Twelve days and a wake-up to race morning in Boston on Patriot's Day. Yesterday I had my first look at the 14 day forecast which included Monday, April 18, which called for a high of 56 with showers and light/variable winds -- perfect for Marathon racing. While I am hopeful on having optimal weather come race morning, it's Spring after all and I am sure what shows up standing in the starting chutes out in Hopkinton at 10:00 am on Monday, April 18 will be different than what the weather forecast is currently saying. I'll be more trusting 3-4 days out, but fingers are fully crossed nonetheless. The only forecast I don't want to see is for temperatures above 70 degrees. Given how rough the winter has been in Seattle with rain and wind dominating nearly all of my outside runs, I'm prepared for about the worst weather Boston can throw at us on race day.
Since the next couple weeks are a taper with the exception of a 5-mile pacing session today and 12-mile time trial this Thursday, I've got a little more time on my hands to begin my race plan for actually running the Boston Marathon. Below is a detailed first draft that I am working with my running coach to refine and then boil down to just a handful of simple objectives and tactics I can focus on while actually racing. Experience has taught me on numerous occasions that a cluttered mind and high performance don't translate into optimal results (at least for me); additionally, the cumulative mental and physical fatigue I experience above mile-20 slowly erodes the foundation of even the best laid plans as it's simply just hard to think clearly after 3 hours of running at race pace.
What I have found that works for me is to start with my overall race objectives and break them into A and B goals. An "A" goal represents an optimal performance and a "B" goal is my fallback plan for a day where things simply don't go as planned and I can still find something to focus on achieving while out on the course vs. simply completing the race. I've found on off days performance-wise that having a fall-back plan keeps me focused and still leads to an overall better result than simply capitulating and finishing. Once I've got my goals set, I break the race into segments that are governed by mileage and terrain. I typically approach a marathon as a race of 3 segments: miles 1-10, miles 10-20 and 20-26.2 For the Boston Marathon I will approach the race in 4 segments: miles 1-10, miles 10-16, miles 16-21, and miles 21-26.2. The reason being is that the section of the course through Newton from miles 16 - 21 are 4 significant hill climbs each separated by a 1 - 1.5 miles followed by a significant downhill stretch into Boston from miles 21 - 24. The Newton Hills requires a different race tactic than what I would normally do given where the hills fall in the race and the fact that they occur in sequence over a relatively small distance.
In summary, I am thinking of my draft race plan as follows:
- Miles 1 - 10 Run relaxed with special attention given to not going out to fast in the first 3 miles out of Hopkinton given how downhill that section of the course is. Where possible build some buffer time faster than goal pace without unduly straining. Find what my natural race pace is for the day.
- Miles 11 - 15 Increased focus and locking in on race pace with little split variability. Aggressively run the downhill out of mile-15 into the first of the Newton Hills at mile-16 building up some buffer time ahead of goal pace.
- Miles 16 - 21 Run the Newton Hills at even effort. Attempt to accelerate out of each hill and run the slight downhills / flat sections between each hill at or better than race pace; don't be afraid to hold back and just run a pace that feels good -- saving up for the last hill climb up Heartbreak Hill at 20.2 and then accelerating out of Heartbreak downhill through Boston College and into Boston Proper.
- Miles 22-26.2 The race begins! Aggressively run the downhill taking in the energy from the crowds and trying to get back or below race pace through 24. From 24 - 26.2, suffer in the pain cave knowing that it's only another 16-18 minutes of running for the Unicorn!
Boston Marathon Race Plan (DRAFT)
My top goal for this year's Boston Marathon is to create memories for a lifetime and to maximally enjoy and soak up the experience of the whole Boston Marathon weekend from the time I get to the marathon expo on Saturday morning, running and enjoying the route, crowd and experience along the way up through finishing the race on Boylston (injury free) including a big celebratory dinner Monday night with family. I won't place a finishing time as my top goal as there are too many factors that are out of my control as possible impediments that can serve to lessen the overall experience (such as running the race at 88 degrees in 2012 when my goal time was 3:14).
My A+ finishing time goal is a BQ running a sub 3:30:00 and 8:00 average pace per mile.
My A finishing time goal is sub 3:33:19 and 8:09 average pace per mile.
My B finishing time goal is sub 3:43:26 and 8:32 average pace per mile.
For the Boston Marathon Course I am going to adjust my race strategy into 4 tactical segments as follows:
Segment 1 (miles 1 - 10) -- Same as standard strategy except I will consciously hold back on the first 4 miles out of Hopkinton which are predominately downhill. I may work to build up a slight buffer here in the first 4 miles, but will try and rein it in due to the early load on my quads. After the slight hill climb out of mile 4 to mile 5 I will resume my normal Segment 1 strategy.
A-Goal: (< 1:20:00 / 8:00 segment pace / 8:00 race pace)
A-Goal: (< 1:20:00 / 8:00 segment pace / 8:00 race pace)
B-Goal: (< 1:23:20 / 8:20 segment pace / 8:20 segment pace)
Segment 2 (miles 10 - 16) -- Same as standard strategy but at mile-15 in Wellesley I will aggressively run the downhill into mile-16 and the start of the first Newton Hill building momentum for the first hill climb as well as trying to bank for losing some time running even effort through the Newton Hills.
A-Goal: (< 2:08:00 / 8:00 segment pace / 8:00 race pace)
B-Goal: (< 2:13:20 / 8:20 segment pace / 8:20 race pace)
Segment 3 (miles 16 - 21.0) -- Newton Hills Segment. I will run the 4 hills of this segment in even effort (8:30 - 9:00 pace) while trying get back to my race pace in the 3 flat segments spanning the first and fourth hill. Hill-1 is .64 mi in length and ~3% grade. Then run .96 mi from the end of hill-1 to the beginning of hill-2. trying to get back to race pace. Hill-2 is a short .34 mi in duration but steep at 4.4% grade. Then run 1.36 mi between the end of hill-2 and hill-3 trying to get back to race pace. Hill-3 is .47 mi in duration and 3% grade. Then run .48 mi between the end of hill-3 and hill-4 (Heartbreak Hill). Hill-4 is .48 mi in duration and 4% grade. I will attempt to accelerate out of Heartbreak Hill at mile 20.75 and resume race pace as we pass Boston College and descend into Brookline and then Boston proper.
A-Goal: (< 2:50:30 / 8:30 segment pace / 8:07 race pace)
B-Goal: (< 2:58:20 / 9:00 segment pace / 8:29 race pace)
Segment 4 (miles 21.0 - 26.2) -- From the top of Heartbreak Hill at mile 21 down through mile 24 is predominately downhill. My goal in running even effort through the Newton Hills is to have enough gas in the tank physically and mentally to attack this 3 mile downhill stretch at or below race pace and then hanging on and letting the crowd pull me in from Fenway Park to Boylston to the finish line. I think a realistic race pace for this segment is 8:20 if I am having an A race and 8:40 for a B race.
A-Goal (< 3:33:19 / 8:20 segment pace / 8:09 race pace)
B-Goal (< 3:43:26 / 8:40 segment pace / 8:32 race pace)
In Summary
In summary this is a simple plan to execute with a lot of details that go into the creation of the plan. I plan to run all the hills even effort while making up time on the downhills or in sections of the course where I can still some extra time based on how I feel. I need to get up and over Heartbreak Hill no slower than ~2:58 and then hang on into Boston and across the finish line. Easier said than done -- but that's my plan and I'm sticking to it for now.
I'll post a final plan once I get my last time trial run, see a race-day weather report that's closer to race day, and consult with my coach.
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