Fueled by cockiness derived from those frequent PRs and powered by my unwillingness to believe in the S shape of the learning curve, I conveniently ignored two heart-to-heart recommendations from friends in the community that’d have helped me achieve better results while minimizing the chances of bodily injuries.
- use a formal training plan to prepare well and
- limit the number of meaningfully trained hard racing days to two per year
A brief recap what has happened since the last marathon in 2015 November until Christmas of 2017.
- 2016 was a below average year: I did about 290 km of cross country skiing, 750 miles of running, 225 miles of road biking and 23,000 yards of swimming over a total time of about 240 hours. In the process, I had come to learn about iron/ferritin depletions and protein deficiency in my diet and took some measures to rectify them.
- 2017 was further below average: I did about 64 km of cross country skiing, 460 miles of running, less than 40 miles of biking and 5,300 yards of swimming over a total time of about 135 hours. While diet was consciously better than what it had been in 2016, I used running as a vent for life’s frustrations (some from work, some from Uncle Sam and some from my own misplaced/mismanaged expectations). That unto itself wasn’t bad but not giving the mind-body system enough rest wasn’t a very smart approach and I paid for it.
Maybe it was the eagerness to compensate for lost time and/or maybe it was the need to vent the aforementioned frustrations of 2016 and 2017, I decided to tack on an extra workout of my own each day in addition to the one prescribed by the training plan. Being a Physics major and all, I should have known that launching a spacecraft at twice the necessary speed doesn’t make it reach its destination (say, Moon Mars) in half the time. But I didn’t.
Just like that, my alterations to the training plan led to its most likely destination: the garbage can. I was burnt out even before week #2 saw its first sunrise. Adding injury to insult, I had minor/semi-major nagging knee and lower leg pain for the next several months. I didn’t necessarily do as well in local and regional events. I was forced to re-register for the 2018 North Country Trail Run and defer the Chicago Marathon entry until 2018. Frustrations and injuries continued well into the Fall and almost till Christmas of 2017. While I don’t usually subscribe to the concept of New Year’s Resolution, I really didn’t want another $195 T shirt that I couldn’t wear without writing DNS (Did Not Start) or DNF (Did Not Finish) on it. To that end, the primary goals to achieve in 2018 have been to
- establish some semblance of work-life balance,
- make life and personal health (of body and mind) a higher priority, and
- with help of #1 and #2, get back at least to the same level of fitness as I had in 2016.
#1 and #2 weren’t easy and it took quite a bit of conscious effort – through mid-March – to be semi-OK with leaving work at work and to be somewhat guilt-free when not working during nights, weekends, holidays or my off days. Positive results of these uneasy attempts became a little more apparent during and after the American Birkebeiner (Kortelopet, 29 km) and Great Bear Chase (10 km). My body seemed a little more rested, mind seemed a lot more relaxed and (minor) injuries started disappearing even as the kilometers racked up.
I had a general idea that most marathon training plans are 16 weeks long, if not 18 or 24. One thought was to find a 16 week plan but use it as for 18 weeks with 2 bye weeks – to account for potential travel and possible injury or other unforeseen circumstances. But I have lived through Arthur Ashe‘s famous quote: a nick here, a nick there, and pretty soon you’re bleeding to death. That is, I have taken a short break from working out in the past only to find that months, if not years, were in my rear view mirror. So, I searched the interwebs from late April through early May and found a pretty good plan from Nike designed specifically for 2017 Chicago Marathon.
For a few days or so, I explored the Nike’s plan for 2018 Chicago but found it to be a little too fluid to my liking. A day or two before the official start of pre-training period, I came across Hal Higdon‘s plans. Maybe it was just the familiarity of his name from reading Runner’s World articles, his plans seemed to have some subjective appeal. After one day of being on the 2017 Nike plan during pre-training, I formally switched over to Hal Higdon’s Intermediate 2 Marathon Plan – one with no explicitly mentioned speed or hill or tempo runs – for good. Goal was to stick with the plan in its entirety. Dream was to not give up on participating in my favorite annual events in/around the community along the way. Hope was to find where I was running to or what I was running from.
Some changes I made to the Hal’s plan in the beginning were as follows:
- Shift the whole weekly plan back by one day
- It’d result in XTrain on Sunday, rest on Thursday and LSD run on Saturday
- I could keep running with Keweenaw Running Group on Wednesdays, and
- I’d get an extra free day in week #18 for traveling to Chicago
- Split the 18-week plan into 3 phases of 6 weeks each
- Phase 1 would be sticking with the plan as is to build the necessary foundation
- Phase 2 would include some speed and tempo workouts
- First 4 weeks of Phase 3 would add on race-like workouts and final 2 weeks of Phase 3 would be tapering period
In each of the two official marathon attempts – Marquette and Madison, both in 2015 – I had become pretty close friends with the Wall around mile 18 ish and our friendship had lasted through the finish line. Some more literature search about techniques to delay (or better, avoid) this reunion led me to find the following:
- Wall, in semi-technical terms, appears when the body has mostly run out of glycogen reserves but does not know how to use stored fat reserves as a source of energy
- The body won’t learn to use stored fat reserves as a source of energy unless it is taught and trained to do so
- Apart from the bonkers workouts (i.e., working out towards the end of or after a sufficiently longish fasting period), one tested way to train the body to use stored fat reserves as a source of energy would be
- to run at low or aerobic heart rate levels (which, in my case, meant run fairly slow), and
- not give the body any easy way out (which, in my case, meant not consuming Gu or Gel or other electrolytes on medium to longish runs)
Chatting with Alice (thanks for recommending the book, Long Distance) and Patrick Messer (in CASC gatherings in DC) a couple years ago, I had learned the value of HR-based training and especially the value of LSD runs at low heart rates. So, I decided to put it all together during the pre-training period – increased mileage, intermittent fasting (+ 2 beers per week would be the upper limit for alcohol consumption), leaving work at work while making myself a priority and sleeping a bit more – and see how I’d do. If this eclectic blend turned out to be manageable/sustainable for 2 weeks, the plan was to incrementally add one week at a time for 18 more weeks.
Oh, one other thing: instead of waiting till after an injury to start re-habing and losing valuable training time, I opted to pre-hab regularly during this pre-training and training period. Handler – Hill – Ross – Starks – Temple – Vertin sounds lot more like some law firm in Manhattan or a financial enterprise in Bronx but their collective medical wisdom, care and magic went on to not only considerably strengthen the weaker body parts but also prevented a handful of injuries. Without their timely and often proactive help, I doubt I’d have started running as far or as fast I did in relatively short amount of time!
Gray-texted stuff above are what I encourage my students to do – in and outside of the course. While they certainly apply to me, to trust Hal’s process and ask for help from anyone/everyone willing to help, the red-texted is purely for myself. I have been known to do a stupid thing or two on occasion before!
|
Summary of training activities
Easy (E) | Fartlek (F) | Hill (H) | Long (L) | Race (R) | Speed (S) | Tempo (T) | XTrain (X) |
|||||||||
| Phase 0 (pre-training) | |||||||||
| Wk |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
Week | Season |
| P1 |
05/21 E 3.00 4.01 0:42:10 |
05/22 E 5.00 -- -- |
05/23 E 3.00 4.63 1:18:43 |
05/24 Rest 3.44 0:45:57 |
05/25 R 5.00 -- -- |
05/26 L 10.00 6.27 1:17:10 |
05/27 X 1:00:00 12.55 2:42:26 |
26.00
30.90 6:46:26 |
26.00
30.90 6:46:26 |
| P2 |
05/28 E 3.00 -- -- |
05/29 E 5.00 6.31 1:17:15 |
05/30 E 3.00 7.04 1:12:01 |
05/31 Rest -- -- |
06/01 E 5.00 -- -- |
06/02 L 11.00 10.07 1:43:06 |
06/03 X 1:00:00 -- -- |
27.00
23.42 4:12:22 |
53.00
54.32 10:58:48 |
Why pre-training? I believe I haven't done something well if
what I did didn't exceed the initial estimate - for time or quality or
both. When wearing my teacher hat at Michigan Tech, expect all
prospective students for my UN5390: Scientific Computing
course at Michigan
Tech to meaningfully complete
FOSS101:
Essentials of Free and Open Source Software ahead of time ...
ala training camp before the season begins. This practice serves
several purposes:
|
|||||||||
| Phase 1: Easy runs, one race pace run and one LSD run per week | |||||||||
| Wk |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
Week | Season |
| 01 |
06/04 E 3.00 5.18 0:51:02 |
06/05 E 5.00 3.10 0:32:33 |
06/06 E 3.00 3.09 0:39:41 |
06/07 Rest -- -- |
06/08 R 5.00 5.02 0:40:59 |
06/09 L 10.00 10.05 2:10:13 |
06/10 X 1:00:00 4.09 5:17:53 |
26.00
30.53 10:12:21 |
26.00
30.53 10:12:21 |
| 02 |
06/11 E 3.00 3.03 0:32:03 |
06/12 E 5.00 5.17 0:59:37 |
06/13 E 3.00 3.11 0:39:48 |
06/14 Rest -- -- |
06/15 E 5.00 -- -- |
06/16 L 11.00 5.09 0:47:27 |
06/17 X 1:00:00 -- 1:00:00 |
27.00
16.40 3:58:55 |
53.00
46.93 14:11:16 |
| 03 |
06/18 E 3.00 14.17 2:31:38 |
06/19 E 6.00 6.59 1:09:55 |
06/20 E 3.00 3.18 0:38:24 |
06/21 Rest -- -- |
06/22 R 6.00 6.31 0:54:17 |
06/23 L 8.00 -- 1:00:00 |
06/24 X 1:00:00 8.22 1:30:01 |
26.00
38.47 7:44:15 |
79.00
85.40 21:55:31 |
| 04 |
06/25 E 3.00 3.16 0:30:01 |
06/26 E 6.00 6.31 1:11:01 |
06/27 E 3.00 3.13 0:42:33 |
06/28 Rest -- -- |
06/29 R 6.00 6.25 0:56:50 |
06/30 L 13.00 13.17 2:21:01 |
07/01 X 1:00:00 -- 1:00:00 |
31.00
32.02 6:41:26 |
110.00
117.42 28:36:57 |
| 05 |
07/02 E 3.00 3.14 0:30:24 |
07/03 E 7.00 7.10 1:21:05 |
07/04 E 3.00 3.20 0:36:26 |
07/05 Rest -- -- |
07/06 E 7.00 7.40 1:26:42 |
07/07 L 14.00 14.12 2:32:17 |
07/08 X 1:00:00 -- 1:00:00 |
34.00
34.96 7:26:54 |
144.00
152.38 36:03:51 |
| 06 |
07/09 E 3.00 -- -- |
07/10 E 7.00 -- -- |
07/11 E 3.00 2.06 0:22:56 |
07/12 Rest -- -- |
07/13 R 7.00 -- -- |
07/14 L 10.00 13.26 2:37:36 |
07/15 X 1:00:00 14.86 4:11:39 |
30.00
30.18 7:12:11 |
174.00
182.56 43:16:02 |
|
I drove to the start of Mt. Baldy Summit Run (6k) with Julie and Kelly, and ran the initial parts with Shannon Mitchell and rest of with Andi. For the first time in quite a while, I experienced some side stitches but used Christine's uneven breathing technique cured it on the go. I ran Copper Harbor Trails Challenge (10k) starting out with Shannon M, some behind Jan, most of the rest solo and some at the end with Angela. For the first time in quite a while, I experienced some dizziness around mile 3.5 and came close to twisting/rolling my ankle once or twice. So, I decided to take the pedal off the gas and go easy rest of the way. The 2nd Ever RTK Post-Race Potluck was a wonderful way to wind down the day - sharing meals and conversations with good people. I chose to make parts of the week's pace run over the first 5-6 miles of Carl Olson Memorial Adventure Run (25k) and switched over to LSD mode for the final 9-10 miles. I ran portions of it, before crossing US41 on Garden Brook, with Andi and Shannon, and rest of it solo. It was a heartwarming experience to be wished for my birthday (I share it with Shannon M) by the race director (Mike Young; Cheryl and Christine Young had something to with it the night before), volunteers and fellow participants before the start and then by every volunteer/participant along the course. My time for the weekend was good enough to earn the Average Joe award for the second time in 3 years (Andi won the Average Jane). Having been an event that had commanded its own full-on race report in previous years, it took a lot of mental effort to give it its deserving attention while keeping the bigger picture in mind. An additional mini-goal I had for this event was to just run the mile (or the kilometer, for fanatics of SI Units) I was in - instead of worrying about how many were behind or ahead - turned out to be lor harder than I had imagined. It's not far fetched to claim Shannon's timely medical magic not only got me ready for this event but likely saved rest of the marathon training season. 
|
|||||||||
| Phase 2: Phase 1 + Speed, tempo and hill runs + strength training | |||||||||
| Wk |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
Week | Season |
| 07 |
07/16 E 4.00 4.01 0:39:51 |
07/17 E 9.00 8.12 1:19:54 |
07/18 E 4.00 4.08 0:39:03 |
07/19 Rest -- -- |
07/20 Rest -- -- |
07/21 R 13.10 13.20 1:49:39 |
07/22 X 1:00:00 3.01 1:17:47 |
30.10
32.42 5:46:14 |
204.10
214.98 49:02:16 |
|
I started out well and easy with DJ but he peeled ahead just as Joel joined along. We ran together for about 4 miles meeting our short-term goals. Though I got behind the goal pace for a while, I decided to go for broke at about 5 mile mark. Heart rate wasn't too high but head/cross winds didn't help my cause over the final ~5 miles. I finished several minutes off of PR with an official time of 1:49:43 (55/184 overall, 45/90 in gender and 7/10 in AG). Realizing that my fastest and slowest miles were only a minute apart was particularly satisfying. Driving to the start with Ray and Stephen and back with Ray offered a wealth of information about running. Ray thought I could have finished a sub-4 hour marathon in today's conditions! The week after RTK weekend, in previous years, was mostly for recovery. Being able to keep up with the W07 training plan in its entirety was the first visible benefit/value of following Hal's plan. I felt good about the progress so far. As long as I stick with the training, drop some more weight in a meaningful way and don't do too much stupid stuff, I should be ok. 
|
|||||||||
| 08 |
07/23 S 4.00 4.15 0:46:32 |
07/24 E 8.00 6.31 1:23:58 |
07/25 T 4.00 6.26 1:26:48 |
07/26 Rest -- -- |
07/27 E 8.00 8.01 1:51:49 |
07/28 L 17.00 -- -- |
07/29 X 1:00:00 17.04 4:14:42 |
41.00
41.77 9:43:49 |
245.10
256.75 58:46:05 |
| 09 |
07/30 S 4.00 4.07 0:42:10 |
07/31 T 8.00 8.67 1:32:03 |
08/01 E 4.00 4.12 0:47:16 |
08/02 Rest -- -- |
08/03 R 8.00 8.22 1:17:21 |
08/04 L 16.00 16.03 2:49:26 |
08/05 X 1:00:00 -- 1:00:00 |
40.00
41.11 8:08:16 |
285.10
297.86 66:54:21 |
| 10 |
08/06 S 4.00 4.10 0:41:13 |
08/07 E 9.00 9.06 1:36:41 |
08/08 H 4.00 4.37 1:16:07 |
08/09 Rest -- -- |
08/10 R 9.00 9.17 1:44:34 |
08/11 L 19.00 19.30 3:00:38 |
08/12 X 1:00:00 -- 1:00:00 |
45.00
46.00 9:19:13 |
330.10
343.86 76:13:34 |
|
When I woke up (almost slept through as I had set the alarm but only for weekdays), I was a bit flustered and thus incorrectly assumed that I needed 9 miles before the half marathon started at 8 am. So, I started running shortly before 6:30 am and at a pretty decent pace. Only at mile 3 did I realize that I just needed 6 miles total instead of 6 more and that I'd arrive at the start line about 30 minutes before the scheduled start time (instead of 7-10 minutes as originally planned). I spent much of those 30 minutes stretching and walking and failing mostly at conversing with strangers/fellow runners. Having run the course last year and knowing that a very large number of aid stations existed at frequent intervals, I was able to maintain a decent pace for all of 13.1 miles (instead of just the last 9 as originally planned). It was warm and at times hilly but an occasional gentle breeze negated the humidity. Jim Engel's roadside signs (All It Takes Is All You Got and Harder The Conflict, Greater The Triumph) and cheers from spectators and volunteers provided sufficient energy to keep running. Tips learned from The Run Experience and RunRx (thanks to Angela for the latter) came in very handy. I was pretty happy with the official finish time of 1:59:03 (53/185 overall, 34/89 in gender and 4/7 in AG). 
|
|||||||||
| 11 |
08/13 S 5.00 5.05 1:47:38 |
08/14 T 10.00 10.73 2:18:55 |
08/15 E 5.00 8.79 2:51:31 |
08/16 Rest -- -- |
08/17 E 10.00 10.05 1:27:52 |
08/18 L 20.00 20.26 3:25:32 |
08/19 X 1:00:00 -- 1:00:00 |
50.00
54.88 12:51:28 |
380.10
398.74 89:05:02 |
| 12 |
08/20 S 5.00 5.03 0:44:10 |
08/21 T 10.00 11.13 1:52:58 |
08/22 E 5.00 7.61 1:24:36 |
08/23 Rest -- -- |
08/24 L 20.00 -- -- |
08/25 R 10.00 26.23 5:01:09 |
08/26 X 1:00:00 12.26 3:22:24 |
50.00
62.26 12:25:17 |
430.10
461.00 101:30:19 |
|
John, who had previously followed the same marathon training plan, had suggested that I do at least two of the three 20 milers a bit longer to avoid (or even remove) the onset of The Wall during the marathon. So, I had planned to do 10 miles before the start of Saturday's half marathon. By the time I got to the Big M and got ready to run, I had just enough time for about 8 miles. By the time I got back to Big M to start the half marathon, I overhead fellow participants talking about delays caused by overnight thunderstorms. So, I opted to slowly jog around (thanks, Scott, #1020) another ~5 miles. The course was spectacular, sans mile markings for some aid stations. I did hit the dreaded wall and walked quite a bit between miles 16 and 19. A mini but reasonable/achieavble goal (one of many concepts/practices I learned from running 20 miles with Ray the previous weekend) to run the rest without walking irrespective of the pace or terrain eventually helped me finish strong (66/425 overall, 36/143 in gender and 8/15 in AG). I woke up Sunday morning feeling pretty fresh and passed the first step test. I started the half marathon at the end of the pack and was stuck behind a slow moving single file of runners for the first ~2 miles. The trails, if at all possible, were more beautiful and surreal - a mix of fog, moss, cloud cover that kept me shaded transported the setting into a completely different world. The effort also seemed/felt better and I was able to run the entire length of the course (except aid stations) without walking. I was quite happy with lack of any pain and to have finished fairly strong (65/317 overall, 45/134 in gender and 9/23 in AG). Bonus features from this trip downstate included my maiden stay at an AirBnB (a cool little room on a big ship - SS City of Milwaukee), grocery shopping experience in Meijer and visiting the Koethes (Debbie, Tom, Sarah and Scout; and enjoying their company and an amazing home-cooked meal!) . 
|
|||||||||
| Phase 3: Phase 2 + Race-like situations and taper | |||||||||
| Wk |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
Week | Season |
| 13 |
08/27 E 5.00 -- -- |
08/28 S 6.00 -- -- |
08/29 H 5.00 16.07 2:48:03 |
08/30 Rest -- -- |
08/31 L 6.00 -- -- |
09/01 R 12.00 13.17 1:46:49 |
09/02 X 1:00:00 6.29 2:13:12 |
34.00
35.53 6:48:04 |
464.10
496.53 108:18:23 |
|
I started slow averaging ~8 min/mile for the first 5 miles while accounting for rolling course. I cautiously pushed the pace for the next 5 miles once the course was all downhill while accounting for potential slippery surface and possible quadraceps pain. At about the 10 mile mark, a PR was well within range. But I gave into into the humid and muggy conditions on top of carrying thoughts about something that happened at an aid station shortly after mile 10. The latter most certainly didn't help my cause ... I was shy of the PR by about 4 minutes (57/534 overall, 38/198 in gender and 14/62 in AG). Shortly after crossing the finish line, it was really cool to see Kara come through punching her ticket to Boston with nearly 7.5 minutes to spare! Jan and John won their respective age groups and Angela had a pretty good race too!! It was also disheartening to hear the story of an elderly gentleman that missed out on qualifying for Boston by just one minute. I felt pretty good about the impact of training so far in spite of missing a PR. I realized the need to continue working on letting things go as well as on improving and sustaining cadence over longer durations. 
|
|||||||||
| 14 |
09/03 S 5.00 5.01 0:37:26 |
09/04 E 6.00 6.48 1:12:06 |
09/05 E 5.00 5.02 0:45:24 |
09/06 Rest -- -- |
09/07 E 6.00 3.14 0:25:18 |
09/08 L 12.00 16.20 2:20:32 |
09/09 X 1:00:00 -- 1:00:00 |
34.00
35.85 6:20:46 |
498.10
532.38 114:39:09 |
| 15 |
09/10 S 5.00 5.23 0:41:55 |
09/11 T 10.00 5.07 1:26:28 |
09/12 H 5.00 5.58 1:03:39 |
09/13 Rest -- -- |
09/14 R 10.00 13.13 1:59:39 |
09/15 L 20.00 -- -- |
09/16 X 1:00:00 26.31 5:12:24 |
50.00
55.32 10:24:05 |
548.10
587.70 125:03:14 |
| 16 |
09/17 E 5.00 5.05 0:50:52 |
09/18 T 8.00 -- -- |
09/19 H 5.00 2.05 0:28:07 |
09/20 Rest -- -- |
09/21 R 4.00 -- -- |
09/22 L 12.00 26.53 10:57:39 |
09/23 X 1:00:00 -- 1:00:00 |
34.00
33.63 13:16:38 |
582.10
621.33 138:19:52 |
|
Jess started the adventure around 9 am in Marquette and I joined at her 31.4 mile mark in Ishpeming around 5:30 pm. The course was pretty but a difficult one. The pace was dictated by Jess' prior mileage and feel, structure of the terrain and darkness of the night. We did pretty well and survived with all our limbs, digits, toe nails and no injuries (no sprains, tweaks, rolls or blisters) - thanks to invaluable help from Braxton (winner of 2017 #MG50 Run; for the apriori information about the course, specifically the last 20 some miles and helping me pick out a hydration backpack with necessary goodies in Queen City Running Company), Amanda and Megan (for being our own trail angels and bringing supplies at critical pre-designated points along the course), Adam and Tim (about the gnarliness of the final 7-8 miles) and many other unnamed fellow racers, pacers and self-appointed volunteers/trail angels (for company and conversations). The 50 mile course turned out to be about 4 miles longer than the advertised 55 miles. So, I got to enjoy the course for about 28 miles instead of just 20. The course was extremely well marked - something I should emulate the next time I have an opportunity to do so. This was indeed my first official rodeo - of being a pacer. Things that Mark Mehler and Dr. Bill Bulleit taught me about pacing and pacer etiquette came in very handy. I was quite proud of remembering whose race it was, what my responsibilities were, preparing for and executing them reasonably well and peeling off/away from the finish chute. It was quite nice to see Todd, the race director of #BlameTodd fame, still being present around the finish line at that witching hour (I heard later that Danny, the course designer of #BlameDanny fame, was there too) to chat with finishing racers and pacers. I am pretty certain I got more than what I agreed to from this experience and I might even consider being a participant in this event one of these years. 
|
|||||||||
| 17 |
09/24 S 4.00 2.12 0:20:57 |
09/25 T 6.00 5.03 0:53:52 |
09/26 H 4.00 5.18 0:47:03 |
09/27 Rest -- -- |
09/28 E 4.00 -- -- |
09/29 L 8.00 8.16 1:35:30 |
09/30 X 1:00:00 6.26 1:57:11 |
26.00
26.75 5:34:33 |
608.10
648.08 143:54:25 |
| 18 |
10/01 S 3.00 13.50 1:11:50 |
10/02 T 4.00 4.15 0:43:17 |
10/03 H 3.00 3.04 0:35:04 |
10/04 Rest -- -- |
10/05 Rest -- -- |
10/06 E 2.00 2.38 0:27:23 |
10/07 R 26.20 26.22 3:40:05 |
38.20
49.29 6:37:39 |
646.30
697.37 150:32:04 |
|
Though I knew I hadn't rolled or tweaked or stumbled during previous weekend's Marji Gesick festivities, this was exactly the type of thing that I had secretly feared. Andi thought it could have just been a side effect of being on my feet for nearly 22 hours and that I needed to just rest more. Two full days of rest that included some of Hill - Lloyd magic ... and I was back to running with no pain by W17D06. Keeping in mind the recommendations from Stephen about sticking to the known easy surfaces to minimize the chances of an untimely injury, I was even able to make up the lost mileage along the shores of the greatest of the Great Lakes on W17D07 and keep the schedule during W18. |
|||||||||
Training eye candies
Vitals (sleep, resting heart rate and weight) are/were measured every day shortly after waking up. If a measurement wasn't taken on a given day (say, due to laziness), then the recorded value from the previous day is used for computing the 7-day moving average.
A happy by-product of mindful eating, meaningful training and a little more rest. I learned to code N-day moving averages!
By the end of W18D03, I was pretty happy and proud of myself for sticking with the training plan and ancillary goals. I wasn’t a saint by any stretch of the imagination. There were days when I missed the workout and I didn’t feel great (or see its value towards the Big Picture) before/during/after some workouts. But I found ways to make up the lost mileage. There were 3 weeks when I missed the weekly running mileage. But a tenth of a mile here and a quarter mile there easily added up to nearly 30 miles more than the plan prescribed by the time training ended. There were weeks when my alcohol consumption was well above the 2 beers per week limit. But I brought the average down well below that limit by week 13 (Marquette Half Marathon) and didn’t sip even a teaspoon of alcohol until the final 26.2 was done.
Above all, I had over 4 dozen friends who not only opted to let me run with them (anywhere between one and over two dozen miles; anywhere between once to at least once a week) but also shared a plethora of time-tested and trusted tips and tricks that made the entire process a very very enjoyable and enlightening one! Running in their company helped magically keep my heart rate down and in turn, helped me stick with the HR-based method with lot less effort than I had expected. Many of them frequently fed me hearty and healthy meals along the way! Rob and momma Handler had even made sure I didn’t do anything stupid (you know … like trying to catch a falling leaf while running) during my last run in town before I headed towards the Windy City :)
The Days Before
John, being a veteran of many Chicago Marathons, had long ago made reservations in a hotel within a short walking distance from the starting and finishing lines. We (John and I) left Houghton around noon on Friday and had an uneventful journey to Chicago with a dinner pit stop in Milwaukee. It wasn’t long before I called it a night – because, you know, the night before the night before is the last best chance to get a full night of sleep!
After waiting for the rain/thunderstorms to pass, John and I went for our final training run before the marathon. The run was punctuated fairly frequently at road crossings and to take photos. Shortly after that, we (Kara, John and I) headed out to the pre-race expo to pick up our bibs and stuff. As we were walking to catch a bus to the expo, John and Kara advised: Just #$%*ing run tomorrow. Don’t be computing something while you run. Supercomputer is going to be ok. [Don’t worry about your students (or others) while you run either. They’ll survive the weekend just fine]. It’s amazing how well my people know me and know what I need often well before I do so myself. Figuring this’d be a good lesson in learning to let things go, even if it’s just for 24 hours and 26.2 miles, I decided to give them my word that I’d do as they said :)
John did a spectacular job of making sure I didn’t buy anything other than (a) a long sleeve shirt or a pull over and (b) a roller – one that runners use. Since we were unable to find a good roller (we did but it was too inexpensively priced at $129), John was kind enough to let me buy a commemorative pint glass instead!
We got a good bite to eat at Hannah’s Bretzel and then watched people in the lobby once we got back to the hotel until it was time for dinner. Chris (from Davenport, IA) and Erin (on her way to London from Mexico or Minneapolis) came to Chicago to cheer us on and joined us for dinner at the Rosebud. A short train ride brought us back to the hotel. After setting up the 2D version of me and knowing that 4:30 am would show up sooner than later, I called it a night around 9:30 pm.
The Day
I woke up about 30 minutes before the first scheduled alarm after a pretty decent night of sleep. Not wanting to just lay around, I decided to follow one of Jim‘s traditions and take a shower before the race. Having read that racers without gear to check-in would have an express lane into the corrals, I opted not to carry any bag in spite of repeated reminders from John and Kara. We walked to the start and after a group hug, we went towards our respective corrals shortly before 6 am (John reminded me once more: just run today). Given that we were 80 minutes before the corral gates closed, there wasn’t much of a line. I could have easily checked a bag in with warmer clothes for afterwards.
This was the first event where I wore an extra layer of clothing just to stay warm while waiting in the corral. The drizzle stopped about 20 minutes before the start of the race giving me sufficient time to stretch, jog around and warm up. Knowing my pace and place, I made my way to the very back so as not to be in the way of speedsters going for records. I don’t remember the last time so many people thought I was a Mexican and tried initiating a conversation in Spanish with me. And just like that one time in Great Bear Chase, every one of them was very disappointed upon learning that I hailed from Michigan and that my Spanish vernacular didn’t go much beyond amiga, amigo, hola, uno, dos, tres, ocho, cinco, casa, salsa, guacamole and gracias.
After disappointing few more friends from south of the border and hearing a beautiful rendition of The Star Spangled Banner, the event was off at 7:30 am. It took about 6 minutes and 20 seconds, much less than what I had expected, for the elites (read: Gwen Jorgensen, Tatyana McFadden and such heroes of mine) as to start flying and for my clock to officially start ticking. Contrary to my expectations, there was sufficient wiggle room over the first 3-4 miles. My pace during those first miles, though considerably faster than the plan, appeared to be manageable and so, I kept at it. I followed my nutrition plan (practiced during the LSD run on W15D07) and consumed the Gu about every third mile and gatorade/water at every aid station. I could have switched the order of flavors of Gu I consumed: Triberry, Salted Caramel, Chocolate Outrage and Espresso Love, and will do so the next time I run a marathon. The texture, in the order I consumed, got thicker and jaws needed to work a little harder to get them in.
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Goal vs Reality
Goal: 26.22 mi in 4:06:16 (9:23 min/mi) Reality: 26.14 mi in 3:40:05.0 (8:25 min/mi) |
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| # |
Lap Distance mi |
Lap Pace min/mile |
Lap Elevation feet |
Total Distance mi |
Total Time h:mm:ss |
Total Elevation feet |
Total Pace min/mile |
Projected Finish Time h:mm:ss |
Differential Goal Time h:mm:ss |
| 01 | 1.00 | 8:52 | 20↑ 30↓ | 1.00 | 0:08:52 | 20↑ 30↓ | 8:52 | 3:52:28 | 0:13:48 |
| 02 | 1.00 | 8:18 | 16↑ 16↓ | 2.00 | 0:17:10 | 36↑ 46↓ | 8:35 | 3:45:03 | 0:21:13 |
| 03 | 1.00 | 7:39 | 10↑ 0↓ | 3.00 | 0:24:49 | 46↑ 46↓ | 8:16 | 3:36:45 | 0:29:31 |
| 04 | 1.00 | 7:43 | 0↑ 13↓ | 4.00 | 0:32:33 | 46↑ 59↓ | 8:08 | 3:33:15 | 0:33:01 |
| 05 | 1.00 | 7:51 | 3↑ 7↓ | 5.00 | 0:40:24 | 49↑ 66↓ | 8:04 | 3:31:30 | 0:34:46 |
| 06 | 1.00 | 8:01 | 0↑ 10↓ | 6.00 | 0:48:26 | 49↑ 76↓ | 8:04 | 3:31:30 | 0:34:46 |
| 07 | 1.00 | 7:51 | 7↑ 3↓ | 7.00 | 0:56:17 | 56↑ 79↓ | 8:02 | 3:30:37 | 0:35:39 |
| 08 | 1.00 | 7:52 | 7↑ 0↓ | 8.00 | 1:04:10 | 63↑ 79↓ | 8:01 | 3:30:12 | 0:36:04 |
| 09 | 1.00 | 8:04 | 0↑ 3↓ | 9.00 | 1:12:15 | 63↑ 82↓ | 8:01 | 3:30:12 | 0:36:04 |
| 10 | 1.00 | 7:46 | 16↑ 3↓ | 10.00 | 1:20:02 | 79↑ 85↓ | 8:00 | 3:29:45 | 0:36:31 |
| 11 | 1.00 | 8:01 | 0↑ 23↓ | 11.00 | 1:28:04 | 79↑ 108↓ | 8:00 | 3:29:45 | 0:36:31 |
| 12 | 1.00 | 8:01 | 0↑ 16↓ | 12.00 | 1:36:05 | 79↑ 124↓ | 8:00 | 3:29:45 | 0:36:31 |
| 13 | 1.00 | 9:12 | 23↑ 7↓ | 13.00 | 1:45:17 | 102↑ 131↓ | 8:05 | 3:31:57 | 0:34:19 |
| 14 | 1.00 | 8:58 | 16↑ 16↓ | 14.00 | 1:54:16 | 118↑ 147↓ | 8:09 | 3:33:41 | 0:32:35 |
| 15 | 1.00 | 8:25 | 0↑ 3↓ | 15.00 | 2:02:41 | 118↑ 150↓ | 8:10 | 3:34:07 | 0:32:09 |
| 16 | 1.00 | 8:22 | 0↑ 7↓ | 16.00 | 2:11:04 | 118↑ 157↓ | 8:11 | 3:34:34 | 0:31:42 |
| 17 | 1.00 | 7:57 | 0↑ 7↓ | 17.00 | 2:19:01 | 118↑ 164↓ | 8:10 | 3:34:07 | 0:32:09 |
| 18 | 1.00 | 8:04 | 3↑ 7↓ | 18.00 | 2:27:05 | 121↑ 171↓ | 8:10 | 3:34:07 | 0:32:09 |
| 19 | 1.00 | 8:31 | 3↑ 3↓ | 19.00 | 2:35:37 | 124↑ 174↓ | 8:11 | 3:34:34 | 0:31:42 |
| 20 | 1.00 | 8:40 | 3↑ 0↓ | 20.00 | 2:44:17 | 127↑ 174↓ | 8:12 | 3:35:00 | 0:31:16 |
| 21 | 1.00 | 8:54 | 10↑ 20↓ | 21.00 | 2:53:11 | 137↑ 194↓ | 8:14 | 3:35:52 | 0:30:24 |
| 22 | 1.00 | 8:55 | 10↑ 3↓ | 22.00 | 3:02:06 | 147↑ 197↓ | 8:16 | 3:36:45 | 0:29:31 |
| 23 | 1.00 | 9:18 | 13↑ 7↓ | 23.00 | 3:11:24 | 160↑ 204↓ | 8:19 | 3:38:03 | 0:28:13 |
| 24 | 1.00 | 9:10 | 7↑ 0↓ | 24.00 | 3:20:35 | 167↑ 204↓ | 8:21 | 3:38:56 | 0:27:20 |
| 25 | 1.00 | 9:28 | 0↑ 7↓ | 25.00 | 3:30:03 | 167↑ 211↓ | 8:24 | 3:40:15 | 0:26:01 |
| 26 | 1.00 | 9:00 | 33↑ 0↓ | 26.00 | 3:39:03 | 200↑ 211↓ | 8:25 | 3:40:41 | 0:25:35 |
| 27 | 0.14 | 7:51 | 0↑ 7↓ | 26.14 | 3:40:09 | 200↑ 218↓ | 8:25 | 3:40:41 | 0:25:35 |
| The final cumulative time, 3:40:09, may not match the official time (3:40:05.0) owing to rounding errors. Starting my watch a few seconds before the start and stopping it a few seconds after crossing the finish line can be an additional reason for this discrepancy. The overall distance, 26.14 mi, may not match the designated (or certified) event distance (26.22 mi) owing to idiosyncrasies associated with GPS data collection OR my inability to take the tangents OR the aforementioned early start/late stop reasons, and in some rare cases, incorrectly measured (or advertised) courses or DNFs. As a result, the cumulative pace and the projected finish time might not match the official values as well. | |||||||||
Apriori knowledge gained from conversations with many friends (Ann Hoover, Cheryl, John, Kara, Ryan, Dr. Weaver) and analyzing GPX files downloaded from Strava was super helpful! For the vast majority of the course that snaked through numerous diverse and vibrant neighborhoods, it felt like I was in a Super Bowl parade. So many amazing people – including 3 of our own: Chris, Erin and Megan – lined up both sides of the course for almost all of the miles. It was cold and even rained some making it a miserable day for spectating a marathon. One would have to go out of the way to not feel the energy they bestowed upon all the runners.
Around mile 15 or 16, when the 3:25ish pace group was still within reach, I noticed some pain in the right foot. I didn’t think much of this pain and figured it’d go away soon. It didn’t and shortly after crossing mile 20, the 3:30ish pace group pulled away from me. The pain wasn’t too bad and I knew it wasn’t the dreaded wall (rest of the body and even the left leg was just fine). I was still keeping a fairly decent pace (around 9 min/mile) but it wasn’t the pace I had practiced during W15D07 LSD run and knew I was capable of. If not for the full length training runs and lessons from friends who ran with me, it would have been quite difficult to not start walking. One particular lesson that I constantly practiced – phrasing the remaining distance to the finish line as a safe destination distance (e.g., X miles from friends’ house to my house OR vice versa) instead of just X many miles to go – came in very very handy and made the finish line something I could work towards eagerly.
| Goals (in order of importance) and their status | ||
| # | Goal | Status |
| 00 | Follow the training plan and complete it with few excuses | Yes |
| 01 | Finish below 4:06:16 (faster than 9:24 min/mile, 6.38 mph) and earn a PR | Yes; 3:40:05, 8:24 min/mile, 7.14 mph |
| 02 | Finish below 3:59:59 (faster than 9:09 min/mile, 6.56 mph) | Yes; 3:40:05, 8:24 min/mile, 7.14 mph |
| 03 | Finish below 3:44:59 (faster than 8:35 min/mile, 6.99 mph) | Yes; 3:40:05, 8:24 min/mile, 7.14 mph |
| 04 | Finish below 3:37:59 (faster than 8:19 min/mile, 7.21 mph) | No |
| 05 | Finish below 3:29:59 (faster than 8:01 min/mile, 7.48 mph) | No |
Thanks in great part to the magic of Handler – Hill – Ross – Starks – Temple – Vertin enterprise, a cramp in my right calf only lasted about 5 seconds as Kara and I weaved our way through the sea of finishers … posing for photos, hydrating and munching on goodies that the volunteers so kindly handed to us. I could only muster a few sips of the specially packaged for the occasion beer that Goose Island Brewing Company was serving up but I did save the can. The line to pick up the gear bag was long but it did move quickly. It was rather disappointing to see a lack of changing tents – ala the ones in American Birkebeiner – that would have shielded finishers from the passing cold front, kept their sweat from freezing and provided them a little more privacy.
Though we had agreed to meet at a designated runner re-unite area, it was much too long of a walk. Opting to conserve our energy and time, Kara and I made our way back to the edge of No Entry zone of the finish chute to meet John. Soon after John came through and changed into warmer clothes, we walked back to the hotel. We took the recommendation of a fellow runner and tried out Native Foods Cafe for lunch to start the 24-hour gorging opportunity! John and Kara then took me around through the Millennium Park to check out the Bean and other touristy things. And soon enough, it was time for dinner! A short train ride took us to Parlor Pizza Bar where Megan joined us. It didn’t take much time after a Speakerswagon Pilsner and a falafel burger (in a pretzel bun with extra avocado) disappeared for us to get back to the hotel and let the body heal with a full night of sleep.
The Day After
Our uneventful return journey to the Yoop started around noon and after a handful of stops, we were safely back home around 8:45 pm. Reviewing an article from Runner’s World, I learned more about the lesser known but equally impressive Top 10 finishers from the day before: Sarah Crouch (#6, 2:32:37), Taylor Ward (#7, 2:32:42; a full-time college professor in the school of radiologic science at Weber State University in Ogden, UT, and working on her PhD!), Kate Landau (#8, 2:33:24) and Marci Klimek( #10, 2:34:53).
I did have a light bulb moment somewhere between Crystal Falls and Covington: the reason for the right foot pain became very clear. It wasn’t the wall as I had guessed before. But it had everything to do with running on just one side of the road/course. A similar pain had showed up after our own Canal Run and Lloyd had specifically suggested that I run every couple miles on the other side of the road to balance it out. Though I had religiously followed his advice since then, the taper period had no runs longer than 8 miles. As such, the practice fell off my routine and in turn, out of my mind. It was a classic example of a propagation error – that when left uncared for over a period of time – shows up as a catastrophic error. In hindsight, I was disappointed in myself for not remembering a simple little trick that could have potentially helped me finish with a much better time. But I was happy it didn’t keep me from completing the race or a good number of the goals I had in mind. It will hopefully serve me another lesson in the value of doing the little things correctly every damned single time.
Even after 150 hours and 675 some miles, I still have no idea as to what I am running from or where I am running to (thanks to a dear friend for this quote in a note quite some time ago). But apart from becoming a better organizer of data and programmer, I did learn quite a bit from this process:
- Good training plans, such as the ones from Hal Higdon, do work. It’s lot easier to stay with the plan and do most (if not all) of weekly mileage per week than to occasionally visit the plan and then try finding 150 hours the night before the marathon. It was extremely beneficial to have a local network of friends who had previously used this plan (and knew what to change) and who could verify and validate my progress along the way.
- The Handler – Hill – Ross – Starks – Temple – Vertin enterprise knows my body way better than I do myself.
- I can’t possibly eat/drink whatever I want and whenever I want in spite of running any number of miles or exercising any number of hours each week.
- Consistent strength training and biking (and swimming too) would have likely improved my core strength, cadence and breathing. In turn, I would have likely improved my finish time. So would have remembering to run alternately on either side of the road. Thanks to help from Drs. Robert Larson, Christopher Schwartz and John Durocher, I am starting to formally learn the reasons underlying the structure of training plans and the value of strength/cross-training activities.
- Letting things go, even if it was just for 24ish hours and 26.2 miles, did wonders and ensured 18+ weeks of training didn’t go down the drain on an almost sartorially resplendent day for running.
This was by far the best marathon experience (in terms of training, logistics, size and energy of the field and the crowd, and my own performance) and I’d definitely go back to do at least once more. I hope this will serve as a foundation for bigger and better and faster things down the road.
Thanks be to
the rejections and opportunities life has brought my way, event folks (organizers, sponsors, volunteers, timers, law enforcement officials, photographers, fellow participants and spectators) and my family of good friends, mentors and coaches in and outside of my community for all the unexpected, undeserved and unrewarded acts of kindness and constant encouragement as well as offerings of constructive criticism to improve myself as a human and an athlete. I am eternally grateful to all those who let me train with them, who shared their meals and experiences with me, who helped keep me in good health, who helped me stay the course, and who cheered me on from home or along the course.
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