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Comments: The Race: The gun sounded and we were off. Being in the 2nd corral was great as I was able to pick a line and stick to it - really no running around racers all day. During races I hit the lap button every time I see a mile marker...that works when you see the mile markers - as evidenced by my lap times I missed a couple in the first half of the race. My first few miles were faster than I wanted. Mile 4 was much faster than I planned (had a GU at mile 4). I kept thinking anytime now the wheels will start to come off this train - but it didn't happen. I kept forcing myself to slow down to the 7:30 range. The tunnel has usually been the bane of my existence. The tunnel usually gets very hot and humid from the racers. I think being near the start of the racers made a big difference. It didn't feel nearly as bad as I remember in the past. I ran relaxed on the downhill and just focused on getting up the hill without killing the rest of the race. My "Underwater Mile" time was 7:33. The remainder of the race was me fretting if I could keep going to the end. I decided to forgo any more calories and just focused on running. With 3 miles I was getting more confident but really began focusing on the 7:30 pace per mile number. With about 1/2 mile to go I caught up with my brother-in-law. I thought of running 15 feet behind him and then sprinting past him at the end. I decided that was a cheap way to win so I announced myself to him and we ran side by side into the last stretch. He ultimately had a bit more in the tank and out kicked me at the end for trhe victory. No worries - when I saw my finish time on my Garmin (I had not looked at total time once during the run) I was ectstatic. 1:38:02. 10 minute plus PR for the course and 5 minute plus HM PR! Couldn't believe I had that race in me. I think I set 5K, 10K, 15K and HM PRs all on the same day. HOO YAH! M40-44: 35/685 Males: 211/4094 Overall: 252/11,008 Miles - Time - Pace - Avg HR - 1.0 - 7:46 - 7:46 - 167 2.1 - 16:21 - 7:47 - 178 0.9 - 6:23 - 7:05 - 174 2.0 - 14:51 - 7:25 - 174 1.0 - 7:31 - 7:31 - 172 1.0 - 7:33 - 7:33 - 170 1.0 - 7:14 - 7:14 - 174 1.0 - 7:26 - 7:26 - 174 1.0 - 7:25 - 7:25 - 173 1.0 - 7:30 - 7:30 - 173 1.1 - 8:06 - 7:21 - 177  Post race
Warm down: Post Race: Grabbed a space blanket, bottle of water and started walking through the post race area. Downed a couple gatorades and a chocolate milk. Through work we had access to the Hard Rock cafe so we went back there and hung for a bit and drank a celebatory beer. Went home, used The Stick on my sore muscles. Ate lunch, mowed the lawn, took my youngest to soocer, made dinner, drank a couple more beers and finished the day off by falling asleep watching the Walking Dead. It was a good day. Event comments: Takeaways: (1) Listen to my body; (2) Nutrition - less is more for this distance; (3) Hard, focused and smart work can result in tremendous gains Last updated: 2013-10-21 12:00 AM
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United States
Detroit Free Press Marathon
41F / 5C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 252/11008
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 35/685
Prelude: I raced this event for the first time in 2008. I've raced it every year since except last year as I recovered from a stress fracture. My first time continued to be my fastest for this course at 1:48:12. I had a break thru last year at the HM distance setting a PR in an early season race of 1:43:45. I pursued a new training plan this past winter from Hanson's but tried to incorporate Swim and Bike training alongside it. This (along with a bad nutrition plan) resulted in a dissapointing HM in April of 1:46:10. Once I decided a HIM didn't fit my work/life schedule this year I decided to focus on the run and see what I could do (Thanks to my mentor group for making this decison clear for me). I didn't adhere 100% to the Hanson plan. It calls for 2 speed/tempo workouts, 2 shorter runs, 1 medium run and 1 long run per week. I focused on the speed, medium and long runs and if I felt I needed a day off because of fitness, work or family fatigue I took it. I was also nursing some shin splints and other minor ailments that convinced me to back off the training a bit in the last few weeks. I think I just listened to my body better than I have in the past. The week before the race I only ran on Thursday and Saturday. Saturday I sprinkled in 4 strider/pick-ups of 30 seconds each.
Race Day Prep: The race was at 7:00AM. I woke up at 4:15AM. Got dressed, brewed a cup of coffee and ate a piece of italian bread toasted with peanut butter. Mixed up a GU electrolyte drink and sipped on that through the morning. I had hydrated well for the last couple days.
I wore CEP Compression sleeves, shorts, tech t-shirt and throw away cotton gloves. I had arm-warmers and a running hat with me but made a race time decison to go without them. I had a GU with about 20 minutes to go. I always race this event with my brother-in-law as he is the one who convinced me to start racing HMs. We both were in corral B with about 5 minutes to go to the start. His race strategy was described to me as, "go out at 7s and see how I can hang on". Mine was to go out around 8:00 and pick up the pace after a couple miles. My goal time was 1:40:00 with a stretch goal of 1:38:15 (7:30 pace). Temperature was around 40 with winds from the SW at around 10 to 12.