Marathon Eve & Final Thoughts on Race Strategy

It's finally that time.   After 14 weeks of training the only thing left to do is to wake up, get on my race gear, eat and hydrate and jog over to the Boston Commons to catch a bus out to Hopkinton at 6:45.   I expect to be at Athlete's Village and chilling under cover no later than 8 am where I plan to do absolutely nothing but stay off my feet, lightly eat and hydrate and make a few trips to the bathroom lines.

The weather for tomorrow should be absolutely perfect for the marathon.  It looks like temps will span the mid-50's to maybe lower 60's in Brookline before we head into the Boston and it's expected to be a little cooler.   The only real issue is we're looking at a 10-12 mph headwind out of the east which will be pushing on us a good part of the race since the route is basically from west to east.   There's nothing anyone can do about the weather anyway except to prepare mentally, adjust accordingly and just deal with it.

Winter's grip is still evident in the Boston Commons as there are no early leaves or even bud break to signal Spring's arrival. 

The race strategy I've landed on for tomorrow is decidedly simple and also influenced by the reality of my lower-right leg tendon still not being fully healed from an injury it sustained (while doing track intervals) in late January).    While I don't expect a problem with finishing the marathon, the pain over the first 5-6 miles will slow me down a bit until it's fully warm and the rush of the race sweeps it all away.

My approach for tomorrow will be to really ease back on the first couple of miles that are downhill and run 8:20's and then ease into something through 5 miles that will probably have me there in about 41:00 - 42:00.   Slow compared to my normal race pace but the goal is to hit the half marathon mark in 1:46:00 - 1:47:30 leaving enough gas in the tank to start picking it up a bit heading in the Newton Hills, maintain on the hills through 21 and then hit the gas from 21 - to the finish.  

I'm really not sure what to expect tomorrow other than I've trained hard and been as committed as ever to my coach and the plan we built for Boston -- and trust that I will run the best race I can.   If I'm struggling early I'm going to back off and find a pace I can support without going to the pain cave too early.    I figure I could even run a 1:50:00 opening half and leave enough gas in the tank to get into Boston at a faster pace leading to a decent time.

What time am I going to run -- hard to say.   I'm sticking with my predictions from 10 days ago.  Anything sub 3:33:00 is an A performance.   If I don't have my A game anything sub 3:40 is still a great day; otherwise I'm going to enjoy the run into Boston and look forward to a great steak and bottle of wine tomorrow night!

Saturday at the Boston Marathon

After a long day heading east yesterday that required a 2:45 am PDT wake-up to catch a flight from Seattle to San Francisco before connecting into Boston last night, today was all about getting to the Marathon expo, swag, the requisite event pictures and coordinating post-race meeting logistics (which can be surprisingly hard at Marathons like Boston or New York given how tight security is).

Swag.

Took us a while, but I eventually found my name right here!

Should be crossing here somewhere around 2:00 - 2:15 Monday afternoon.  

Winds were absolutely howling on this afternoon's run.  The large flag on the U.S.S. Constitution was fully caught in the strong, icy wind.   It's still winter in Boston.  

The weather here is clear and bright today but with a high temperature of maybe 50 and 20 mph winds out of the east, it's frigid at times.   Tomorrow and Monday will be progressively warmer and ideal for a marathon.  The only thing I'm watching for at this point is whether we may have a dead headwind out of the east on race morning which is especially tough here in Boston as the race runs exactly one direction for 26 miles - east.    I'm not going to sweat what I can't control, I will make my final race plan out tomorrow afternoon once I see a forecast I can believe in (the weather forecast here for Monday has been swinging up as high as 72 degrees with winds out of the west all the way down to 60 with a 10 mph headwind out of the east).

This morning's visit to the marathon expo was especially challenging with our 2 year old (Jayden) in tow.   The exposition hall was mobbed by 10:00 am (and becoming increasingly so) so I got my racde packet, some basic swag, made a full pass through the hall -- and simply got out and away to conserve energy.  I'd love to spend a couple of hours just going to each booth and even getting some autgraphs (Scott Jurek was on hand this am with Shalane Flanagan this afternoon) but my focus is the race and not a lot of merchandise I can otherwise get online.

Jayden and me at Fanueil Hall doing some tourist stuff.  It seems like 3 lifetime's ago when I first visited here in 1984 while stationed at Ft. Devens, MA and we took the train from Ayer, MA to the Old North Station close to here.

This afternoon I got a quick 3 miler in with some strides.  Legs as always feel dead the day after flying which is why today's run was even more important so I could get them moving and the blood flowing before doing a final shake-out run tomorrow where the legs should feel more fresh.   My right leg tendon continues to be moderately painful until it warms up (generally after 5 - 7 miles of running) but at this point my tendon would have to snap for me to not run on Monday morning.

Tonight is a big night for eating.   Looking forward to dinner in the North End and some wine and lots of carbs.

Final Odds and Ends before departing for Boston

Just finished my final run here in Bellevue before heading out to Boston on a 5:00 am flight tomorrow.   I booked this flight 6 months ago and leaving at 5:00 am felt like a good idea then (for some unknown reason); however, this afternoon it's the pits as I'm not sure what I was thinking given it's me, my wife, and our 2 year old daughter Jayden in tow.    This will be a 3:00 am wake-up; 3:30 Uber and 4:00 am arrival at Sea-Tac before hitting security.  Thankfully we are TSA Pre given how bad Sea-Tac TSA has been with queue management.

Today's track run was really my first since February when I injured a lower, right leg tendon.    4 x 400's with 400 jogging rest interval.   I've managed to somehow get a lot faster this training cycle running them in 92,92, 89 and 88 seconds respectively.    It's really not a marathon-specific workout running at 5K speed, but it felt good and helps to build confidence for Monday afternoon when I'm going to need some leg speed on the final 5.2 miles to Boylston and the finish.

I am sure nearly every race participant has been nervously watching the Boston weather forecast and feeling a small since of foreboding as the forecast temperature for Monday continues to climb towards 70 degrees.    The good news is that most of the race will be in the lower 60's with maybe even a bit of a tail wind.    Far better than in 2012 when I ran and temperatures peaked near 90 and it was suffocating.

My packing list is an assortment of about anything imaginable I might need to either prepare, run or recover from Monday's race.    Here's a quick inventory from my hand-scribbled notes:

2 pair running socks (1 for a final run Sunday and 1 for race day)
Asics Nimbus 18 running shoes
2 pair CEP compression sleeves
Garmin 620 and charger
HR strap
Vitargo Carb Mix
Body Glide
Racing shorts and t-shirt
Utility belt with 3 8-oz flask
Fanny pack
Nuun tablets
Race morning sweat-shirt, sweats (to be left at Athlete's village)
Running hat
Big Towel (also to be left behind in athlete's village)
4 x Power Gels
Rolling Stick
Green Thera-band
Orange Lacrosse Ball
Blue roller Ball (for back and scaps)
Rain Poncho (2)
Garbage bag (for athlete's village)
Salt Tablets
Racing glasses
Ear buds (for airplane; I don't race with music ever)
Rain jacket (in case the forecast changes)
1 gallon plastic bag to carry into Athlete's village
3 small plastic sandwhich bags for misc. gear including storage of iPhone in fanny pack during race

I could go on and on but I need to go back all of this stuff up and get organized for a 3 am wake-up.

Next post from Boston and my final thoughts on how I'm going to approach the race on Monday.

Being "Short"

As I mark the final 4 days preparing for the Boston Marathon on Monday, I was reminded tonight of a phrase I haven't heard or even thought of since my Army days in the 80's at Field Station Berlin in S/S Papa.   The phrase is "being short"   I'm not sure from where the slang originated, but it was used to denote someone who was on a final countdown to either a permanent change of station (duty assignment) or leaving the service entirely (ETS).   But there was also a bit of a "lame duck" connotation to the phrase as it also implied that there was little left to do except move on as all the real work was done and in the figurative rear view mirror.    While I still need to show up and actually run the marathon on Monday morning, the phrase still kind of works from the standpoint of all the work of substance required to get to the starting line in Hopkinton is in the bag.  

To make the point, this afternoon's workout was a paltry 3 miles after yesterday's full day of rest (welcome to a marathon taper!).     My coach's plan had me running a very easy 3 miles, but I decided to spice things up a bit and do a 1/2 mile warm-up then run some 5K pace mile intervals just to burn off some steam (rolled the miles in 7:13 and 6:54 while resting a couple of minutes in between) before jogging a half mile home.  With the tendon injury I've been nursing, these are by far the fastest 2 miles I've run since early February -- and it felt good to air things out a bit.  The tendon was achy but at this point I'll be so amped up Monday morning at the start of the race the tendon will be an after-thought.

This afternoon's run was also pleasant from a weather perspective.   Going all the way back to my last 6 weeks of training for the December Honolulu Marathon and nearly through the complete Boston Marathon training cycle -- it's been just miserable to run outside in Seattle with 44" of rain falling from October through March here (it's an all-time record for rain fall going back to the 1880's). That I ran in shorts and a t-shirt and it was 55 degrees and dry just felt great.  

On a final note, I'm sure I'm the same as everyone else running on Monday and watching the weather forecast for Boston on Monday.  It looks like  mostly perfect weather for a marathon; although, the temperature is now creeping up into the mid-60's which is a little warm for my liking -- but still comfortable given start-time temps will likely be in the low 50's.

Tomorrow is packing day.   

6-Days and a Wake-up to Boston

I am sure that most veteran marathoners always find the last 5-6 days leading to race morning the least easy to manage although it's the least strenuous physically.    After 14-16 weeks of 40-60 miles a week, we suddenly have extra time on our hands that was otherwise filled with weekly interval, tempo, long and recovery runs.     Instead of days where it's common to burn 1000 or more calories working out, we need to suddenly worry about gaining a few pounds in advance of the race which is also unsettling (and frankly irritating given how hard it is to drop down and into optimal racing weight) as our caloric needs lessen (although my desire to eat seems to rise as a way to heal up and rest my body -- which I generally pay close attention to as it's a natural part of the tapering process).

As a part of the ritual which has been my final week of marathon preparation for a few years, I always pay special attention to visiting my sports-chiro, masseuse and spending extra time staying loose, limber and mobile.   In fact, during my morning session with my sports-chiro, he remarked that 10 other Boston Marathoner's were coming in today for their final tune-ups before departing for Boston later in the week (this alone is remarkable to me given there's that many of us flying out of Seattle to Boston all seeing the same sports-chiro).

A number of people have asked me recently what the hardest part of preparing to run a marathon is (nearly everyone assumes it's the 20+ mile long runs) -- and they are surprised when I respond saying that -- while 20+ mile long runs are indeed grueling -- it's the final 24 hours leading to actually running the race I find the most completely unpleasant.    I'm not sure if others feel this way, but for me the Saturday (or Sunday in the case of Boston) evening and super early 3:00 am wake-ups (often followed by an adventure even getting to the starting line of a major race and then having to manage some sort of bathroom routine with 25,000 other nervous racers) is by far the least enjoyable part of marathoning.  In fact, if it were feasible to just go run the race in the early evening and avoid the 3:00 am pre-marathon wake-up routine and get it over with -- it would be so much more enjoyable (setting aside issues of heat and humidity running later in the day or early evening).    Outside of the Las Vegas Rock-n-Roll Marathon held in November, I'm not sure of any other evening marathon races so it's just the reality of the situation for me that the least fun part of running the marathon comes right immediately before the absolutely most exhilarating part which is running and completing the race.

I expect I'll spend the next couple of days before flying to Boston Friday morning working on my final racing gear checklist, race strategy and about every other contingency I can think of before showing up out in Hopkinton at about 8:00 am Monday morning -- including what to do for 2 1/2 hours while waiting in the Athlete's Village prior to starting the race at 10:25 AM EDT.  

More to follow on what's been a remarkable journey getting back to Boston in 2016.

Boston Marathon - It's a Wrap!

It's hard to believe that with today's 12-mile tempo run at Green Lake (Seattle) that I'm in full taper mode for Boston on April 18.     After 6 months of training in what turned out to be the rainiest winter in Seattle history (44" of rain fell from 10/1/15 - 3/31/15), my last run of substance in this training cycle was under blue skies and temps approaching 70.    I was doubly lucky in that my 17 year old son Ethan is on Spring Break and was able to run with me today and help pace me over 12 miles.    

For all of my prior marathons, I've always come to Green Lake to run a final 12-14 mile time trial 14-10 days before my race as a final indication of what to expect on race day.    When I ran a 3:20:00 PR in 2011 in Vancouver B.C., I got through 14 miles in 7:29's and crushed it.    For the Portland Marathon in October of 2014 (another BQ) where I ran 3:27:30 I got through 14 in 7:45's.     Today's 12-mile in 7:54's and 1:34:00 felt solid with the final 5 miles in 38:40 and finding a good rhythm in the 7:45 range.     If it weren't for my tendon injury which has kept me off the track, I can only wonder just might've been had I been able to train a full cycle of tempo and intervals over the last 14 weeks, but that I've been able to ham-and-egg my fitness with help from my coach and a lot of innovation on the PT front (Alter-G's, Dry Needling, etc.).

What does race day have in store for me?   It's too early to say; however, the good news is that early indications on the weather are temperatures in the 50's with wind at about 10 mph out of the NE.   As long as it's not hot or a gale force headwind, I'll take whatever comes on race morning.   

I plan to sift through my data, take feedback a race plan review with my coach yesterday and publish my final race plan next week.  Stay tuned!

Me and my 17 year old son Ethan who accompanied me today.

Seattle's 2.8 mile loop around Green Lake has always been my choice for a final pre-marathon time trial over the years.  The weather today was simply spectacular after a winter of heavy rain and bad weather on nearly all of my outdoor runs.

Not a record my any stretch based on past performances, but I will take it given the soft tissue tendon injury I've been managing this training cycle.   To expect a BQ on April 18, I likely needed to run this in 7:30 splits.   

Boston Marathon Preliminary Race Strategy

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: 

Boston Marathon Course and Elevation Chart

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)  

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.