that.  I still thought I could pull off a 3:50.  The stretching helped a little and I started back on the lonely stretch to the finish.  I had passed the 3:50 pace group at mile 14 (that’s how fast they went out…it took me 14 miles to catch up to them).  I was nearing mile 22 and I heard them behind me.  When they got next to me, I hopped right into the group.  There were about 8 of them and I thought if I could just hang with them, I could guarantee a 3:50.  I tucked in and tried to ignore my spastic quad.  I lasted with them for a mile.  Without even consciously thinking about it, I stopped and walked.  I watched the 3:50 pace group go.  This was a very low moment.

I was hot and my quad was going crazy.  It felt like it was in a constant state of contraction.  I altered my stride and did a “gimp-skip”.  It wasn’t pretty but it got me to the finish.

Around mile 25.5, Mr. Snot Rocket made a reappearance by my side and said to me, “Let’s go kid.  I don’t care if you have to drag that leg across, you are finishing!”  I actually laughed because he called me “kid”.  He gave me that little boost of motivation to pick up my gimp pace and get to the finish line quickly.  Thank you Mr. Snot Rocket…sorry I gave you a dirty look at mile 19.

Splits (some of these are averages, I forgot to “lap” my Garmin):
M14 – 8:24
M15 – 8:25
M16 – 8:22
M17 – 8:26
M18 – 8:38
M19 – 8:38
M20 – 9:04
M21 – 9:23
M22 – 8:55
M23 – 9:25 (the start of the “gimp-skip”)
M24 – 9:38
M25 – 9:38
M26 – 8:57

Official time:  3:52:59…a (very close) 6-minute PR!  OK, so technically it’s a 5-minute PR.  

Matt was at the finish line and said 1 person actually finished with the 3:50 pace group.  There were 8 people with them at mile 23!

Post-race. We did get an awesome medal.
Deliriously happy, sad, frustrated, mad, and glad it's over all at the same time!
My biggest supporter and cheerleader!
Strike a pose, Matt!
We're done!
I'm still dragging my left leg!

I feel really good today, better than I’ve ever felt post-marathon.  My left quad is still sore but I really think it was due to dehydration.  I’m not worried that I’m injured or anything.  I’m going to enjoy a feel days of solid rest before attempting some easy runs.  And in 2 weeks, I’ll be in Ireland!!!!!!



A Changed Perspective

May 2, 2011 by Kristy 7 Comments

I feel much better today, mostly in part to the kind comments and emails from all of you!  I have to share with you a comment that Cindi made, which really sums up why marathoning can be so rewarding and frustrating at the same time.

We – distance runners of multiple marathons – are too hard on ourselves. We work ourselves like crazy for month after month until we KNOW we are ready to nail a certain time. But then the conditions aren’t right. Or we have an off day. Or something. There’s always something that seems to get in the way. The most frustrating part, with marathons, is that it is such a long process and takes so much out of us that we can’t just try again next week. Which is frustrating and disappointing.

Well said, Cindi! 

The NJ Marathon “sorta” posted official race results this morning.  I say “sorta” because I have a gun time but no chip time.  Although I think my gun time – 3:52:59 – is really my chip time.  I remember crossing the finish line and looking at the clock and it read 3:53:16 (I was about 15-20 seconds behind the gun time). 

What made me happy?  My overall gender results and age group results…
Gender place:  134/721
Age group place:  25/121

Race recap will be up tomorrow!

3 Marathons, 1 Year

May 1, 2011 by Kristy 11 Comments

My unofficial time for the NJ Marathon is around a 3:52.  This is why I should be happy:

My 6th, 7th, and 8th marathons were all done in the span of a year.
6th marathon (May 2010):  4:13.  %^&*!!!!!  This was my 3 consecutive time finishing in the 4:10ish range.  I was pissed.
7th marathon (October 2010):  3:58.  Elated to finally break 4 hours AND score a 12-minute PR.
8th marathon (today):  3:52ish.  Another PR…by about 6 minutes.

I should be thrilled, right?  Usually, by your 8th marathon, PRs are hard to come by.  I’m not happy though…in fact, I’m pretty bummed.

Today didn’t quite turn out as planned.  No BQ and no 3:50.  What makes me SO mad is that I ran faster training runs than I did today.  I knew I could do it.

The sun took a toll on me.  Temperature-wise the weather was perfect.  But the sun was relentless.  Running down the shore can be tough.  Lots of long stretches of black asphalt and no shade.  Today was no different.  Not a cloud in the sky.  Perfect beach day, but not for a race.

My left quad cramped up pretty badly at mile 20.  This has never happened before so I think it may have been the heat…I was possibly getting dehydrated?  Stretching helped for a little while but I ended up doing a “skip-limp” for the last 1.5 miles.

I’m allowing myself to feel bad for today ONLY.  I know I’m being very hard on myself.  I’m hoping in a few days I’ll actually be happy about my PR!

Full recap to come this week (with pictures)!

Again…thank you all for your texts, emails, tweets, and kind messages.  I thought about all my loving family, friends, and blog buddies a lot during the race.

Congrats to everyone who raced today…Broad Street Runners, Big Sur, and Eugene runners!

Marathon Strategy

April 27, 2011 by Kristy 7 Comments

4/27/11

4 miles easy

37:15

9:18 avg pace

I’m a total planner.  Insane planner.  I don’t think there is a spontaneous bone in my body.  It shouldn’t be a surprise that when it comes to the marathon I leave nothing to chance (well, nothing that I have control of…if only I could control the weather).  I’m not talking race logistics:  hotel, directions, parking…although I do enjoy planning that.  I’m talking strategy; how will you run the race?  What’s your plan?

I used to run marathons with no plan.  Kind of just go out there and see how I feel.  This is a great approach if you are a beginner (first marathon).  Your goal should be to enjoy yourself, soak it all in, and finish strong.  Once I started having a time goal in mind, I found that the more I planned and strategized, the better I did.

So what’s my plan for Sunday’s race?

Start out slow
The best thing you could ever do is to start the marathon slowly (or any race really).  Doesn’t matter if you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced.  This works every time, trust me!  You should never go faster than your goal marathon pace (GMP) in these early miles.  In fact, I plan on going slower than GMP for the first 3 miles.  It’s tough, especially when everyone around you is flying by and you have so much nervous energy.  Conserve that energy because no matter how great of a race you are having, everything will start to hurt during those last few miles.  And all that energy you saved early on will come in handy.  It’s the difference between hitting the wall and just being uncomfortable during the last few miles.  I’ve hit the wall more times to mention and, believe me, being uncomfortable is way better.

I plan to mimic my 18 and 22-mile training runs.  Starting out with 9:00 pace and take it down from there.  Around Mile 13, I plan on picking up the pace.  Hopefully I can maintain that “pick-up” until the end.

Use a pace band
Pace bands:  either you love ’em or hate ’em (I happen to love ’em).  I’ve used them in every marathon, except for my first one.  I’ll only look at it maybe every 4-5 miles, just to ensure I’m on track.  My Garmin is what I really rely on to keep me on pace.  I don’t wear it on my wrist either.  I cut it out and tape it upside-down on my bib so all I have to do is look down.  I have a 3:45 and a 3:50 pace band for Sunday.

Pace bands have also come in handy during those not-so-stellar marathons.  Call me crazy but I like to know how far off I am from my goal time.  I told you I wasn’t sane.

So that’s my plan for Sunday…slow and steady wins the race and obsessively monitor my Garmin!

What are some of your race day strategies?  Do you use or like pace bands?

A Steamy 10-Miler and Week 16 Recap

April 25, 2011 by Kristy 8 Comments

4/24/11 (yesterday)

10 miles

1:32

9:12 avg pace

Spring turned into full blown summer here in Philly.  It was 67 degrees when I started running on Sunday (at 8am!) with lots of sun and humidity.  Initially the weather felt great but by mile 3 I was feeling the heat.  My 9:00 pace felt hard; my breathing and heart rate were more indicative of an 8:30 pace.  The miles dragged on and on.  I wanted to end with a few miles at marathon pace but there was just no way.

I’m definitely the type of runner that needs to acclimate to hot or cold weather.  Sudden, big swings in temperature are not good.  It takes about 2 weeks to acclimate myself and then I’m fine.  Today’s run wasn’t the best confidence booster for the marathon but I know it was 100% due to the heat.  Thankfully the forecast for Sunday’s race is calling for mostly cloudy with a high of 63 and a low of 53.  I’d prefer it to be a little colder but I’ll take what I can get!

Week 16 recap of NJ Marathon training:
MON:  rest
TUE:  6 miles at marathon pace
WED: 6 miles tempo
THU:  rest
FRI:  6 miles easy
SAT:  rest
SUN:  10 miles “long”

28 miles for the week.  The taper is working because I feel lazy and sluggish 🙂

Do you need to acclimate to hot or cold weather?  

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