Rock and Roll Marathon New Orleans 2014 - Chris Oubre
Rock and Roll Marathon New Orleans 2014
My first marathon. Time 4:03:09
Let me start with a little background on myself. I’m 35 and started triathlon about 2 years ago. I decided I’d like to put a marathon on my resume so I signed up for a race early in my 2014 season. I joined EN three weeks before the race. Due to IT band issues I wasn’t able to use the EN training plan.
Coach Patrick pointed me to a pacing strategy for the race. Based on my vDot - 2.5, it should have been possible for me to lay down an 8:02 pace; however, none of my long runs approached that pace. When I reviewed my long runs, I realized that I averaged around 8:50 – 9:10. For some reason I choose to use 8:30 as my goal pace. That did not work. On to the race:
Beginning the race
To avoid parking issues, my family dropped me off about 3 blocks from the start. They would wait for me at mile 9 in the French Quarter. This timing worked out well for the family as they were able to enjoy beignets from Café Du’Monde while waiting. I sat down to wait and discovered my first mistake of the day. I’d left my gel flask in the car! I called my wife and due to fog she was unable to get back to me. I knew I wouldn’t finish this race without food so I had to change my plans.
I had a gel that I was planning to take just before the race. The start area was well organized and had a fruit station! I hadn’t run on a pre-run banana but I was going to give it a try so I could save my one and only gel for later. I called my wife and had her bring the gel flask with here to mile 9. The course map indicated there would be a GU station at mile 8.
Nutrition plan under control, I went off to warm up and stretch my IT band. My two friends racing with me planned to shoot out of the coral and slow down as they got tiered. I told them I would use a different approach and that I’d meet them on the course.
The Race
Miles 0-6
There was a great atmosphere, lots of music. When I started my plan was to stick to an 8:45 pace. I was taking it easy but my watch was telling me that I was flying at a 7:00 pace. I reset my watch because I just didn’t believe it. I tried to slow down but never added walking. My first mile was completed at a 7:53 pace. After that I settled into a rhythm running anywhere from 8:50 – 9:23 miles. My watch was all over the place with my instantaneous pace. I hadn’t spent enough time “memorizing” what an 8:45 pace felt like. At the end of 6 miles my average was right at 8:48 / mile. My IT band told me it was there around mile 4 but didn’t stop me. I watered/Gatoraded myself at every aid station, topping off my bottle that I carried. I ran though each aid station. There were lots of live bands and whole cheerleading squads.
Miles 6-13
At mile 6 I took my gel and a quick bathroom stop. I started the long segment with an expectation that I would run an 8:25 pace. My IT band grew stiff while I waited to use the port-a-potty but it loosened up and I was off. At mile 8 I loaded up on GU. At mile 9 I got my gel flask, kissed the family and was off. Though I tried before the race, I hadn’t been able to use the restroom. Well just after I left my family, my bowels demanded that I stop and … well you know. After that life was great. My pace fluctuated a lot but I was averaging around 8:30 / mile. At this point I knew I’d been overly optimistic in my goal. I decided not to try and “make something happen” so I was content with 8:30. I planned to take an Excedrin at mile 10 but I’d dropped it at mile 6 when I took my gel. There was a long segment with lots and lots of rocking music. I really enjoyed that part.
Miles 14-19
At this point I began to fade. My pace slipped to average around 8:50. By the time I got to mile 18 my pace was down to 9:18. Mentally I was fine; I just wasn’t going to make something happen at this point. At mile 17 my quads starting acting up and my stomach felt like it was sloshing around. I decided that I would take a 500mg salt pill and hope for the best. It worked and I pulled on through.
Miles 20-25
Here it where I hit the wall. Both of my quads were flaring up and even my back started to spasm. No complaints from my IT band though. I took another salt pill somewhere in here. At this point I had to make a decision: give up on my goal of a sub-4 hour marathon and start walking or find the dark place within and push. I decided that the first 20 miles were just the set up. Here was the race. So I reached it and pushed. I only walked once to get up an overpass. After that I never stopped. I ran through every aid station. I’d used Siri to communicate with my wife and she called in the cavalry. I received text after text from my friends and family. I was too tired and focused to ask Siri to read them to me, but I knew they were coming in. I wanted to stop, but I wanted to race more. I passed one of my friends at mile 21.
Mile 26.2
Here I asked Siri to read all of the messages. That was a phenomenal mental boost! Because I’d reset my watch, I didn’t know my exact time, but I knew I was close to 4. I pushed and pushed. I saw my other friend ahead and made him my goal. I never caught him but my last third of a mile was at an 8:28 pace. Finish time 4:03:09
Post Mortem
- Listen to your long races. Don’t expect to just “run faster” because it’s a race. If I had set my goal pace at 8:50 I bet I would have gone sub 4.
- If I'm going to be dropped off, I will get into the car fully loaded. I’d made a check list and had everything in the car, just not where it needed to be.
- Thank goodness I had salt pills. Never race without them.
- Plan for trouble. What if you lose your food? What will you do? What if you drop your water bottle or it breaks?
Comments
I couldn't agree more regarding getting really dialed into your pace during training and not thinking that you'll be able to run faster than your training would suggest. In shorter distances that might be possible but in a really long distance your body will for sure catch up to you. That's not to suggest you can't run a marathon at faster than your long-run pace (hence MP and EP/LRP are different!!), but rather that your paces during training shoud be purposeful and imply a race pace that you can hit, and that in turn is used to set your goals.
One other thought is that it sounds like you have some issues with pain, e.g. IT band etc. I highly suggest spending a LOT of time at this point in the season recovering that before you get into higher-volume in-season training for your races. Time spent now getting proper treatment gives you a fighting chance of completing more of your workouts, with greater consistency of course less pain. All that will add up to having a better chance of realizing your goals on race day.
I enjoyed the read. Thanks for putting it together.