Vancouver USA Marathon Race Report
Vancouver USA Marathon- Race Report
Pre-race:
I started training for this race 10 weeks prior to race day using the Hanson Running Method. This plan had me running 50-70 miles per week. Hanson feels that a long run of 16 miles is enough when built onto a week of longer runs. I added an 18, 20, 18 mile long run prior to the taper. I ran two test races (half marathons) 8 and 4 weeks out as a replacement for that week’s long run, practicing marathon race pace for the first one and slightly faster than race pace for the second one. All my long runs were run at 20-30 seconds slower than race pace. I was supposed to go 45-60 seconds slower but just couldn’t seem to bring myself to that pace. This pace at long runs generally affected my midweek tempo runs (Mon & Wed). In the coming training block I will watch those paces closer. I tapered for 3 weeks, lowering my weekly miles the first week to 54 miles from 68 the previous week. Doing all the same workouts but with less duration. The second week was 38 miles and the last week was 22 miles with my last run on Thursday. Over the course of the training block leading up to the race I had developed a weight loss program that was working very well and had lost 12 lbs of weight that had eluded me for 3 years. A combination of increased running volume and intensity and very clean eating while watching my calories was a winning combination that allowed me to race at 10 lbs lighter than I had ever raced. The last week of the taper I started to carb load with pasta, rice and lean meats and fruits. Due to the increased carb consumption I gained 1-2 lbs but knew that these would be valuable lbs on race day. The day before the race we had a big breakfast with lots of carbs, a late lunch and finished up the day with a movie and some frozen yogurt. Early to bed for a 7:00 am start.
Race Day:
Got a great night sleep and woke up 2 hours before race time. Ate my usual Greek yogurt and showered and got ready to head to the race start. I always like to warm up for 15 minutes of easy running before the start, but today the warm up didn’t feel great. My legs had some unexpected aches and pains and couldn’t get into the groove. Back at the starting area, I took two Gu’s for my initial nutrition. Through my long runs, I had determined that a Gu every 4 miles was the best strategy for me and water at every water stop. I had 2 packages of Clif Bloks and 2 Vanilla Gu’s. What I didn’t expect is the weight and the bouncing around of all that packaging in my back pocket of my EN Race top. Positioning my race belt over the top of the pocket helped to hold it down and prevent the bouncing.
Race:
The gun went off and I quickly settled into my warm-up pace of 7:40 (+/- 7 seconds) The stiffness in my legs during the warm-up was still there for first 3 miles, but after that started to dissipate. I held my warm-up pace for the first 5 miles, letting the 3:15 pacer get further and further away from me. I knew that I wanted to “hunt” him down between the 6th mile and the 16th mile. My plan was to catch him before we got back into town to start the east loop of the course. The first 14 miles are away from town and the crowds, it winds through pastures and next to the river. It was quiet but relatively flat until the 14th mile where we climbed back up into town. At mile 15 I had caught the 3:15 pacer and ran with that group for approx. 1 mile. As we ran through town and the crowds started to grow, my mojo pushed me past that group and I was again by myself. I saw my family and that was enough to push a little harder, always keeping an eye on my pace and never getting too far in front of my needed average of 7:20/mile. At mile 19 is the ”Hill” it climbs about 200 feet in a little under a mile, which isn’t too bad except for the fact that you hit it at the 20 mile marker, much like Heartbreak Hill at Boston. Over the top of the hill and it was a very steep decent which again is tough on tired quads. At the bottom of the hill we met up with the flat trails next to the river and the final stretch. From my memory of the map I thought the hardest part of the race was done, but at mile 25 there was another hill, an overpass actually, but it seems to climb forever! After that, another climb back up to the finish area. These were not huge hills but on sore tired legs they were monumental. I was able to keep my pace at the expected 7:20 throughout all these challenges and knew that my goals were going to be realized at mile 26 and I was at 3:12:xx. I crossed the finish line at 3:13:15 (11:45 faster than BQ) Nutrition was perfect, pace was held the entire time, and had no injuries. It was a great day and a great accomplishment.
NextUp:
Portland Marathon in 3:09:XX
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