Road to Boston: 2015 Phoenix Marathon

February 28, 2015

The night before the race I was really nervous to run.  Last year I ran this race in 3:30 and I set a goal to not only beat that time, but to beat 3:25 to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  I not only needed to beat 3:25, but I needed some margin in order to actually race.  For the previous two years, applicants that qualified by less than 1:05 and 1:38 respectively did not get into the race, so I figured I needed to have at least a 2-minute margin.

Three weeks before the race I ran the course with some friends at a good steady pace in the low 7s and it felt very good.  We stopped at 20 miles, but I was on pace for a 3:16ish finish.  The week before the race I run in Ragnar Del Sol with Kandyce and several other couples.  We had a great time, but I probably went too hard at times.  I was feeling the competitiveness of passing other racers and I also had some long segments.  My legs felt OK the next day, but I didn’t think I’d be able to fully recover from the effort before the marathon.

To make matters worse, I got pink eye and an ear infection! I spend Sundays at church teaching the 2 and 3-year-old children, so I suspect someone shared it with me.  I got some meds and hoped they would take effect quickly. 

During my training cycle I had focused on using interval runs to improve my speed and turnover.  The Cadence Group runs on Thursdays provided a cooperative and challenging environment to push myself.  I got faster in those one hour runs, but I wasn’t sure how much it would help in the marathon distance.

In January, I had my first 50 mile week and my first 200 mile month.  I was following the same plan I did for 2014, but this time I did not get injured and I was able to have a solid build up.  In fact, even when I had to travel I was able to stay on track and get the target runs in.  I think this consistency really helped.

So the night before the race I had confidence from my training program, the interval runs, and the pre-race run, but I had some doubts worrying about the effects of being sick and of running Ragnar. 

Race morning was uneventful as we headed to the bus lines and off to the start.  The skies were clear and the temperature was cool.  MP had come from Calgary to run this race with me and he was a wealth of great advice.  My sister MB was also running the marathon and Kandyce, Chantelle, and Devon were all running the half marathon. 

I always enjoy the excitement of race morning at the starting area.  Music, shivering, fires, porta johns, the anthem, and fireworks.  A quick picture with friends and off to the starting chute for the gun.  I placed myself near the 3:20 pacer and got ready for some ‘fun’.

The first stretch is downhill and it was still fairly dark.  At about mile 3 I was running with the 3:20 group and bumped into AC, a regular runner at Cadence.  She has run about 10 marathons and has qualified for Boston, so she is experienced and accomplished.  We settled into a pace around 7:20 min/mi, which was faster than my overall goal pace, but down the hills it was not pushing it too hard.  Her PR was about 3:20 and she did not think she would be able to beat it.  There is an uphill section early on and we slowed to an 8 min pace for the climb.  At the top we eased back into a faster pace and soon we slipped away from the 3:20 group.  The pace was strong and steady.  Each mile was within seconds of the last.  At the halfway point, I noted that my time was 1:39, which is faster than I have ever run 13 miles.  I hadn’t ever raced that distance, but I have done it in training many times.  I was a little nervous about the pace, but it felt good and comfortable.

The wind started picking up and at about mile 17 there is a turn South and into the wind.  We held the pace but at this point I started to think I wouldn’t be able to maintain this pace to the end.  At mile 18 I told AC that I really appreciated pacing together but she should not hold back to pace me.  She told me the same thing.  I could tell that she had more in the tank than I did, so at mile 19, I slowed at the aid station and she carried on.  I eased off the pace just a bit.

At mile 20 I started to crack.  I felt that I couldn’t keep my legs going and my body was screaming at me to walk for a bit.  I slowed, but did not walk at this point.  At mile 21 I noticed the 3:20 pacer coming out of the porta john.  Strangely, I hadn’t noticed him pass me and also he was all alone at this point!  I could not hang on to him and it wasn’t too much after this that I succumbed to the urge to walk.  I only walked a minute, thinking that I would be able to resume my earlier pace after a little break.  I started back up, and thought I was moving pretty quickly, but a quick check of my watch revealed that I was much slower than I thought.  That was very disheartening.

I struggled between walking and running in the 8s and 9s for the next 2 miles.  I was busy doing mental math trying to project my finish time based on various paces for the last bit.  I soon realized that I was dangerously close to missing my 3:25 qualifying time!  I bore down hard and got moving as fast as I could go.  I resisted the urge to walk in the last 2 miles, but it was a constant struggle.  I turned the corner to the finishing chute and saw my family urging me on.  I managed a smile as I surged for the finish line where the volunteer to catch me happened to be my wife’s cousin MR!  He helped me get to a chair safely and gave me a much appreciated water.

When I crossed the finish line, I saw that the race time was under 3:25, so I for sure qualified, but was it enough?  My chip time turned out to be 3:23:09, so I had a margin of 1:51.  I was really happy about that.  On to the medal, food, and rest!  I found my family, took pics, and celebrated.  The girls both had a PR and Devon finished and did surprisingly well.  He even snacked on some bacon along the route offered by a spectator.  Youth has its advantages!

AC not only finished strong, she surged at the end to a PR of 3:15.  MP had an excellent race.  He felt the effects of the wind as well and his pace slowed, but only by about 5s/km.  He finished in 2:54, just 2 mins off his PR at St. George. 

I was very happy that I met my goal to qualify for Boston with a margin I thought would be enough.  However, I was very frustrated with my collapse in the last 6 miles.  I spoke with MP at length about it in the days following.  He told me walking never helps when you are racing; it just eats time and it does not help you run fast enough to make up for the lost time.  It is better to keep running, even if it is at a slower pace.  Even better to push through the pain and keep running strong to the finish.  His strategy is to think about family members for each km to distract his mind from the pain and fatigue. 

I was really bothered by this collapse, so I studied it more.  I read about workouts which would help simulate the difficulty of running when fatigued.  I analyzed my nutrition and I don’t think I had a deficiency there.  I analyzed my pacing and I think the pace of the first 20 miles was beyond where my fitness and readiness were at.  I think the main factors impacting me were the fatigue from Ragnar the week prior, the wind, and to a lesser extent, the sickness.  During the race I did not feel respiratory problems, but I know that being ill does take a toll on your strength reserves.  All excellent lessons that can be addressed next time:

-          Don’t do a hard race or run in the last two weeks before a major race.

-          Make a pace plan that is within or just slightly above what you are capable of and stick to it.

-          Practice mental strength in workouts.

-          Don’t get sick!