This will be short and sweet because I'm hella tired and sore and I still have some homework I have to do before I can crash in bed.
It was 24F at the start, and never got above 27F. I was bundled up like a freaking eskimo with my sweats and winter coat over my running clothes; my friend took them from me when I lined up in the corrals and brought them back to me at the finish line. My clothing plans worked well-the handwarmers in my gloves and the knit headband over my nose/mouth were essential to my survival. The race would have sucked hardcore without them.
The outside of my right foot hurt for the first 5 miles or so, and then that stopped. My knees started hurting around mile 11 (yay IT bands-at least my hips didn't hurt this time!). Around mile 22 is when the mental game came into play because I was fairly tired by that point. But I pushed through. The 4:45 pacer caught up to me at 25 miles, and from then on I kept her behind me. I raced some random dude for the last .1 miles or so; he thanked me after we crossed the finish line. We both needed that little push to get through to the end. He beat me, btw, but that's cool because I was worried about tripping and so I pulled up a little. It would be my luck to faceplant right at the finish line lol.
I know most people do their fastest goal as their A goal; I do it backwards. My official A goal was sub-5hrs; my super-secret B goal was 4:45. This was my second marathon; my previous PR was 5:36:29. I ran 4:43:02 today. That's a 53 min PR.
I don't actually have a finishing photo; my phone died and I was hungry and cold.
Thank you! I'm already thinking about what my goals should be for the next one (endurance vs time goal). But I'm still high from the run, so I probably shouldn't make any important decisions right now lol.
Did you switch anything from your training for your first full to training for this race?
I started running in Jan 2012, and ran my first marathon in April 2013 (OKC Memorial Marathon). I ran some of my long runs with my bff, and her pace was about 3 mins per mile slower than mine; I don't know if that had an impact. I also weighed about 8-10lbs more than I do now.
I started doing weekly sprints on the treadmill in May; I definitely think that has had an impact on my overall speed. Everyone told me that this marathon is super hilly, so I added hills into the latter half of my longest mid-week run (treadmill). I cut out sprints during the taper though, and didn't do any hills last Tuesday. I think part of the improvement is simply that I've been running a teensy bit longer; some of it is surely stubbornness. The memorial marathon was my 6th race; today's marathon was my 16th race (various distances; this was my 2nd marathon), so knowing what to expect in a race and being a little bit tougher mentally probably helped. I definitely do not expect to have this big of a PR ever again. I was probably more aggressive in training than I should have been-I haven't even been running for 2 years. I paid for it, too: I had shin splint issues for most of the summer, and my IT bands give me some problems if I'm not diligent about foam rolling.
If I pick a time goal over less walking breaks as my goal for the next marathon, I doubt that I'll have anything better than a 10-15 min PR at the most. I really need to take a few weeks off from running and let my body recover. I think that how well I can recover will dictate how my next training plan will go. I'm not the best at taking rest days, but I think I can be disciplined enough now to recover properly.
Post by wanderlustmom on Nov 24, 2013 21:52:35 GMT -5
You did great and look so happy!!!! Really exciting to read. You should be proud of your huge PR and making it through in the cold. I am with you, just ran my first full and I'm a hot mess. Had the thought during my five miler tonight that I'm going to do my next this spring then later thought nah , I'll just stick to halves. Lol! I love to run but my feelings about fulls are all over the place.
Did you switch anything from your training for your first full to training for this race?
I started running in Jan 2012, and ran my first marathon in April 2013 (OKC Memorial Marathon). I ran some of my long runs with my bff, and her pace was about 3 mins per mile slower than mine; I don't know if that had an impact. I also weighed about 8-10lbs more than I do now.
I started doing weekly sprints on the treadmill in May; I definitely think that has had an impact on my overall speed. Everyone told me that this marathon is super hilly, so I added hills into the latter half of my longest mid-week run (treadmill). I cut out sprints during the taper though, and didn't do any hills last Tuesday. I think part of the improvement is simply that I've been running a teensy bit longer; some of it is surely stubbornness. The memorial marathon was my 6th race; today's marathon was my 16th race (various distances; this was my 2nd marathon), so knowing what to expect in a race and being a little bit tougher mentally probably helped. I definitely do not expect to have this big of a PR ever again. I was probably more aggressive in training than I should have been-I haven't even been running for 2 years. I paid for it, too: I had shin splint issues for most of the summer, and my IT bands give me some problems if I'm not diligent about foam rolling.
If I pick a time goal over less walking breaks as my goal for the next marathon, I doubt that I'll have anything better than a 10-15 min PR at the most. I really need to take a few weeks off from running and let my body recover. I think that how well I can recover will dictate how my next training plan will go. I'm not the best at taking rest days, but I think I can be disciplined enough now to recover properly.
Great race recap! Congrats on your PR and running such a strong race. You look cute all bundled up before the race! Did you feel like you were dressed properly for the race?
Great race recap! Congrats on your PR and running such a strong race. You look cute all bundled up before the race! Did you feel like you were dressed properly for the race?
Yes. I took the sweats and jacket off right before I went into the corral. I stood in the corral for probably 20 minutes. I was cold until 2 miles in or so, but after that I was ok. I had planned to ditch the facewarmer thing after a few miles, but needed it for the entire race. I think I would have been very cold without the facewarmer and the handwarmers in my gloves.