During my buildup to the
MESA-PHX Marathon this time, I was able to focus solely on the run. Last year, I did a full triathlon in December
and had to recover from that before I could really ramp up the run mileage. This year, I was already running 50mi a week
in early December.
Coming off of a new PR at St.
George, my goal was to nudge that a little faster and closer to 3hours. I knew that I was not capable of getting to
sub 3 yet but wanted to make a step closer.
The PHX course is more difficult for me than St. George, so even running
the same time is about a 3-minute improvement in my opinion.
During this training cycle, I
did not have any injuries to deal with, but I did get a nasty cough/flu thing
twice. Each time, it knocked me off running for a couple days and then the
cough lingered for 2-3 weeks, affecting any threshold runs. The second illness was about 5 weeks before
the marathon, so I had an early taper week.
I missed the 2nd planned 22mi run but managed to bounce back
reasonably well and was feeling 100% by race week.
Many of the Delancey Loopers
were preparing for this race, so there were many doing the same workouts during
the cycle. It helps to have other
runners progressing around you to chase and pace. I feel that the strength of the team helps
each individual progress better.
This cycle was much cooler
than the previous buildup so I was able to see the marathon pace earlier and
more consistently in workouts, which also helped to build confidence. The cooler season also gave me more
flexibility in when I could run.
During this cycle I typically
ran 6 times a week with a hard workout on Tuesday, a long run with a workout on
Saturday, and the rest easy running. I
typically was at 55+ miles/week with two weeks at 60+ miles. I did very little cycling or swimming or
lifting. I did a lunge matrix of
stretching before every run and several hip and leg stretches after.
As race day approached, the
forecast was for cold weather on Saturday.
People that knew I was running would comment on how cold it was going to
be and my response was always colder the better! I planned to take some throw away clothing
for the start including gloves and arm sleeves.
My race plan was to do first
half in 1:33:30 to 1:34:00, which is 7:08-7:11 pace. Then an even split would get me to around
3:07, and a slight fall off would still allow me to hit sub 3:10. I had lots of practice on the hills over the
first 10 miles so I had a really good feel of how the pacing should vary up the
hill and then on the down to hit that at half way. Two of my teammates were planning to finish
faster and four of them were aiming for 3:15 range, so I knew that if I
faltered, I was likely to get caught.
After typical pre-race pork
burrito, I got my gear sorted and headed to bed at around 10:30. After dozing off, I got a call from my
daughter just after midnight… she had been in a wreck! I went over to the scene and thankfully no
serious injuries and just banged up metal.
That took while to sort out and I didn’t get back to bed until about
2am. That made a short night a little
shorter!
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| Team Looper at the start |
Race day started a little
earlier as the gun time was moved to 6am.
I car pooled, met some of my Looper teammates at the bus pick up, and then we were
off to the starting area. With the
earlier start time, it was going to be darker for the first few miles. Some were bringing lights, but I felt the
road was smooth and it wouldn’t be too dangerous.
Gear: Newton Gravity VI shoes (Blue), Wright double layer
socks, Adidas Delancey Loopers singlet, Adidas BAA shorts, Adidas BAA cap,
Plantronics Backbeat FIT earphones, throw-away gloves, arm sleeves, and SPI
Belt with phone. Warmup jacket and sweat pants for pre-race warmth. 3 AMPED Fuel gels, BASE
salt at start, and e+Shot. I
carried the e+Shot and one gel inside my gloves so that my SPI belt wasn’t as
heavy. Race weight: 187
Nutrition: IsaLeanPro shake, AMPED bar, peanut butter bagel
and banana early morning, AMPED Nitro and Gel before the race, AMPED Fuel,
e+Shot, and water during the race.
We got off the bus and after a
stop at the portapots, we gathered near a heater to stay warm and stretch out. They had music, the anthem, and some fireworks
to get us amped up to run. No sign of
twilight as we gathered at the start line.
I ditched my gear bag in the truck and kept wearing sweat pants and
jacket. I ditched the sweat pants
seconds before the gun and off we went.
There were a few lights along
the road, but it was fairly dark. There
were pylons in the middle of the road, marking I don’t know what. I thought they were more of a hazard than a
help. I settled into my pace and focused
on my footing to avoid hazards. The
temperature was maybe 40 and I was in no rush to ditch my jacket.
At the first turn onto
McDowell, the twilight was just emerging.
Street lights helped with the light and there were some people making
noise so it seemed like dawn was upon us.
I kept the jacket until the next turn at about mile 4 into Las Sendas,
which is the start of the main climb. I
still had arm sleeves and gloves. In
training we had made this climb several times and I geared down slightly
dropping my pace by about 40s/mi.
Cresting the hill was spectacular as the morning sun was starting to
illuminate the valley to the West.
The best aid station each year
is mile 9 as they have hundreds of signs along the way to make you smile and
they are very loud. It is a boost to
pass through. Last year I remember
stopping at a porta pot here, but I pressed on.
I had taken a gel at mile 8 and sips of water at each aid station. My gloves got a little wet from spillage, but
it did not cause a chill at this point.
At half way, I was at 1:33:52,
which was right on plan. I felt good
with no niggles and no GI distress.
Temperature still felt good with sleeves and gloves so I kept them
on. There was not much wind, but every
once in a while, I felt a breath of air.
It really was ideal race conditions!
My next gel came at about mile
15 and then at about mile 18, I saw LS and tossed her my sleeves instead of
ditching them. I made the turn at mile
20 and took my e+Shot and last gel. Now the
gloves came off (literally and figuratively) and I got ready to dig in for some
hurt. My time at 20 miles was 2:23:03,
which was still 7:10 average, so I was on track for a PR with a good finish.
In past races, the last 4-5
miles of the PHX course is where I really struggle. I was determined to avoid walking so that I
would not waste time. Miles 21 and 22 I was still under 7:20 pace, but then
mile 23 jumped to 7:35. Typically I lost a minute a mile at this stage, so it was a battle to keep the damage as
low as possible. Mile 24 was slightly
faster at 7:33, but then in mile 25 I had to stop and bend down for a moment to
stretch out my back. Then I got moving
again and tried to keep pace with other runners ahead. Mile 25 was my slowest at 7:49, and then with
a bit of a kick down the hill on Alma School I was able to cover mile 26 in
7:42. At this point the final turn
brings the finish in view and it is a sprint down the chute to the finish banner.
I have heard all sorts of
suggestions for dealing with the difficulty of the final miles of a
marathon. MP thinks of a different
family member every km (he’s from Canada).
Others talk about the power of the mind to push beyond the pain. I have tried these approaches. For me, I feel like my brain is pushing my
legs to go as fast as I can, and that is all the speed that is left. I was able to push through those last four
miles better than I ever have in the past, and that led to a PR of
3:09:53. Yet I can see that others are
able to keep even splits to the end and yet others are able to speed up during
the last mile.
I don’t watch my heart rate
(HR) while running, but I often wear a HR monitor to evaluate afterwards. In this race, at mile 10, my HR (shown in red) was about
150 and it climbed steadily to the low 160s near the end. When my pace dropped (shown in blue), my HR was still
increasing. This tells me that my system
was working harder yet with less results.
From past runs, I know that my HR peaks at 164-165 in my hardest tempo
workouts. The only time I have observed
higher HR is when I ran a 5k in July and it hit 170 in the last mile. I talked about this with coach DD, and he
suggested taking more fuel at the end.
He thinks that the availability of carbs may be the limiting factor as
my body has to work harder to convert fat/muscle for energy. He doesn’t think that leg strength is limiting
me at that stage and he doesn’t think that going out slightly slower would help
as it would only be slightly slower and difficult to hit. I took on about 350 kCal during the race and
did not feel any GI distress, so I will try taking more next time to see how
that affects my HR and pacing to the finish.
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| Pace (blue) Heart rate (red) Elevation (grey) |
The post-race experience was
fun as I was there to welcome several of my fellow Looper team mates at the
finish. Nine of us ran and all nine hit a new PR and most ran a Boston qualifying time! We rang the PR bell, grabbed a couple of pictures,
then began enjoying all of the post-race food.
Near the end, some of the aid stations were poorly staffed and once I
got Gatorade in a water cup. Aside from
those minor issues, the race was very well run with tremendous support and
volunteers.
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| Big smiles at the finish |
What went well? My training was consistent and I avoided injury. Coach DD was very good at guiding me through a safe build and helped me reach new highs. I was running 6 days a week and 50-60 miles a week. I paid attention to nutrition and stretching before and after runs. Working with the Delancey Looper team has helped me with hard long runs, accountability, and encouragement. My work took me on the road a lot, but my shoes were easy to pack and I almost always managed to get my scheduled runs in, most often in San Fransico which is not terrible!
What didn't go so well? I had a couple of scares with an ankle pain during speed work, but both times it went away in a few days. It may have been due to high mileage shoes, fast intervals, and concrete path. I got sick twice and that was hard to fight through but it was behind me by race week.
This was the sixth time
running the PHX marathon. Each year I
have managed to shave some time off and move up in my age group standings. I think there is room for more improvement and I plan to keep the streak alive!
What’s next? This was the fifth marathon I have run in 18
months (Big Cottonwood, PHX, Boston, St. George, PHX). I am going to take a break from
marathoning and do some triathlons. Then
in the summer, I will focus on running again. In the fall I will do Gilbert Half Marathon and maybe another to work on speed at that distance, and then build up for my next
sub-3 hour attempt at PHX 2019.
