NJ marathon 2018

The NJ marathon was my 22^nd marathon, my 4^th marathon this year and my season A race!    

The training

I started training for this race the holiday week 2017 (around Christmas).  I started off with 5 weeks of base building, slowly ramping up my mileage.  I focused a lot on cross training (swimming, bouldering) at this time.  February I added strength training 3x and a core focused bootcamp 1x a week.  Then I had about 5 weeks of race (2 marathons + 1 ultra) where cross training went to zero and strength training to 1-2x a week.  I had about 6 weeks after the Georgia marathon to train solely for NJ and I wanted to focus on speed but I jumped into training too soon and got a strain.  I ignored it at first and continued on but the pain got worse to where it hurt while walking so I went into a 4 week taper (instead of the 2 weeks as I originally planned).  I cut my miles by half and skipped a few key workouts.  I spent a little more time on swimming and got back to strength training 2x a week.  I got to race day with plenty of rest and recovery but not feeling super confident because of the missed workouts.  I usually do short one week taper so two weeks was already a lot for me but 4 weeks!   :/.  The week of the race I ate more salads and greens, two days before I started eating more carbs.

The Day before

After a longer than expected drive (huge traffic different between leaving at 9 am and 10 am!), I made it to the expo with Francis and Neena.  Met Cathy + Nate inside the expo and met Rene on his way out.  I ended up talking to Rene for a while.  I took some notes since he was aiming for 2:50-2:55 marathon =O.  One thing I found important was his reminder to hydrate properly the day before, something with the traveling I was forgetting to do.

The expo was super small…even smaller than Atlanta and I got through it in less than 5 minutes.  No freebees but they had a cool photo print station.  Afterwards we did a shakeout run!  The shakeout run the day before a marathon is something I got from QDR.  I chose to jog on the beach barefoot for 30 minutes; it gave me a chance to enjoy the beach while I was still in the mood.  I was pretty sure that after the marathon the beach would be far from my mind.  I only did 2.5 miles in the thirty minutes but that’s okay, it was never the miles that mattered but time on my feet.  I also thought of the run as form work (as it been getting warmer I been doing a few short runs barefoot on grass as well).  Next was lunch where I got to walk around Long Branch and check the town out briefly before an early dinner on the way back (I drove back to Queens for the night).  I got to check out two vegan spots – Karma café and Vegan tree.

Once at home I found my blue sharpie in my archery bag (backup for initialing arrows) and wrote "This is what you came for" on my arm with an arrow pointing forward.  I wrote this as my mantra, I chose to come here to push myself to the breaking point - I'm here to dig deeper and find the strength to break through it.  It also reminds me that I'm here because I love it.  I focused a lot on the love I have received over the years through running.  From struggling to just jog a mile without stopping 5.5 years to learning what taper is two days before my first marathon to surviving a 100 miler to my PR streaks of today.  It has been a crazy journey and I'm grateful for all the support I have received over the years.  I been last place or near last place in quite a lot of races and I'm finally at a place where I’m getting a lot better (still baby steps).

 

I also prepared a running playlist.  Like the Georgia marathon I was planning to listen to music for miles 10-20.  In Atlanta I had the two songs that the iphone came with and just hated it.  This time I brought jaybird Run true wireless which allows me to play music on one ear (with one ear piece).  I also choose songs that people have recommended to me in the past for running.  I'm not much of a music fan but listening to those songs reminded me of the person who recommended it.  Then my laptop itunes wasn't syncing with my iphone so I had to transfer to dropbox and find an app that could play a playlist off dropbox.  I ended up with 4 hours of sleep.

 

The internal focus the night before gave me the confidence to aim for 3:30.  The week before, I debated what time to aim for.  I felt that 3:40 was a safe bet, 3:35 was mostly likely doable and that 3:30 was a bit crazy.  It adds up to just 12-13 seconds per mile but that add up to a lot over 26.2 miles.

 

Pre race

I arrived at the race parking lot at about 6 am, took maybe 5 minutes to park.  I like coming to the race 90 minutes early if I'm not staying within walking distance to the race.  It took me another 10 minutes to gather my stuff; I almost forgot my running shoes!  I had plenty of time to go to a real bathroom with a small line (waited like 5 minutes), met Jeff and Gabe, take team photos, do a 5 minute shakeout run (a habit I picked up from Julie during the NOLA marathon), take shelter from the rain with more hanging out, eat a waffle cookie and my gel and get close to the start of my corral.  I definitely didn't need any stress of rushing to the start line; the marathon is 100% mental!

 

Miles 1-10

I broke off the race to three sections.  I would stick to the 3:30 pace group for the first 10 miles.  Then I would cruise the next 10 miles with the help of music and then struggle though the real start of the race during the last 10k.  I started the race with Rinchen so we were close to the 3:20 pace group.  I had to back off slightly to allow the 3:30 to catch up.  They ended up passing by too quickly.  I struggled with the pace immediately, it felt more like a half marathon pace but I decided to hang on.  I also started chafing immediately, I'm not sure why but I just ignored it.  I found two Dashing Whippets and a Van Cortlandt runner going at 3:30 so I paced with them till mile 4 where I lost them.  As I approach mile 4 I was ready to eat my first gel but I decided to see if adjusting my shorts would fix the chafing problem which lead to me dropping the gel.  Did not stop to pick it up.  I usually take a gel 15 minutes before, first gel at mile 4 and then gels about every 3 miles till mile 20.  Then I switch over to drinking Gatorade.  This race I also ate a waffle cookie before the race because I felt hungry.  I guess my two bananas with chocolate 3 hours beforehand weren't cutting it.  I was able to keep the 3:30 within sight for this time.  Around mile 9 my feet started feeling sore.  I had decided to wear my minimalist Topo shoes instead of my 800+ miles wore out Brooks’s shoes mostly because the Brooks shoes had holes in them and it was raining.  I knew my feet would get sore but this was a bit early.

 

Mile 10-20

I was struggling at mile 10 but this is where I would use music!  Except that I have no idea how to turn on my earpiece.  At mile 11 I even tried looking it up on my phone but got general directions.  After fumbling for a bit I decided to just put the jaybird in my right ear and I got it to work at mile 12.  I like this setup - being able to listen to music in one ear but with the other ear open I am able to hear everything around me.  Mostly the cheers that spectaculars are giving!  A runner passes gives me a double high five and then runs on (she had quite the energy).  A man says go Queens, best borough to which I cheer at but then he continues and says next to Brooklyn to which I make a face.  My strategy was to get through the struggle of pace was by distracting myself.  I feed off the energy of spectaculars, swung my arms in dancing motions to some of the songs.  I probably was wasting energy but it kept me distracted.  Also around mile 10 Kathryn caught up and we run around each other for 3ish miles and then miles 13-15 together before she passed by.  At mile 15 I almost caught up to the 3:30 pace group too.  At miles 18 and 19 I saw Kathryn and Rinchen at the turnarounds which gave me a boost.  Around mile 20 I saw Francis and Cathy for another boost!  The turnaround was good mentally for this.

 

Miles 20 to 26.2

I lost sight of the 3:30 pace group and at this point I was slowing down.  It didn't feel like the wall, it kind of felt like I mentally faded.  I used mantras and then aimed for the buildings as targets to run strong to and then set another target.  Step by step.  I caught up to Nate who was also going for 3:30, I wish I saw him earlier and got a chance to work together with him towards our goals.  He was struggling at this point.  A team in training coach just started running with him and I guess was going to give him some pep talk.  The coach told me the course is all downhill from here and I joked that's what I been telling myself.  A runner says there is only 4.5 miles at which I dread thinking about.  At around mile 22 I see Kenny which gives a big boost.  The miles here were pretty empty of people so it was a bit rough mentally, the boost from music had long wore out and my midfoot felt like they had been burnt.  At mile 24, feeling the end of the run I started picking it up again.  Also there was more of a crowd which helped.  At 24.8ish, the ground became a smooth broadwalk and I was able to glide through (much to the happiness of my feet).  I run the last mile strong but just 10 feet or so shy from the finish I get a sudden cramp on my right hamstring.  It was so painful that it stopped my run and had me hop over the last few steps.  Not a great finishing pic :/.

 

I struggled to walk with the cramp and volunteers asked if I needed help but I figure I just needed some electrolytes.  The cramp went away and I immediately caught up with Rinchen, Rene, and Kathryn.  They had some awesome finishing times. I got my drop bag and went to the changing tent.  Realized I couldn’t pull my clothes on without holding on to something and then I met Mike.  I met him before in the easy run with Scott Jurek during his book event.  He offered me a seat and we caught up briefly.  Air relax boot massage with Cathy and Nate and lunch with some QDR people to end my NJ marathon experience.

Georgia marathon

The Georgia marathon was my 21^st marathon!  It was my third marathon of 2018, just two weeks after the New Orleans marathon!   It was my hilliest road marathon with 1534 feet of gain (hilliest trail marathon is still the Breakneck Point marathon with 10000 feet of gain).  The course was scenic and the crowds were awesome!  I felt a lot of love throughout the course and I’ll remember it as one my favorite races.

Recovery

Important to this race was to recover from the New Orleans marathon two weeks before.  I took two days off and then ended up running almost 12 miles which was too much.  So I took another two days off.  I hiked the Saturday and did one strength training session with a few boulder sessions.  Kept myself active but didn’t run too much.  I only did 17 miles that recovery week.  The week of the race the focus were on a medium slow run (7 miles) to regain some aerobic fitness on Tuesday and a track workout to practice running fast under some stress (2x2 miles after running 4 200s and then 2x400) on Thursday.  Special thanks to Kelvin for leading that workout and the rest of the queens distance runners for the company! 

Shakeout! – Day before race

I wanted to start my weekend in Georgia off with a sunrise from a mountain.  Found out that many state park s open at 7 am so had to go to a national forest.  In my search I found that Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the AT trail was only two hours away.  Despite it being cloudy and zero chance of sunrise I decided to drive up and do a morning trail run up and down the mountain.  Springer Mountain doesn’t have the best view either but it was more of a symbolic trip.  Shortest route is 2 miles and longest is about 10 miles and I found one that was 4 miles.  Perfect for a shakeout run!

After shakeout, it was a 2 hour drive back to eat lunch at Udipi Café in Duluth (NE of Atlanta) for some south Indian food.  Then to the expo center at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.  It was a tiny expo which made packet pickup quick.  Then the aquarium, 50% off with a promo code from the virtual goodie bag of the race.  The aquarium was similar to the NASA museum in Houston where they are focusing more on experiences rather than simply showing items.  I wanted to do dinner at Herban Fix but there was a 40 minute wait so dinner at mellow mushrooms.  I ended up eating a 14” pizza slice which was a fairly heavy dinner; something I don’t normally do (underestimated how big the pizza was).  Afterwards I did a scout of the starting/finishing area.

Race morning!

Six hours of sleep, a cliff bar mint chocolate bar that had some caffeine in it and a banana to get me to the starting line.  It took longer than I thought to get ready and I got in a 3 minute warmup jog instead of 5 minutes before heading to my corral.  I moved myself a little behind 3:45 pace group.  I planned to run with them for as long as I could.

The entire race is pretty much either uphill or downhill.  I know people always seek flat courses but I find hills to be mentally easier.  For the uphill I breathe in my nose and out my mouth and then was the downhill I breathe in and out my nose and focus on relaxing my breathing a bit.  You could always see the top of the hill on roads so while uphills are slowing you down you know you only have to stick at it for 2-3 minutes and then you got a nice downhill to enjoy.  The course is fairly scenic, a lot of beautiful green even in March!  The temperature started at 55 and climbed to 66 but it was fairly cloudy so I felt like it was near perfect.  I was afraid of getting hot so I sipped half a cup of water and threw the rest on my head at every water station.  There is also a half marathon and the course felt pretty crowded for the first 7 miles where the half marathoners split off.  They did do a good job separating the two races in the end though (otherwise I would have bumped into the walkers of the half near the end).  The course is also not completely closed to traffic and I saw one or two instances where a runner had to stop because a car was going through.  There was also food on the course!  I ate three half oranges and a half of a banana.  Fruit always feels better than gels.  They also had pretzels at one station and the volunteers were singing a rhyme for them (which I found cute) but I didn’t take any.  I used my usual gel strategy of one gel pre-race and then one at mile 4, afterwards one every 3 miles till mile 19.

I found parking within a 5 minute walk to the finish and about 10 minutes to the start line fairly easy (even with my truck).  A 7 am start in March after daylight savings starts means that you start the marathon in the dark but you get a glimpse of sunrise!  I was in corral B which went off 3-4 minutes after corral A.  I immediately lost the 3:45 group getting to the start line; I should have positioned myself right behind them.  I tried to go in with the same mentality as New Orleans where I wouldn’t look at my watch but I found myself looking at my pace most miles.  I didn’t do any calculations about end time or total pace; I guess I was just curious if I was keeping up. 

1-7

The start of the race felt pretty crowded.  That’s usually normal but I found myself weaving through more often than I’m use to.  The course starts of at a slight downhill with a few bumps for 3ish miles and then a short hill.  Mile 4 goes through historic MLK site. 

7 – 16

After mile 7 the course really cleared up with the half marathoners gone.  I could now see the 3:45 pace group ahead of me, maybe .2 miles ahead.  I would have loved to do a surge to catch up but too risky.  There were a lot of people here cheering.  A volunteer or member of the Atlanta track club rode by several times and gave tips multiple times.  It really helped out.  Mile 15 I particularly remember feeling a lot of love from the crowds.  Going through Decatur there were signs giving messages in sequence order.  Like a poem and “keep going” which kept me pretty entertained.    

Miles 16 to 22

Hit the druid hills and there was a lot of uphills with the steepest uphills being around mile 20.  I originally planned to try something I haven’t tried since my second marathon, listen to music!  I was going to put headphones at mile 12 but I felt so good that I finally decided to put them on at mile 16.  I hated it and by mile 20 I took them off.  I was still feeling great at this point but I was slowing down (and I knew it).  I saw the 3:45 pace group at mile 24 at a short out and back, about 3 minutes ahead of me.

Miles 22 to 26.2

Now back closer to downtown.  As my feet started hurting I started to struggle on the uphills around mile 23.  At mile 25 a marathon manic started talking to me.  It was her 31^st marathon and she was trying to do under 4 hours for all 50 states.  We talked a bit about 50 states and then she told me I had a bit more of a go.  With that I sped up a bit to the finish.  I kind of needed someone to tell me I still have a bit more go left.

There was much afterwards after the finish line besides your standard banana, pretzels and granola bars but I enjoyed the journey!