Don't Call It A Comeback
THE UNABRIDGED VERSION
WARNING: This is a long, self-absorbed, potentially boring post. Oh wait that is true for 90% of the content of all the posts on this blog. So just add the word "very" to all the adjectives in that first sentence. Read this only if you are VERY VERY interested in how my marathon went.
As I wrote a year ago, my Grandma's 2006 experience was remarkable not so much for the race itself, but for what happended afterwards. I had to run four miles in the rain, less than 18 hours after finishing the marathon.
Well, this year's marathon didn't have any of that zaniness. I did, however, run my fastest marathon ever, which is much more exciting for me than any post-race shenanigans. About two months ago I was training with the intent of running a sub-2:50 at Grandma's.
Well, I ended up running a 2:57:53. So how can I be so content if I missed my original goal time by almost eight minutes? Well read on.
At the end of April I ran in the
Drake Relays Half-Marathon in Iowa. At that race, I didn't really push myself until the last three miles,
just as my friend Kirk suggested I do. So I was pretty fired up to run a sub 1:21 half-marathon without trying too hard. This race basically suggested I was right at 2:50 marathon shape. Things were looking good. I still had a month to train hard and I hadn't even gone for my first 20+ mile training run.
But there was this minor detail to the half-marathon in Iowa. I got tripped up at the start and fell. I reallly didn't think much of it until a few days later when I went for a long run. Halfway through the run, my right hamstring started spasming like crazy, a real painful kind of crazy. A trip to the doctor confirmed what I already knew: I had pulled my hamstring. But I hadn't put together (which he did) was that I pulled the hamstring by trying to break my fall at the Drake Relays and then getting up and running 13.1 miles at a 6:10 pace.
So the month of May was dedicated to resting and recovering. I lost a lot of confidence and my legs have felt out of sorts ever since. As a result, changed my goals and approach to the race.
Here were the three rules I made for myself going into the marathon:
Step 1. Make it to the half-way point in the marathon somewhere between 1:29 and 1:30.
Step 2. And at that point I would assess how I felt. If I felt okay, the least I could do is push myself to a sub 2:58, which would be my personal record (PR).
Main Goal: Run a negative split (which means running the last 13.1 miles faster than the first 13.1).
Let's see how I did...
Step 1: I reached the half-way point in 1:29:47
Step 2: My final time was, as I mentioned, 2:57:53
Main Goal: I ran the first 13.1 miles in 1:29:47, which means, my Texas math tells me, I ran the second 13.1 miles in 1:28:06.
Good job me!
So I am basically writing this post to brag about myself. I am not here to brag about how fast I went. Cripes. I got 174th freaking place. What I am proud of, however, is how I was able to set and reach realistic goals for myself. This race was a big deal for me.
First, I have always been able to this for any distance from 1500 to 8000 meters. However, this is the first time I nailed my goals for a marathon.
Secondly, my legs never felt right during the weeks leading up to Grandma's. And they didn't really feel loose during the marathon either. So I really had to grind this one out. My confidence and training were both compromised by my injury. So to PR under these circumstances is rewarding.
Lastly, I have a history with marathon training to set lofty goals, which is fine. But this is the first time I adapted and adjusted them to how I was feeling. In the past I would have stubbornly stuck to my original goals. The results when that has happened have not been pretty.
So my present goal is to see if I can do anything to get my legs back to feeling good again. Then I'll see what I can do at this fall's Twin Cities Ten Miler. Seems realistic to me.
