Thursday, May 2, 2013

Shamrock Marathon Race Report




A little late (like everything) on my Shamrock Race Report...but here it is.

Some background:
Last year my friend Jill and I PR'd big at the Shamrock Half-Marathon in Virginia Beach and before the dust had settled, we'd registered for the full 26.2 for 2013.  Additionally, we'd convinced many friends to do the same, including my hockey/triathlete friend Sue.  It seemed like a great idea until January when we started to doubt our decision and began discussing switching to the half distance.  Instead, we forged on with the long runs and suddenly it was March.  Sadly, Sue suffered a hip injury and Jill's sister began to lose her battle with cancer, meaning my closest commiserates weren't going to be there suffering alongside.  Sue was still able to make the trip and thankfully drove us there, or more importantly, was able to drive us back!  Before we left though, I had a conversation with my tri-coach, Jack about the Race Plan.

The Plan:
Jack's Plan for this marathon was to achieve the original goal Jill and I had set for ourselves (in March 2012) of a 4 hour marathon.  Jill and I, in one of our long training runs, had completely abandoned this idea, in favor of a more reasonable 4:30-ish.  We forgot, however, to pass this info along.

The gist of the Plan was to run around a 9:25 for a while and then begin to negative split the back half of the race.  Yes, negative split a marathon.  As I would say to Jill later on that day, "Well...I think Coach Puppies and Rainbows is back on his Unicorn."  (So sorry, Jack!)

As we drove to VA Beach I tried to figure out what my plan was really going to be: 1) Listen to my coach, (who by the way, is a professional that I've willingly signed up for coaching with) and stick to the Plan, 2) Just go out there to "have fun" and "see how it feels" or 3) Decide to change my plan to run 10:10s so that I could get my 4:30, which would be a PR.  (My previous PR for a marathon was 4:42).  I knew a decision had to be made soon so that I could mentally prepare and so shortly before dinner I decided I would go for it.

Race Day:
I woke up on race day ready.  I was really going to do this, I was going to stop setting the bar low and set it high.  As you know from previous blogs, I really love setting expectations below ground level and then being "shocked" at the far better result.  I liken it to Steve Urkle's uber-sarcastic, "Did I do that?"
axiomamnesia.com
Sue and I arrived at the start line and much to my surprise, given the 70 degree temps the day before, it was freezing.  And the wind...the wind!  With winds gusting over 20 mph, the flags along the finish didn't look like they could hold up.  This photo does it little justice, but you get the idea.
interactives.wavy.com 
Regardless of my now slightly damaged mental state over the weather, I got in my corral and the gun went off.  Miles 1- 5 were shielded from the wind and I was running right around my goal pace for the first half, 9:20.  Miles 6-16 brought the winds.  Sue met me on the boardwalk around Mile 10 where the winds were  the worst (I was running the opposite direction of the people in the photo above).  She was nice enough to be ready with kleenex, chapstick, and encouragement, "It should be better once you turn off the boardwalk! Just 200 yards ahead!"  Sadly, as is often the case with Sue and winds, it wasn't much better.  By the time I reached Mile 15, I had slowed to a 9:28 pace.  And then finally, it happened, the wind was gone!  I took off, I felt great, mentally I started to really believe I could do this.  Miles 16-20 were an average of 9:16, Mile 17 a 9:08.  At Mile 20 I made the turn around the horn of Fort Story and the Plan was destroyed.  My euphoria of being out of the wind was taken away...by more wind.  I came to a dead stop (by the way, this is the worst thing you can do in a marathon).  I was so sad, I wanted to sit down and just start crying.  You could hear the other runners moan and groan when that wave of air hit them, many coming to a stop as I did, completely defeated.  

However, when you come to a dead stop in front of a group of Marines cheering YOU on, you don't stop for long.  If these folks could risk life and limb for our country, pretty sure I could jog another 6 miles through  a little breeze.  Mile 20 a 9:38, Mile 21 a 9:43, Mile 22 a 10:03.  Wheels...falling...off.  Mile 23 brought the greatest relief, the tailwind!  Hooray!  Finally!!  Can't say I was flying, but I was moving, I managed to average a 9:39 those last few miles, finishing with a time of 4:11...a 31 minute PR.  

Of course I was disappointed, but who can complain about a 31 minute PR?  Especially in those conditions. In the end, the conditions weren't the issue, just an excuse.  The real problem was that I waited until the day before the race to believe in myself.  Had I believed all along, I probably would have trained at a faster pace, not letting the fear of not finishing dictate my long runs.  I would have pushed just a little faster on the speed-work, believing I wouldn't fly off of the treadmill.  And most importantly, I wouldn't have abandoned my goal when things weren't going perfectly and the conditions weren't right.

In the end, this is the race I'm most proud of, not only the way I ran, but the way I'm slowly working on changing my attitude.  Being the over-under-achiever isn't fun anymore.  I started this sort of self-reflection and development last year mostly through racing triathlon and it's an on-going transition.  Recently my women's ice hockey team went to the Over-30 National Tournament in Tampa, Florida and finished 3rd.  Having the expectation of taking first was a hard adjustment, but it forced me to hold myself to a higher standard.  And of course the disappointment of taking 3rd burned a little, okay, a lot.  I realized however, the challenge of the unknown is fun.  I'm sure there is some inspirational quote splashed all over Facebook about this, but when you set the bar low, you already know the outcome, and really, why bother trying at that point?

Broad Street Run is coming up this weekend and for the first time, when I got my Race Plan from Jack, I didn't write back some sarcastic comment or make up an excuse. I simply wrote "Sounds good."