Here's how I trained for the Richmond Marathon, picking up where my last post left off:
August 27 - September 2
Mo: 8 miles
Tu: 8 miles
We: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 min. with half recoveries
Th: 8 miles
Fr: 8 miles
Sa: 18 miles with 3 x 2k (2 min. rests), 8k easy, 3 x 2k (2 min. rests)
Su: 8 miles
Week total: 70 miles
September 3 - 9
Mo: off
Tu: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 min. with equal recoveries
We: 8 miles
Th: 8 miles
Fr: 7 miles plus 6 strides
Sa: 4 miles
Su: Parks Half Marathon in 1:26:24
Week total: 53 miles
September 10 - 16
Mo: 8 miles
Tu: 9 miles
We: 8 miles
Th: 9 miles plus 8 x 40 sec. hills
Fr: 8 miles
Sa: 20 miles easy
Su: 8 miles
Week total: 70 miles
September 17 - 23
Mo: 9 miles
Tu: 3 x (2, 3, 4 min.) with equal recoveries
We: 9 miles
Th: 8 miles plus 6 strides
Fr: 8 miles
Sa: 19 with miles 3-6 and 15-16 at marathon effort
Su: 9 miles
Week total: 75 miles
September 24 - 30
Mo: 8.5 miles
Tu: 8 x 3 min. hard / 2 min. jog
We: 8.5 miles
Th: 8.5 miles plus 8 strides
Fr: 8.5 miles
Sa: 22 with miles 15-20 at 6:52, 34, 25, 27, 15, 28
Su: 8.5 miles
Week total: 75 miles
October 1 - 7
Mo: off
Tu: 10 x 500m (1 min. rests)
We: 9 miles
Th: 9 miles
Fr: off
Sa: 6 miles
Su: Army 10 miler in 1:06:25
Week total: 49 miles
October 8 - 14
Mo: 8.5 miles
Tu: 9.5 miles
We: 8.5 miles plus 5 strides
Th: 8.5 miles
Fr: 2 x 4 miles (2 min. rest) at 6:46 avg.
Sa: 8 miles
Su: 24 miles easy
Week total: 80 miles
October 15 - 21
Mo: off
Tu: 9 miles
We: 3 x (2, 3, 4 min.) with equal recoveries
Th: 9 miles
Fr: 9 miles plus 5 strides
Sa: 9 miles
Su: off (skipped planned MP tempo)
Week total: 50 miles
October 22 - 28
Mo: off
Tu: 2 mile test jog in PM
We: 8 miles
Th: 7 miles
Fr: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 min. with half recoveries
Sa: 7 miles
Su: 6.5 miles
Week total: 42 miles
October 29 - November 4
Mo: off
Tu: off
We: 6 miles
Th: 14 with miles 8-12 at 6:53, 30, 35, 35, 23
Fr: off
Sa: 5.5 miles
Su: 11.5 miles
Week total: 37 miles
November 5 - 11
Mo: off
Tu: 5 miles
We: 3 x 1k (1 min. rests)
Th: 4 miles
Fr: off
Sa: Richmond Marathon
Su:
Week total: 16 miles pre-race
Three things about this training block stand out and led me to think, going into Richmond, that I was in PR shape. First, it was consistent. I was not sidetracked by injury or illness, with the exception of two hip / hamstring niggles at either end of a 10 day stretch that began 3 weeks before the race. But by then I figured I had it in the bag anyway, and I was able to bounce back and get sharp in plenty of time before the race. Second, my overall volume was higher than it's been for I think 5 years, averaging 58 miles for the last 12 weeks. Probably my only other marathon training block that compares with this one was before my 2:58:56 PR at the 2015 Philadelphia Marathon, which averaged 55 miles for the last 12 weeks. I consciously modeled this training block on that one but incorporated a few minor changes, including slightly higher volume. Third, I had several workouts that compared with or improved upon my best ever. This started with the Parks Half Marathon. Although I've twice run half marathons 1:30-2:00 faster than I ran this race (in 2013 and 2016), those times were run on much faster courses than Parks, and there was a lot of standing water on the Parks course from heavy rainfall. So considering the course and conditions, this was arguably a PR-level performance. Two weeks after Parks I struggled on a tempo-run-tempo attempt in humid weather, but the following weekend (on Sept. 29) I felt smooth on a 22 miler while hitting paces that I don't think I've ever been able to touch at the end of such a long run before. Was it a fluke? Maybe. Warm and humid conditions at the Army 10 miler the following weekend prevented comparisons with other 10 milers I've run, and injury niggles forced me to skip a planned long tempo two weeks later. But when those niggles subsided, the same power seemed to be at my disposal when I hazarded a 14 mile progression run 10 days before Richmond.
So I was fit and there were signs that I was in PR shape. Plus the weather looked great: mid-40s and sunny but breezy, which happen to be exactly same conditions I had in Philadelphia in 2015. There are, however, two relevant differences between Philadelphia and Richmond: I had run the Philly course before, and the Richmond course is hillier. The Philly course isn't totally flat either, but the hills are not as significant and I knew where they are, having run my first BQ there in 2013. (Plus I used to live in Philadelphia). I ran the Richmond Half in 2016, but the hilly portions of the full marathon course are not part of the half marathon course. I had of course looked at the elevation profile online, but that's different from actually knowing the course, which I had never even seen.
Before the race I made a conscious decision to go for a PR and take the risk of blowing up. I'd already run 13 marathons, and I'm proud of my 2:58 PR. I'd like to see whether I can run faster, but I don't really care about racking up yet another marathon finish in a slower time, certainly not over 3:00. So my plan was to aim for 1:28:30-1:29 at halfway, to put myself in a position to run between 2:55 and 2:58. I expected miles 15-18 to be the most difficult of the course, with hills and a headwind on a long bridge. So I expected to slow down a bit there. Whether I could just eek out a PR or run for 2:55 glory would depend on how much I could rally after 18 miles, if things went to plan. Again, I knew perfectly well that things might not go to plan at all, as often happens in marathons. But the whole point of training for and racing Richmond was to try to run 2:55 or at least a PR. My training indicated that I had a chance, so I went for it.
Here's what happened: (A 2:55 marathon is 6:41-43 avg. pace)
Mile 1 - 6:42
Mile 2 - 6:43
Mile 3 - 6:37
Mile 4 - 6:41
Mile 5 - 6:43
Mile 6 - 6:53
Mile 7 - 6:22 (downhill)
Mile 8 - 6:38
Mile 9 - 6:42
Mile 10 - 6:44
Mile 11 - 6:51
Mile 12 - 7:01 (trouble)
Mile 13 - 8:27 (includes almost 2:00 in a bathroom)
Mile 14 - 6:51
Mile 15 - 6:40
Mile 16 - 7:20 (then I pulled the plug)
Through 10 miles all seemed well. During the first 10k I was a little worried that the pace was going to come back and bite me, but I felt ok and it was clear that I was already committed. After gliding downhill in mile 7 and crossing the river, I started thinking: ok, I can actually do this. I prepared myself for the hills that I expected to begin in mile 9. Looking back now, I realize that my HR was already too high before the hills started. It was already in the high 160s, and I'm pushing once I hit 170. So I should not have let it get higher than low-mid 160s by that point, but I was focusing on pace instead of HR (which, however, I was aware of). The first hill came right at 10 miles, and most of mile 11 was up and down. Looking back, I should have let myself run that hilly mile slower than 6:51, but it was probably too late for that anyway.
After the hilly mile 11, or rather during it, I knew I was in trouble and tried to regroup. At the beginning of mile 12 there was a short downhill, but I could see the next (bigger) hill up ahead. That's when something strange happened. As I was running downhill trying to relax, my heart fluttered and I suddenly felt faint. I looked at my watch and saw that my HR had suddenly jumped from around 170 to almost 180, while I was coasting downhill. (My max heart rate is around 185). It occurs to me now that maybe it was the sight of the next approaching hill that sent my HR up. But at the time I thought something had shifted in my gut, which I've noticed can cause a HR spike. My stomach had felt off this whole time - in fact, since the previous night - and I figured whatever was bugging me down there had finally reached its breaking point. So I immediately backed off to around 7:30 pace up the hill, then hopped into a porta-potty just after the 12 mile mark. As I entered the bathroom, I looked at my watch and told myself: 2 minutes max. But nothing happened in there. I was just cooked and sat there trying to recover. After almost 2 minutes, I burst out of the bathroom and continued running. Now I knew 2:55 was not going to happen, but maybe I could shake this off and still run a PR. Luckily the next two miles were either flat or downhill. I went through halfway in just under 1:30, which meant that I had been on roughly 1:28 flat pace before my break. But there were a lot of miles left, and they weren't all going to be downhill. At 15 miles I reached the long bridge that everybody complains about on the Richmond course. There was a moderate headwind and a modest uphill just after we crossed back over the river. I handled the headwind ok, but once the uphill began I felt the same funny fluttering feeling and faintness that I had felt 4 miles earlier. Looking back, I see that my HR had jumped to the mid-upper 170s again. At that point I knew I was toast. I stopped at the 16 mile mark, got a drink and ate a gel, after which I briefly and half-heartedly started jogging again for a bit. But what's the point of jogging another 10 miles when my body was clearly telling me it was done? I had gambled and lost, so I stepped over to the sidewalk and took off my bib. Luckily the course had circled around near to my hotel at that point, as my Fenix 5x mapping watch enabled me to discover. I only had to walk for around 10 minutes.
I do not regret going for it or dropping out when I did. In fact, I think this experience puts me in a good position to reassess my training and try again, hopefully with more success in 2019. It makes me think back to another DNF of mine in 2014 at the Pisa Marathon in Italy. Then I made it almost 22 miles on what was probably 2:57 pace before my hip locked up and I was reduced to walking. At the time my PR was 3:06, so that experience convinced me that I could go much faster. Sure enough, I set PRs in my next two marathons: a lower 3:06 into a cold, rainy headwind on the slow Boston course in 2015, then my current PR of 2:58 in Philadelphia later that same year. (Pisa was also one of the earliest signs of the hip weakness that still plagues me and that, I later realized, underlies the injury problems that sidelined me for much of 2016). But the comparison with Pisa is not perfect. I made it much further in Pisa than I did in Richmond (but perhaps only because the Pisa course is completely flat), and my PR is much faster now than it was then. Then it was clear that I was due for a big PR if I basically just kept doing what I had been doing. Now, however, it's not at all clear that I'm capable of running faster than 2:58, even on a flatter course than Richmond. I had a great training block this time but fell apart surprisingly early. For that matter, it's not even clear that I'm capable of running sub-3:00 any more. Here are all of my marathon results since my 2:58 PR in 2015:
Houston (January 2017) - DNF (3:43)
Chicago (October 2017) - 3:10:57
Foot Traffic (July 2018) - DNF (3:37)
Richmond (November 2018) - DNF
Richmond was the first marathon I started but did not actually finish. But the only reason I crossed the finish line in Houston was because I needed to get back to my hotel, which was right next to it, and the course was such that I was far away when I blew up. At Foot Traffic my sister and son were waiting for me in the start / finish area, so after blowing up I got back to them as quickly as possible by the only route I knew: the course. But those were both effectively DNFs as well. If somebody had been waiting with a car to pick me up when I decided all was lost at both of those races, I would have hopped into the car. Only Chicago counts as a proper marathon finish, and my time there wasn't even fast enough to get me into 2019 Boston in the 40-44 age group (which, however, I did not apply for). It's true that all three of my marathons between 2015 Philadelphia and 2018 Richmond were warm: they were all in the 60s and 70s, and Houston in particular was also very humid. Richmond was my only marathon attempt in good weather since Philly. Still, I DNF'd, and this is becoming a trend.
Considering this trend, part of me is tempted to throw in the towel and say it's been a good run but everything comes to an end. To be clear: no part of me is tempted to quit running. I mean part of me is tempted to quit running marathons, or at least to take a break from them for an indeterminate amount of time, while focussing only on half marathon or shorter races. It's obvious anyway that at some point it's not going to be realistic for me to aim for PRs anymore, and I'm not sure whether I will keep running marathons once I'm convinced that I've reached that point. (I will definitely keep running shorter races forever). But I'm convinced that I have not yet reached that point, and the marathon continues to captivate me in a love/hate kind of way. Plus, looking over my training, I think I detect something missing that may account for my DNF in Richmond.
Actually, I see two things missing. One of them is hill training, since it was the hills that got me in Richmond. I should incorporate more hills the next time I run a hilly race. But I think my next PR attempt should be on a flat course, so I'll set this consideration aside for the moment. The other and main gap I see in my training as recorded above are marathon effort workouts. Consider: my problem in Richmond was basically that my HR was too high even before I hit the hills. Even on a flatter course, I surely could have run 2:55 pace for longer, but not easily enough to go the full distance. I was not able to run relaxed enough at that pace. Why not? Well, probably because I hardly ever trained at that pace; and even when I did, I almost never practiced running relaxed at that pace. My mid-week workouts nearly always, with only one exception, involved some sort of intervals that alternated between running much harder and much easier than marathon effort. Don't get me wrong: that's great. But it's the only kind of mid-week workout I did, with the single exception of a 2 x 4 mile MP workout on Oct. 12, which however averaged slightly slower than 2:55 marathon pace. I was also planning a long MP tempo on Oct. 21 but skipped it due to a hip / hamstring flare up. But didn't I run marathon effort during some long runs? Well, not much. Often during long runs too I went from running easy pace to running faster than marathon pace; and even when I did run marathon pace during long runs, it was usually towards the end when my heart rate was high. Again, that's great, but it's all I did. The gap I'm noticing is that I did not train my body to run 6:41-43 pace while keeping my HR low enough that I could maintain it for the full marathon distance, and that's critical. Those other kinds of workouts are important too, but in place of some of them I should do more pure marathon pace runs. I did only one before Richmond. Before 2015 Philadelphia, I did three. Next time, I think I should do four, with the focus on keeping my HR down.
I am registered for the Buffalo Marathon on May 26, 2019. That will be my next marathon. It is not flat, so I will need to incorporate some hill training. The date also means that the weather may not be ideal. Of course I knew this when I registered, but I wanted a late Spring marathon so that I have a good chunk of time to focus on shorter distances before switching back to marathon mode. Given these factors, plus my recent string of DNFs, my goal in Buffalo will just be to finish strong. I'll get into the best marathon shape I can, but my race strategy will not involve taking the sort of risks I took in Richmond. I'll keep things relatively conservative in the first half and maybe use HR instead of pace as a gauge to make sure I get to the finish line. Then, if that works out tolerably, I'll make another PR attempt next Fall. After Richmond some people in my club were throwing around the idea of doing Philadelphia in 2019. That sounds good to me. After that, who knows?
For the immediate future, though, I'm going to turn my attention to speed and LT workouts with a view to having fun at some winter club races and then taking aim at some of my non-marathon PRs - every single one of which is from 2013! I've gotten within seconds of both my 10k and half marathon PRs since then, but it's silly that they've lasted this long. I think the trouble I've had in recent years with faster running is rooted in my weak right glute medius, which I've now diagnosed with two PTs and know how to strengthen. I'm going to prioritize that in the coming months.
August 27 - September 2
Mo: 8 miles
Tu: 8 miles
We: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 min. with half recoveries
Th: 8 miles
Fr: 8 miles
Sa: 18 miles with 3 x 2k (2 min. rests), 8k easy, 3 x 2k (2 min. rests)
Su: 8 miles
Week total: 70 miles
September 3 - 9
Mo: off
Tu: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 min. with equal recoveries
We: 8 miles
Th: 8 miles
Fr: 7 miles plus 6 strides
Sa: 4 miles
Su: Parks Half Marathon in 1:26:24
Week total: 53 miles
September 10 - 16
Mo: 8 miles
Tu: 9 miles
We: 8 miles
Th: 9 miles plus 8 x 40 sec. hills
Fr: 8 miles
Sa: 20 miles easy
Su: 8 miles
Week total: 70 miles
September 17 - 23
Mo: 9 miles
Tu: 3 x (2, 3, 4 min.) with equal recoveries
We: 9 miles
Th: 8 miles plus 6 strides
Fr: 8 miles
Sa: 19 with miles 3-6 and 15-16 at marathon effort
Su: 9 miles
Week total: 75 miles
September 24 - 30
Mo: 8.5 miles
Tu: 8 x 3 min. hard / 2 min. jog
We: 8.5 miles
Th: 8.5 miles plus 8 strides
Fr: 8.5 miles
Sa: 22 with miles 15-20 at 6:52, 34, 25, 27, 15, 28
Su: 8.5 miles
Week total: 75 miles
October 1 - 7
Mo: off
Tu: 10 x 500m (1 min. rests)
We: 9 miles
Th: 9 miles
Fr: off
Sa: 6 miles
Su: Army 10 miler in 1:06:25
Week total: 49 miles
October 8 - 14
Mo: 8.5 miles
Tu: 9.5 miles
We: 8.5 miles plus 5 strides
Th: 8.5 miles
Fr: 2 x 4 miles (2 min. rest) at 6:46 avg.
Sa: 8 miles
Su: 24 miles easy
Week total: 80 miles
October 15 - 21
Mo: off
Tu: 9 miles
We: 3 x (2, 3, 4 min.) with equal recoveries
Th: 9 miles
Fr: 9 miles plus 5 strides
Sa: 9 miles
Su: off (skipped planned MP tempo)
Week total: 50 miles
October 22 - 28
Mo: off
Tu: 2 mile test jog in PM
We: 8 miles
Th: 7 miles
Fr: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 min. with half recoveries
Sa: 7 miles
Su: 6.5 miles
Week total: 42 miles
October 29 - November 4
Mo: off
Tu: off
We: 6 miles
Th: 14 with miles 8-12 at 6:53, 30, 35, 35, 23
Fr: off
Sa: 5.5 miles
Su: 11.5 miles
Week total: 37 miles
November 5 - 11
Mo: off
Tu: 5 miles
We: 3 x 1k (1 min. rests)
Th: 4 miles
Fr: off
Sa: Richmond Marathon
Su:
Week total: 16 miles pre-race
Three things about this training block stand out and led me to think, going into Richmond, that I was in PR shape. First, it was consistent. I was not sidetracked by injury or illness, with the exception of two hip / hamstring niggles at either end of a 10 day stretch that began 3 weeks before the race. But by then I figured I had it in the bag anyway, and I was able to bounce back and get sharp in plenty of time before the race. Second, my overall volume was higher than it's been for I think 5 years, averaging 58 miles for the last 12 weeks. Probably my only other marathon training block that compares with this one was before my 2:58:56 PR at the 2015 Philadelphia Marathon, which averaged 55 miles for the last 12 weeks. I consciously modeled this training block on that one but incorporated a few minor changes, including slightly higher volume. Third, I had several workouts that compared with or improved upon my best ever. This started with the Parks Half Marathon. Although I've twice run half marathons 1:30-2:00 faster than I ran this race (in 2013 and 2016), those times were run on much faster courses than Parks, and there was a lot of standing water on the Parks course from heavy rainfall. So considering the course and conditions, this was arguably a PR-level performance. Two weeks after Parks I struggled on a tempo-run-tempo attempt in humid weather, but the following weekend (on Sept. 29) I felt smooth on a 22 miler while hitting paces that I don't think I've ever been able to touch at the end of such a long run before. Was it a fluke? Maybe. Warm and humid conditions at the Army 10 miler the following weekend prevented comparisons with other 10 milers I've run, and injury niggles forced me to skip a planned long tempo two weeks later. But when those niggles subsided, the same power seemed to be at my disposal when I hazarded a 14 mile progression run 10 days before Richmond.
So I was fit and there were signs that I was in PR shape. Plus the weather looked great: mid-40s and sunny but breezy, which happen to be exactly same conditions I had in Philadelphia in 2015. There are, however, two relevant differences between Philadelphia and Richmond: I had run the Philly course before, and the Richmond course is hillier. The Philly course isn't totally flat either, but the hills are not as significant and I knew where they are, having run my first BQ there in 2013. (Plus I used to live in Philadelphia). I ran the Richmond Half in 2016, but the hilly portions of the full marathon course are not part of the half marathon course. I had of course looked at the elevation profile online, but that's different from actually knowing the course, which I had never even seen.
Before the race I made a conscious decision to go for a PR and take the risk of blowing up. I'd already run 13 marathons, and I'm proud of my 2:58 PR. I'd like to see whether I can run faster, but I don't really care about racking up yet another marathon finish in a slower time, certainly not over 3:00. So my plan was to aim for 1:28:30-1:29 at halfway, to put myself in a position to run between 2:55 and 2:58. I expected miles 15-18 to be the most difficult of the course, with hills and a headwind on a long bridge. So I expected to slow down a bit there. Whether I could just eek out a PR or run for 2:55 glory would depend on how much I could rally after 18 miles, if things went to plan. Again, I knew perfectly well that things might not go to plan at all, as often happens in marathons. But the whole point of training for and racing Richmond was to try to run 2:55 or at least a PR. My training indicated that I had a chance, so I went for it.
Here's what happened: (A 2:55 marathon is 6:41-43 avg. pace)
Mile 1 - 6:42
Mile 2 - 6:43
Mile 3 - 6:37
Mile 4 - 6:41
Mile 5 - 6:43
Mile 6 - 6:53
Mile 7 - 6:22 (downhill)
Mile 8 - 6:38
Mile 9 - 6:42
Mile 10 - 6:44
Mile 11 - 6:51
Mile 12 - 7:01 (trouble)
Mile 13 - 8:27 (includes almost 2:00 in a bathroom)
Mile 14 - 6:51
Mile 15 - 6:40
Mile 16 - 7:20 (then I pulled the plug)
Through 10 miles all seemed well. During the first 10k I was a little worried that the pace was going to come back and bite me, but I felt ok and it was clear that I was already committed. After gliding downhill in mile 7 and crossing the river, I started thinking: ok, I can actually do this. I prepared myself for the hills that I expected to begin in mile 9. Looking back now, I realize that my HR was already too high before the hills started. It was already in the high 160s, and I'm pushing once I hit 170. So I should not have let it get higher than low-mid 160s by that point, but I was focusing on pace instead of HR (which, however, I was aware of). The first hill came right at 10 miles, and most of mile 11 was up and down. Looking back, I should have let myself run that hilly mile slower than 6:51, but it was probably too late for that anyway.
After the hilly mile 11, or rather during it, I knew I was in trouble and tried to regroup. At the beginning of mile 12 there was a short downhill, but I could see the next (bigger) hill up ahead. That's when something strange happened. As I was running downhill trying to relax, my heart fluttered and I suddenly felt faint. I looked at my watch and saw that my HR had suddenly jumped from around 170 to almost 180, while I was coasting downhill. (My max heart rate is around 185). It occurs to me now that maybe it was the sight of the next approaching hill that sent my HR up. But at the time I thought something had shifted in my gut, which I've noticed can cause a HR spike. My stomach had felt off this whole time - in fact, since the previous night - and I figured whatever was bugging me down there had finally reached its breaking point. So I immediately backed off to around 7:30 pace up the hill, then hopped into a porta-potty just after the 12 mile mark. As I entered the bathroom, I looked at my watch and told myself: 2 minutes max. But nothing happened in there. I was just cooked and sat there trying to recover. After almost 2 minutes, I burst out of the bathroom and continued running. Now I knew 2:55 was not going to happen, but maybe I could shake this off and still run a PR. Luckily the next two miles were either flat or downhill. I went through halfway in just under 1:30, which meant that I had been on roughly 1:28 flat pace before my break. But there were a lot of miles left, and they weren't all going to be downhill. At 15 miles I reached the long bridge that everybody complains about on the Richmond course. There was a moderate headwind and a modest uphill just after we crossed back over the river. I handled the headwind ok, but once the uphill began I felt the same funny fluttering feeling and faintness that I had felt 4 miles earlier. Looking back, I see that my HR had jumped to the mid-upper 170s again. At that point I knew I was toast. I stopped at the 16 mile mark, got a drink and ate a gel, after which I briefly and half-heartedly started jogging again for a bit. But what's the point of jogging another 10 miles when my body was clearly telling me it was done? I had gambled and lost, so I stepped over to the sidewalk and took off my bib. Luckily the course had circled around near to my hotel at that point, as my Fenix 5x mapping watch enabled me to discover. I only had to walk for around 10 minutes.
I do not regret going for it or dropping out when I did. In fact, I think this experience puts me in a good position to reassess my training and try again, hopefully with more success in 2019. It makes me think back to another DNF of mine in 2014 at the Pisa Marathon in Italy. Then I made it almost 22 miles on what was probably 2:57 pace before my hip locked up and I was reduced to walking. At the time my PR was 3:06, so that experience convinced me that I could go much faster. Sure enough, I set PRs in my next two marathons: a lower 3:06 into a cold, rainy headwind on the slow Boston course in 2015, then my current PR of 2:58 in Philadelphia later that same year. (Pisa was also one of the earliest signs of the hip weakness that still plagues me and that, I later realized, underlies the injury problems that sidelined me for much of 2016). But the comparison with Pisa is not perfect. I made it much further in Pisa than I did in Richmond (but perhaps only because the Pisa course is completely flat), and my PR is much faster now than it was then. Then it was clear that I was due for a big PR if I basically just kept doing what I had been doing. Now, however, it's not at all clear that I'm capable of running faster than 2:58, even on a flatter course than Richmond. I had a great training block this time but fell apart surprisingly early. For that matter, it's not even clear that I'm capable of running sub-3:00 any more. Here are all of my marathon results since my 2:58 PR in 2015:
Houston (January 2017) - DNF (3:43)
Chicago (October 2017) - 3:10:57
Foot Traffic (July 2018) - DNF (3:37)
Richmond (November 2018) - DNF
Richmond was the first marathon I started but did not actually finish. But the only reason I crossed the finish line in Houston was because I needed to get back to my hotel, which was right next to it, and the course was such that I was far away when I blew up. At Foot Traffic my sister and son were waiting for me in the start / finish area, so after blowing up I got back to them as quickly as possible by the only route I knew: the course. But those were both effectively DNFs as well. If somebody had been waiting with a car to pick me up when I decided all was lost at both of those races, I would have hopped into the car. Only Chicago counts as a proper marathon finish, and my time there wasn't even fast enough to get me into 2019 Boston in the 40-44 age group (which, however, I did not apply for). It's true that all three of my marathons between 2015 Philadelphia and 2018 Richmond were warm: they were all in the 60s and 70s, and Houston in particular was also very humid. Richmond was my only marathon attempt in good weather since Philly. Still, I DNF'd, and this is becoming a trend.
Considering this trend, part of me is tempted to throw in the towel and say it's been a good run but everything comes to an end. To be clear: no part of me is tempted to quit running. I mean part of me is tempted to quit running marathons, or at least to take a break from them for an indeterminate amount of time, while focussing only on half marathon or shorter races. It's obvious anyway that at some point it's not going to be realistic for me to aim for PRs anymore, and I'm not sure whether I will keep running marathons once I'm convinced that I've reached that point. (I will definitely keep running shorter races forever). But I'm convinced that I have not yet reached that point, and the marathon continues to captivate me in a love/hate kind of way. Plus, looking over my training, I think I detect something missing that may account for my DNF in Richmond.
Actually, I see two things missing. One of them is hill training, since it was the hills that got me in Richmond. I should incorporate more hills the next time I run a hilly race. But I think my next PR attempt should be on a flat course, so I'll set this consideration aside for the moment. The other and main gap I see in my training as recorded above are marathon effort workouts. Consider: my problem in Richmond was basically that my HR was too high even before I hit the hills. Even on a flatter course, I surely could have run 2:55 pace for longer, but not easily enough to go the full distance. I was not able to run relaxed enough at that pace. Why not? Well, probably because I hardly ever trained at that pace; and even when I did, I almost never practiced running relaxed at that pace. My mid-week workouts nearly always, with only one exception, involved some sort of intervals that alternated between running much harder and much easier than marathon effort. Don't get me wrong: that's great. But it's the only kind of mid-week workout I did, with the single exception of a 2 x 4 mile MP workout on Oct. 12, which however averaged slightly slower than 2:55 marathon pace. I was also planning a long MP tempo on Oct. 21 but skipped it due to a hip / hamstring flare up. But didn't I run marathon effort during some long runs? Well, not much. Often during long runs too I went from running easy pace to running faster than marathon pace; and even when I did run marathon pace during long runs, it was usually towards the end when my heart rate was high. Again, that's great, but it's all I did. The gap I'm noticing is that I did not train my body to run 6:41-43 pace while keeping my HR low enough that I could maintain it for the full marathon distance, and that's critical. Those other kinds of workouts are important too, but in place of some of them I should do more pure marathon pace runs. I did only one before Richmond. Before 2015 Philadelphia, I did three. Next time, I think I should do four, with the focus on keeping my HR down.
I am registered for the Buffalo Marathon on May 26, 2019. That will be my next marathon. It is not flat, so I will need to incorporate some hill training. The date also means that the weather may not be ideal. Of course I knew this when I registered, but I wanted a late Spring marathon so that I have a good chunk of time to focus on shorter distances before switching back to marathon mode. Given these factors, plus my recent string of DNFs, my goal in Buffalo will just be to finish strong. I'll get into the best marathon shape I can, but my race strategy will not involve taking the sort of risks I took in Richmond. I'll keep things relatively conservative in the first half and maybe use HR instead of pace as a gauge to make sure I get to the finish line. Then, if that works out tolerably, I'll make another PR attempt next Fall. After Richmond some people in my club were throwing around the idea of doing Philadelphia in 2019. That sounds good to me. After that, who knows?
For the immediate future, though, I'm going to turn my attention to speed and LT workouts with a view to having fun at some winter club races and then taking aim at some of my non-marathon PRs - every single one of which is from 2013! I've gotten within seconds of both my 10k and half marathon PRs since then, but it's silly that they've lasted this long. I think the trouble I've had in recent years with faster running is rooted in my weak right glute medius, which I've now diagnosed with two PTs and know how to strengthen. I'm going to prioritize that in the coming months.
