Hopefully you won’t find me horribly jaded and cynical when I say that during the RnR marathon… I was bored. It’s not really the race’s fault. Boredom was my race plan – 18 miles of it. Make it through 18 as-relaxed-as-possible, running-within-myself, boring miles, and then tighten the screws as best I could.
Things didn’t get off to a great start. First, the race was delayed 25 min as there was a problem with the light rail getting other runners to the start (and then making sure we wouldn’t get cut off by subsequent trains). That actually meant I was able to make an additional, needed bathroom run, but it’s safe to say that we runners would have voted to start the race without the people on the remaining trains. Then the race started… and my Garmin was going bananas. It jumped from 8 min shuffling across the line to 5:45 pace and I knew I wasn’t getting useful data, as this occasionally happens at the beginning of runs where there wasn’t a great satellite pickup. I assumed that in the absence of data I would be going too fast, so I forced myself to let lots of people pass me. I was able to hit lap to realign my watch at the mile marker and yup, a hair under 7 min, in the danger zone. I was still a little rattled as to whether I was pacing correctly, but ultimately for the first few miles I just waited and let people run on by ahead of me.
The first part of the course is indeed pretty boring so I did appreciate the signs and bands here. I would have liked a little more current music, but the highlight was at mile 4 because they were playing a Dave Edmunds song (“The Promised Land”)… Dave Edmunds is 70s era guitarist whose style is a throwback to 50s rockabilly. My dad always played his stuff, so I might be the only person under 30 who got a thrill out of hearing that. Also, a lot of cheer teams were out, and those kids did a really good job- I definitely remember wild animal and disco themes.
Anyway, I stayed around 7:10 per mile for a long time. I had to pee AGAIN and ducked into a portapotty during mile 9. It ate up about 30 seconds, or most of the cushion I had accumulated, but I figured I could still get it right back if I kept on with 7:10s or so. I got a little worried since mile 11 was a gradual uphill into the wind at 7:22, but 12 was down and away with 6:58, the quickest legit split of the day.
I hit the half in just over 1:34 and this was where I got a little nervous… I mean, my plan was to go 1:34/1:35 and I was still relaxed… but really? was I arrogant to think that I could do that again? The second time I got nervous was around 17 when I had a split second low sugar feeling, but it was OK. Honestly the one thing that kept me engaged was that I was finally starting to pass a couple women.
Sure enough, though, I got to 18 still pretty bored. But with 8 miles to go and about a minute and a half cushion, I wasn’t ready to hammer and wasn’t sure if I would be. At 20 I was holding steady with 2:23 and change but was starting to feel the fatigue creeping up in my legs. The fade hit at 22 and I went from 7:15s to 7:25-7:29. We had to go over an overpass at 23- not even a hill but it felt like crawling- and I briefly thought that 3:10:xx would be OK, if it came to that. And then I got angry at myself. I still don’t know whether it would have been OK.
In the end, I knew that I had the cushion and that 7:2X would get me there. While it definitely became harder, I didn’t try to go harder until with about 1.5 miles to go, when I decided that I really wanted to pass the woman in front of me. I got down to about 7:15 again for the final mile. I was nervous about miscalculating the distance and missing 3:10 until the very last turn to the final straightaway. I saw the numbers creeping up to and over 3:09 and as I crossed the line I felt… relief. Happiness, yes, but mostly relief. It has been 6.5 months since I started running again with this goal in mind and I’m glad that I don’t have to fight with my brain to believe in it now.
My final (chip) time, 3:08:58, 14th woman (highest marathon placing ever! the fasties were in Houston.)
Some more reflection: about a year ago, I told another coach I was considering working with that, you know, maybe I’m maxed out at 5K-10K, but I wanted to get my marathon time down in line with my other PRs. Well… I didn’t do that. I brought everything else down and dragged the marathon PR kicking and screaming along with it. Because of that, I’m fired up and I know I have more in me (darn you, bathroom break!)… but I’m going to resist gunning for 3 h (seriously guys, I’m not exactly close yet- and have we discussed my injury history?), 3:05, or even 3:07 anytime soon. Right now, in my slight post-goal-race letdown mode, I’m doubting how much upside I have given the moderate mileage, but I’ve clearly been wrong before. For now, I have some lingering knee pain to address, I miss swimming and riding my bike, and running that 5:38 in practice has me chomping at the bit for some speedy stuff. The RnR necessitates a little R&R, then… big things.
Anyhow, too long, but thanks for reading and for the support, it’s a constant reminder of just how lucky I am to be able to run and race.
me with cousins Aubs & Mal, plus Mal's husband Ryan (they all ran the half!)
Awesome job, Kristin. There is much to be said about executing your plan (and choosing your race timing – heck yeah to a diminished field!). Despite having the potential to go sub-3 (and let’s be honest, right – that’s the eventual goal…), 3:08 is a darn respectable time. Well done.
Wow – great job with the race, Kristin! I’m really impressed! You are an inspiration for me
Congratulations, girl! You definitely have more of that in store, just a matter of time till the next one whittles the PR further.
wow, great execution! I know you were bored, but sometimes I think perfectly (or near-perfectly) executed distance races are boring. it’s when you start barfing and cramping that it gets exciting and I’m glad none of that happened to you. congrats!
Congratulations! So if I read this right (I am sleep deprived due to small baby, hence the “if”) this is a PR? Awesome. You are so fast.
The marathoner Camille Herron just posted a race report on her Olympic Trials marathon which very much reminds me of your report here, in terms of running within herself and feeling comfortable yet still getting a PR
http://camilleherron.com/2012/01/17/post-olympic-trials-review/
Oh my goodness, to clarify, that asinine 60mpw comment was most certainly NOT directed toward you (you of the seven zillion additional swimming/biking miles, extremely specified/thoughtful workouts, and inspiring approach to running, racing, and competition). If anything, your case is even more impressive to me because you’ve figured out a way under 3:10 while intelligently respecting a stress fracture-prone situation.
And good GOD marathons are boring! I laughed out loud to read that here. It’s all that kept running through my head between, say, mile 8 and 19 (“I AM SO DAMN BORED. ONLY 10Ks FROM NOW ON.”) Except now, four days out, I am wistful, let down, in absolute disbelief that it’s already over, and wish I were back on the course experiencing it all again.
In any case, what a fantastic run, and big congratulations! I love following your training and racing.
boredom = that’s the biggest reason why I have never tried to do a really small half or marathon! Part of me thinks it would be really cool, like maybe I could lead, but then mostly I think if I didn’t see anyone else out there for a while I would possibly space out and forget it was a race. I know you do a lot of smaller races, so do you think that’s part of it, or just the marathon in general?
Dave Edmunds ROCKS!!