Taper time

I registered for the Dallas Marathon in May. Started dedicated training in early August. And today, I officially completed the meat of the training program with a 20 mile long run, my second in 2 weeks. And with that, I enter the taper period. From this point on it's about capturing the gains I've made, reducing mileage and intensity, and getting to the start line rested and with fresh legs.

This is both the easiest and hardest part of training. Easy in that the longest run left is only 12 miles. The full 18 week training plan includes 562 miles (of which I've missed some due to runs cut short and a handful missed). Only 65 remain to be run. Physically the next few weeks are easy.

What's hard is the mental aspect. Acknowledging that at this point I've gotten as strong and fast as I'm going to get by this race, and that the best thing I can do at this point is continue to trust the training and resist the urge to do more. Recognizing that my original goal of a sub-4:00 finish is probably not realistic unless I have an extraordinary day (now looking for sub-4:15, still a significant PR if I can achieve it). Shaking off the phantom twinges and illnesses that inevitably pop up during race week ("oh my God I sneezed, I bet I have the flu! Is that pain in my ankle?"). Watching the weather and hoping the forecast doesn't call for another ice storm. Channeling the extra energy into planning out my race morning and strategy.

I was lucky to get in a run at all this morning with rain in the forecast all day with at least 60% chance. I didn't expect to be able to get in the full 20 miles given that, but figured I'd get up early, hope for the best, and just keep running till the rain got too heavy or I hit 20, whichever came first. Luckily the rain  accommodated me and held off till afternoon. 

Good thing, as today was my last best chance to finetune my nutrition strategy. I had gotten some Perpetuem solid tabs I wanted to try (thinking ahead to getting some early practice with them ahead of my next big event) and this was my last chance to try them out pre-marathon. (Verdict? Weird taste and texture, but they sat well and did the job.). Also, I'd had some pain in the ball of my right foot lately which I suspected was tied to my new pair of shoes. That theory proved correct; I ran the first 8 miles in the new shoes and developed the pain then ran home, changed into an old pair, and knocked out the last 12 miles pain-free (RunningWarehouse has the replacement pair en route already).

So here I am, 3 weeks out from the big day. I'm reminded of a quote I saw the other day "medals are just picked up in competition, they're earned in practice." Those medals (this year's and the one I should have earned in 2013), I've already put in the work to earn them. Looking forward to getting out there in 3 weeks and picking them up.

Michelob Ultra 13.1 Half Marathon

Last Saturday I ran a half marathon as a tune-up race for my Dallas Marathon in December. With it falling in the heart of marathon training I knew I'd be going in on tired legs but it would be a good test to see if my intended 9:09/mile pace for the marathon was realistic.

Poor 13.1 series. It's just never going to get a fair shake from me. It's really a decent race, but both this year and last year I managed to achieve my time goal while feeling rough doing it.

The good news is I finished in a little over 1:59, on pace. And unlike last year I didn't experience any foot or leg pain during the race. But the pace did feel like work. Some of that was due to having run 35-40 miles a week for several weeks beforehand, which obviously won't be an issue for the marathon as I have a nice 3 week taper to freshen my legs up. And the unseasonably warm weather didn't help either, and that's also not likely to be an issue come December (though wouldn't be the first 70 degree December day in Dallas). I also didn't do a good job of banking sleep the week before and was tired on race morning. Again, easy enough to fix. And, um, let's just say that I'll resist the urge to eat ghost pepper-flavored chips the day before a race next time.

But there were a few things I struggled with that day that I can't write off to the heat or tired legs, and those are the ones that concern me. First, I got side stitches at one point. It's something that never happens to me in training but often happens in races. I know it's from shallow breathing and a fast pace, and I can generally get rid of it eventually but it certainly is uncomfortable. I need to focus on good breathing, but might also try to deliberately induce stitches in the last mile or so of pace training runs so I can practice getting rid of them. 

The other issue that bothered me was an unsettled stomach. I suspect it's from drinking too much before the race. My nutrition strategy was otherwise consistent with what I've done before and it has generally served me well. For training runs I just get up and go out the door; having a few hours to kill beforehand calls for a little different planning. I'll just need to be mindful on race day.

All of that to say, I didn't particularly enjoy the race, but got good feedback from it. To be honest I'm not sure what it tells me about my 4:00 goal. I think under ideal conditions-cool weather, coming in well-rested with fresh legs, breathing well, better nutrition and water management-it's possible. But at this point I'm regarding it as a bit of a reach goal, a best case scenario. Something around 4:10-4:15 might be realistic for an okay day. I feel reasonably confident I can best my previous 4:41 time; I just need to use the remaining month and a half of training well.

“The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” -John Bingham

While the Michelob 13.1 was just a training race for me, it also marked my 10th half marathon. 3 years ago I was training for my first and wasn't far removed from my first run ever over 5 miles. Every race I run, I remember how it felt that cold, rainy morning in December 2011 as I crossed the start line of my first big race and I get a little lump in my throat. When you don't discover you're a runner until you're 33, you don't take it for granted.

So, 10 down...