Oct 23
2009

I asked what’s my marathon goal:

I have no clue what I can really go for as far as a Marathon time goes.

Stats:

  • 3 months of 260+ mile months
  • 20:52 5k PR in September in warm (humid and 79) conditions.
  • Very manageable 58:46 8-mile tempo (10-miles total in 1:17:46) yesterday
  • Marathon on November 7 in Indianapolis.

My only hesitation is that I really didn’t have many recent longer medium/hard workouts (beyond 2-3 miles of faster running) until yesterday.
I assume that in the right conditions, 3:39 is too soft a target.  I was thinking to stretch for 3:30, but now I’m looking at what I’ve accomplished and started thinking that *not stretching* for something faster would be a complete waste of my training.

Any thoughts?

My favorite response:

Does it really matter? I’m not being a wiseass, seriously, does having a bunch of yahoos on the internet try to narrow the target really make people feel better?

I think if you’re actually well trained then you probably have a really solid idea what you’re capable of–within a small range. But even if you don’t…you’re going to run what you’re capable of as long as you don’t do anything stupid like stick to a preconcieved pacing plan that takes you out too fast even though your body is telling you it’s too fast (or at least it would be if you’d listen to it instead of staring at your pace pracelet and garmin.)

Do this: when the race starts, go out at a pace you feel like is about the fastest you can maintain for 26.2 miles or so. Take constant inventory of your body and your surroundings. At the end you sould expect it to get quite hard. When this happens, just go like hell until someone wraps you in mylar.

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Mar 30
2009

A RunningAHEAD discussion on factors in not hitting the wall.

My personal experience:  I ran a 3:39 marathon at Flying Pig last year.  I had a first marathon (OBX) under my belt, and raced a half marathon 3 weeks later for a PR.  Then, for the next 4 months, I built up mileage by 2 miles per week, peaking at 60, then dropping back as necessary for the Louisville Triple Crown (5k, 10k, and 10 miler).  I also ran the Louisville half marathon (Kentucky Derby Festival mini/Marathon) for a PR the week before Flying Pig.

I was in a car for about 2 hours the day before the Flying Pig, and ate poorly (mexican and pub grub) the night before.  Of course, I know someone who PRed by 15 minutes and BQed on Cracker Barrel.  The main nutrition change was pacing of calorie intake during the race.  I took a gel every 5 miles, versus 6 miles for training.  I also made a point to get some Gatorade at every oppotunity, versus water alone during training.

Of course, the one downside is that gels and gatorade are nasty together, especially when you mouth is somewhat dry from running.  I didn’t take them simultaneously (grabbed water at the stops as well), but the effect is pretty close.  I’m also guessing that there were way too many salts in the gels and Gatorade, although I never go for Gatorade with extra sodium content.

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Jan 10
2009

26.47 - Flying Pig '08

Flying Pig '08 was + 1/4 mile

How long was your marathon?  It’s a question that annoys the slightly-less-than-novice marathoner.  There’s an air of offense that comes in response to the question:  “How dare you not know how far I ran?  It’s a marathon.  Worship me.”

But there’s not that much that is special about finishing a marathon, because in reality, many marathons have a 14 1/2 minute- to 17 minute- mile cutoff for finishing–often easily within a walkers’ ability.

I’m almost to the point where I would rather just be left alone to train and run my marathon in peace than answer questions about my running.   I still want acknowledgment of my accomplishments, but I don’t want to answer the same question over and over, nor do I want to hear admonitions about my knees.

All this being said, I find it a little annoying that someone would attempt to make money off of participants in a sport without knowing enough to represent the official distance.  (A half-marathon is 13.1 miles, not 13.3.)  But that’s not a running thing–that’s a ignorant profiteering thing.

The story behind the image in my post?  The 2008 Flying Pig Marathon was diverted at around mile 22 due to a large structure fire along the course, adding an extra 1/4 mile.  It’s still my best marathon time by 50 minutes, out of 4 marathons in the last 14 months.

There *have* been badly measured marathon routes, up to a mile too long (Lakeshore Marathon).

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