PREFONTAINE

386C060

COX SPORTS MARATHON

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83098002

http://coolrunning.com/results/11/ri/May1_CoxSpo_set1.shtml

3:54:20 is the Marathon Finishing Time for 8:57 pace overall.

Place: 405/1192 = 0.33

Sex Total: 307/717 = 0.42

Division Total: 89/195 = 0.45

The Cox Sports Marathon: Per Garmin: 26.2 done in 3:53:23 for overall pace of 8:54 per mile at 151 bpm AHR which is 87% of MHR and thus at high end of MP range (79-88% MHR).

PREVIOUS MARATHON PR: 4:03:42

CURRENT MARATHON PR: 3:54:20

I PR for the Marathon by 09:22!

And I go sub 4!

Strategy:

Fragment the 26.2 mile course into four six milers and then the final 2.2.  Focus on the 4 six milers.  The first six mile segment plan is to go for 8:30s and then if possible put together a couple 8:00s.  Do not pay attention to mile 1-2.  Take it easy…may be jam packed.  You will get what you get for pace.  Can do pick ups if necessary with little difficulty. 

At Mile 6, overall pace is 8:27. 

Revise Strategy: No longer think in terms of 4 six milers.  Get to Mile 13 and have a little fun doing it.  Each mile split, for Mile 7-13, bring overall pace down by 1 second (at the time, I was thinking a second is not much at all.  I did not know this meant running 8:13s.  I figured that out after the race.)  Don’t overdo the effort.  You’ll still have the second half to contend with.  And you want to avoid the wall. 

Why the change in strategy?: I want to stay focused on each split to stay in the Race.  I believe this will prevent my mind from wandering.  I am able to run Mile 7-13 at average pace of 8:20 (again figure this out after the race) and thus bring overall pace at 13 mile mark to 8:23!

Okay, that was fun.  And I am surprised I did so well.  My immediate focus now will be Mile 14-15 and then Mile 16-18.  For Mile 14-15, go for 8:30s.  I averaged 8:38s.  Mile 16-18…again, try for 8:30s.  I averaged 8:52s. 

I see my pace is getting slower.  I am feeling this Marathon.  I don’t have to tell you what it feels like (the legs, the knees and calves) because you already know.  My focus is now on Mile 19-20.  Simply find your rabbits to pace off of and have the wind shielded.  Worry not about pace.  Simply get to mile 20.  That is the immediate plan – the only plan. Mile 19-20 sees 9:31 pace on average. 

Mile 14-20 sees the miles run at average of 8:59s.  The Half Marathon overall pace is 8:23.  The overall pace at Mile 20 is 8:36.  This is respectable.  Never have I been at Mile 20 and doing this well.  I am running a good Marathon.

This body, these legs…8:30s cannot happen at this point.  Not even 9:00s really.  To attempt 8:30s or 9:00s likely will be disastrous.

Mile 21-26…Strategy (I went into this race with one strategy but I am learning that I continually have to arrive at other strategies for making it through one race!) 

Strategy: Six miles left: Go for 9:30s.  This adds six minutes to an 8:30 pace for the six miles.  That will work out to 15 seconds added on to the overall pace per mile.  I can live with that…overall pace will go from 8:36 at 20 miles mark to 8:51 per mile at 26.2 miles. 

I now have a total of two 3 milers left to run (Again: I cannot think in terms of a six miler).  For the first three miles…go for 9:30 pace (put together 10:10s on average). 

Second 3 miles: Again, go for 9:30s.  I put together 9:38s and did much better than the previous three miles.  Not only did I run the last three miles faster, I also had my HR being higher.  And thus I closed out the Race well. 

The Splits: Pleased with them.

Heart Rate: Indicates I applied myself to running this race. 

Garmin: the Elevation is clearly off.  Miles 1-11 and Mile 13 shows elevation gain of 28 feet.  I am certain those miles had more than 28 feet of elevation.

Mile 12 shows elevation gain of 231 feet.  Garmin reports I ran that 12^th mile split in 8:21.  I do not run miles with 231 feet of vert in 8:21.  I currently do 100 feet of vertical over a mile course in 8:30. 

Hills: I know how to run hills at this point by monitoring breathing and keeping the HR at MP intensity while paying attention to foot turnover.  I don’t even have to look at the watch to know the pace I am running at for the hills.   And throughout the 26.2 miles, there were hills at many points not shown by Garmin data.  My guess would be at least 1,000 feet of elevation.  I managed them well.

I ran this Marathon last year and may check out the elevation from that race. 

The 18 Week Training Regimen Miles:

41, 42, 29, 17, 25, 24, 41, 31, 37, 13, 13, 32, 17, 21, 18, 13, 14, 4.

As can be seen, the last nine weeks are lacking from a Mileage perspective.  I ran 145 miles during the last nine weeks averaging 16 miles per week.  A Nine Week taper versus a two week taper!

So then how the PR?  Not really sure about that…but the up front base, even though 10-18 weeks in the past, I believe had an impact.  And the Half Marathon races in February, March and April as well.  Those three Half Marathons all were hilly courses.  And then the other hill work (“Hills are speed work in disguise.”) that I did during the training runs.  Finally the strategy revisions throughout the Marathon were key component.  What must happen is focus must be maintained!  If I lose focus, I slow down.  I cannot simply go through the motions.  I must be in the race mentally.

Two Friends Visit: One took pictures and waved and said Hello.  Great pics by the way.  The other ran portions of the race with me.  Robin ran Mile 14 – 16.5 and Mile 25 – 25.5 with me.  She offered words of encouragement.  Robin, Thanks for running with me.  It was great running with you during a Marathon.  Robin and I have run many races together.  Robin by the way is the one who started me running.  I ran my first race with Robin. 

The Family: We got to Rhode Island on Saturday.  The race was Sunday.  We returned Monday – thus they get a day off from school.  This is the second time they come to this Marathon (I ran it last year.).

This race result is of major importance.  So much information can be obtained from analyzing this race.  I now have sound plans for improving my running in the future and improving pace.  I am confident that I will PR again this year! I had ideas pre-race on where my future training should go.  This race helps to confirm I am on the right track.