New Jersey Marathon - final thoughts
I've had a week to go back over last week's race and try to figure out, just what the hell went wrong. But the the truth is, there's no one thing. In the end a combination of bad luck (GI issues), training errors and the lack of a base after a lengthy injury and recovery did me in.
The GI distress was probably the most acute problem in the short term. It came on the night before the race and I still felt queasy in the morning. During the night I slept poorly and I could feel my heart rate refusing to go down to its usual resting pulse. At breakfast I could barely get a half bagel with peanut butter down. And during the race I felt dehydrated from the start. I went through my water bottle very quickly - I like to carry my own and stop to refill when necessary - having to refill at 8 miles, then again at 13. And by then I could feel the bonk coming on. I would only be able to fight it off for two more miles. I think my hydration leading up to race day was good. But either the fish tacos I had for lunch or the Indian food I had for dinner on Saturday night did not go down well even though I tried to make the healthiest choices in each case. The funny thing is a week before I think I may have stumbled onto the perfect pre-race dinner, 2 small baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese. The next morning I raced a 10 miler and felt great. Maybe I should stick to that?
As for the training issues, my coach really hit me for "inadequate" preparation. That bothers me a bit, because while training was less than perfect, I did my best under the circumstances. How many of us ordinary working stiff non-elites ever have a perfectly executed cycle? But I have to concede I had a few less than stellar workouts and there is no question my overall mileage was lacking. Worst of all, I really struggled with the long runs this cycle. Once I got over 16 miles, these runs were consistently brutal. And 16 is where I had to start taking walk breaks in the marathon. Coincidence? Not likely.
All of this points ultimately to the base issue. I spent the first half of 2017 recovering and rehabbing from a knee injury, then the second half ramping training back up. I did a couple of races in the fall with no expectation of performing at my usual level, but thought I could turn the corner as the new year commenced. However, when the marathon training miles started to pile up, it seems I just wasn't physically prepared.
I probably asked too much of myself in trying to run a marathon last week, at least at my customary level of performance. I still gutted it out and finished, but was nowhere near even the minimum standard of success (sub-3:40 BQ) that I had established for this race. The goal, it turns out was not aligned with my readiness. Of course, hindsight sees 20/20.
So what can I take from it? Well, if nothing else I should be able to say I now have some kind of base for my fall marathon, Richmond. Also, much like a starting pitcher in baseball who gets knocked out of a game in the early innings, because I dialed it down the last ten miles, I don't feel as worn out from this marathon. I have a summer to work more on base fitness, too. I can log some decent medium-long runs, build speed with some summer 5Ks, and enhance cardio strength with cycling, my favorite form of cross training. By the time the Richmond training cycle kicks in, I should be in a good place, ready to handle all the rigors of the program.
And with those lessons in mind, I am closing the book on marathon 15, and planning on a better 16th one in November. To next time...
