Monday, August 29, 2016

Marquette Marathon Tracking Alerts

For those interested in tracking our progress during the marathon, here are the relevant details:

Race Date / Start: Saturday September 3rd. 7:30am

Text Alerts: You can sign up for live text alerts here https://live.superiortiming.com/race/5

Search athlete by last name: Hammer (Christine) Bib # 107
Search athlete by last name: Lufkin (Jason) Bib # 172



Tuesday, August 23, 2016

The Plan (Part 2 - Nutrition) + Final Training Update

Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart ~Mike Fanelli

One aspect of racing I previously did not have a need to consider, outside of a solid pre-race breakfast, was my nutrition intake.

For all race distances up to a half marathon, you can easily get by using your stored glycogen levels and course provided water/sports drink. The marathon is a different animal though. Athletes more or less have 1800 - 2400 of available glycogen stores before they 'hit the wall.' For everyone except elites, this means they will run out of fuel before the finish line. This means you need to replenish your calories/carbohydrates/electrolytes during the race to prevent falling apart during the later stages.

Practicing hydration and nutrition intake during training is arguably as important as the running itself. Showing up unprepared to the marathon is practically guaranteeing a poor performance. So we did our research; had some successful and unsuccessful trials during long runs, and came up with our strategy.

Both of our preferred nutrition was the Clif Shot Blok with caffeine. These are gummy chews that surprisingly taste good, but most importantly are easy to take down after 2 hours of running. Three bite-size pieces contain 100 calories and 24g of carbs.

We both will space out our nutrition intake roughly every 4 miles through mile 20. I plan to consume 500 calories worth, while Christine is targeting 400. We will bring an extra portion for reserves. Each shot blok should be taken with water; so the intake will be timed with arriving at aid stations.

Here's the aid station / nutrition plan:

Aid station #1 - Mile 2: Gatorade
Aid station #2 - Mile 3.75: Water & Shot Blok
Aid station #3 - Mile 6: Gatorade
Aid station #4 - Mile 8.5:  Water & Shot Blok
Aid station #5 - Mile 10.5: Gatorade
Aid station #6 - 12.75: Water & Shot Block
Aid station #7 - 14.75: Gatorade
Aid station #8 -  16.5: Water & Shot Block
Aid station #9 - 17.5: Gatorade (if needed)
Aid station #10 - 18.75: Gatorade
Aid station #11 - 20: Water & Shot Block
Aid station #12 - 21.25: Gatorade
Aid station #13 - 22.5: Gatorade or Water
Aid station #14 - 24: Gatorade or Water
Aid station #15 - 25: Gatorade or Water

Hopefully, this strategy will avert the bonk!

Other nutritional related thoughts:

- Last big meal 36 hours before race
- Begin carb loading 7 days before race
- Expect to gain a few pounds during the last week of taper; but should definitely ease back on calories to limit this
- Race day breakfast should replicate what was eaten before every long run during training
- 10 minutes before race top off with 4 - 6 ounces of gatorade
- Introduce nothing new to your system beginning 72 hours out from race
- It's perfectly okay to walk or at least jog through aid stations - may be helpful to practice this

Training Update

Taper is going well. It's 11(!!) days out from the marathon and today was the last short tempo run. Mileage has been cut back from a peak of 56 two weeks ago to 41 last week and now to 32 this week. Overall, I'm feeling pretty fresh and strong. This lower humidity lately is helping as well. Christine decided to take up yoga-lattes classes to help strengthen her core the past several weeks; seems to be helping alleviate lingering hip related pain.

Pretty much on cruise control from here on out. Weather forecast is still early, but we're possibly looking at a race time temperature of 56, rising up to the mid 60s at the finish with low humidity. Couldn't ask for better conditions.. as long as it doesn't rain.

I'll post again late next week with our bib numbers and tracking information if your interested in following us during the race.

This has certainly been an intense but fun journey this past summer. We will give it our best out there.

Love,
C & J



Tuesday, August 16, 2016

The Plan (Part 1 - Race Strategy)

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift ~Steve Prefontaine

So here we are...

It's less than 3 weeks out from the Marquette Marathon and our attempt to qualify for Boston. All of the intensive training and hard work is behind us. Now it's time to focus on creating the best race day plan possible.

Being my first marathon, I felt obligated to do a ton of research. There were a surprising amount of variables to consider. A lot of opinions, think-pieces, formulas, data-points, graphs, horror stories, and guides to success.

Bottom line, there is no magic formula. Every single individual is different. What works for you, will likely be different from the person standing next to you. It takes a lot of trial and error and experimentation. Since I have had only a few short months to prepare, I'm going with the approach that stands the greatest chance of success on race day. There are no guarantees though. There is no perfect. There are only guesses, assumptions, and probabilities. The goal is to weigh all of the available inputs and information in order to put together a strategy and plan that stands the best chance of realizing our marathon potential.


Race Strategy

I have reviewed the course elevation profile (numerous times). I have tried to read every existing Marquette Marathon race recap/report. I have reviewed every strava run along the Marquette Marathon route.

I know where the uphills are. I know where the downhills are. I know where is shaded and areas that are exposed to direct sunlight. I'm aware of which tangents to focus on.

The goal is to qualify for Boston. That will take a time faster than 3 hour 10 minutes 00 seconds for myself, and 3 hours 40 minutes 00 seconds for Christine.

I have focused training at a marathon pace of 7:04; which results in a 3:05:17. This allows myself a maximum buffer of 4:43 (there are additional considerations, but for simplicity of this post I will ignore detailing them).

I have broken down this race into three segments; the first 10 miles, the second 10 miles, the last 10K.

Miles 1- 10

The single most important goal in the first few miles is to start slow. Slightly slower than goal marathon pace.

There will be a lot of adrenaline flowing at the start line. We will be feeling strong and refreshed after a three week taper. The natural reaction will be take off at the gun and push the pace because your legs feel so good. It will also be our first run in fall-like conditions (hopefully!). But the goal here is to start out slow and ease our way into goal marathon pace.

The first 10 miles should feel controlled and with minimal effort.


C J Elev
8:26 7:15 9 ft 
8:27 7:16 24 ft
8:22 7:11 -25 ft
8:18 7:07 -61 ft
8:17 7:06 20 ft
8:23 7:12 -55 ft
8:10 6:59 -52 ft
8:18 7:07 9 ft 
8:11 7:00 -1 ft
8:11 7:00 -32 ft


Jason time goal: 1 hour 11 minutes 13 seconds (7:07 pace)
Christine time goal: 1 hour 23 minutes 03 seconds (8:18 pace)

Miles 11 - 20

This is where we go to work.

The long gentle downhill occurs from roughly mile 10.5 to 16. The fundamental question to consider is whether we want to bank time, or bank energy.

In my opinion, banking time is a ridiculous notion in the first half of a long distance race. It seems there are few marathoners that miss their time goal by small margins. Come mile 23 or 24, a few dozen seconds banked by taking downhills aggressively won't make much difference with respect to your time goal, whereas you may have depleted some much needed fuel. I think conserving energy is most important here to be as fresh as possible to attack the later stages of the race.

That said, I'm not advocating the most conservative approach to this section of the course. I think our pace should be ~12 seconds faster during the downhills; letting gravity do the majority of the work, while not overdoing it. We've practiced a fair amount of downhill running this training cycle; focusing on form, stride cadence, and body positioning.

The downhill ends at mile 16 as the course heads into downtown Marquette. Here, the course hugs Lake Superior and stays flat for 5.5 miles. Our effort level should be increasing a good amount as we try to maintain here. Goal pace for mile 16 - 20 will be 5 seconds below MP.


C J Elev
8:14 7:03 -29 ft
8:14 7:03 -111 ft
7:57 6:46 -136 ft
8:00 6:49 -112 ft
7:52 6:41 -129 ft
8:01 6:50 -86 ft
8:06 6:55 -31 ft
8:11 7:00 -6 ft
8:13 7:02 -9 ft
8:10 6:59 -3 ft

Jason time goal: 1 hour 09 minutes 08 seconds (6:54 pace)
  • Cumulative time goal: 2 hours 20 minutes 21 seconds (7:01 pace)

Christine time goal: 1 hour 23 minutes 03 seconds (8:05 pace)
  • Cumulative time goal: 2 hours 44 minutes 01 seconds (8:12 pace)

Miles 21 - 26.2

Last 10K of the marathon. This will be the toughest segment and ask for our maximum effort level. Achieving our goal will likely come down to our ability to dig down and push ourselves during this portion of the race.

This section is where dividends payoff from long run fast finish workouts; which we unfortunately hadn't been able to complete. It's tough to simulate or prepare for the last 10k of a marathon without that type of workout. So there are unknowns here. But, I remain convinced we have the fitness to handle it.

Back to the course; there are two hills of note. One is during mile 22. It's about 100 feet; immediately followed by a downhill of the same length. The last hill is a gentle incline over the last mile of the race.

I'm most concerned about the mile 22 hill. From all accounts, the slope isn't too bad, but it's in the perfect position to throw you off rhythm. Using the downhill will be critical in regaining pace.

From there, it's 3.5 flat miles until the last finishing hill, where anything left in the tank will be used to get to the line.


C J Elev
8:15 7:04 2 ft
8:56 7:45 95 ft
8:21 7:10 -86 ft
8:19 7:08 -11 ft
8:25 7:14 2 ft
8:45 7:34 74 ft
1:45 1:30 42 ft



Jason time goal: 45 minutes 25 seconds (7:19 pace)
  • Cumulative time goal: 3 hours 05 minutes 46 seconds (7:05 pace)

Christine time goal: 52 minutes 46 seconds (8:30 pace)
  • Cumulative time goal: 3 hours 36 minutes 47 seconds (8:16 pace) 

To be continued...

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Reflections

Set a goal so big that you can't achieve it until you grow into the person who can ~Anonymous

Before I get ahead of myself; there are still two important workouts left before training transitions into the taper phase:

Saturday: 10 miles @ MP
Sunday: 20 miles

That said, come Sunday around 9am, you just might hear a scream of pure joy emanating from the roads of Capitol Hill; our marathon training cycle will have officially peaked. 

It's been a journey; completing 11 weeks of some of the most intensive athletic training of my life. Christine and I have sacrificed a lot this summer to chase our goal of qualifying for Boston. Waking up before 5am to get runs in. Going to bed at 9pm to make sure we get in a solid eight hours of sleep. Running through some of the worst heat and humidity DC has seen in years. We've missed birthday parties and celebratory occasions because they interfered with our training schedule. We've traveled less. Practically gave up alcohol. Haven't spend time with friends or family nearly as much as we would have liked. Even our dog has had enough.

But, this is a moment to be proud of. I don't mean to overstate or overemphasize the sacrifices of training for a marathon. Millions of people have done it before. Everyone makes sacrifices in life for their goals. I'm just especially gratified of this one; just two years ago I was 235 pounds and unable to run more than 2 miles at a time. Now I am logging close to 60 miles this week and have dropped my weight to 175. I'm officially a runner reborn. And in serious need of a new wardrobe.

No matter what happens in 3 weeks at Marquette, it's the voyage that matters. Someday, Christine and I will run in Boston together. It will happen. I've learned so much about myself from the past 3 months, and I'm sure Christine can say the same. The focus, drive, and determination required to get ourselves to the starting line for a 26.2 mile race with a legitimate chance of qualifying for one of the toughest marathons in the world is no small feat. I'm incredibly proud and honored to have done this with my wife. No matter what happens at our first marathon together, there will be another. And another. Any many more, god willing.

Just wanted to share this.


-J


Monday, August 8, 2016

Dahlgren Heritage Trail Half Marathon Race Report

Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt ~John Muir

The only race during this marathon training cycle called for a half marathon time trial. There aren't many available in the beginning of August, so when I saw a trail half down in Fredericksburg, I quickly signed us up.

I had done trail running back in high school in the hills of the Green Mountains in Vermont - and loved it. But I didn't realize how different running slow easy miles in the Green Mountains would be from racing a half marathon on a trail. In hindsight, I never would have chosen a trail half as our tune up race. It just doesn't give you an accurate assessment of your marathon potential for reasons I'll call out below.

My goal was to run a 1:28; I thought this time would support the proper fitness, endurance, and speed required to run my 3:05 marathon goal time. Two things I failed to take into account; 1) the nature of trail racing itself (it's slower then road racing) and 2) the impact of the heat/humidity on your race performance in the depths of Summer. I was a bit stubborn I guess; I thought since I had trained through the slog of Summer in DC, I could try and race through it too. Turns out I was wrong. My result suffered and I was pretty frustrated with myself.

That said, it was a cool experience; something new and different. The race was well run - incredibly friendly staff and volunteers.

Run on the Dahlgren Rail Heritage Trail, this race typically occurs annually in February; For the first time, the half marathon was also taking place in August (along with a 50K ultra). Dubbed the '3 H' Half; hot, hazy, and humid; the race day conditions definitely lived up to its name.

Christine and I left DC before 6am for the 1 hr 15 minute drive to Fredericksburg; and of course hit traffic on 95 South.. because when is there not traffic on 95 in Virginia at 7am on the weekend? The race was set to begin at 8am and we arrived a little after 7:30. Naturally, I was stressed about being rushed. I like to be able to take my time, run through warm up drills, and get to the start line feeling refreshed.

I was able to get a quick 8 minute warm up in, listen to a trail overview, and wish Christine a good race before lining up at the start. Temps were in the high 70s with a dew point around 74, making for pretty miserable race conditions. Despite this and the fact that this was my first trail race, I still planned to go out in the high 6:40s and hope to hit my goal of 1:28.

That plan lasted about 3 miles.

My first mile was 6:43 which was a little on the faster side than I had hoped; but the first mile was flat and straight. There were rail ties in the first half mile of the course and crushed stone was spread throughout most of the trail. Two things I should have noticed early on:

1) The humidity was taking an early toll. The 6:43 felt like a lot more effort than it should have been.

2) The trail was yielding about 90 - 95% of the effort I put in with each stride.

But, I was stubborn and ignored these things. I settled in about 15 seconds behind the leader and maintained the gap through 2 miles. I came through mile 2 at 6:50; and by this point was definitely laboring a lot more than I should.

When I hit mile 3 at 7:01, I knew that 1:28 was definitely out. Unfortunately, I didn't really think this through ahead of time, and had no backup plan to fall back on. Take-away #3.

There were a few minor rolling hills on the trail, and as luck would have it, these came up as the trail changed from a manageable crushed stone surface to a less-giving large stone gravel. Into mile 4, I also had another runner roll up behind me where he would park himself for the next 4 miles.

Mile 4:  7:22
Mile 5:  7:03
Mile 6:  7:12

The race was an out and back; with the turn around point just past the 6.5 mile trail marker. After taking some gatordae at the aid station at turn around; we started making our way towards the finish. The leader was about a minute in front, and several runners 30 - 40 seconds back of me and my 3rd place companion.

Around this point, I started feeling the fast start catch-up to me; probably in combination with the humidity as well. The large stones weren't helping matters either. Just after mile 8, my running buddy made a surge and put a good 20 seconds on me fairly quickly. It was textbook. At no point did I consider covering and going with him.

Mile 7:  7:24
Mile 8:  7:32
Mile 9:  7:53

With about 4 to go; I was struggling and without any real plan or desire to push myself. 1:28 was long gone, and so was a PB (currently ~1:32). Then I heard the 4th place runner behind me. I looked back (rookie move), noticed he was about 150 meters back, and suddenly found my ad hoc goal: Finish in 3rd place, ahead of any other runners behind me.

Mile 10:  7:17
Mile 11:  7:26
Mile 12:  7:50

At the last aid station with 1.3 miles left, I looked back again (ugh), noticed 4th place had gained some, and was prepared to go as hard as it took to secure a top 3. As the finish line came in sight, ignoring my GPS watch that would have told me the finish was still a half mile away and thus too early to start my kick, I dug down and dropped my pace to the 6:20s. I was putting distance on 4th place and everything was going as planned, except for the small fact that my kick is maybe good for a quarter mile before I run out of steam, and I was still a quarter mile from the finish. I slowed down for a few seconds, regrouped, and gutted out another quarter mile kick, finally finishing 3rd in 1:36:43.

Mile 13: 7:36
Last 0.2 pace:  6:34 


My GPS read 13.2, which is surprising considering there weren't many turns; resulting in an overall average pace of 7:20.

Normally, I consider placing irrelevant. Placing for the most part is entirely random... except for those instances when you bonk your time goals and decide mid-race to focus on some type of moral victory. Which is exactly what this was.

I'm not sure how, or if, I should use this race as a barometer for my marathon potential  Trail running is tougher than road. Racing in the heat and humidity affects you in ways that are tough to quantify compared to cool, dry air. I'd be lying if I said I can readily disregard my half marathon time here. But, there are positives:

- The importance of starting out slow could not be more overstated. Slower than goal marathon pace for the first few miles is a must. Especially with all the race day adrenaline flowing.

- Have a plan B.. and C and D. There are many paths to a BQ. Not all of them are at 7:04 MP.

- My kick is not limited to a quarter mile.

The weather is a variable you can't control. I need to accept that. It will take near perfect conditions to BQ. Marathon potential looks very different in 50 degree and cloudy overcast skies versus an 80 degree, humid, and sunny day.

Finally, I'd be remiss to mention that although Christine experienced a tough day out there with the weather conditions as well, she was able to compete her way to her first age group victory. Very proud of her!

-J


Monday, August 1, 2016

Week 10: Down The Home Stretch

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go ~ T.S. Eliot

Nine weeks ago, when deciding on the Hal Higdon Advanced 2 training plan; there were two series of workouts that most worried me:

Week 9: Satuday - 9 miles @ MP; Sunday - 20 mi
Week 11: Saturday - 10 miles @ MP; Sunday - 20 mi

These workouts contained the most miles at marathon pace followed by twenty mile efforts the next day.

Though the conditions weren't ideal out there; I successfully completed the Week 9 workouts this past weekend; gaining a ton of confidence in the process.

On Saturday, I followed the pre-race routine I will use come game day:  10 minute warmup, plyometrics, 3 x 15 sec strides. I then towed up to an imaginary starting line; and got through 9 miles at 7:12 average pace. This was 8 seconds slower than my goal MP, but I adjusted slightly to account for the high humidity levels. It was a tough effort; but I felt strong and actually considered going further; until I realized I had a 20 miler the next morning.

On Sunday; I decided to use a new route I had researched that I thought would keep my mind fresh and focused. Heading out, I felt surprisingly good considering the effort from the day before. I made a decision to go slower than what the plan probably called for. I wanted to be sure I had a consistent effort for 20 miles. Something I had had a 50% success rate of looking at all of my long runs in the cycle. I wanted to get a fair assessment of my overall strength after 3 hours moving on my feet.

After 15 miles; my legs felt a bit heavy, but it proved to be more of a mental game than physical. I was able to hold a steady MP + 115 second pace through mile 20. Time spent running: 3 hours 43 seconds.

Towards the end of those 20 miles, I could actually begin to visualize myself BQ'ing next month. It no longer was a question of whether I was fit enough; or had enough endurance. It started to click that this would all come down to how much I wanted it; how much I would be ready to endure the physical pain and mental fatigue in getting to the finish line under 3:10:00.

I think that by following and executing this training plan, I've positioned myself with enough fitness to run a 3:05 marathon. I have no doubt now. The ultimate challenge will be navigating what goes on between the ears 22 miles into the race. That is where I start to turn my focus.

Here's how the remaining 5 weeks look:


Week Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Weekly Mileage
10 4 m run 7 x 800 5 m run Rest Rest Half Marathon 5 m run 37
11 5 m run 8 x 800 5 m run 40 tempo Rest 10 m pace 20 55
12 5 m run 6 x hill 5 m run 30 tempo Rest 4 m pace 12 40
13 4 m run 30 tempo 4 m run 4 m pace Rest 4 m run 8 31
14 3 m run 3 m pace Rest Rest 2 m run Marathon   36

Only two weeks to go until taper!

-J