After a dismal showing at the Wisconsin Marathon in May (which I did not blog about), I didn't really think much about attempting to top my previous PR of 2:53:09 set in 2010 at the Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City, MI. My plate was full with structuring workouts and creating events for the Libertyville Running Club, becoming a co-race director for a local 5k (www.twilightshuffle.com) held on Labor Day weekend, and being a stay-at-home dad with my 17-month old son and 2-month old daughter. However, the runs with the Club were slowly making me a better runner without me realizing it. This was the first time that I consistently did speed workouts, hill workouts and tempo runs over the course of a training period. I built a 16-week plan that I mostly adhered to that had me peak with a couple of mid-70-mile weeks. My average weekly miles, year-to-date were at 46 miles per week, one-and-a-half times what I had averaged in years past.
Of course, I didn't do ANY cross-training. Sure, I preached it. I just lacked the motivation to do it myself. Also, I've never been one to follow a nutrition plan. I've built running clubs around food and drink - pizza, donuts, beer...this is why we run after all, right? I was really having too much fun with the growth of this new club and the opportunity to run with so many new people this summer to bother taking my training too seriously. Then again, I never have and I probably never will.
Our trip to Erie, PA was a long weekend away from the kids. It was to be a motorcycle trip but a cold front moved in just in time to lessen the appeal of that venture. True to form however, it was still a gastronomical adventure. On the drive out, we hit up our favorite burger/beer bar, www.lassenstap.com (Libertyville - I love you but with your overpriced beer and lack of a stellar burger, you can learn a thing or two from this gem) and then settled in at www.thebrewkettle.com for a night in Cleveland, OH. Saturday, it was on to Erie, PA to check-in to the race and get a to-go order from www.miscuzirestaurant.com before the carb-loading masses' decent upon these unsuspecting purveyors of quality italian cuisine.
I like to say I never get nervous before a race, but the truth is, 32 marathons later and I still fret over some minutia. With a goal of running as many of these 50 state marathons in under 3 hours that I can, I always get a bit nervous that I will fall short. For this race, I brought 3 pairs of shoes with and tested them in the motel parking lot at 4am to make my final shoe decision. On any other morning, this would seem odd to other motel guests; this morning I had an audience sympathetic of my plight. After a coffee, banana, and some granola, we were off to the start line with a tinge of apprehension from choosing to stray from my go-to marathon shoe, the Brooks Pure Connect, and selecting the Saucony Kinvara 5.
The race is two flat loops around the idyllic lakefront setting within the Presque Isle State Park (www.presqueisle.org). The field was 1,250 marathoners and 1,250 half marathoners that started 30 minutes after the marathoners. The weather was a beautiful and sunny 50-degree morning on a course that was mostly shaded. The nerves are really getting to me now because I'm left with no excuse for anything short of a strong performance. I, like so many others, have a habit of going out too fast. This is how I blew up in the aforementioned Wisconsin Marathon. This time, I had a plan to take the first 2-5 miles slow and maybe pick up the pace to finish in 2:55. I managed to not get caught up in the excitement and held 7-minute miles for the first 2 miles here. I'm convinced that made all the difference for me. I clocked the half marathon in 1:27 feeling conservative. From there, I continued to work with one other runner for the next 7 miles. Around mile 20, I realized I was on pace for a PR so I pulled ahead to finish the last 10k solo, albeit dodging half marathoners, finishing with a 3-minute negative split. I took 9th place overall (2nd in my age group) with a new PR of 2:51:22. With this, I'm batting .500 for sub-3 hour marathons, 16 out of 32. Here are the details if you're the analytical type: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/590323169.
I know I've had a great race when I feel like I can still run 2 more miles. With little fatigue, we ventured over to www.bertrandsbistro.com to destroy an all-you-can-eat brunch buffet in the quaint heart of Erie. The following morning, we meandered up to Ann Arbor, MI after lunch at one of Cleveland's fine breweries, www.fatheadscleveland.com to stay with friends and pay a visit to our favorite brewery, www.jollypumpkin.com - a fine artisan of sour ales. Looking back, we first discovered Jolly Pumpkin after the Traverse City, MI marathon and celebrated my previous PR there. Our visit after this new PR was apropos and resulted in, much like last time, a car full of beer for the cellar.
Of course there's always room for one more beer stop on your way out of Michigan. A layover at www.bellsbeer.com/eccentric-cafe/ satiated a desire to visit here after a previous failed attempt. I suppose I should begin my taper for the New Hampshire & Maine double marathon weekend in three weeks...oh, and book our hotels!
A post-race dip in Lake Erie:
Congratulations on the PR! I'm glad we met and were able to work together during the race. I beat my previous PR by 13 minutes and qualified for Boston with your help. Thanks again and keep up the good work! - Joe
ReplyDeleteCongrats to you as well, Joe! That's a huge PR! Thanks to you, I didn't have to run most of that race solo. I'm convinced that helped me get the PR.
Delete