Monday, June 1, 2015

Vermont city marathon

VCM- I made the decision early in the winter that I would chase this race again this year. Last years race was a combination of things, not fully trained and not fully health. Going into the race this year I was trained (best training block to date and health). I felt really good about where my fitness was at, and had a pretty solid plan.

Race day - woke up around 540am and immidiately got a drink and back to hydrating. Ate some breakfast, rolled out and tried to keep off my feet. A little after 7 I drove down to the start, got in a light warm up then to the line with Macknight. Was greeted by a crew of Albany people that come out to watch! It was awesome!
I was able to see a few people before the start and found Jim, Joe and Dan at the line and tucked in with them. Off the line I was right with Jim and we cruised together for a good portion of the course. Jim was looking for sub 2:50 and I was thinking 245, we decided to work together and stay under control. We locked into a rythem pretty quickly and we're just clipping away. After the turn around on the highway we began to separate a little, I wanted to try and get up with Joe around 10m or so. The next couple miles I moved thru some crowds but never really dropped the pace down. My main concern was to continue to get fluids in, I was trying to get 2 cups per water stop. Once back into town I was able to catch Joanna (formerly from Albany) we chatted for a min and noticed we were shooting for the same time and trying to get with the same group. We were able to cruise together for 8-9m , once I knew we had 10m left I began to get a head of steam and started working to close the gap with the group infront of us. At this point my legs felt refreshed and I was thinking just one mile at a time start to lock in. Somewhere between 19-20 I felt some real tightness in my quads and calfs, I'm still questioning the split decision I made but saw an opportune place to get a quick stretch and keep moving. It's hard to say weather the cramping would have gotten better had I left it alone or not. The next mile I was trying to get back on pace and back into the groove of things, coming up on 22 you have a short steep down hill then a little pop up to the bike path. This seemed to be the final dagger, my legs immediately locked up once I got on the bike path. I tried to walk it off and keep jogging to finish up but they continued to get tighter. The final straw was around 23m I was trying to fight thru and keep moving, I started to feel a lot of stain near my achilles I have dealt with those injuries before and have no desire to do that again. I finally pulled the plug and knew I wasn't finishing, it was a long 3m walk back but it gave me time to think and clear my head before seeing anyone. I was not happy about dropping but was happy the way everything was going till that point. 

Seems me and the spring marathon still have something's to workout. 

Splits:
1 - 6:23
2 - 6:12   (12:36)
3/4 - 12:24 (25:00)
5 - 6:12   (31:13)
6 - 6:23   (37:36)
7 - 6:19   (43:55)
8- 6:22    (50:18)
9 - 6:28   (56:46)
10 - 6:08 (1:02:55)
11 - 6:25 (1:09:21)
12 - 6:23 (1:15:44)
13 - 6:23 (1:22:08)
14 - 6:32 (1:28:40)
15 - 6:23 (1:35:03)
16 - 6:49 (1:41:53)
17 - 6:25 (1:48:15)
18 - 6:17 (1:54:36)
19 - 6:35 (2:01:11)
20 - 7:25 (2:08:36)
21 - 6:49 (2:15:26)
22 - 6:53 (2:22:19)




As for what's next: I am going to enjoy my 2 weeks recovery before getting back to running. I think there are some small things that I need to add to my routine over the summer months, but nothing major. The main focus will shift to some shorter stuff for a little before coming full swing to prepare for Hartford. 

2 comments:

  1. Sorry man. Maybe you need a slightly beefier shoe for the marathon? Cramping sucks. Once they start you're pretty much screwed. Smart choice to drop, it's not worth weeks of injury. You gained some serious fitness running 20+ miles at that pace. It should set you up for a good summer and fall.

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    1. Thanks man! I was thinking the same thing, also the warmer weather and being a heavy sweater I believe played a part. I'm just glad I came away healthy and get to build on this current fitness.

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