Baystate marathon 2010 prelude and race report

Results:
Official: 26.2m, 3:19:35, 7:38 pace Garmin: 26.55, 3:19:29, 7:31 pace
5/279 AG 30-39
282/1580 overall
22/? gender


Prelude:
I think those who read this blog frequently know that I had some head and body issues during the last 6 weeks of marathon training, after my half ironman. My head was into triathloning - I missed the long bike rides, the open water swims, and kept fantasizing about my next HIM, training, etc. My body struggled with a bit of overtraining (I think); I had some suffer-fest long runs, with out of control breathing 4 miles after the start, which I took as a clear message from my body that it needed rest. I plan to write another post about my marathon training, because I feel I have learned a lot since my first marathon, Boston 2009. For now, lets just say that 3 weeks before the race I knew I had to do some mental work, and also had to ensure that my body got the rest it required.

On the mental front, I did the following: 1) worked on believing that I could hold my marathon goal pace (my goal was to run a sub 3:20, which is a 7:38 pace; however, I knew that with the weaving I typically run 26.5 instead of 26.2, so 7:30 was a nice and round number to give me the cushion I needed) by putting sticky notes with this pace on my computer, planner, books, etc. Even thinking about this pace gave me butterflies at the beginning, but then my brain got used to the number and I started to believe; 2) I wrote down all the reasons why I wanted to run a sub 3:20, and reviewed them every single day. This strategy really helped my motivation. Marathons involve a lot of pain, and you need to want it badly in order to make your brain allow you to feel that kind of pain; 3) I wrote a race plan based on the marathon course, accounting for the hills (Baystate is considered fast and flat, but this ain't no Chicago...New England is hilly, and the marathon was rolling and had a few decent climbs). 4) I looked over my training schedule for motivation. I had a pretty good training cycle, I suffered in training, I ran more miles than ever, my form has improved!; 5) I focused on doing my best, rather than reaching my goal; 6) I made peace with the fact that my body composition was not where it was when I raced the HIM (when you decrease your hours of training by more than 50%, this happens). On the body side, I forced myself to take a longer taper. Instead of 14 days, I made it 17, with the last long pace run on a Thursday. I also had 2 massages, daily icebaths/hotbaths, daily sessions of rolling up to 3 days before the race.

These strategies allowed me to feel prepared for the race. They allowed me to feel at peace on Saturday when the winds were blowing and accuweather showed winds of 14MPH in Lowell on marathon day. This was not about the time goal, it was about doing my best. I could do my best no matter what the weather.

Race:
I woke up rested, having slept 6 hours straight. My strategy for sleeping before a race? Don't go to bed early, wait until you are tired. That was 11pm for me. I had my huge bowl of oatmeal with raisins, huge cup of coffee to get things moving, put my clothes on, checked some blogs to pass the time (I like to eat 3 hours before a race), kissed Petru who got to spend the morning with our childless, saint friends, and was off to Lowell with Chris (he had an important mission at mile 13...of course!).

Some people deal with prerace nerves by being quiet. I deal with them by chatting. This is somehow puzzling to me because I am shy by nature. The problem was that most people were not chatty. I did manage to start a conversation with a guy who wanted to run a 3:15 to qualify for Boston. I never saw him in the race, I hope he got his goal.

We lined up at 8am and I felt calm. It was cool and windy, and it felt cozy to be surrounded by people and their energy.

Miles 1-5: 7:42, 7:31, 7:36, 7:37, 7:43
These miles were rolling so keeping the pace slower than goal pace was not difficult. It was also fairly congested, but I liked that because it allowed me to draft nicely. From the first few miles I knew that I can have a good race. Do you feel this when racing? For me, I can somehow tell during the first few miles whether I am going to have a good race or not. My legs felt fresh, my body light, my mind empty of concerns. I ran and I smiled and I listened to my music.

Miles 6-10: 7:45, 7:36, 7:35, 7:29, 7:36
I was excited to finish mile 6 because I knew miles 7, 8, and 9 are flat. At mile 8 we went over a wiggly bridge. I knew from last year that the footing was going to be unsteady, and actually watched someone trip (yikes!), maybe because it was really windy over the bridge this year. I was in a groove, checking the Garmin from time to time, but mostly trying to enjoy the run, stay relaxed, watch my breathing, but not very focused or "working" yet.

Miles 11-13: 7:35, 7:36, 7:29
By mile 11 I was getting super excited. I knew I would see Chris at mile 13. Plus, the crowds were out and cheering. Right at mile 13, before seeing Chris, I had the highlight of my race. "I am a rockstar", a song that Michelle recommended (thanks Michelle), came on, and for a few moments the song, the endorphins, the thought of seeing Chris led to this amazing, indescribable feeling (hence the faster mile). I spotted Chris easily, gave him my fuel belt (I used a fuel belt with 2 8 oz bottles), and grabbed a 10oz handheld and some gels. Quick, quick, quick. He looked so happy knowing that I was happy:)

Miles 14-15:7:16, 7:36
The excitement of the race got the best of me and had to slow myself down at mile 15. At mile 13 you go back on a second 10 mile loop, so you go over some rollers again. I still felt good, and was looking froward to getting to the bridge again (mile 18). Mentally, mile 18 symbolized the run "home". I was still feeling great, no pain, breathing under control. Around mile 15 I started passing a lot of people. I thought of Spike, and told everyone "Good job, keep it up". It helped, thanks, Spike.

Miles 16-18: 7:37, 7:41, 7:37
I think I got a little bored during these miles. There were a few inclines, but I think I should have gone a little faster here. I really felt the wind during these miles. Running by the river and the fact that there were fewer runners around made it harder to draft. I crossed the bridge again, and was smiling and happy. Still feeling good, maybe a little tired, but good.

Miles 19-24: 7:28, 7:27, 7:30, 7:30, 7:20, 7:19, 7:36
Right after mile 18 I met John. He wanted to qualify for Boston and needed a 3:30. He wanted to know our pace. I told him that we were on pace for a sub 3:20, and he asked if he could tag along, as he liked my pace. I liked his pace, so all was well. He tried to talk, but I knew I had to conserve energy, so we made an agreement to be silent partners. The problem with having John run with me was that I had to stop running tangents. For the first 15 miles, I did well and managed to acquire only .11 extra. However, with John running next to me, I could not run the tangents. I tried to talk to him about that, but I don't think he got it (it was his first marathon). he was such a sweet guy and kept telling me how much I am helping him, that honestly I gave up on running the tangents. Oh, well. During the race, I took Gels and E21 pills that Michelle gave me (natural, algae type electrolytes), which I've used in training and are great. At mile 20 I wanted to take 2 more, but they all went flying on the ground. I could have picked them up, but I did not. I figured it was a cold day, and I'd be fine. I started feeling some pain and weakness at mile 20 but knew I needed to start to work and focus. Ben Harper's "You look like gold" came on, and this is a song Chris sings to me sometimes, so that helped a ton. John also helped, he was running strong. At mile 23 I hear an " Go, babes, go" and see Chris running on the side, with a big smile. I smiled, but got back into the zone, I needed all my energy. I started feeling heavy legs, and lightheaded. I took many deep breath, and focused on how well I was doing, smiled, told myself how good my form was holding up. At mile 24 we a .25 mile hills, and I consciously shortened my stride and kept the same cadence, head down, chanting my "I am a machine, I just run" mantra.

Miles 25, 26, .55: 7:42, 7:28, 6:38 (last .55)
Mile 25 was another hill, and it was rough. John started saying something about how he was hurting, but we are almost there, and something else which I blocked out. Once the hill was done, and I got to the mile 25 sign, I felt a sense a relief, said good by to John and picked up the pace. I felt this weird energy. I was pretty nauseous and lightheaded by this point (I think it was the lack of electrolytes for the last 1.5 hours or so, as I took 6 gels during the race) but I knew I was almost there. I looked at my watch and realized I could make my goal. I just had to keep moving. This mile has lots of turns and you can't really see the finish which is a pain. After the last turn, you enter a baseball field and you have to run the last .2 around the track. This is hard again bc you start the .2 right near the finish. I picked up the pace even more and gave it my all. I passed about 6 guys during this 320 m part. Through all of these miles I noticed that my form held up and even though I was hurting, my back was straight, and I was running with my feet under me. This is so different than last year. I can't wait to see pictures.

Once I crossed the line I puked in my mouth, bent over, felt dizzy and sat down. Immediately the paramedics came and got me on a stretcher even though I assured them that I was fine and all I needed was a Gatorade (all I wanted was a coke). Finally they let me go and I was fine. I was more than fine, I was happy. I found Chris, got my coke, watched a few finishers, made some calls and went home.

Pictures to come!

For now, still Happy, Very Happy!