Monday, October 7, 2013

2013 Portland Marathon

When Frank Shorter won the 1972 Olympic Marathon, he said that the highest gratification was that "I finally got one right."

Well, I finally got one right.

But when people ask if I qualified for Boston (sub-3:25), I can truthfully say...
 
I'm not sure.
 
  • The clock at the finish was reading 3:24 and change.
  • My watch read 3:24:53: I started the watch 10 sec before the start to ensure proper operation (if the watch malfunctions, I don't cross the starting mat until I have it working). Therefore, my watch's clock time should have been conservative
  • The unofficial race timing had me at 3:25:23, 24 seconds slower than my Boston standard.
I've asked the timing company to revisit.
 
The other strange thing: the 5k timing mat had me at 7:27 pace. My Garmin splits below have me at 7:45. No way should there be that big a discrepancy! Almost 200 yards??? Regardless, my biggest issue is the elapsed time.
 
However, even a 3:24 doesn't get me to Boston because this year's cutoff was about 90 seconds faster due to the number of entries. No big deal; I'm very happy with my race.
 
 
Split
Time
Distance
Avg Pace
Summary3:24:54.026.227:48
17:55.51.007:56
27:43.11.007:43
37:49.01.007:49
47:41.01.007:41
57:48.31.007:48
67:59.21.007:59
77:37.61.007:38
87:47.81.007:48
97:47.41.007:47
107:37.51.007:38
117:55.81.007:56
127:48.01.007:48
137:47.11.007:47
147:46.21.007:46
157:57.41.007:57
167:42.91.007:43
178:12.51.008:13
188:05.11.008:05
197:35.71.007:36
207:54.51.007:55
218:07.01.008:07
227:28.21.007:28
238:14.91.008:15
247:46.11.007:46
258:04.31.008:04
267:10.41.007:11
271:31.40.226:47
 
Mile 17 was the bastard uphill to the St. John's Bridge; I pulled back on pace and kept effort level. That's the first time I've been able to climb that hill without walking.
 
Finally, a solid finish!!! Check out my last 1.2 miles. I was running scared, trying to catch the pace group. My hamstrings were sending warnings for the last 8 miles, so I stopped a bunch of times to stretch them. At about 39k, I went all in and decided it was time to gamble. Up until then, several times I was only steps away from complete hamstring seizure. Lots of pace jockeying to keep legs in check; aerobically I had plenty of capacity.
 
My last 10k was right at 7:49 goal pace. Thrilled with that! After I stopped to stretch each time, my pace was very snappy as I caught back up. Felt smooth. All I need to do is get more core strength so I don't need those pauses, and that's an immediate 2 minute aggregate gain.

Takeaways:
  • The Tuesday night speed workouts are huge. Keep doing them, and develop a better high end
  • Core and posterior chain work helped a ton. Hamstrings were threatening but never seized. And my last 10k was solid.
  • I had a larger breakfast earlier in the morning, and stomach was really full. Back off a bit.

Plan:
  • Recover
  • Continue with Tuesday night group speed work (invaluable)
  • 20 miles a week or so thru winter
  • More intensive Plyo/Core work
  • Get back in the pool
  • next year, run a fall marathon (PDX or Marine Corps) and get 3:19:59. That will get me into 2016 Boston; that year, I'll be 50, so my qual time will be 3:30. The 3:19 will get me into the Sub-10 minute group that can sign up before the masses who sneak just under the radar.
 
couple other things:
  • I ate a little more breakfast than usual, 3.5 hrs prior. Stomach was uncomfortably full the entire race. Only took 2 of my planned 6 gels, and 4 of six salt caps. Didn't want to upset stomach further
  • Crimson urine afterward. Kidneys? Nah, just beet juice powder at breakfast
  • drove home 3 hrs solo afterward, then ran a mile to flush the legs. Today, I'm feeling the least damage I've ever experienced after a marathon.
discovered that Emergency has a lot more electrolyte than salt caps. Been drinking that every morning.
 
Glad that one's in the books! Come a long way from my debut 4:35 of 3 years ago.
 
And my resting pulse is 48!