The Build Up
Both Jessica and I were planning fall marathons. I wanted to run Grand Rapids and she was going to run Air Force. She wound up having some reservations about her desires to run another marathon, but she had already registered. Thankfully, I was procrastinating on my registration and was able to transfer her bib to myself. Only hiccup was that Air Force was a month earlier than GR and I was going to need to modify my training plan.
The Training Plan
This time around I wanted a training plan that would better prepare me for the distance and to be able to run it much faster than my previous marathon.
I went with a plan from the book Run Less Run Faster and made some tweeks and changes, but stayed true to the three runs per week. I originally wanted to run five 20-milers but wound up having to cut back to three due the shortening of the plan by a month. I honestly don't believe I had a single bad run the whole plan. I went into taper feeling ready, healthy, and confident.
Pre-Race
We headed to Cincinnati on Friday afternoon with a quick stop by the expo to pick up my bib and swag and stopped for dinner (Italian of course). Since my family lives just 40 minutes south of Dayton, we decided to stay free and sacrificed a little extra sleep on race morning. The forecase for Saturday was looking all that great, especially when the skies opened up Friday evening and flooded many local areas. I said many a prayer for the rains to be done by race time the next morning.
5am wake-up call, a few bites to eat, coffee, and we hit the road. Drizzling rain the whole way to Dayton, the forecast still had rains until 9am. I figured worst case I'd have to run the first 6-8 miles in the rain. My warmup consisted of stretching in a tent out of the rain as long as possible. Ten minutes before the gun I shedded the trash bag to get acclimated to the wetness and the chill of the morning air. After a few pickups and the National Anthem, I was ready for the 26.2 miles of torture I was about to undertake. I remember thinking this was going to be a great race as the skies stopped dripping just minutes before the gun went off.
Race Time
One advantage to a smaller marathon is that it only take maybe 30 seconds to cross the start line. The course starts on the base and heads out onto the slightly hilly Wright State University campus. Hills in the first 5 miles of a marathon is a great way to get loose, but an equally dangerous way to get sucked into going out much faster than intended.
My plan was to start just behind the 3:25 pace group (7:45/mi) for the first 5K and then lock in to race pace. Nutrition plan had me taking gels at miles 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, and 24 if necessary. Water at every aid station starting at mile 4 and gatorade every other aid station. With the weather forecast being much cooler than typical a September day in southeast Ohio, I knew hydration would not be nearly as critical as the Flying Pig was in 2012.
After the first 3 miles, I was feeling great and closing the gap up to the pace group. I was able to find Jessica in a crowd of spectators around mile 4 and stopped in for a kiss of good luck and dropped off my sunglasses that I clearly wasn't going to be needing that day. Around mile 5, the course climbed up and over an interstate and headed into the town of Fairborn. Miles 4-7, I was locking into a 7:30ish pace and pulled away from the pace group. Mile 8 required a quick porto stop. Miles 9-10 is a down and back section of downtown Fairborn better known as the FlyZone.
The Fairborn FlyZone is the largest spectator viewing area on the whole course with the roads competely chalked with the names of military personnel past and present who served our great nation. There were at least 3-4 bands and a timing mat checkpoint where they were calling out names of runners as they passed. I was very motivating to hear my name going both ways through the FlyZone.
After mile 10, the course returns to the base for a long loop around the perimeter of the grounds. Miles 10-13 were a bit windy and it began to mist. It was somewhere in these miles that my hip flexors began to tighten up. For me, the only way to loosed my hip flexors is to open up my stride. However, as I stride longer, I go faster, and thus my heart rate starts to climb. So I devised the plan to keep my stride normal for the first half of a mile, then open it up until the next aid station and walk through the entire station to lower my heart rate. This was not something I had ever planned or trained with, but it worked out well as my average pace/mi was still around 7:45.
Miles 14-17 were out in the open around the runway of Wright-Patterson AFB. The course was quite banked in some sections and the winds always seemed to be headwinds. Not cool, but it could have been worse! Miles 18-21 were much better in the scenery department. Beautifully winding roads covered with trees alongside a river. It must have been what I needed at that point because the wall I began to hit at mile 21 wasn't really all that bad, except for the interstate bridge we had to climb again at mile 22.
I don't know what it is about hills. Some people hate them. Others, like myself, see them as a challenge and attack! Head down, knees up, push, push again, and repeat until that moment when you crest the hill and know with a fierce battle cry that yes!... I just made that hill my bitch! I passed quite a few people on that bridge and it really helped for a short time.
Miles 23 and 24 were back into the hills of Wright State which were much more painful this time through. Near the end of mile 24 (my slowest @ 8:22/mi), the 3:25 pace group caught up to me. There was only two people left, the pacer was one. I the pacer if he was feeling good and on track. With a nod and thumbs up, I latched on as he was forging a path through the now quite crowded course as the 13.1ers had rejoined the pack.
I was hurting no doubt, but there was no way I was missing this PR! At the end of mike 25 the pacer must have noticed me surging cause he told to me to go get it. There was no hesitation. No second guessing. My visual field narrowed down and stealthed the best possible route for passing without losing tempo. The last 500 yards were down one airstrip around a corner and back down another airstrip. The crowd of finish line spectators was extended around both corners.
At the final turn of the marathon, the AFM has a most unique finish line experience. Lining both sides of the course were 8 historic USAF aircraft from various war eras. Running underneath 100+ foot long wings was far more awesome than my childhood experiences visiting the museum. I raised my arms and soared across the finish line as if I was that young boy once again! The energy at the finish was like no other race before.
Post Race
After receiving my finishers medal from the Airman I just walked and tried to stretch out my aching hip flexors. I managed to find the food and beverage tent even though I wasn't very hungry yet. Once I grabbed my stuff, I laid down to drain some lactic acid and called Jessica to coordinate a pickup as she was coming from having run with a friend for a mile or so near the finish.
Grade Report
Nutrition: (A) all gels stayed down, well hydrated
Physical Effort: (A-) minor adjustments to stride due to tightness in hip flexors
Mental Resolve: (B+) walked less than 5x outside of aid stations
Marathon Course: (B) mostly flat & fast with some hills in first/last 8k
Crowd Support: (C-) small race, active/restricted air force base limited spectator viewing areas
Volunteers/Aid Stations: (A) always smiling, verbally supportive, & creative thematic costumes
Overall Grade: (B+) Highly recommended small marathon experience
Official Stats and Afterthoughts
Finish Time - 3:23:43 - 7:46/mi
Age Group Finish - 24/282 (M35-39)
Overall Finish - 162/3126
Marathon number two was an infinitely better experience than my first. Every run from traininng day one up to crossing the fininsh line was great and I really loved running everytime I went out. I never had one of those days when you go out and go through the motions. Marathon running became the norm over the past two years. However, I can honestly say that I'm good with where my marathon experience currently sits. As my focus shifts back again to triathlon, I will not miss the long runs, but I hope to still maintain the same focus and determination to get better in all three disciplines. I hope to get back to climbing the endurance ladder and exploring the half-iron distance in the next year or two. Who knows? There may even be an full Ironman journey in 2016!
If you made it this far, thanks for reading! TRI harder. DU your best. RUN like hell!
Tim, Neophyte TRIguy
If you made it this far, thanks for reading! TRI harder. DU your best. RUN like hell!
Tim, Neophyte TRIguy
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