5th Consecutive Colfax Marathon
Denver Colorado
Coming into this race the plan was to just run it easily, I even considered switching to the half. Less than 2 weeks ago I had run a great race which left me physical and emotionally wreaked from running. Since then the longest I had run was 10 miles and just to test out my legs I ran last mile at marathon race pace. My coach gave me a little encouragement and I was ready to go. Don’t forget I was an ambassador of this race so I spent 9hrs on my still tired feet Friday working the Expo.
Miles 0-15 (15 miles @ 8:05 pace)
I was a little worried how my body and mind would hold up late into the race. The strategy was to take it easy for the first 15 miles and put myself in positon for a PR. At mile 16 I would decide if I wanted to really go for it or back off. I ran the early miles all by feel, as soon as I felt like I was starting to get out of breath I would back off on effort. The first half of this course was pretty hilly with the last big hill being the entire 15th mile. Keeping this strategy of feeling like I could talk (I did chat with a friend the first 6 miles) I was able to cover the first 15 miles close to my PR pace.
Miles 16-20 (5 miles @ 7:32 pace)
Coming off mile 15 you are treated to a sweet 5 miles of downhill. I picked up the pace to 7:30’s but because of the downhill the effort was still pretty easy. I decided to not push any harder and keep the effort low. My feet were starting to ach and my quads and calf’s weren’t feeling so good, it was just leftover fatigue. The sun came out and the temps climbed but I didn’t feel like it affected that much. I was doing really well on my nutrition eating and drinking pretty often.
Miles 21-26.2 (6.2 miles @ 7:44 pace)
I couldn’t believe I had run 20 miles without any real problems. In my head a switch flipped “let’s go get that PR”. Around mile 21 I caught up with the 3:30 pace group and wasted no time cutting right through them. Blasting through that pace group felt great and now I was working hard to hold my pace in the 7:40’s but compared to everyone around me I was just flying. This is my 5th time running this marathon and I know every hill and every turn. Mile 23 we hit a major hill and I logged my slowest mile of the last 10K at 8:05. Looking at my watch I knew it would be close even if I ran my heart out. My thoughts were “I don’t care if I miss my PR this has been an amazing race”. My watch clocked me running my last 0.2 at 6:45 pace as I charged to the finish to collect a new PR.
Post race
That’s was a hilly marathon at altitude and I ran a hard 50miler 2 weeks ago so not really PR conditions. I only beat my time by 6 seconds but this race gave me a lot of confidence, I think I can run a lot faster. Because this was my local race I spent half of the day sitting in grass chatting with friends. I think I had 10 or so friends running the marathon, at least 30 in the half and a few more the relay.
The PR Drought is over
My last Marathon PR was over 2 and half years ago (12 marathons ago). Also during this time were a few ultras which probably contributed to the slowdown.
Weird Stat
My fastest 4 marathons are now separated by 1 minute and 4 seconds.
May 2015 Colfax – 3:26:49
Oct 2012 Rock n Roll Denver – 3:26:55
May 2012 Colfax – 3:27:27
May 2014 Colorado – 3:27:53
I do not look happy for some reason. This is around mile 6 because I am still running with my buddy Matt in the blue. This was Matt's first marathon
Just ran under the US flag which was very cool
Coming back through the stadium at around mile 20. Looking like I am in much better shape and
focused than I did here at mile 6.
No comments:
Post a Comment