P
Piedmont Donald
Guest
(Yes, this race was on Thanksgiving day. So this race report is 4 weeks
late...)
Goal: 4:20 (9:56 pace)
Backup goal: 4:30 (10:18 pace)
Drop dead goal: 5:00 (event limit and 11:27 pace)
I'd been watching the weather forecast for this race as race day approached.
Rain predicted. Oh no, I'm not that well trained (30 mpw max.) and I've
only run once in the rain (the rain was very light and the run was short) so
I'm not sure what to wear. I'd spent the week prior wishing that the rains
come a little earlier than predicted. At last, my wish was granted and the
front pushes through sooner than originally predicted. Since I had
experimented with what to wear as the temperatures have gotten colder, I'm
fairly confident that I can handle the predicted 42 degrees.
The day before I got tied up with something and didn't get finish getting
ready until almost midnight. Bummer. I have a tendency to over-dress so I
create a trash bag top to wear over my singlet and toss after I warm up. I
didn't sleep enough.
Race morning: I'm running a little late since I tried to sleep later to
compensate for getting to bed late. I arrive with just a few minutes to
spare. I open my car door to drop my bag at the baggage tent and Wham! it
hits me. Wind! Lots of it. I'm completely unprepared for wind. Luckily I
have a long sleeved technical shirt with me that I'd planned to wear after
the race and I quickly switch into it. Now I'm just barely have enough time
to get to the baggage tent, stop at the porta-johns and get to the start. I
quickly jog over, drop my bag and hit the john - no waiting - cool! Either
my timing is bad or they just need this many johns for the 8000 half
marathoners who start 30 minutes earlier and are already headed my way.
Bam! My unopened sports drink is on the floor of the porta-john and spilling
precious fluid everywhere. I'd planned to run with the bottle in my hand,
drink when it was convenient and refill at each station. The weight of the
little 12 oz. bottle isn't a problem for me since my unsupported long runs
included holding a 32 oz. bottle in each hand. But how did the bottle get
open? Damn, the top's broken. With no time to waste, I run back to the
baggage tent, drink down most of one of the 20 oz. bottles planned for after
and swap the top. As I step out of the baggage tent I hear the start.
I get to the starting line about a minute after the start. There are
roughly 800 - 900 people for this event so I would have started in the back
anyway. However, when I do get to the starting line no one is there and
even the sweep ambulance is about 200 yards ahead. I spend the first mile
getting organized and catching up. By the end of mile one I've caught and
passed the ambulance - 11.5 minutes.
Mile two - I've gone too fast. I resolve to hold back to my planned pace
and _maybe_ pickup a 2 or 3 seconds per minute. Not almost half the lost
time in the first couple of miles like I've just done. Miles three and four
are also a _little bit_ faster than planned, but not overly so. I've warmed
up by now and I want to ditch my trash bag top but I decide to fold it up
and stuff it under my hat in case I bonk at the end and need the coverage.
Since I've run the course before I know where most of the mile markers are.
However someone is calling out 5 mile splits way too early (about the 4.8 -
4.9 mile point)! Thankfully someone is also calling out splits at the
_real_ 5 mile marker. I feel sorry for everyone who believes the mistaken
volunteers. Mile six also comes up too soon. It's one of the miles marks
that I don't know and I think this is one place where the mile marker is
placed at the nearest anchor point (it's lashed to a telephone pole) without
a strict regard for true distance. Not knowing the correct location, I use
this marker. I am at my lowest cumulative mpm point; I slow down from here.
Miles 7 and 8 are about 40 seconds slower than planned. I'm a big on
planning and have a pace chart for each mile that takes into consideration
the elevation changes and stage in the race. Perhaps I've misjudged the
elevation change for this part of the course. Miles 9 through 14 however
are relatively flat and I'm able to keep my planned pace. Unfortunately I
drop my precious water bottle about mile 9 and another top
breaks! Luckily I'm about to pass my spectators and I give them
instructions on getting another bottle. I pass them before mile 10, I'll
hit the turn around and will past back by at mile 16.
Mile 15: I'm starting to get a little tired. Miles 15 through 20 are each
about 1 minute slower than planned. I speed up a little right at mile 16 so
my spectators don't know I'm getting tired. I think they might have bought
it since I'm only a three minutes behind schedule.
By mile 20 I realize that I'm probably not going to reach my backup goal of
4:30. However, I'm sure that I can finish since I can almost walk the
entire remaining distance within the 5:00 event limit. I try some more
frequent and longer walk breaks. After two miles I realize that all the
pain comes from starting to run again after walking. I switch to longer
runs and pick up the overall pace with more comfort. Somewhere about mile
24/25 it dawns on me that I don't need my trash bag top. I jettison every
thing that I don't need including my precious bottle. Mile 25 is definitely
faster. (In a relative way only, it is by no means fast).
Mile 26 _is_ fast. In fact it's my fastest of the day. The Olympic rings
from the 1996 Olympics are in sight for the second half of this mile and
they really give some inspiration. That and knowing that the finish is just
beyond them... I lose a little speed in the last .2 miles but I'm OK with
that. I hadn't planned a sprint finish anyway. I walk past a few chip
collectors looking for a racewalker acquaintance who had said he would be at
this station. I discover he's already gone and I have to <horrors> walk
_back_ about 100 feet to get back to the other chip collectors. I also
notice that the curbs in this area feel as if they are about 3 inches higher
than normal. Of course this is just me and my sore legs.
I collect my bag and a goodie pack and start nibbling while watching and
cheering on the folks finishing just at the event limit. I'm a little
stiff, but feel pretty good after my longest run ever.
Conclusion: Like a good first marathoner, I was a under prepared both in
terms of weekly mileage and what to expect. I didn't have any injury
issues, just some troubles with the stupid water bottles and a little
soreness. I didn't experience one of those mind-numbing bonks. I just got
slower as the race progressed. This is probably a training volume issue. I
drank so much I weighed more after the race (and a few post race snacks) so
hydration wasn't an issue.
Best regards and Merry Christmas,
Piedmont Donald
late...)
Goal: 4:20 (9:56 pace)
Backup goal: 4:30 (10:18 pace)
Drop dead goal: 5:00 (event limit and 11:27 pace)
I'd been watching the weather forecast for this race as race day approached.
Rain predicted. Oh no, I'm not that well trained (30 mpw max.) and I've
only run once in the rain (the rain was very light and the run was short) so
I'm not sure what to wear. I'd spent the week prior wishing that the rains
come a little earlier than predicted. At last, my wish was granted and the
front pushes through sooner than originally predicted. Since I had
experimented with what to wear as the temperatures have gotten colder, I'm
fairly confident that I can handle the predicted 42 degrees.
The day before I got tied up with something and didn't get finish getting
ready until almost midnight. Bummer. I have a tendency to over-dress so I
create a trash bag top to wear over my singlet and toss after I warm up. I
didn't sleep enough.
Race morning: I'm running a little late since I tried to sleep later to
compensate for getting to bed late. I arrive with just a few minutes to
spare. I open my car door to drop my bag at the baggage tent and Wham! it
hits me. Wind! Lots of it. I'm completely unprepared for wind. Luckily I
have a long sleeved technical shirt with me that I'd planned to wear after
the race and I quickly switch into it. Now I'm just barely have enough time
to get to the baggage tent, stop at the porta-johns and get to the start. I
quickly jog over, drop my bag and hit the john - no waiting - cool! Either
my timing is bad or they just need this many johns for the 8000 half
marathoners who start 30 minutes earlier and are already headed my way.
Bam! My unopened sports drink is on the floor of the porta-john and spilling
precious fluid everywhere. I'd planned to run with the bottle in my hand,
drink when it was convenient and refill at each station. The weight of the
little 12 oz. bottle isn't a problem for me since my unsupported long runs
included holding a 32 oz. bottle in each hand. But how did the bottle get
open? Damn, the top's broken. With no time to waste, I run back to the
baggage tent, drink down most of one of the 20 oz. bottles planned for after
and swap the top. As I step out of the baggage tent I hear the start.
I get to the starting line about a minute after the start. There are
roughly 800 - 900 people for this event so I would have started in the back
anyway. However, when I do get to the starting line no one is there and
even the sweep ambulance is about 200 yards ahead. I spend the first mile
getting organized and catching up. By the end of mile one I've caught and
passed the ambulance - 11.5 minutes.
Mile two - I've gone too fast. I resolve to hold back to my planned pace
and _maybe_ pickup a 2 or 3 seconds per minute. Not almost half the lost
time in the first couple of miles like I've just done. Miles three and four
are also a _little bit_ faster than planned, but not overly so. I've warmed
up by now and I want to ditch my trash bag top but I decide to fold it up
and stuff it under my hat in case I bonk at the end and need the coverage.
Since I've run the course before I know where most of the mile markers are.
However someone is calling out 5 mile splits way too early (about the 4.8 -
4.9 mile point)! Thankfully someone is also calling out splits at the
_real_ 5 mile marker. I feel sorry for everyone who believes the mistaken
volunteers. Mile six also comes up too soon. It's one of the miles marks
that I don't know and I think this is one place where the mile marker is
placed at the nearest anchor point (it's lashed to a telephone pole) without
a strict regard for true distance. Not knowing the correct location, I use
this marker. I am at my lowest cumulative mpm point; I slow down from here.
Miles 7 and 8 are about 40 seconds slower than planned. I'm a big on
planning and have a pace chart for each mile that takes into consideration
the elevation changes and stage in the race. Perhaps I've misjudged the
elevation change for this part of the course. Miles 9 through 14 however
are relatively flat and I'm able to keep my planned pace. Unfortunately I
drop my precious water bottle about mile 9 and another top
breaks! Luckily I'm about to pass my spectators and I give them
instructions on getting another bottle. I pass them before mile 10, I'll
hit the turn around and will past back by at mile 16.
Mile 15: I'm starting to get a little tired. Miles 15 through 20 are each
about 1 minute slower than planned. I speed up a little right at mile 16 so
my spectators don't know I'm getting tired. I think they might have bought
it since I'm only a three minutes behind schedule.
By mile 20 I realize that I'm probably not going to reach my backup goal of
4:30. However, I'm sure that I can finish since I can almost walk the
entire remaining distance within the 5:00 event limit. I try some more
frequent and longer walk breaks. After two miles I realize that all the
pain comes from starting to run again after walking. I switch to longer
runs and pick up the overall pace with more comfort. Somewhere about mile
24/25 it dawns on me that I don't need my trash bag top. I jettison every
thing that I don't need including my precious bottle. Mile 25 is definitely
faster. (In a relative way only, it is by no means fast).
Mile 26 _is_ fast. In fact it's my fastest of the day. The Olympic rings
from the 1996 Olympics are in sight for the second half of this mile and
they really give some inspiration. That and knowing that the finish is just
beyond them... I lose a little speed in the last .2 miles but I'm OK with
that. I hadn't planned a sprint finish anyway. I walk past a few chip
collectors looking for a racewalker acquaintance who had said he would be at
this station. I discover he's already gone and I have to <horrors> walk
_back_ about 100 feet to get back to the other chip collectors. I also
notice that the curbs in this area feel as if they are about 3 inches higher
than normal. Of course this is just me and my sore legs.
I collect my bag and a goodie pack and start nibbling while watching and
cheering on the folks finishing just at the event limit. I'm a little
stiff, but feel pretty good after my longest run ever.
Conclusion: Like a good first marathoner, I was a under prepared both in
terms of weekly mileage and what to expect. I didn't have any injury
issues, just some troubles with the stupid water bottles and a little
soreness. I didn't experience one of those mind-numbing bonks. I just got
slower as the race progressed. This is probably a training volume issue. I
drank so much I weighed more after the race (and a few post race snacks) so
hydration wasn't an issue.
Best regards and Merry Christmas,
Piedmont Donald