It's a busy time at work right now, and my birthday was yesterday, so I did not get around to posting this race report during the week last week, and I did not get around to writing a new post over the weekend (I was too busy celebrating, and spending an incredibly warm birthday weekend outside). So, here's that race report I promised. I'll write a current blog next week, hopefully, if work hasn't completely taken over my life by then..
One side note about race reporting in general: I find it easier, and more necessary to write about a race that was bad or challenging. A great race confirms that you are doing things right, or that you were extremely lucky on that particular day (or a combination of the two). A bad race leaves you with a plethora of lessons learned, if you let it. Next time you have a bad race, I suggest (after you are done pouting) taking a few minutes to think about your race objectively, and jotting down some things you learned from the race. This will help you get over the heartbreak, and will give you something to look back on as a reminder so you don't make the same mistakes in future races. It is natural to want to forget about a bad race, so by writing down your lessons learned, you can take the bad memory out of your mind, and keep it in a place you can go back to when you are ready to take action and use your bad race as an advantage for your next race.
The GA Marathon was March 20, 2011. I wrote this race report immediately following the race, and posted it as a note on Facebook...but if you haven't seen it yet, read on...
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I've never written a race report before, but I felt compelled to this tine for a few reasons: I find myself needing closure from what was easily my most disappointing running race to date on Sunday; I learned some things which I would like to share with my fellow running buddies so that hopefully they won't make the same mistakes I did; and I simply don't want to have to continue to relive this race every time I re-tell my story :).
First of all, I want to thank you all for the kind words of encouragement before the race, and comfort after the race. Your words gave me confidence and excitement before the race, and built me back up and filled me with hope and a few good laughs after the race.
Okay, so here's how it all went down:
Based on our long training runs (and every run of our training, for that matter)- including our last 20 mile training run (20 miles with some definitely solid hills, at 8:38 per mile pace) Meghan (my training buddy and increasingly closer and closer friend with each mile we spend together) and I were ON to totally destroy our personal best times at the Georgia Marathon!
Meghan and her husband, Jesse, and Tyler and I piled into Meghan's SUV and took off for Atlanta around 2pm on Friday. We made a few stops to eat and stretch and made it to Atlanta a little before 9pm. Saturday we spent about an hour at the Expo and picked up our race packets, then went to a sports bar close by to watch the CATS beat West Virginia in the NCAA tourney game. The remainder of Saturday was spent relaxing, spending some quality time with my brother and sister-in-law (who graciously let Tyler and I stay with them and were more than accommodating!), and getting everything together for race morning. It wasn't until the night before the race when I was getting everything I needed for race day ready that I started feeling nervous and a bit queasy. I was able to brush off the nerves and finally fall asleep.
I woke up to my alarm at 5am on race morning feeling queasy, and ended up getting sick to my stomach, both before and after I ate my pre-race breakfast. I've had this problem of getting sick to my stomach before some athletic events (not all, thank God!) in the past, so I knew it was just nerves, but that didn't help the fact that I now had nothing in my stomach and was dehydrated before a hot, humid, and hilly 26.2 mile run. Meghan and I planned to meet at a building near the front of our start corral between 6:30 and 6:45am. Tyler and I were still standing at the MARTA train stop waiting to get on the train to take us to the start corral at 6:35am...When we got off the train, we ran to the start area which was the hugest crowd of people I've ever seen! It felt like, even though we had a designated meeting spot, it was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack to find Meghan, and there was a bit of panic because the race was starting in less than 5 minutes by this point! We ended up spotting each other, snapped a very quick pre-race picture, and squeezed ourselves into our start corral.
Pre race!
The race starts, and Meghan and I soon realize that we are already sweating by mile 2 (which has NEVER happened during any of our winter time training runs in Kentucky). We both comment that this might pose a problem. It's hot and humid and we don't yet totally understand what we have gotten ourselves into with this course. We do a good job of keeping a good (not going out too fast) pace, and I distinctly remember hitting mile 7 at the 1 hour mark- which is EXACTLY how we had trained! We walked for about 20 seconds to consume our fuel, and then started running again. We saw Tyler and my brother, and sister-in-law cheering for us during mile 7 and 9, and that put a smile on my face! At mile 10, things started taking a turn for the worse for me... There was a very long, very oppressive hill at this point. Meghan is better at running uphill than I am, so in our training, and during the first 10 miles of the marathon that we were together, she would be ahead of me on the uphills, but I would catch back up with her on the down and flat sections. After the hill at mile 10, I didn't see Meghan again until the finish line. I missed her.. for several reasons, but the most shallow one being the fact that we wouldn't be getting anymore comments like the one we got from a spectator during mile 6 "Look dude, it's blonde twins!!" I was genuinely happy for Meghan though, and several times during the race I'd find myself thinking "I hope Meghan is doing a 3:50 marathon!" Our goal was somewhere between 3:40 and 3:55, but I knew we hadn't gone out at 3:40 pace...and I DIDN'T know yet that we were never going to get a break from these hills on the course! Meghan did run a personal best time (4:00:00) and while I'm so happy for her, I really wish she could have found that extra second somewhere to be a member of the "Sub- 4 hour marathon club!" ...
Can you tell which one is me?
I crossed the half marathon line in 1:55, which would have put me on target for a 3:50 marathon..if only... if only my legs hadn't been on the verge of seriously cramping (my legs had been feeling achy, sore, tired, tight, and heavy- for the entire last 3 weeks before the marathon -ever since that last, awesome 20 mile training run I mentioned). I was hoping it was just 'taper ache' ( but I did know that I never felt this bad during a taper before). If only I hadn't thrown up all my pre race nutrition that morning. If only I wasn't dehydrated. If only it wasn't so much hotter and more humid than our training runs; and if only the hills of Atlanta, and the surrounding area would just GIVE US A BREAK!! The best I can guess (based on my garmin watch, which I had set to 'auto pause' if I was going slower than 12 minute per mile pace) I ended up walking at least 1.5 miles of the race because my muscles would get so tight and cramp that I had to stop and/or walk, or risk injuring myself and not being able to cross the finish line. I saw Tyler and my brother at mile 17, and they swapped out my camelbak bladder because I had depleted my water by mile 13..
Mile 17...
At mile 22, I passed a guy being put in an ambulance and I overheard that he was dehydrated, dizzy, and couldn't stand up. I though to myself "Okay, as long as I listen to my body and walk when my muscles tell me I have to or else they are going to blow up on me, I should at least get to cross the finish line and get that freaking medal, unlike the guy I just saw being put in the ambulance." So that's what I did. It really did become a matter of just getting to the finish line after that. Tyler met me around mile 22.5 and was there with me for every step (running and walking) the rest of the way. He had already ran about 3 miles that morning (getting to spots to cheer for me) so in total he went atleast 7 miles that day- after not having run at all in a few months! Tyler being there for me those last 4 miles was exactly what I needed. I explained to him that I'd have to walk when my muscles told me to because I felt they were on the verge of some serious leg cramps and was afraid to injure myself with Triathlon Season just around the corner, and he 100% agreed that was the smart thing to do at this point. After several miles of running when my leg muscles would allow me to, and walking when they wouldn't, I FINALLY crossed the finish line in 4:23:50..I have nothing nice to say about that time, so I'm just going to leave it at that! I did cross the finish line and got the freaking medal, and it is pretty...
I know several of my running buddies have started adopting the F.I.R.S.T plan that Meghan and I used for this marathon training (and have also used for 5K, 10K, and 1/2marathon training), and I do not want you all to think that my sub-par race was a result of the training plan. There were numerous other factors that contributed to my performance, and Meghan DID run a personal best time (by 20 minutes!) on a course and in conditions that were MUCH more challenging and difficult than when she ran the Chicago Marathon. I will continue to follow the F.I.R.S.T. plan precisely for my 5K, 10K, and 1/2 marathon training, and if I ever run a marathon again, I will make only a couple modification to the plan- 1. run my last 20 miler 4 weeks out from the marathon, rather than 3 weeks out. I wonder if I would have had that extra week, then maybe my legs would have started to feel better by the day of the race.. 2. I will try to incorporate the Galloway Method into the F.I.R.S.T plan (keep with the paces recommended based on my goal race time for the long runs, but achieve that pace by taking short walking breaks every 8 to 10 minutes, and run a faster pace while I'm running).
So was the Georgia Marathon worth the pain I am feeling (both mentally and physically) while typing this race report? Lets look at my goals going into this marathon to make that final decision:
1. Use the GA Marathon as motivation to train over the winter so that I'd be going into the 2011 Triathlon Season in better shape than I was going into the 2010 Tri Season, and gain some endurance. -ACHIEVED!
2. Train for and run the GA Marathon without getting injured. -ACHIEVED!
3. Learn something new about endurance events. -ACHIEVED! What did I learn:
If you lose all your pre-race nutrition to the porcelain gods the morning of your race, start taking your race nutrition as soon as your nerves calm down during the race (I kept with my usual routine of waiting until 1 hour into the race to start consuming nutrition..woops... I've also been told that I should have consumed salt during the race since I began the race dehydrated).
I also learned that I might need to do my last 20 mile training run 4 weeks out, rather than 3.
OH, and last-but-not-least, do a WAY better job of researching a course before signing up for a race.. If you know how I feel about the Asheville 1/2 marathon..well, add Atlanta to that short list of "Races I will NEVER do again, and would not recommend to ANY friend of mine!) Most runners know Boston's reputation of being such a difficult marathon.. if only I would have seen this BEFORE I registered for Atlanta!
*Thanks to Jesse Frost (who ran an awesome GA 1/2 Marathon, in preperation for the Boston Marathon in a few weeks, and who claims he's going to PR at the GA Marathon next year ;)) for finding these statistics*
Atlanta: Boston:
Total Climb: 1,534 1,115
Total Descent: 1,542 1,558
Total Change: 3,076 2,674
Net Change: -8 -444
4. Run a personal best marathon time. -FAILED, but hey, 3 out of 4 ain't bad!
Finally, I'd like to end on a happy note! One of my favorite things about running in a race is some of the things that spectators, volunteers, and other runners say! Two complete strangers will forever be a part of my memory of the GA Marathon:
At approximately mile 16, a man in his mid 50's ran up beside me and said "Where's your twin?" (referring to Meghan) I responded "She's up ahead somewhere, doing great things. Apparently we're not identical twins because she's better at hills and heat than I am." The man then said "Which one of you was born first?" at this point I realize that he's NOT joking and I say "Oh, we aren't really twins, or even sisters, or even related!" and he replied "Really?! You could have fooled me!" The man and I conversed for about another minute, then he wished me a good race and ran on ahead. He looked strong and I'm sure he had a great race!
At approximately mile 21, a male volunteer in his 40's standing on the side of the road I was on stuck out his hand for me to high five him and said "Smile, it could be worse, you could be a fat guy standing around for some free high fives right now. You're in shape and going to finish a marathon today!" He definitely got a smile and a Laugh Out Loud out of me!!
One side note about race reporting in general: I find it easier, and more necessary to write about a race that was bad or challenging. A great race confirms that you are doing things right, or that you were extremely lucky on that particular day (or a combination of the two). A bad race leaves you with a plethora of lessons learned, if you let it. Next time you have a bad race, I suggest (after you are done pouting) taking a few minutes to think about your race objectively, and jotting down some things you learned from the race. This will help you get over the heartbreak, and will give you something to look back on as a reminder so you don't make the same mistakes in future races. It is natural to want to forget about a bad race, so by writing down your lessons learned, you can take the bad memory out of your mind, and keep it in a place you can go back to when you are ready to take action and use your bad race as an advantage for your next race.
The GA Marathon was March 20, 2011. I wrote this race report immediately following the race, and posted it as a note on Facebook...but if you haven't seen it yet, read on...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've never written a race report before, but I felt compelled to this tine for a few reasons: I find myself needing closure from what was easily my most disappointing running race to date on Sunday; I learned some things which I would like to share with my fellow running buddies so that hopefully they won't make the same mistakes I did; and I simply don't want to have to continue to relive this race every time I re-tell my story :).
First of all, I want to thank you all for the kind words of encouragement before the race, and comfort after the race. Your words gave me confidence and excitement before the race, and built me back up and filled me with hope and a few good laughs after the race.
Okay, so here's how it all went down:
Based on our long training runs (and every run of our training, for that matter)- including our last 20 mile training run (20 miles with some definitely solid hills, at 8:38 per mile pace) Meghan (my training buddy and increasingly closer and closer friend with each mile we spend together) and I were ON to totally destroy our personal best times at the Georgia Marathon!
Meghan and her husband, Jesse, and Tyler and I piled into Meghan's SUV and took off for Atlanta around 2pm on Friday. We made a few stops to eat and stretch and made it to Atlanta a little before 9pm. Saturday we spent about an hour at the Expo and picked up our race packets, then went to a sports bar close by to watch the CATS beat West Virginia in the NCAA tourney game. The remainder of Saturday was spent relaxing, spending some quality time with my brother and sister-in-law (who graciously let Tyler and I stay with them and were more than accommodating!), and getting everything together for race morning. It wasn't until the night before the race when I was getting everything I needed for race day ready that I started feeling nervous and a bit queasy. I was able to brush off the nerves and finally fall asleep.
I woke up to my alarm at 5am on race morning feeling queasy, and ended up getting sick to my stomach, both before and after I ate my pre-race breakfast. I've had this problem of getting sick to my stomach before some athletic events (not all, thank God!) in the past, so I knew it was just nerves, but that didn't help the fact that I now had nothing in my stomach and was dehydrated before a hot, humid, and hilly 26.2 mile run. Meghan and I planned to meet at a building near the front of our start corral between 6:30 and 6:45am. Tyler and I were still standing at the MARTA train stop waiting to get on the train to take us to the start corral at 6:35am...When we got off the train, we ran to the start area which was the hugest crowd of people I've ever seen! It felt like, even though we had a designated meeting spot, it was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack to find Meghan, and there was a bit of panic because the race was starting in less than 5 minutes by this point! We ended up spotting each other, snapped a very quick pre-race picture, and squeezed ourselves into our start corral.
Pre race!
The race starts, and Meghan and I soon realize that we are already sweating by mile 2 (which has NEVER happened during any of our winter time training runs in Kentucky). We both comment that this might pose a problem. It's hot and humid and we don't yet totally understand what we have gotten ourselves into with this course. We do a good job of keeping a good (not going out too fast) pace, and I distinctly remember hitting mile 7 at the 1 hour mark- which is EXACTLY how we had trained! We walked for about 20 seconds to consume our fuel, and then started running again. We saw Tyler and my brother, and sister-in-law cheering for us during mile 7 and 9, and that put a smile on my face! At mile 10, things started taking a turn for the worse for me... There was a very long, very oppressive hill at this point. Meghan is better at running uphill than I am, so in our training, and during the first 10 miles of the marathon that we were together, she would be ahead of me on the uphills, but I would catch back up with her on the down and flat sections. After the hill at mile 10, I didn't see Meghan again until the finish line. I missed her.. for several reasons, but the most shallow one being the fact that we wouldn't be getting anymore comments like the one we got from a spectator during mile 6 "Look dude, it's blonde twins!!" I was genuinely happy for Meghan though, and several times during the race I'd find myself thinking "I hope Meghan is doing a 3:50 marathon!" Our goal was somewhere between 3:40 and 3:55, but I knew we hadn't gone out at 3:40 pace...and I DIDN'T know yet that we were never going to get a break from these hills on the course! Meghan did run a personal best time (4:00:00) and while I'm so happy for her, I really wish she could have found that extra second somewhere to be a member of the "Sub- 4 hour marathon club!" ...
Can you tell which one is me?
I crossed the half marathon line in 1:55, which would have put me on target for a 3:50 marathon..if only... if only my legs hadn't been on the verge of seriously cramping (my legs had been feeling achy, sore, tired, tight, and heavy- for the entire last 3 weeks before the marathon -ever since that last, awesome 20 mile training run I mentioned). I was hoping it was just 'taper ache' ( but I did know that I never felt this bad during a taper before). If only I hadn't thrown up all my pre race nutrition that morning. If only I wasn't dehydrated. If only it wasn't so much hotter and more humid than our training runs; and if only the hills of Atlanta, and the surrounding area would just GIVE US A BREAK!! The best I can guess (based on my garmin watch, which I had set to 'auto pause' if I was going slower than 12 minute per mile pace) I ended up walking at least 1.5 miles of the race because my muscles would get so tight and cramp that I had to stop and/or walk, or risk injuring myself and not being able to cross the finish line. I saw Tyler and my brother at mile 17, and they swapped out my camelbak bladder because I had depleted my water by mile 13..
Mile 17...
At mile 22, I passed a guy being put in an ambulance and I overheard that he was dehydrated, dizzy, and couldn't stand up. I though to myself "Okay, as long as I listen to my body and walk when my muscles tell me I have to or else they are going to blow up on me, I should at least get to cross the finish line and get that freaking medal, unlike the guy I just saw being put in the ambulance." So that's what I did. It really did become a matter of just getting to the finish line after that. Tyler met me around mile 22.5 and was there with me for every step (running and walking) the rest of the way. He had already ran about 3 miles that morning (getting to spots to cheer for me) so in total he went atleast 7 miles that day- after not having run at all in a few months! Tyler being there for me those last 4 miles was exactly what I needed. I explained to him that I'd have to walk when my muscles told me to because I felt they were on the verge of some serious leg cramps and was afraid to injure myself with Triathlon Season just around the corner, and he 100% agreed that was the smart thing to do at this point. After several miles of running when my leg muscles would allow me to, and walking when they wouldn't, I FINALLY crossed the finish line in 4:23:50..I have nothing nice to say about that time, so I'm just going to leave it at that! I did cross the finish line and got the freaking medal, and it is pretty...
I know several of my running buddies have started adopting the F.I.R.S.T plan that Meghan and I used for this marathon training (and have also used for 5K, 10K, and 1/2marathon training), and I do not want you all to think that my sub-par race was a result of the training plan. There were numerous other factors that contributed to my performance, and Meghan DID run a personal best time (by 20 minutes!) on a course and in conditions that were MUCH more challenging and difficult than when she ran the Chicago Marathon. I will continue to follow the F.I.R.S.T. plan precisely for my 5K, 10K, and 1/2 marathon training, and if I ever run a marathon again, I will make only a couple modification to the plan- 1. run my last 20 miler 4 weeks out from the marathon, rather than 3 weeks out. I wonder if I would have had that extra week, then maybe my legs would have started to feel better by the day of the race.. 2. I will try to incorporate the Galloway Method into the F.I.R.S.T plan (keep with the paces recommended based on my goal race time for the long runs, but achieve that pace by taking short walking breaks every 8 to 10 minutes, and run a faster pace while I'm running).
So was the Georgia Marathon worth the pain I am feeling (both mentally and physically) while typing this race report? Lets look at my goals going into this marathon to make that final decision:
1. Use the GA Marathon as motivation to train over the winter so that I'd be going into the 2011 Triathlon Season in better shape than I was going into the 2010 Tri Season, and gain some endurance. -ACHIEVED!
2. Train for and run the GA Marathon without getting injured. -ACHIEVED!
3. Learn something new about endurance events. -ACHIEVED! What did I learn:
If you lose all your pre-race nutrition to the porcelain gods the morning of your race, start taking your race nutrition as soon as your nerves calm down during the race (I kept with my usual routine of waiting until 1 hour into the race to start consuming nutrition..woops... I've also been told that I should have consumed salt during the race since I began the race dehydrated).
I also learned that I might need to do my last 20 mile training run 4 weeks out, rather than 3.
OH, and last-but-not-least, do a WAY better job of researching a course before signing up for a race.. If you know how I feel about the Asheville 1/2 marathon..well, add Atlanta to that short list of "Races I will NEVER do again, and would not recommend to ANY friend of mine!) Most runners know Boston's reputation of being such a difficult marathon.. if only I would have seen this BEFORE I registered for Atlanta!
*Thanks to Jesse Frost (who ran an awesome GA 1/2 Marathon, in preperation for the Boston Marathon in a few weeks, and who claims he's going to PR at the GA Marathon next year ;)) for finding these statistics*
Atlanta: Boston:
Total Climb: 1,534 1,115
Total Descent: 1,542 1,558
Total Change: 3,076 2,674
Net Change: -8 -444
4. Run a personal best marathon time. -FAILED, but hey, 3 out of 4 ain't bad!
Finally, I'd like to end on a happy note! One of my favorite things about running in a race is some of the things that spectators, volunteers, and other runners say! Two complete strangers will forever be a part of my memory of the GA Marathon:
At approximately mile 16, a man in his mid 50's ran up beside me and said "Where's your twin?" (referring to Meghan) I responded "She's up ahead somewhere, doing great things. Apparently we're not identical twins because she's better at hills and heat than I am." The man then said "Which one of you was born first?" at this point I realize that he's NOT joking and I say "Oh, we aren't really twins, or even sisters, or even related!" and he replied "Really?! You could have fooled me!" The man and I conversed for about another minute, then he wished me a good race and ran on ahead. He looked strong and I'm sure he had a great race!
At approximately mile 21, a male volunteer in his 40's standing on the side of the road I was on stuck out his hand for me to high five him and said "Smile, it could be worse, you could be a fat guy standing around for some free high fives right now. You're in shape and going to finish a marathon today!" He definitely got a smile and a Laugh Out Loud out of me!!
I was just thinking about this as I had a little twinge of nerves about my upcoming half. Knowing that athletes like yourself have tough races will make it easier to handle when it happens to me. Thanks for the ongoing encouragement and inspiration of your blog!
ReplyDeleteJenn, you are an inspiration!
ReplyDelete