I have finally erased my 2:47 pb set at the 2013 Chicago Marathon. My best in the half marathon at that time was 1:19. I took out that race aggressively in 1:20:48 and struggled to maintain in the second half to finish in 2:47:18. I thought, with more even pacing, that something in the 2:43-45 range was possible that day. My training over the past 3.5 years has been sporadic, but not due to my own choosing. In the spring of 2014, I started to develop a light headed feeling on runs. I dropped out of 2014 Boston because I was already dizzy at 20k. In the fall of 2014 I was over the dizziness but developed an IT band problem the week before a scheduled marathon. I dropped out of my goal race after not being able to walk at the halfway point. In the spring of 2015, I began to feel dizzy on my runs again and I decided against starting the Boston Marathon, which I was signed up for.
During these low points, my mileage and workouts were great. When I was able to, I would knock out 70-80+ mile weeks and do the kind of workouts to make me think a 2:40ish marathon was possible. In the fall of 2016 I moved to Oregon for work and things started to turn around. I was not feeling any of the dizziness from the previous spring. I was not injured. I had found a training group to do my workouts with. That fall, I ran a 1:17:50 half marathon. Progress! I trained hard all winter and spring and ran the 2016 NYC Half Marathon in 1:17:48. I had a lot of things go wrong on the logistical side of things that day and thought a 1:15-16 half was in the cards. I then wanted to do a spring marathon but the dizziness had come back. Despite feeling awful, I ran 2:59 after a 1:22-mid opening half. This is a ways off from 2:47. I had a great build-up for my fall, 2016, marathon but cramped up very early in the race. A couple of weeks later, I found out that a blood clot had moved into my right lung. I had a pulmonary embolism. I didn't know if I would be able to run the same again. Anxiety was plaguing my day to day activity in the months following the PE.
I did what I knew how to do to cope with my anxiety. I ran. I targeted the Eugene Half Marathon, put in great workouts and ran a 1:16:40 (5:50 pace) PR. In the couple of months before this, I ran 3k (9:24), 5k (16:36), and 10k (35:31) PRs. I am not entirely sure what happened this spring but I came back hot from the clot and found my groove. Four weeks after the Eugene Half, I toed the line for the Newport (OR) Marathon. My race plan was to take things out easy, in 6:15-6:25 pace for the first five miles or so and then run 6:00-6:15 for as long as I could to the finish. If I was feeling good, I would have a shot a the low-2:40s and if I wasn't I still wanted to PR. My A, B, and C goals for the race were as follows: A-2:39-2:42, B- 2:43-2:45, C- sub-2:50 and/or PR. Here's how things panned out.
When the gun went off, I was in a big pack of about a dozen runners. One guy went out faster and had already put a little bit of a gap on the group. The whole pack hit the first mile in around 5:55-6:15 depending on where you were. I was there in 6:06. 6:06 is 2:40-flat marathon pace and I wanted to start slower and then get into faster running in the middle of the race. A few guys around me said they wanted to back off after we hit mile 2 (which had an uphill) in 6:20. We were back to averaging 6:15 pace but I was content to hang in the 6:20ish range for a few miles. The crew I was running with all said they were hoping for a mid-2:40s marathon which sounded good to me with the hope that someone might want to push the pace later. I didn't dictate the pace as we hit 6:22, 6:36, 6:34, and a 6:27 to bring us to 6 miles in 38:29- 2:48:10 marathon pace. I wanted to be around 2:45-46 marathon pace through the first 10k and then bring it down. Newport is a pretty small race so I was happy to be in a group but I surged a little in mile 7 with a 6:18. Nobody went with me but I had made my choice. Maybe folks would catch me later but I wanted to go for something a little faster. I had a blast running the first 6 in that group. Folks were cracking jokes and it kept me very relaxed. I hope everyone in there had an awesome race! From miles 7 to 19 I ran 1:20:14 for 13 miles- 6:10 pace- 2:41:49 marathon pace. I passed a few guys who went out too hot but was running solo other than that. Every mile between 7 and 19 was between 6:00 and 6:20. At mile 17, my projected finish was 2:43:33. By mile 20, I was looking at a 2:44:05. This is where the race got tough. I lost 2.5 minutes from here to the finish.
I'm very happy with what I was able to accomplish on Sunday but I know that there is still room for improvement at the marathon distance. This buildup was really geared towards the half marathon. I only got in two runs over 20 and most of my workouts were in the 5:35-5:50 range. I did not have any long tempos at marathon pace. I did not do a lot of specific running at goal pace. I have been saying since my 2:47 at Chicago that a sub-2:40 is right around the corner. That marathon was pretty similar to this one. In Chicago I went out hard and was on 2:41 pace through halfway. I still had an opportunity to run 2:43-45 but faded hard over the last half. In Newport, I was much more conservative early on and ran that opening quick half from Chicago from miles 6 to 19. I didn't have enough miles left in Newport to fall to a 2:47. I am still optimistic that I can hit a 2:38-2:42 marathon the next time out. I was on pace for a 2:43-44 through 20+ miles on Sunday. I probably should not have dropped down under 6:10 on Sunday. Maybe that would have helped me to a faster time. All in all, I'm happy to finally have a more recent race to claim as my marathon PR. I'm excited for what I can do with a marathon specific training block. Next up is some mile/5k training early this summer before I move into a specific buildup for the New York City Marathon which will also include my debut ultra marathon which will be a 50k setup as a long training run.
Here is some quick data from Newport:
I'm very happy with what I was able to accomplish on Sunday but I know that there is still room for improvement at the marathon distance. This buildup was really geared towards the half marathon. I only got in two runs over 20 and most of my workouts were in the 5:35-5:50 range. I did not have any long tempos at marathon pace. I did not do a lot of specific running at goal pace. I have been saying since my 2:47 at Chicago that a sub-2:40 is right around the corner. That marathon was pretty similar to this one. In Chicago I went out hard and was on 2:41 pace through halfway. I still had an opportunity to run 2:43-45 but faded hard over the last half. In Newport, I was much more conservative early on and ran that opening quick half from Chicago from miles 6 to 19. I didn't have enough miles left in Newport to fall to a 2:47. I am still optimistic that I can hit a 2:38-2:42 marathon the next time out. I was on pace for a 2:43-44 through 20+ miles on Sunday. I probably should not have dropped down under 6:10 on Sunday. Maybe that would have helped me to a faster time. All in all, I'm happy to finally have a more recent race to claim as my marathon PR. I'm excited for what I can do with a marathon specific training block. Next up is some mile/5k training early this summer before I move into a specific buildup for the New York City Marathon which will also include my debut ultra marathon which will be a 50k setup as a long training run.
Here is some quick data from Newport:
2:46:43 (6:21 pace) 5th overall
1st 6 38:29- 2:48:10 pace
Next 13 1:20:14- 2:41:49 pace, projected 2:43 finish
20 in 2:05:10- 2:44:05 projected finish
Last 6 miles- 39:39- 2:53:16 pace
