David Walters' Maratona di Roma 2015 Race Report
In the spirit of the cycling spring classics, I present you my Roma Marathon race report in stages.
Net/Net - no time goals. Used this to increase run durability. Came away with a negative split. My second half was almost 9 minutes faster than my first half; my last three miles averaged 7:14. Had an incredible time running through the streets of Roma. We started and finished with the colosseo in the back ground. Had a smile on my face the whole race.
Prologue (TT day):
I've never run a stand alone marathon. I had no time goals associated with this race. My last serious race was IMWI 2013. I did a lot of fun things with my fitness in 2014. I do not consider running to be fun with my fitness! So safe to say I did not run a lot in 2014. In addition, I relocated to the Sandbox in 2014 as well. With this being said, I had the following goals with this race.
Goals:
- Transition/align my triathlon season to match that of the Middle East (Sept - March)
- Improve run durability through increased run frequency
- Develop a running base ready for my 2015 OS beginning 6 April (haven't really been running at all)
Results:
- I nailed my season transition
- I improved my run durability to levels I have not seen in a decade,
- I established a solid base I have lacked at the beginning of the season.
*****
Stage 1 (a rolling ride with many fat hills):
In college I was always the short heavy runnier. I perform best in distance running @/around 71 KGs. My training weight is @/about 73.5 KGs. Wanted to use this training as a way to get closer to my training weight.....
Goal
- Be around 73 KGs on race day
Result
- Epic fail. I was north of 78 KGs on race day - PRIOR to my epic Roma Carbo Loading Journey
Yikes!
These 4.5 KGs do not include carbo loading for 72 hours in the streets of Roma. I had no problem of surpassing the 10 to 12 grams of carbohydrates per KG during the 72 hours leading up to the race. Will have to revisit this during OS!
*****
Stage 2 (long day in the mountains - lots of attacks):
Racing is fun; I have always been a best at racing and not so good at practice. I used this race as a way to practice/rehearse EN 4 key execution.
Key one goal: execution not fitness
- I drove my fitness vehicle extremely well on race day. I executed my race plan to the best of my abilities given race conditions: 1) 8:20s the first 5 to 6 miles 2) 8:00s through mile 20 3) Enjoy the race and hang on 21 - 26.2
Key two goal: the line
- Be in a position at mile 20 to start RACING and moving up the pack.
Key three goal: race inside my box
- Avoid participating in any "tactical masturbation."
Key four goal: the one thing
- Keep in mind I love to race and am using this to put me in the best position possible from my next IM!
Key one: Rocked my plan.
- First 10K slowest 10K @ 8:31 pace. This includes a 60s bathroom break b/c my running partner had stage freight & can't pee in public!
Key two: I raced hard the last 6 miles
- Last 10K was my fastest 10K @ 7:24 pace. Last three miles were 7:17, 7:15, 7:12; well beneath my overall 7:47 race pace.
Key three: stayed focused with a large box for as long as possible
- Race conditions were cold and raining. Exactly the opposite of what I had been training in. Given the way they herded us before the race - a warm up was out of the picture. We were running on uneven streets with cobblestones everywhere (think how old these roads are)... Didn't let any of it effect my race day.
Key four: A smile on my face
- I had a massive smile on my face for the second half of the race as I kept in mind that I was doing this to improve my triathlon training!
*****
Stage 3 (flat stage with no movers in the general classification).
Just an epic destination race to end my season and prepare for real EN work. The streets of Roma were lined with fans and the sights were incredible.
To share the data of my race
3:26:50 Total running includes a 60 second stop of my watch for my running mate's bathroom break
26.59 Total mileage recorded
146 Average HR
175 Max HR
175 Average run cadence
46 Race time temperature
Rain Constant heavy to intermittent
5 MPN NNE wind
26:39 5K
51:55 10K
1:47:16 21.097K / 1/2 Marathon
2:06:28 25K
2:30:49 30K
2:54:07 35K
3:14:05 39.2K
3:17:26 40K
3:26:50 Finish
Mile Splits
1 - 8:41
2 - 8:03
3 - 8:22
4 - 8:22
5 - 7:58
6 - 7:56
7 - 8:00
8 - 7:51
9 - 7:56
10 - 8:02
11 - 7:45
12 - 7:42
13 - 8:00
14 - 7:38
15 - 7:46
16 - 7:41
17 - 7:55
18 - 7:46
19 - 7:31
20 - 7:33
21 - 7:51
22 - 7:22
23 - 7:29
24 - 7:17
25 - 7:15
26 - 7:12
27 - 6:35 (pace for .6 miles)
Net/Net - no time goals. Used this to increase run durability. Came away with a negative split. My second half was almost 9 minutes faster than my first half; my last three miles averaged 7:14. Had an incredible time running through the streets of Roma. We started and finished with the colosseo in the back ground. Had a smile on my face the whole race.
Prologue (TT day):
I've never run a stand alone marathon. I had no time goals associated with this race. My last serious race was IMWI 2013. I did a lot of fun things with my fitness in 2014. I do not consider running to be fun with my fitness! So safe to say I did not run a lot in 2014. In addition, I relocated to the Sandbox in 2014 as well. With this being said, I had the following goals with this race.
Goals:
- Transition/align my triathlon season to match that of the Middle East (Sept - March)
- Improve run durability through increased run frequency
- Develop a running base ready for my 2015 OS beginning 6 April (haven't really been running at all)
Results:
- I nailed my season transition
- I improved my run durability to levels I have not seen in a decade,
- I established a solid base I have lacked at the beginning of the season.
*****
Stage 1 (a rolling ride with many fat hills):
In college I was always the short heavy runnier. I perform best in distance running @/around 71 KGs. My training weight is @/about 73.5 KGs. Wanted to use this training as a way to get closer to my training weight.....
Goal
- Be around 73 KGs on race day
Result
- Epic fail. I was north of 78 KGs on race day - PRIOR to my epic Roma Carbo Loading Journey
Yikes!
These 4.5 KGs do not include carbo loading for 72 hours in the streets of Roma. I had no problem of surpassing the 10 to 12 grams of carbohydrates per KG during the 72 hours leading up to the race. Will have to revisit this during OS!
*****
Stage 2 (long day in the mountains - lots of attacks):
Racing is fun; I have always been a best at racing and not so good at practice. I used this race as a way to practice/rehearse EN 4 key execution.
Key one goal: execution not fitness
- I drove my fitness vehicle extremely well on race day. I executed my race plan to the best of my abilities given race conditions: 1) 8:20s the first 5 to 6 miles 2) 8:00s through mile 20 3) Enjoy the race and hang on 21 - 26.2
Key two goal: the line
- Be in a position at mile 20 to start RACING and moving up the pack.
Key three goal: race inside my box
- Avoid participating in any "tactical masturbation."
Key four goal: the one thing
- Keep in mind I love to race and am using this to put me in the best position possible from my next IM!
Key one: Rocked my plan.
- First 10K slowest 10K @ 8:31 pace. This includes a 60s bathroom break b/c my running partner had stage freight & can't pee in public!
Key two: I raced hard the last 6 miles
- Last 10K was my fastest 10K @ 7:24 pace. Last three miles were 7:17, 7:15, 7:12; well beneath my overall 7:47 race pace.
Key three: stayed focused with a large box for as long as possible
- Race conditions were cold and raining. Exactly the opposite of what I had been training in. Given the way they herded us before the race - a warm up was out of the picture. We were running on uneven streets with cobblestones everywhere (think how old these roads are)... Didn't let any of it effect my race day.
Key four: A smile on my face
- I had a massive smile on my face for the second half of the race as I kept in mind that I was doing this to improve my triathlon training!
*****
Stage 3 (flat stage with no movers in the general classification).
Just an epic destination race to end my season and prepare for real EN work. The streets of Roma were lined with fans and the sights were incredible.
To share the data of my race
3:26:50 Total running includes a 60 second stop of my watch for my running mate's bathroom break
26.59 Total mileage recorded
146 Average HR
175 Max HR
175 Average run cadence
46 Race time temperature
Rain Constant heavy to intermittent
5 MPN NNE wind
26:39 5K
51:55 10K
1:47:16 21.097K / 1/2 Marathon
2:06:28 25K
2:30:49 30K
2:54:07 35K
3:14:05 39.2K
3:17:26 40K
3:26:50 Finish
Mile Splits
1 - 8:41
2 - 8:03
3 - 8:22
4 - 8:22
5 - 7:58
6 - 7:56
7 - 8:00
8 - 7:51
9 - 7:56
10 - 8:02
11 - 7:45
12 - 7:42
13 - 8:00
14 - 7:38
15 - 7:46
16 - 7:41
17 - 7:55
18 - 7:46
19 - 7:31
20 - 7:33
21 - 7:51
22 - 7:22
23 - 7:29
24 - 7:17
25 - 7:15
26 - 7:12
27 - 6:35 (pace for .6 miles)
0