Mike's 2010 NYC Marathon Race Report

By Mike

Pre Race Babble
Wow. What a race. In my earlier blog posts you may have seen that I predicted a 3:10 for NYC Marathon this year. In July I did a marathon check-in and felt that I was close with several months of training to go. I was really happy with how things were going. Then in late August things fell apart and I didn't find my running legs again until October with just weeks to go to the marathon. I gave up on any predictions and just figured I'd go out and do what I could.

Well if things couldn't get any worse they did. I went home early on Thursday (3 days pre race) with a migraine and some early cold/flu symptoms. Friday was slightly better and Saturday was slightly worse. On Sunday morning (marathon morning) I woke up with a progressively worse sore throat. I considered bailing on the marathon altogether. Still I got up, had some breakfast and hot tea and felt a little better. Bought some cold medicine and took a dose at about 6:15am (race start 9:40am) and another at about 9:00am--felt better. Standing around a cold race start for a good 1.5 hours too (NYC Marathon logistics are a pain!) didn't help though. I decided this would likely be my last NYC Marathon for a while -- not a fan of the cold at all! I took my pre-race Gu Roctane with 20 minutes to go, downed it with some water and prepped for the race to come.

Race Start
The 1.5 miles on the Verrazano were cold and windy. My feet felt like frozen cinder blocks about to smash in pieces. Luckily it was sunny out. Things improved once off the bridge and onto the upcoming "flat" section. Felt surprisingly good despite the cold and sore throat and pace on the flats came out to a comfortable 7:40-7:45 range. But by mile 8 I started to feel that the pace was unsustainable. Legs felt tired and heart rate kept dropping well below target. I took my third Roctane at mile 9 (previous at mile 4) and had to put in a lot of mental effort to watch my pace and heart rate and to motivate myself to make sure I didn't slow down too much. Not a good sign with not even 25% done. It felt like it was the cold taking its toll.

Still, I managed to keep a good solid pace. I clocked in at about 1:43:xx at the half but struggled to go up the bridge leading into Queens. I was definitely starting to fade and was just hoping some mental toughness would get me through the day.

The Queensboro Bridge was a slog (as expected) ... the downhill part was no relief either as my ankles were really starting to kill. Shortly after I turned onto 1st ave I felt something unexpected... someone jumping on my back and stepping on my shoes at the same time!?!?!? My left shoe nearly popped off and I almost hit the ground face first. I saw the guy who did it and I started to yell at him with some pretty severe expletives. He had nothing to say in response... not even a sorry. That could have ended my race right there but luckily my mildly "ninjistic" balance skills kept me on my feet -- whew! :)

With my legs starting to feel even more fatigued I decided I would take my next Gu Roctane a mile early (mile 18). Amazingly within a few minutes I felt this surge of energy. My average heart rate went up a few bpm and the perceived exertion went down a bit. This stuff works (note to self- take them every ~32 minutes next time). For the next few miles up first ave I managed to keep a low 8:00 pace. I slowed down in the section in the Bronx (everyone does) but brought it back to a low 8:00 pace upon re-entering Manhattan. I realized I was dangerously close to not breaking 3:30 and realized I needed to up the pace and give it all I had in the last 5 miles.

So that's what I did. I pushed myself to my absolute limit knowing I'd be incredibly frustrated with not breaking 3:30 two years in a row. It felt good to pass the other runners and only motivated me further. With 800m to go and a sub-3:30 within reach I imagined myself running a Yasso 800 interval. It worked. I crossed the line at 3:29:38! Then the wave of pain came over me.. aching ankles, left plantar fascitis pain, tight right hip flexors... it's amazing how you can block all of that out during the race... though you pay for it 10-fold post race. It felt impossible to even walk properly right after crossing the line. Still... pretty happy all things considered.

Summary
Avg HR: 159 (158 in 2008 and 161 2009)
Time: 3:29:38 (3:43 in 2008 and 3:30 in 2009)
Pre Race Nutrition: 1 can redbull, 1 Gu Roctane packet, and about 20 oz of Gatorade Endurance, as well as some light breakfast about 3 hours prior.
During Race Nutrition: 1 Roctane every 4-5 miles, ~5 Hammer Endurolyte tablets total, water and Gatorade Endurance at each aid station (almost every mile)

The Beauty of Sports Massage

Ah, the taper.  I'm now 2.5 weeks out from my marathon and am immensely enjoying my taper.  I'm cutting back the miles and will be running every other day, more or less at race pace (7:45-8 minute miles).  I've done a lot more miles than in the past, but I looked at prior years' data and realized my long runs were actually slower than year.  Hmm.  I still feel in much better shape so I am just doing the runs now at race pace to make sure I know what that feels like and to train my legs and HR to peg there.
Another critical aspect of the taper is to make sure my body stays well enough to get to the start line in perfect shape.  I've done the training, now it's time to go after those nibs and nabs that rear themselves in every marathon training cycle.  For me, I've been blissfully injury free (knock on wood), but I do get calf issues when the mileage creeps up.  Tightness on the inner calf, especially on my left leg, has been the bain of my marathon training.  I've more or less been able to train through it, but last Thursday I thought my legs had just about had it with me!

So the next few weeks are all about foam rolling, icing, stretching, and getting the muscles back into race form.  Yesterday I went for a sports massage with Betsy.  It had been my first massage since I started training for the marathon (I had two over the summer in Seattle during triathlon season).  But I knew I needed it- badly!  It's 60 minutes of blissful pain. 

I told her in advance about the calf issue and she focused on the legs for most of the session.  Some spots hurt when she works them, but I think it's good because that means she's finding areas that need work and can focus there.  She could feel exactly what I had described and was able to get some of the tension out.  I'm taking it a bit easier the next few days to allow the muscles to heal from that "'trauma" (which, yes, deep massage can be) but hopefully they'll be looser as a result.

I already have a follow-up session scheduled for next week, 9 days out from the marathon, to be sure my muscles are good and ready.  For me this makes a world of difference and if I could afford a massage every other week I would do it!  There's a reason the pros get them so frequently.  And, of course, it's relaxing and the 60 minutes tend to fly by!

Finding my running legs again

By Mike

The NYC marathon is only 4 weeks away and I'm due for another check-in on my training. In my earlier posts I mentioned I was targeting a 3:10 and was in about "3:20 shape" and some point in the summer with months of training still ahead.

The last few weeks have been tough though. Training has not gone well since the end of August. Up until then it was great. I had absorbed about as much training as training as I could have and was due for 2 weeks of rest leading up to my half-iron race in Sandusky, OH (Rev3 Cedar Point). The only problem was that I had to move my apartment. We hired movers of course (no way I was planning on doing that kind of physical labor during my taper) but as luck would have it, our movers were shall we say... less than competent. I ended up doing 9 hours of physical labor on a Friday two weeks before a half-ironman. Needless to say I was completely fried. My legs felt like dead weights and I was unable to complete even basic recovery workouts for the 12 days that followed.

I still had a great half-iron (5:06) but it was about 10 minutes slower than I planned, losing most of that time on the run (actual 1:41 vs planned 1:32 run split). What seemed to kill me was my ankles... there was just no bounce or spring in my step. With each step I felt like my foot would "stick" to the pavement. I felt like I was at risk of falling on my face if my back foot would have taken just a millisecond more to come forward and support my forward body lean.

Since then I've been trying to get back into running... to find my running legs again. Of course getting sick with this cold/flu thing that's been going around has not helped. I ended up having to back out of a half-marathon tune up race I was planning on doing last weekend. I've probably done no more than 30 miles since Rev3 (4 weeks ago), with ~8 of those miles coming from today's "long run". I had to stop and turn around at about mile 4. My legs couldn't take it any more and the 4 mile return trip was a definitely a slog.

Yes, I admit the last 6 weeks have been tough. The positive thing is that at least my heart rate was low (relative to pace) during these last few runs so I don't think I've lost much cardio fitness. I've just been unable to maintain an effort higher than zone 2 or do anything more than 4 miles without great discomfort. I have 4 more weeks so who knows what will happen but I am very doubtful of my achieving the previous goals I set for myself.

I'm probably going to just continue training by feel and trying to put on as much mileage as my legs can comfortably handle rather than following any sort of training plan. We'll see what that translates to come race day so at this point I won't be making any predictions.

Marathon Training: Weeks 3 and 4

Week 3 got off to a good start with a 4 miler, 6.2 miler, and 5.9 miler Monday - Thursday, but unfortunately that ended up being it for the week.  I moved apartments on Friday and after that marathon session (no joke) spent all day Saturday cleaning, unpacking, and setting up and Sunday was a deserved day at the beach.  So much for a big training week- I only got 16.1 miles in over 3 runs!  As a side note, moving is tough work, but a great quad exercise!

Week 4 I got myself back on track.  The heat and humidity were killer last week and I was NOT used to this after having spent the summer in Seattle (unlike my NYC teammates who are more than accustomed to working out in the oppressive conditions).  That said, Monday I got in a 5.6 mile run and then Tuesday did my first bike ride in over a month.  Wow, have I lost a lot of biking fitness!  It's amazing how the two sports are so different and fitness (other than cardio) really doesn't translate that well.  But I was happy to be on the bike so that was a good day.

Wednesday and Thursday were two harder 7.7 and 5 mile runs.  Friday was a planned off day then Saturday morning I set out for my 11 mile run.  7.7 miles was the longest I had run since mid-July so I didn't want to push it.  I ran an out and back along the Hudson River path and the first 5.5 miles were at a super easy pace.  When I got to the turn around I felt great, but didn't want to be out there forever.  I picked up the pace about 1:15/mile and just ran home.  End time:  90 minutes for 11.2 miles.  I was very happy to have finished so easily, with no residual soreness or fatigue.

I had planned on running an easy 5 miler on Sunday but I woke up late, did stuff around the apartment, and had to run out the door for brunch.  But that's okay because I had hit my goal of 30 miles for the week so now I am back on track!

Goals for the coming week:
Last first week of classes ever!  I get back on a routine so this should help my training.   My plan is 35 miles over 5 runs with the long run of 13 miles.  With classes not starting until 2:15pm 3 days a week (and Fridays off!) there should be no excuses...

Marathon Training: the plan

I am just beginning my training for the 2010 New York City Marathon, to be run on November 7.  This is my third time doing this race and it might be my last for awhile so I want to make it good.

I have the dubious luck of being able to focus solely on my running now because I hurt my arm in a bike accident (see previous posts) and am unable to bike or swim.  So this gives me 12 weeks of continuous, uninterrupted run training to prepare for the marathon.  I have no interim races planned (though I may add a few shorter running races in just to mix it up) so this should be a very dedicated training block.

Until recently I didn't really have a goal for the marathon.  I have already qualified for Boston (from NYC Marathon last year) and there is no major time threshold that I am near.  I consider myself a competitive runner, but I am nowhere near elite and so going for a top place isn't remotely realistic, even within my age group (I was 196th in F25-29 last year).  But to train without a goal is hard for me, so here it is:  run a 7:45 pace (3:23 finish time), negative split (run the 2nd half faster than the first), and feel GOOD doing it.  I also have a not-so-secret wish to take the Team Sports Bistro crown at the marathon distance.  6 of us are competing for it this fall!

So let it be known that I am in full-on marathon training mode.  I will check in here weekly, if only to keep me honest.  I'll also be experimenting with some different sports nutrition so I'll review that as well.  I'm starting fresh (I had 2 weeks exercise-free in recovery from my accident) and am still building mileage and speed, but I know it will come quickly enough.  I want to run 18, 19, 20 milers, get up to 50 miles per week, and complete a few trials of Yasso 800s.  Let's see how I do!

Plan for this week:  21 miles, including a long run of 8 (hey, I said I'm still building up!)

Marathon Check In

By Michael Donikian, USAT Certified Coach, NASM-CPT

A while back I made a bold statement.. 3:10 or bust for NYC Marathon. I thought it was time to make a post about how that's coming along. In short, it's coming along. I was a little bummed about my very recent run performance at NYC tri where I ran slower than last year, despite improved fitness. Ok. A LOT bummed. But there were good reasons for that and I take it as just a one off.

Today I did a brick which included an 8 mile run. Within the run, I chose a hilly 10K section to attempt to run steady state at about marathon pace. I ran it at a pretty steady 7:24 pace (a little slower up hill / a little faster downhill). I maintained roughly the same average heart rate I did in NYC marathon last November despite the 93 degree temperature today so I think it's a good preview of what's to come. Assuming I maintain the same pace, that's puts me at about a 3:13... so I'm not terribly far off and I still have many weeks of training ahead.