On The Run - Baltimore Marathon

On The Run

a why did i do it, a why did i do it
i asked myself a hundred times and then i start to cry
its up to my neck now im runnin like a dog
i can't remember how it started
but its too late to turn back the clock
i gotta keep on and on and on and on

The marathon is unique to say the least. Just when you think you have the beast tamed, it turns on you, attacks like a rabid animal, destroys like a wildfire, and makes you eat humble pie. I like to consider myself a veteran marathoner having completed 15 marathons. Certainly I am not a beginner but I am starting to doubt the validity of being a veteran. No matter how good your training might be leading to the marathon, you “get what you get” on marathon day and whatever you get, most of it you cannot control. This is where you are truly tested. Your best races do not test you physically and mentally. The ones that challenge you the most are the ones where there is struggle, where you need to compensate for some deficiency, where you know you will not perform your best. These races are the hardest yet we learn the most from them. They help us improve more than any others. They “make” us analyze the results, our training, and every aspect of our race. They make us doubt ourselves. In some cases, they make us feel sorry for ourselves – a loser, a failure. But, in nearly all cases, they make us mentally and physically stronger. It is a matter of our attitude toward the event. We are more determined to tame the beast, more determined to douse the flames of the wildfire, and say “no” to the high calorie humble pie.

It took me 10 years and 9 marathons to finally break 4 hours in the marathon. After a very dismal NYC marathon in 2003, I realized that I needed to train differently. Although this NYC marathon was run only two weeks after a marathon PR in Baltimore, I knew that with proper training I could get below 4 hours. In 2004, I broke through and ran 5 consecutive sub-4 hour marathons, highly consistent times between 3:48 and 3:57. The final 3 marathons were run within a 4 month span. This is when I thought I was the “marathon whisperer”. I finally knew how I needed to train for and run the marathon to consistently break 4 hours. I understood the mental aspects both in training and during the marathon. Well, I thought I did. Obviously, all our times are relative. There are many people who run faster times than me and many who run slower but our goals are all relative to our individual running capabilities. What is common among all of us is this thing called the marathon. It doesn’t care who you are (see Paula Radcliffe, 2004 Olympics), how fast or slow you are, where you run, who you run with, how prepared you are – it just doesn’t care!

It is now the Baltimore Marathon 2005. This is my 5th consecutive Baltimore running each marathon since the inaugural in 2001. My goal is to continue to run the Baltimore marathon for 25 consecutive years which will make me 66 years old when I complete my 25th (got to have goals!) There are 59 of us who have run all 5 Baltimore marathons.

My training was decent. I will confess that it was not great but it certainly was not awful. My peak mileage during my “monster month” was 50-53 miles. I had trained consistently over a 4 month period increasing mileage and long runs up to my taper period, this after an active racing month of June. I ran 5 long runs of 18-21 miles and 4 long weekends (Saturday/Sunday combined) of 30-33 miles. Hill workouts and tempo runs were part of my training regimen. I ran two half-marathon up-tempo races – Philadelphia Distance Run and Jersey Shore). The Jersey Shore was only two weeks prior to the marathon and I did run a faster pace than I had planned but it felt comfortable. I tapered well for 3 weeks and felt refreshed during the last week as I had during the previous five marathons. My legs were sorer over the last year than they had been before. This concerned me a bit but then my half marathon races, leading up to the marathon, were solid and I recovered quickly from them. I was confident that with the rest and tapering my legs were going to be fine for the marathon.

I always believe and mentally prepare myself that, “you get what you get” on marathon day. Most of what you can control is over and done with. Marathon day forces you to think on your feet, literally, and to make appropriate adjustments. It is these tweaks and adjustments that get you to the finish. In some cases, none of the adjustments and tweaks matter. It is just not your day and typically you know it early. Sometimes you can point to the reasons – I didn’t do this, didn’t do that, and should have done this – sometimes you can’t.

The Baltimore Marathon was more of the latter. I just can’t point to the reasons for this highly disappointing marathon which makes it all the more difficult to analyze. The weather was a little warm (65 degrees and sunny at start) but I would not say that this was the main reason for the poor run. Normally, I start a marathon too fast. However, I have been better with my starts in the last 5 marathons. I went out running 8:30’s which was just about 5 seconds faster than my goal pace. I was consistent through 8 miles and then I noticed my pace slowed by 25 seconds on an easy part of the course. My legs felt worn and quads sore but this was way too early for this to happen. Once I got to the halfway point in 1:53 I knew that it was not my day. Although my time was decent (1:49 last year), I knew that I could not run the second half in less than two hours. My legs continued to feel like the build-up of lactic acid had taken over. I even considered quitting since I was close to the hotel. I have never DNFed in a race and wasn’t about to here since this was my 5th consecutive Baltimore Marathon. I also knew that the toughest part of the marathon was ahead of me – the long, uphill climb from mile marker 16 through mile 23. It was also a point where the course becomes more crowded with the half-marathoners (not that this really mattered to me on this day!) I kept running and thought of how I might get through this with something positive. I had been running the entire time so I thought that I would continue to run the entire marathon no matter how slow I ran it. My stride was terribly short. My quads felt like someone had beaten them with a bat. I never aerobically felt bad because I hadn’t run fast enough. I ran through mile 22 and then walked about 200 meters and then walked an additional ½ mile or so through the last 4 miles just to give my legs a rest and to stretch a bit. The challenge and struggle mentally and physically when it’s a horrible day is severe. It appeared that I wasn’t even in Baltimore this weekend. I didn’t enjoy the course, the people around me, or the scenery. I just persevered spending much of my time looking at the road and wondering what had happened and if I would do this (run a marathon) again especially since I was already registered to run in just 7 weeks in the St. Jude Memphis Marathon. It turned out that I ran my 4th worst marathon, 4:37, but the difference with this one is that I don’t know why it was so bad. I just know that the marathon is a beast, untamable, wild, unpredictable – one marathon will be gentle, the next ferocious. This is what makes the marathon the ultimate running distance.

It has been a week to allow for some analysis, mentally get my focus back and figure out how I move forward. I ran 30 miles this week, nice easy runs on some nice cool days. My legs still felt sore, not from the marathon per se but the way they have felt all year. I ran 5 marathons last year, 3 in 4 months and 2 in 3 months, all between 3:48 (Baltimore) and 3:57 (Las Vegas). I wondered what the difference was and then I realized what it might have been. Much of last year, since I was commuting into NYC, I ran on the treadmill during the week and ran my long and medium runs outdoors. The treadmill provided for a softer surface and may have saved my legs some. All of my training this year has been on the roads except for an occasional trail run. Could this be the difference? I’m older so saving my legs a bit with recovery days and softer surfaces seems to be important. I guess I will see since I purchased a Pacemaster treadmill this weekend. I’ll save my legs a bit.

Now, how do I approach Memphis? I am now looking at Baltimore as a long training run since my pace was that of a training run. I will use the remaining 6 weeks until the marathon as a recovery/training/taper session. I will run some on the treadmill to save my legs, throw in a long run or two and continue with my hill training. I will taper for two weeks with the same intensity but fewer miles. Then on Memphis marathon day, “I’ll get what I’ll get!” and deal with the beast it is.