Tunnel Lite Marathon Race Report

It's been an incredible year of training and racing in celebration of turning 50 last December. Last Sunday's Tunnel Lite Marathon concluded a 12 month stretch that included three full marathon training cycles (December 2015 Honolulu Marathon, April 2016 Boston Marathon and the September 2016 Tunnel Lite Marathon),  two half marathons (Rain Day Half January 2016 and Seattle Rock-n-Roll Half June 2016) as well as the Ragnar Relay in July (Sub-Masters team win) and an 8K and 5K for good measure.  In total the last 52 weeks of training was just short of 2000 miles at 1940 total -- which included limited mileage in the winter due to a nasty lower right leg tendon injury I fought from February through April.    Suffice it to say that my run last Sunday was coming on tired mind and body -- knowing full well that I'd also managed to hit peak fitness/speed sometime in late July and was starting to fall off my top training times and heart rate levels.    

Somewhere around mile 15 of the Tunnel Lite Marathon.  My quads were starting to take a real beating from the downhill here as I passed the photographer trying to look strong and knowing I had another 10 miles in front of me.

I loved this marathon for its beauty, simplicity and that it was just 600 total runners and executed like a finely oiled machine.  And lest I forget the primary selling point -- it's a 2000', vertical drop for 23 miles or about a negative 1.6% to the finish line just east of North Bend, WA from mile 3.    The other main feature of this race is that at about the 1/2 mile mark, you enter into an old railroad tunnel that is devoid of light (other than hundreds of headlamps and flashlights) through which we ran 2.3 miles to the light (hence the name of the race -- "Tunnel Lite Marathon").     My goal was to run a sub 3:30 BQ here and get back to Boston for 2017 (as the race fell right in them middle of the 2017 Boston Marathon entrance window) -- but realistically I knew that I had peaked a few weeks earlier and had been suffering the last month or so from some cumulative fatigue that had set in which would make a great time on this downhill track an uphill challenge.   I was however resolved to see if I could dig it out and decided to run an aggressive opening half to see if I could hang on over the back half of the race.

It was nice simply getting up around 4:30 AM for an 8:00 am race time, fueling about 150 grams of carbs which included a "roadie" smoothie" -- and driving the 25 miles on the freeway to the bus pick-up point just east of North Bend.     I parked my car in a non-descript parking lot before sunrise and simply walked over to a waiting yellow school bus which in turn took off and drove another 25 miles or so eastward up and over Snoqualmie Pass to Hyak (just short of Keechelus Lake) off Interstate 90.

Of my 9 marathons, this was my 3rd fastest time -- and easily the best racing weather I've experienced.  7 of my 9 marathons have featured simply terrible to non-ideal weather so it was great to catch a weather break this time.

In terms of racing strategy, if I was going to run below 3:30:00, I believed I had to get out strongly and take advantage of the downhill, building a time buffer and then hold on over the last 5 miles -- ideally running 8:00 pace or at least nothing slower than 8:20's for the final 5 miles.    

The terrain for the course was a converted railroad track that was mostly compact dirt and rocks becoming gravel over the latter stages of the course.    Nearly half of my training this last year has been on the Cross Kirkland Corridor trail which is also a converted railroad track composed of soft gravel and compact dirt - so I felt comfortable that I'd be fine on the terrain.     As it turns out, the first 10 miles of the trail was actually quarter or larger sized rocks, some gravel, dirt and smaller ruts and undulations -- that were easy to navigate -- but really made the run more jarring on the quads.   I knew was going to be a problem later in the race (in comparison, running on a smooth asphalt or gravel trail is less jarring and one is able to glide and be more economical with muscle movement which conserves energy that's required for the last 5-6 miles of the marathon).    

I got through the first 5 miles (which included the 2.3 mile jaunt through the tunnel which was a little harder to run quickly than anticipated) in 7:46 pace and 38:51 and 10 miles in 77:38 and 7:45's.   At mile 10 I was feeling a lot more quad weariness than I expected (it felt like I'd already gone through 18 miles or so in fact) from the jarring but I was able to press on and get to the half marathon point in a great time of 1:41:30 and 7:46 pace.   I was right on my race strategy and within 7 seconds per mile pace of my PR at 3:20:00.    However, the quad soreness and fatigue was mounting and I knew I had to back it down a bit.   

At mile 14 I had been running with a group of men all shooting for sub 3:25:00.  We were running comfortably for 10 or so miles together, chatting and just getting into the groove as the miles passed by.   However, I stopped to walk the water station before mile 14 to see if I could gather a bit and decrease the quad fatigue before resuming running -- cutting my pace back to around 8:00 or even a little slower as I had a good buffer of time built up.    I ran miles 14 - 20 in about 50 minutes or 8:17 pace and got to mile 20 in just under 2:40:00 (which is 8:00 pace).   I was still in the game late in the race for a BQ -- if I could simply just muster and rally through the quad fatigue.    In my training in the summer,  I consistently ran fast-finish long runs where I'd cut-down miles 16 - 22 below 8:00 pace and even miles 21-22 in around 7:40 pace to practice for this exact moment.      

But the downhill grade was really starting to take a toll on me.   I slowed running mile 21 in 8:36 and then the dreaded 9:00's set in and I ran 9:15, 9:11, 8:55, 9:16 and 9:05 in (20-30 seconds of each mile was walking trying to re-focus and then rally to something below 8:00 pace).  But as the final miles clicked off I realized I was out of reach of a BQ and I relaxed and got through to the finish line in 3:35:39.     I was very very pleased with my race outcome given the fact that I'd peaked in late July, been feeling run-down the last 6 weeks but still at mile 22 had a 3:30 in my gun sights.  

I also realized on the back half of the race that racing Boston in 2017 would require me to get back into marathon training in early January which felt overwhelming giving I've come off 3 races in 9 months and 5 marathons going back to Portland in October 2014 over 23 months.  

My opening half was 1:41:30.  I then faded running the concluding half in 1:54:00 or so which is a large positive split -- but I made a conscious decision to go out hard and try to hang on -- and this is the sort of thing which happens with aggressive race plans.   I wanted to win big or blow up trying. I had nothing to lose anyway, right?    

Subject to my next blog posting -- the leg pain from Monday-Thusday this week was incredible.  It didn't help I jumped on an airplane and flew all day Monday morning after Sunday's race, but suffice it to say running a downhill marathon requires a little more specialized training than I anticipated.   

I can't wait to do this race again.  The next running of it is June 2017 and I will be laced up and ready to go!  Can't wait. 

Looking to the SW at sunrise from Hyak.   The full moon is visible through the wispy fog/clouds at 2500' elevation.

Sunrise with a full moon over Hyak at about 7:00 AM.   Pre-race temperatures were in the upper 40's and a little cool -- but absolutely perfect for racing a marathon.

Looking at one of the ski runs at Snoqualmie Pass at about 7:30 AM.

The race route feather 4 high elevation overpasses that were breathtaking. I tried to run as close to the side as I could to see down and distract myself from the growing pain in my quads as I ran towards the finish line which was still some 10 miles away at this point of the race.

Boston Marathon Training -- Week 10 Wrap up

Week 10 of Boston Marathon is nearly a wrap with today's workout including stretching, foam rolling, core and a 30 minute spin to help my legs recover from yesterday's 22-miler.  Race day is 4 weeks from tomorrow and I am hoping to make the most of the next 3 weeks and train as hard as I can while still allowing for a taper starting about 10 days out from the race on April 18.

As I've mentioned in my other blog posts, the last few weeks of training have been light on actual running mileage but heavy on core muscle strengthening (for balance) and aerobic volume as well as a ton of PT (dry needling, ART, fascia stretching, alter-g treadmill, etc.) due to a strain of my lower leg tendon (peroneus brevis) which happened in January while running track intervals.  

The focus of this week's training was on executing a pain-free 22 mile long run.  I had two 60-minute runs of higher intensity on an Alter-G treadmill on Tuesday and Thursday which stretched my HR into Zone-4 which for me is critical as I typically race in mid-Z4 when I am in optimum marathon racing shape.     Much of my lower intensity aerobic volume has been with my HR in upper Z1 and lower Z2 which is great for burning fat and weight loss, but nonetheless leaves a hole in my otherwise typical training which would include 6 miles of varying length strength intervals every Tuesday and an 8 - 10 mile tempo run at marathon pace every Thursday.  

After talking with my sports chiro on Wednesday about how I was fueling my long runs (he was preparing to run a 50K ultra this weekend), he mentioned that he'd found a new product called Vitargo S2 which had dramatically transformed his carbohydrate intake efficiency on long endurance events.   Apparently, Vitargo S2 is a much faster source of glycogen (re)fueling than other micro-nutrient fuel sources claiming up to 1.7x faster than maltodextrin.    

When I am training for a marathon, I typically use gels for any runs 16 miles or less (the speed of the run will determine whether I take any gels at all or fuel every 4-6 miles for faster runs).  For runs above 16 miles I will carry two 10-oz water bottles mixed with some form of carbohydrate micro-nutrient.  For the past several years I've relied on EnduroMAX by Max Muscle which has worked just fine.   Each scoop of EnduroMAX is 120 calories and 23 grams of carbs and includes BCAA's, etc.   In comparison, the Vitargo S2 product is 140 calories per scoop (slightly larger scoop than EnduroMAX) and 35 grams of carbohydrate.    

Yesterday's 22-miler was a major confidence booster as I was able to get through the entire distance pain free (including after the run) as well as covering the course in 3:05:00 (PR for this route is 3:01:00 before the 2014 Portland Marathon where I ran 3:27:30) at 8:25 pace and a comfortable average HR in low Z4.    I negative split each 11 miles going 8:27 and then 8:23 over the final 11 with mile 21 at a comfortable 8:12.     I took 22 grams of gel at miles 4 and 12 and consumed 8 oz of water mixed with 1 scoop of Vitargo at miles 8 and 16.      While it's impossible to say whether the Vitargo had anything to do with my strong performance yesterday, it's remarkable that after 4 weeks of basically no tempo runs nor interval work I was able to roll a 22 mile run that just within a few minutes of what I'd otherwise run on a full marathon training cycle with all the tempo and interval work.     It may be that losing 15 lbs of extra weight is also a major factor in yesterday's run (figuring each extra pound is 2-3 seconds per mile of speed loss -- especially above mile 16).  

The Vitargo is a bit more viscous and thicker than other micro-nutrients I've worked with which made the intake of the fluids a bit more challenging, especially at mile 16.  However if this product continues to perform well on my runs of substance over the remaining 3 weeks before tapering for Boston, it may find its way into my race bottles in Hopkinton on April 18.

The beauty of racing marathons is not just running the race itself, it's all that one has to manage over the course of 14-16 weeks to even get to the starting line.   Hopefully the next 4 weeks will be more straight-forward as I feel like the last 10 weeks have thrown me some hard curveballs I've had to navigate to stay on track.