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| Mick, Justin, and me at the start line of the Richmond Marathon. I'm ready to tackle Marathon #9 and Mick and Justin are ready to take on their first. |
Richmond, VA
Difficulty score: 3/9
I ran the Richmond Marathon as my very first marathon exactly five years ago, finishing in 3:23:36 (7:46/mile) after making a few very critical yet unfortunately common first-timer mistakes: low mileage during training (I don't think I even ran 35 miles in any single week leading up to Richmond 2011), and speeding up to 3:05:00 pace at the second mile after my original 3:15:00 pace felt too easy, only to crash eighteen miles in.
Now, as a better, more experienced, and (possibly) wiser runner, I was looking forward to returning to Richmond to run the marathon again. Richmond was an enticing choice for attempts for a PR and for a sub-3:05:00, which would have been five minutes under my Boston qualifying standard, thus allowing me to submit an application during the first week of registration for Boston 2018 (and thus giving me a 99.9999% chance of getting in). After all, it is a fast course, although with some very noticeable rolling hills, with very few turns. Plus, temperatures on race morning were almost always very conducive to a PR; the usual overnight lows in Richmond in mid-November are usually in the low to mid-forties. It was also a mid-sized race of four to five thousand marathoners; after Chicago, I found that I tend to do better in races with several thousand participants since I don't like feeling boxed in and my typical negative-split strategy can be difficult with a large race like Chicago since I would be weaving through a lot of people in the last miles. But despite its size, it also had the energy level of a much larger marathon; the volunteers, the bands, and those cheering on the sides of the course really made this a lively event.
For these reasons, it was also a very good choice for a first marathon. Two of my friends, Mick and Justin, finished their first marathons this morning after I had recommended Richmond to them. It also helped that the race was logistically very easy for those of us living in DC; Richmond was only a two to three-hour drive and hotel rooms typically were not particularly expensive.
Training
My training for Richmond was very much like my training for my last two marathons. I ran six days per week, with the following general structure:
- Monday: OFF
- Tuesday: my dedicated "quality" day, which consisted of a two-mile warm-up plus 25 to 40 minutes at tempo effort (between 6:18 and 6:36/mile, with adjustments for adverse weather conditions) and then a cool-down.
- Wednesday: 30 to 40 minutes very easy to recover from Tuesday's tempo run.
- Thursday: mini-long runs lasting between 60 and 90 minutes, with most of these miles being easy (7:48 to 8:24/mile), although I did occasionally throw in some marathon effort miles, particularly toward the end of the cycle.
- Friday: 30 to 40 minutes very easy to recover from Thursday's mini-long run.
- Saturday: 50 to 80 minutes easy (7:48 to 8:24/mile), with 4 x 8 seconds hill sprints.
- Sunday: long runs last between one hour 30 minutes to two hours 45 minutes, with most of these miles being easy (7:48 to 8:24/mile). I did include a few long runs in which I ran marathon pace for an extended period.
My mileage was not as high as it was for Chicago or Hartford, although it was definitely adequate for my purposes. My highest mileage week was 59 miles, taking place three weeks before the race itself. After spending building my mileage back up, my mileage was in the fifties for most weeks (exceptions being tune-up race weeks and the occasional cut-back week, in which my mileage was still in the mid-forties or higher). Although training was a little more difficult this year due to an unusually hot and humid summer here in DC, I was able to remain consistent.
The Race
The taper preceding this marathon was the worst taper ever. About ten days out, I bit into a Starburst candy a little too hard, which induced trauma to one of my molars and a nasty infection that caused constant sharp pain and made me incapable of eating anything solid for two days. After getting a deep clean from the dentist and getting on antibiotics; I got sick. I was unsure of what it was, but I started to feel some flu-like symptoms one week before the race, my head felt heavy (it felt full like I had been hanging upside down), and I had some persistent post-nasal drip. I also felt tired for most of that week.
In fact, I was so unsure that I would finish in a time that I would be satisfied with, if I did finish at all, that I even began toying with the idea of another marathon; I was especially looking at the Rock and Roll New Orleans Marathon in the beginning of February. But on Thursday morning, I did begin to feel a lot better. I skipped my marathon pace tempo run on Tuesday to recover, but I did a three-mile shakeout run on Thursday evening and did not feel worse afterwards.
By the time I arrived in Richmond on Friday afternoon, I felt fine; I did have a bit of irritation in my throat that evening, though. But even though I felt much better, I decided to start out a little conservatively; although whatever I had was gone, I was unsure of the lingering effects it would have on my body. I decided to take the first 15K a little slower. My original plan had me targeting 7:05/mile pace for the first 30K and then speeding up or hanging on, depending on how I felt at that point. I decided to target about 7:10/mile for the first 15K, or even 7:15/mile, if I felt that was the best pace for me that day. I would then reassess at the 15K mark and try to target my initial 7:05/mile pace if I felt good enough.
Weather was actually beautiful for a marathon: 41 degrees at the start, low humidity, and sunshine. Over the week leading up to the race, I was so busy worrying about whether I would recover in time that I neglected obsessing over the weather.
After a quick pre-race selfie and wishing Mick and Justin good luck on their races and reminding them to stick with the target paces that I had recommended for them, even if it did feel ridiculously easy in the early miles, I lined up about halfway between the 3:15:00 and the 3:05:00 pace groups. The gun went off and thus began our 26.2 mile journey.
Miles 1 through 6 (7:19, 7:13, 7:09, 7:11, 7:09, 7:13): The first six miles of the course take us through downtown Richmond along West Broad Street, after which we run down Monument Avenue for a while and then through some neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city. This part of the course was a long, steady, but gradual uphill, with a few steeper hills to make things interesting.
As planned, I went out conservatively, easing into my target pace and letting hundreds of people fly by me. I had actually been expecting to run the first mile in 7:20 to 7:30, but my Garmin read 7:19 as I crossed the Mile 1 mark and I felt relaxed. One thing that also pleased me was that my Garmin indicated one mile right as I crossed the Mile 1 mark; considering how straight this part of the course was, I should have been concerned if I had covered more than one mile during this segment.
During the second mile, I decided to gradually accelerate toward my target 7:10/mile pace. At the end of the second mile, I took some water at the first water station; for this race, I had used my tried-and-true fueling plan of getting water at every single water station prior to the 30K mark and consuming three Shot Blocks every 5K or so. For Miles 3 through 5, I settled into about a 7:10/mile pace, and was glad to find that this pace felt controlled and almost easy. Mile 6, however, was a little slower due to more uphill segments, especially a relatively steep one right before the 10K mark.
I took water every two miles and consumed three shot blocks right before the Mile 4 and Mile 6 water stops as planned. Fortunately, I was not feeling any lingering effects of whatever I was suffering from earlier in the week, and I was still hitting those tangents wonderfully; as I crossed the Mile 6 mark, I was no more than 0.01 miles over.
As planned, I went out conservatively, easing into my target pace and letting hundreds of people fly by me. I had actually been expecting to run the first mile in 7:20 to 7:30, but my Garmin read 7:19 as I crossed the Mile 1 mark and I felt relaxed. One thing that also pleased me was that my Garmin indicated one mile right as I crossed the Mile 1 mark; considering how straight this part of the course was, I should have been concerned if I had covered more than one mile during this segment.
During the second mile, I decided to gradually accelerate toward my target 7:10/mile pace. At the end of the second mile, I took some water at the first water station; for this race, I had used my tried-and-true fueling plan of getting water at every single water station prior to the 30K mark and consuming three Shot Blocks every 5K or so. For Miles 3 through 5, I settled into about a 7:10/mile pace, and was glad to find that this pace felt controlled and almost easy. Mile 6, however, was a little slower due to more uphill segments, especially a relatively steep one right before the 10K mark.
I took water every two miles and consumed three shot blocks right before the Mile 4 and Mile 6 water stops as planned. Fortunately, I was not feeling any lingering effects of whatever I was suffering from earlier in the week, and I was still hitting those tangents wonderfully; as I crossed the Mile 6 mark, I was no more than 0.01 miles over.
Miles 7 through 11 (7:05, 7:17, 7:12, 7:14, 7:17): The next several miles are some of the most aesthetically pleasing parts of any race I had run. After the 10K mark, runners are rewarded with a long downhill segment into the first Party Zone, an area for spectators to congregate and heckle the runners. We then cross a bridge over the James River and get to run on Riverside Drive, a narrow road that runs alongside the river, for about a mile. Then we run through some neighborhoods on the other side of the river before crossing back toward downtown Richmond by way of the Lee Bridge.
During the long downhill leading to the first Party Zone, I followed my own advice to keep control; this hill could easily punish my quads. This was my fastest mile so far, although I was sort of thinking that I would cover this mile in faster than 7:05. The next few miles, though, were noticeably slower. I attributed my slower Mile 8 to Garmin issues; for the entire first half of this mile, it indicated I was going at 7:25 to 7:30/mile pace, which definitely seem right. Only when I crossed the bridge did the pace according to my Garmin begin to move closer to 7:10/mile. Also, my Garmin indicated I had covered eight miles a little after I crossed the Mile 8 mark.
I wasn't paying much attention to my pace through the next two miles; I was just enjoying the scenery and, of course, fueling as planned with Shot Blocks right before the Mile 10 water stop. People were catching up to me and passing me, but I just let them go and continued to do my own thing. Mile 10 was a little slow due to a relatively steep uphill leading up to the neighborhoods on the other side of the river and Mile 11 was even slower because of the rolling hills and a minor water stop delay (the girl I got water from was literally clutching the cups to her chest and seemingly very oblivious that runners wanted to get water from her; I had to stop and wait for her to extend her arm to hand a cup to me). But even though my pace was slowing during these miles, I didn't really panic; I still felt strong and I had faith that I could conserve enough energy for a significant negative split.
During the long downhill leading to the first Party Zone, I followed my own advice to keep control; this hill could easily punish my quads. This was my fastest mile so far, although I was sort of thinking that I would cover this mile in faster than 7:05. The next few miles, though, were noticeably slower. I attributed my slower Mile 8 to Garmin issues; for the entire first half of this mile, it indicated I was going at 7:25 to 7:30/mile pace, which definitely seem right. Only when I crossed the bridge did the pace according to my Garmin begin to move closer to 7:10/mile. Also, my Garmin indicated I had covered eight miles a little after I crossed the Mile 8 mark.
I wasn't paying much attention to my pace through the next two miles; I was just enjoying the scenery and, of course, fueling as planned with Shot Blocks right before the Mile 10 water stop. People were catching up to me and passing me, but I just let them go and continued to do my own thing. Mile 10 was a little slow due to a relatively steep uphill leading up to the neighborhoods on the other side of the river and Mile 11 was even slower because of the rolling hills and a minor water stop delay (the girl I got water from was literally clutching the cups to her chest and seemingly very oblivious that runners wanted to get water from her; I had to stop and wait for her to extend her arm to hand a cup to me). But even though my pace was slowing during these miles, I didn't really panic; I still felt strong and I had faith that I could conserve enough energy for a significant negative split.
Miles 12 through 15 (7:08, 7:10, 7:03, 7:09): During these miles, I got back on track in terms of pace. I decided at this point to push the pace just a little, after having felt that the pace during the preceding miles truly was conservative and that I could go a little faster without worrying about an implosion in the later miles. This part of the race had some relatively long uphills, but they didn't seem to slow me down too badly. The second Party Zone in the fourteenth mile also contributed to my speeding up just a little; Mile 14 was my fastest so far in this race.
I crossed the halfway mark in 1:34:25; a few seconds slower than my halfway split in Shamrock in 2014 and a few seconds faster than my halfway split in Hartford last year. If the second half went well, perhaps I could cover it in 1:30:00 or so like I did in Shamrock and come in under 3:05:00. If the second half was more difficult, then I could perhaps target 1:31:00 or so like I did in Hartford and come really close to 3:05:00.
I crossed the halfway mark in 1:34:25; a few seconds slower than my halfway split in Shamrock in 2014 and a few seconds faster than my halfway split in Hartford last year. If the second half went well, perhaps I could cover it in 1:30:00 or so like I did in Shamrock and come in under 3:05:00. If the second half was more difficult, then I could perhaps target 1:31:00 or so like I did in Hartford and come really close to 3:05:00.
Miles 16 through 19 (7:16, 7:05, 7:05, 7:01): After a strong Mile 15, I came to what I felt, looking back, was the most difficult mile in the entire race: the Lee Bridge mile. Being high up above the river and exposed, I was subject to some stiff headwinds. Meanwhile, I told myself not to panic if this mile was slower than the previous ones.
Halfway through this mile, this very nice man named Tom who had been running near me for the past several miles and had been running behind me for the first half of the bridge moved up ahead of me and acted like my shield against the wind. I followed him across the bridge and up the hill immediately afterwards. After the bridge was behind us, I ran next to him and thanked him for shielding me against the wind. I would have liked him to run with me, but I began speeding up and he was unable to keep up.
We had now returned to downtown Richmond. I did remember from when I did the race five years ago that this part had some rolling hills and a pretty substantial one near the Mile 19 mark right before the Diamond. With 16 miles down, I felt like I could be a little more reckless. Seeing Lavar at the end of the bridge picked me up. I charged up the rolling hills in the seventeenth and eighteenth miles, especially after getting energized by the Taiko drummers along the course near Mile 17. But at the same time, I kept my pace under control so I wouldn't expend all my energy; after all, I still had quite a ways to go. But when I noticed I was maintaining a 7:05/mile pace and finding it not terribly difficult, I decided to stay with it for a little while.
I took my last three Shot Blocks shortly after the water stop at Mile 18 and there, I took my last serving of water for the entire race. I was glad; I felt like I had almost choked on Shot Blocks a few times. I could also now really get into a good rhythm. After passing this water stop, I began to push the pace a little more; I fell in with this group of guys, but ended up dropping them shortly afterward. As I crossed the Mile 19 mark, I kept thinking to myself, "This was where I fell apart last time." Not even the hill near the Diamond slowed me down.
Also, police were directing traffic, letting cars cross the marathon course. Somewhere between the Mile 17 and 18 mark, some very irate driver was arguing with the police officer directing traffic. All I heard was this driver saying to the police officer, "Give me your gun and I'll get across." Seriously?
Halfway through this mile, this very nice man named Tom who had been running near me for the past several miles and had been running behind me for the first half of the bridge moved up ahead of me and acted like my shield against the wind. I followed him across the bridge and up the hill immediately afterwards. After the bridge was behind us, I ran next to him and thanked him for shielding me against the wind. I would have liked him to run with me, but I began speeding up and he was unable to keep up.
We had now returned to downtown Richmond. I did remember from when I did the race five years ago that this part had some rolling hills and a pretty substantial one near the Mile 19 mark right before the Diamond. With 16 miles down, I felt like I could be a little more reckless. Seeing Lavar at the end of the bridge picked me up. I charged up the rolling hills in the seventeenth and eighteenth miles, especially after getting energized by the Taiko drummers along the course near Mile 17. But at the same time, I kept my pace under control so I wouldn't expend all my energy; after all, I still had quite a ways to go. But when I noticed I was maintaining a 7:05/mile pace and finding it not terribly difficult, I decided to stay with it for a little while.
I took my last three Shot Blocks shortly after the water stop at Mile 18 and there, I took my last serving of water for the entire race. I was glad; I felt like I had almost choked on Shot Blocks a few times. I could also now really get into a good rhythm. After passing this water stop, I began to push the pace a little more; I fell in with this group of guys, but ended up dropping them shortly afterward. As I crossed the Mile 19 mark, I kept thinking to myself, "This was where I fell apart last time." Not even the hill near the Diamond slowed me down.
Also, police were directing traffic, letting cars cross the marathon course. Somewhere between the Mile 17 and 18 mark, some very irate driver was arguing with the police officer directing traffic. All I heard was this driver saying to the police officer, "Give me your gun and I'll get across." Seriously?
Mile 20 to the end (6:58, 6:52, 6:49, 6:49, 6:52, 6:54, 6:31, 1:45 for the last 0.29 miles): For the last stretch of the race, all marathoners headed north on North Boulevard, through some residential areas in the northern part of the city, and then back south for a downhill finish near the river. Although the last 10K of this marathon featured a few rolling hills, it was not a terribly difficult finish. I really felt like I could speed up even more for a strong negative split.
At this point, my legs were quite tired. But my typical late-race impatience kicked in; I just wanted to be done, and that caused me to speed up a little. After crossing the Mile 21 mark, I did some math; I could finish very close to 3:05:00, if not under, if I maintained a sub-7:00/mile for the rest of the race.
For Miles 22 and 23, I brought my pace down to below 6:50/mile. I was now quite energized, even though my legs were wearing out fast; I realized that I was going to at least qualify for Boston by a relatively healthy margin, and all I needed to do is not to screw up. Plus, at Mile 22, the neighborhood residents were blasting U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name", one of my favorite running songs and one of my favorite songs in general. I sang along a little to distract myself from the fatigue and soreness in my legs and my core.
I noticed that I was not running tangents nearly as well as I was in the early miles; after crossing the Mile 23 mark, I noticed I was about 0.04 miles over. For Miles 24 and 25, I was a little afraid to push the pace, fearing an implosion; I still had a few more miles to go. These miles were a little more difficult in terms of course profile than the preceding miles; I ended up slowing down, but not by much. After crossing the Mile 25 mark and seeing Lavar again, I quickly did some more math. I had crossed in around 2:58:00, so a sub-3:05:00 was not likely at this point; but I could definitely get a sub-3:06:00. Realizing this, I charged up the hills and then flew down the final downhill stretch, covering Mile 26 in 6:31.
I took the last 0.29 miles at sub-6:00/mile pace, hoping to beat my Hartford time. I crossed the finish line when my Garmin indicated 3:05:42, one second faster than Hartford. It was kind of disorienting to stop right after a long downhill segment like that; as I was trying to recover and get my bearings, one of the medical volunteers asked me if I was okay. After collecting my medal, a blanket that all finishers receive, and a hat, I left the finisher's area and waited for Mick and Justin to finish (both of them ended up breaking 3:20:00 in their first marathons this morning).
I learned that my official time was 3:05:44 (7:05/mile), one second slower than my time at Hartford last year. I finished 140th out of all 4056 humans that finished the marathon, 127th out of 2016 male human beings, and 30th out of 261 in the Male 30 through 34 age group. It wasn't the 3:04:59 that I was hoping for, but it was still four minutes and 16 seconds under my Boston Qualifying standard; that should still be enough to get me into Boston 2018. Besides, I still have Boston 2017 coming up, and during that, I could make another attempt to qualify by more than five minutes.
Finally, thanks to my negative split (1:34:25 for the first half, 1:31:19 for the second), I am eligible to win a free pair of shoes in the Strava Back-Half Challenge (those who completed a marathon and ran a negative split this fall are eligible for a free pair of New Balance running shoes).
At this point, my legs were quite tired. But my typical late-race impatience kicked in; I just wanted to be done, and that caused me to speed up a little. After crossing the Mile 21 mark, I did some math; I could finish very close to 3:05:00, if not under, if I maintained a sub-7:00/mile for the rest of the race.
For Miles 22 and 23, I brought my pace down to below 6:50/mile. I was now quite energized, even though my legs were wearing out fast; I realized that I was going to at least qualify for Boston by a relatively healthy margin, and all I needed to do is not to screw up. Plus, at Mile 22, the neighborhood residents were blasting U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name", one of my favorite running songs and one of my favorite songs in general. I sang along a little to distract myself from the fatigue and soreness in my legs and my core.
I noticed that I was not running tangents nearly as well as I was in the early miles; after crossing the Mile 23 mark, I noticed I was about 0.04 miles over. For Miles 24 and 25, I was a little afraid to push the pace, fearing an implosion; I still had a few more miles to go. These miles were a little more difficult in terms of course profile than the preceding miles; I ended up slowing down, but not by much. After crossing the Mile 25 mark and seeing Lavar again, I quickly did some more math. I had crossed in around 2:58:00, so a sub-3:05:00 was not likely at this point; but I could definitely get a sub-3:06:00. Realizing this, I charged up the hills and then flew down the final downhill stretch, covering Mile 26 in 6:31.
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| Me shortly after Mile 25. Photo courtesy of Lavar. |
I took the last 0.29 miles at sub-6:00/mile pace, hoping to beat my Hartford time. I crossed the finish line when my Garmin indicated 3:05:42, one second faster than Hartford. It was kind of disorienting to stop right after a long downhill segment like that; as I was trying to recover and get my bearings, one of the medical volunteers asked me if I was okay. After collecting my medal, a blanket that all finishers receive, and a hat, I left the finisher's area and waited for Mick and Justin to finish (both of them ended up breaking 3:20:00 in their first marathons this morning).
I learned that my official time was 3:05:44 (7:05/mile), one second slower than my time at Hartford last year. I finished 140th out of all 4056 humans that finished the marathon, 127th out of 2016 male human beings, and 30th out of 261 in the Male 30 through 34 age group. It wasn't the 3:04:59 that I was hoping for, but it was still four minutes and 16 seconds under my Boston Qualifying standard; that should still be enough to get me into Boston 2018. Besides, I still have Boston 2017 coming up, and during that, I could make another attempt to qualify by more than five minutes.
Finally, thanks to my negative split (1:34:25 for the first half, 1:31:19 for the second), I am eligible to win a free pair of shoes in the Strava Back-Half Challenge (those who completed a marathon and ran a negative split this fall are eligible for a free pair of New Balance running shoes).
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| The medal and a prize the race gives out for people who qualified for Boston today. |
Next steps
After taking a few weeks to recover, I plan on running the Jingle All the Way 5K here in DC in early December. It's fun, especially with the sheer number of DC Front Runners that come out to participate. But also, I need some races for the Race Circuit, and 5K races are some of the best ones to get a relatively high score.
Then I will begin training for the Boston Marathon. Perhaps I could go for the PR or the sub-3:05:00 there, although a part of me just wanted to run at around 3:08:00 to 3:10:00 pace and just enjoy Boston. I would have to think about how I would approach training for that, and what I would do differently; it seems like the training structure that I had used these past few years is not going to get me a much faster time than 3:04:00 or so. Perhaps I need better balance in my training; I did, after all only run at three paces (tempo, easy, and very easy) throughout most of the cycle.
Other Thoughts and Observations
- One of the most common signs that I saw out on the course was "26.2; because 26.3 would be crazy". Actually, most of us often do cover 26.3 miles or more during a marathon, usually because it can be extremely difficult to run all the tangents.
- I ran into Tom at the finisher's zone after the race. It turns out he slowed down a little in the late miles, but he still qualified for Boston by more than two minutes. Although a two-minute margin may have been a little too close to comfort given the cutoffs these past two years, I'm glad he qualified.
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