Race information

• What? Grandma's Marathon
• When? June 16, 2018
• Where? Duluth, MN
• Website: https://grandmasmarathon.com/
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1642361114

Goals

Background and Training

I've been training for this race since racing a 50 miler in February. I cobbled together my own plan, averaging 73mph, loosely based on Pfitz, but with mostly tempos as workouts and very limited intervals since that balance seems to be working for me. A lot of easy doubles, midweek mid-longs, and marathon pace a little more frequently than Pfitz prescribes, because it's something I wanted to work on. In hindsight, I should have done a few more 18 mi long runs, I feel like I was lacking.

I raced the Sugarloaf 15K with a bunch of the crew here, and even with a pit stop in the woods to take care of some things, still managed a 53:xx to place 4th, so I knew I was in the best shape of my life. The only time I faltered this cycle was at the end of peak week, I bailed 16mi into a 23mi run because I just wasn't feeling it, burnt out maybe. I definitely didn't think about the doom that failed long run predicted for the next 3 weeks. Definitely not.

My marathon times have never matched up with my half times. [Half x 2 10'] works really well for most people, but for me it's usually 15. So even though I felt in good shape, like I could've run a 1:15 half if I tried, 2:45 seemed way too fast. 2:47 might be within reach. Which would still be an 8 minute PR. So the plan was 6:20-6:23/mi.

Gear

Poodle Boyz TC singlet, ARTC trucker hat, Nike Zoom Elite's

Pre-Race

Avoided all the FODMAPs the day before. Except one beer. Surly Furious, worth it.

Minnesota weather is stupid. The 24 hour forecast said 58 and cloudy. The 12 hour forecast said 64 and thunderstorms. The 8 hour forecast said 60, possible rain, and sunny. And we showed up and it was cloudy and 50.

I made it to the line about 2 minutes from the gun due to some portapotty mistimings. Sized up people around me, and ended up lining up perfectly - by the end of the first mile I was right behind a group of about 20 women going for OTQ. I knew they were going faster than me, so I tailed them a little bit, resolving to keep them in sight.

Miles 1 - 10

The beginning of the race is downhill, so even though I was running a bit fast, I wasn't concerned yet. At some point I started running near a dude from Mill City Running. I never got his name or even said more than a handful of words to him, but we were near each other for the whole race.

At mile 6 I started my gel plan - half a gel every two miles for the rest of the race. Of course the water stations were at the odd mile markers and I was taking gels at evens, but Hammer is light on the stomach and I'd taken them without water during training.

Keep the women in view and just keep cruising.

[6:15, 6:18, 6:16, 6:21, 6:17, 6:21, 6:22, 6:19, 6:20, 6:20, 6:28, 6:26]

Miles 13-18

At mile 13 I did a systems check. This is something I've been doing since Philly a few years ago when I realized at the half, I was already burning out. During my two successful marathons (Grand Rapids, Chicago), I felt strong at the half and had consciously reminded myself not to speed up. At some unsuccessful ones (Philly, Boston) I was already feeling weak. Here, I felt weak. Damnit. I reigned back the pace, and it seemed like some others did with me, since I was still running around the same crew for a while. I could no longer see the OTQs.

At mile 14.3 I thought, "coming up on 15, that's almost 16, then only 10 miles to go! That's just a 15K! Okay, I might be able to hold for a 15K." (Race brain is stupid).

At 18 I felt danger. Legs and energy felt identical to how an approaching wall has felt in the past. To try and prevent the glycogen burnout, I took some gel early at mile 19, and hoped I could just hang on. I knew I was in trouble. I was hoping I could hold off the wall as long as possible. But I was 18 miles in, I'd made my bed, all I could do was lie in it.

it's supposed to hurt

[6:24, 6:19, 6:22, 6:20, 6:23]

Miles 19-26.2

I was running with Mill City, we silently worked together for a few miles, taking turns taking the lead, one of us would pull ahead 10-20 feet, the other would catch up. We started picking off the women who dropped from the OTQ pack. I was burnt out, I was already pumping my arms to keep pace, telling my legs to just move one in front of the other. I couldn't sustain this for 7 more miles.

My form was off, my IT bands were on fire, because it was many more hills than I imagined this course to be, the back of my left knee gave out once or twice. Lean forward, tight core, knees driving. Consciously instructing myself to try and keep some semblance of good form to save the little energy I had left.

But then it was only 6, 5, 4 miles left, and we were still moving. Faster. Hanging on to Mill City, and he dropped a 6:09 mile 21. A girl in front of us wobbled left, right, then left and threw up right as we passed her. A guy grabbed his hamstring and hobbled off the course. But we were still moving.

sometimes we get to win

With 3 miles left, I said screw it. When the wall comes, it comes, and I'll deal with it then. I opened up my stride and sped up. I stopped looking at my watch completely, and set my sights on one person at a time I wanted to pass.

I lost Mill City somewhere behind me. I was not feeling strong, at all, but kept speeding up. Around Mile 25 as I was approaching a few women, I took one last look at my watch to see if they had enough time to make OTQ, and tried to get a couple of them to come with me, but no one did. Hoping they made it.

And then, the finish was in sight. The wall hadn't shown up. Threw on the afterburners and crossed, a group of women cheering me in. Wait, no, they were probably cheering for a woman behind me. I remember almost bowling them over though, they were not making it easy to cross, but that's probably race brain. It wasn't that close a call. Right? Right? ).

[6:10, 6:17, 6:09, 6:15, 6:13, 6:01, 6:00, 5:55]

2:44:34

Post-Race

Less than a year ago, I said one of my lifetime goals was to hit a women's OTQ. I dunno what that means. I need to set better goals?

70mpw turned out to be key, plus the realization that I need to have 5 gels during a marathon. It's a lot, but I'm positive that's what kept the mental wall from becoming a physical one.

Overall, my pacing looks stupid, I know, but I'm actually pretty happy with how I paced it. I went by feel, I wasn't too aggressive, and being able to pass people at the end is a huge mental boon. It maybe indicates I could've gone a little faster, I suppose, but an 11 minute PR is good enough for me.

What's Next

:shrug:

Sometime this summer, I need a real 10K time. I also kind of want to go after my lifetime mile PR, 4:52, which seems in reach. There's a half this fall I want to do up in Canada, maybe running CIM in December. But really, I don't know. Just happy with where I am for the moment.