Ross Randolph's 2019 Oakland Marathon Race Report
2019 Oakland Marathon
March 24, 2019
Results:
Background:
I am 43 years old, 5’10” and 155 lbs. I’m an experienced runner having run dozens of marathons over the last 20+ years, including Boston 2015-2018. Prior to this marathon, my personal best time was 3:07:48 in 2014. This is my 2nd marathon inside Endurance Nation (joined in 2017); my last marathon was Boston in 2018. Although my reason for joining EN was to become a better triathlete (which I have), it’s also made me a smarter (and faster) runner.
Goal:
I was hoping to re-qualify for Boston in 2018 but was unsuccessful. My focus for 2019 is Half Ironman distance to build for a full IM in 2020 but wanted to run a local marathon in the spring with a goal of qualifying for Boston in 2020. As a late March race, Oakland was early enough that I could run without impacting “A” races I have later in the year.
The Preparation:
· Run Durability (December)
· Marathon – Balanced (January – March)
My 2018 season ended in November with a "racecation" HIM in Malaysia. After taking a few weeks off to recover, I began the outseason with Run Durability program with extra cycling sessions (3x week). I have a history of running injury so I kept peak weekly mileage to <50 miles, averaging closer to 30 miles/week.
It was a good training cycle and I felt confident going into the race. My last VDOT 5k test was about 6 weeks prior to race day and was my 3rd best ever @ 18:45 (6:03/min pace). Two weeks prior to the race I did a race rehearsal half marathon @ 1:31:26 (6:59/min pace).
The Race:
The Oakland Marathon is part of the Oakland Running Festival which includes a 5k, half marathon & full marathon. The marathon starts at 7 a.m. with the other events starting later in the morning. The 2019 version had a course change from prior years with a first-ever run course which included about 8 miles on the Bay Bridge.
After a surprisingly good night sleep (over 7 hours) I woke up at 5 a.m. and had my pre-race nutrition of a bowl of oatmeal, banana and coffee. Did the bathroom thing and made sure I had plenty of Body Glide in all the right places. I arrived in Oakland about 6 a.m. and found parking close to the start. My pre-race routine includes some easy stretching, a light jog up to about ½ mile and warm-ups like lunges, squats, etc to loosen up.
Oakland this time of year is known to be cool, foggy in the mornings and we had been having a lot of rain this spring; fortunately, no rain in the forecast for race day. Still not sure exactly what the weather would be, I opted for a singlet with arm sleeves and a pair of throwaway gloves. I tend to get really warm when I run and need to dissipate the heat, but have been caught in races before not wearing enough. My other race gear includes compression socks (was on the fence whether to wear these or not – opted to go with them more for warmth than physiological benefit). I also carry water; I use a Nathan double-bottle belt system. Have used in every training run and also in Ironman events. It allows me the option to stop/walk aid stations if I need to. (For this race, I only had to stop to refill bottles twice.) My race shoes are Saucony Mirage 5. It is marketed as a training shoe, but compared to my actual training shoe (Asics GT2000) it is lighter, more responsive and I can hit about 5-10 seconds faster mile splits on the same course. (NOTE: This is an area I could improve on. I’m not as informed on running shoes as I could be; perhaps the car would be faster with better tires?)
I also carry my own nutrition – Hammer Nutrition gels I take every 30 minutes (approx. 4 miles). For the marathon distance, I bring 6 gels – 4 different flavors + 2 Espresso ones with caffeine which I save for the last 10K. The gels also have a non-nutrition purpose. They help my mental game during the race as it is a little motivational ‘mile marker’ and is less intimidating & easier to count down the number of gels I have left to consume than the miles left to run. Seems to work for me.
The Oakland Marathon featured pacers. They had them at each of the BQ levels starting at 3:05 marathon. I wanted to be somewhere between 3:05 – 3:10 so I started out with the pacer in the 3:05 corral. There were perhaps a dozen or so in that pack. I prefer to run alone but have found the benefit of running in a pack at windy races like Big Sur Marathon and 2018 Boston; if you can work together it makes a huge difference to conserve energy. (Not unlike the benefits of staying in the peloton or drafting in Zwift.) There was like zero wind on the course this day so the only benefit of the pacer group was social interaction & mutual motivation to stay on pace, especially on the incline up the Bay Bridge.
The first miles were relatively uneventful other than the pace was a bit faster than I expected. I was targeting a 7:05 – 7:10 / mile average pace but the pace group was running consistently sub-7:00 miles. So this was the first decision I had to make early in the race. Do I slow down or stay with the group? I had good leg turnover and my heartrate was around 150 bpm which is normal for me; I can run all day at 150 bpm. I knew that while there was no wind at the start the Bay Bridge can often be windy and I could really benefit from having a pack to draft on that section of the course. So I gambled and decided to stay with the group.
After just 2 miles the runners started to spread out and the pace group was down to about 6 including me. I was just running along with them and not really paying attention to my pace when we crossed 3 miles and my watch said 6:40 pace. WTF!? I knew then that this was not going to work; so I let the crazy legs in front of me go on. There was some separation and there were a couple of guys still around me that I figured if we needed to regroup at the bridge and work together we could. Around the first 10k we caught back up to the pace group and everyone (still about 6 of us) was settling in to around 6:50 – 7:00/mile pace.
Around mile 11 as we approached the bridge I rounded a corner and was surprised to see my wife and one of my daughter’s there cheering me on. This was unexpected as they had a soccer game that morning but decided to stop in Oakland on their way. And they couldn’t have picked a better spot as it was the starting point of the toughest part of the course (elevation-wise) – the out & back on the Bay Bridge. And knowing they would (probably) still be there when I passed back by around mile 18 really helped. Anyone who’s raced marathons (or any endurance event) knows how much our friends & family can make a difference in helping us push through those dark places in a race.
By the turnaround at Mile 15 on the bridge, our pace group had pretty much disintegrated. The pacer had thrown away his lollipop pace sign long ago and it became clear it was every man for himself. I was starting to feel the 2nd half hurt but happy to be running downhill for a few miles. I passed by my wife and daughter who had stayed to give me one last “Go Get ‘Em!” cheer around mile 18. (NOTE: Ever since I joined Endurance Nation, whenever I get to “Mile 18” I always think of the start of the podcast … the fast-beat & hard-charging tune and that deep voice which announces “MILE 18.” Nice motivator.) At this point in the race I knew I was on a BQ pace but had two big worries: 1) had I gone out too fast and could I sustain this for 8 more miles? And 2) there are so many damn turns over the final miles and everyone was so strung out that would I miss a turn!?
On that second point, there’s some history there with me. A few years ago I ran the Santa Rosa marathon here in California. It was a BQ attempt and I started with a pace group. Within the first 2 miles, the pacer TOOK A WRONG TURN and we ended up about ½ mile off course before we realized it. It was a huge fiasco as many runners missed what would have been their last chance at Boston for the year. I ended up running over 27 miles. It even made Runner’s World and got some national attention. I felt horrible for the pacer and the race director. It was an honest mistake and really is the participants’ responsibility to know the course. So ever since I have always studied every race course’s turn and made sure I knew the route in my head before starting. And I don’t put 100% faith in the pacer knowing where the turns are. When I looked at Oakland’s course map, I thought – dang, there are a ton of turns including several double-backs. As it turned out, the race director did a really good job of clearly marking the course turns with cones & Oakland police at every intersection.
I was solid through Mile 21. By Mile 22, the cracks started to appear. I was still getting good leg turnover and mentally I felt ok. I had my first caffeinated gel at Mile 20. This helped give me a boost but two miles later it was gone and my last gel wasn’t due for another 2 miles @ Mile 24. I decided to take my last gel at Mile 23. My heartrate & pace were becoming disconnected. It is normal for me to be hitting around 160 bpm at this stage in the race but it was continuing to go up and was around 165 bpm while my pace was slowing. I knew if I tried I could push harder and might be able to keep closer to 7:00/mile pace but also knew I could blow up, pull a muscle (which I have done before in a marathon in the final 10k) and ruin a really good race. So I just decided to focus as hard as I could on keeping good form and KEEP MOVING FORWARD.
The last mile at Oakland Marathon has a series of short, steeper-than-you-want-at-this-point-in-the-race hills as it winds around Lake Merritt toward the finish line. It was at this point that I passed 3 guys from my original pace group that were walking or had slowed considerably. This is normal and in some races in the past this was me. I found an extra gear for the last ½ mile and was able to cross in a new personal best marathon time of 3:05:51 and achieve my goal of a BQ.
The Aftermath:
My next race is Eagleman 70.3 in June. That is an “A” race so I’m taking the marathon recovery seriously. In years past, I would be running (light jogging anyway) a few days after marathon. I’m strictly adhering to Coach Patrick and the plan and have not run and will not run for 2 weeks. I had the worst delayed-onset muscle soreness for the first 3 days after the marathon. Foam rolling, stretching and massage have helped; I’ve also really enjoyed walking a few of my favorite run routes around my house. Four days after the race I was doing some light cycling. In the future, I hope to try Normatec to see if it helps speed recovery (just bought a pair of boots for my wife & I).
Lessons Learned:
1. I believe increased cycling over this training cycle helped my running. I added a lot more biking in the winter OS this year and have had significant FTP bump as a result. While purpose was to build for triathlon, I really think that it has helped my running.
2. While I did some strength training, I didn’t do super-intense workouts like I’ve done in the past. I’m still not sure if that helped or not, but by reducing the frequency & intensity of strength session (and increasing time on the bike instead) I was still able to get faster. I’m not sure if this is correlation or causation … need to experiment more with this.
3. Increased run frequency over the winter outseason. While I didn’t become a super-streaker like some inside the team, I did do a lot more low-mileage run frequency than prior seasons. In the past, I would do 3-4 runs per week. Each run had a purpose (track / tempo / long run). This cycle I did more like 5-6 runs per week including some really slow runs.
4. No track workouts. I didn’t do the really-short, really-intense track workouts for this training cycle. (For example, I never ran less than 1 mile at high intensity.) In the past, I would do 200/400/800 intervals at super high intensity. Instead of track intervals targeting sub-6:00 mile pace, I would do 3x1 mile repeats at around 6:00-6:10/mile. I was worried not having this in my program would impact my performance, but found with my 5k VDOT a few weeks from the race that it wasn’t the case. I think avoiding the track workouts helped keep me healthy.
Comments
Ross - Pretty slick race. Pacing is king in my book, and you reminded yourself of that by reining in the exuberance you showed in the early miles soon enough so you didn't have to pay for it (too much) at the end.
Shoes? I used to be about your size 10-15 yers ago - 5'10"/148#, now I'm shorter. But I think you are using 20th century technology when you might benefit from less weight on your feet, both while training and racing. Someone as lean and fast as you doesn't really need those ASICS GT 2000 boats. For racing, even up to and including IM marathons, I had been relying on Saucony Type A6 without any issues, and Saucony Kinvaras for training. Last six months, after I experienced the miracle of the Nike VaporFLy 4%, I've switched to those racing, and the slightly heavier but very similar ZoomFly for training. Pricier, but use the EN discount @ Running Warehouse...
That is a smokin' time, and the challenge now for you will be to learn how to use that innate speed in a triathlon. It is quite hard for people who have a strong running background and speed to master the intricacies of pacing not only the third leg, but the first and second as well. To say nothing of understanding that emphasizing your strength during training is not as effective as learning just how *little* running you can get away with in order to shore up the first two legs. EH should help you with both those challenges.
You already know how much fun Boston is; congratulations for the return trip.
Terrific race @Ross Randolph ! ... and loved reading your report! ... and your Finish pictures capture your well-earned sense of accomplishment!
Substituting Bike miles for Run miles seems to have been a great recipe for you ... given PR and BQ!
I've gone the Vaporfly 4% route that @Al Truscott mentioned and with your speed would think those shoes would be perfect for you.
If you haven't tried Stryd I would also suggest looking into that ... focusing on Power input rather than Pace output, similar to what we do on the Bike, has been more controllable for me ... with more end-of-race confidence (less uncertainty).
Enjoy your recovery weeks! ... I'm looking forward to meeting you at Eagleman 70.3!
Love that you add pictures to your reports @Ross Randolph .
I saw how you can run at Santa Rosa 70.3 last July!. You've got speed!
I believe with each decade moving forward strength training is non-negotiable. Like you said it doesn't have to be super intense.
Congratulations Ross.
Congrats on your result! your RR was fun to read and loved the pictures.
Congratulations on a great race, PR and BQ! I enjoyed your race report as it brought back memories of my stand alone marathon days. Run durability is a game changer! Kind of by accident, I've found that increased running frequency and decreased running intensity results in no lost of speed. Plus, like you said, I think the bike helps by strengthening the glutes and with preventing over-use running injuries.
Looking forward to meeting you at Eagleman.