2017 Eugene Marathon Race Recap

Sunday May 7th, 2017 was a dream day. Everything fell into place. As I crossed the finish line just over 3 hours after the start, I was overcome with raw emotion. I earned my place at the starting line in Hopkinton next April. I nabbed that elusive Unicorn. I had qualified for the Boston Marathon! I couldn't wait to find Christine and share the moment.

Eugene was the most physically demanding race of my life. It's not close. The hurt I felt during those last few miles made it seem like an eternity to reach Hayward Field. But once I entered that stadium, it all washed away. Running in the footsteps of legends was an experience I will never forget.

That magical day began with a 4 a.m. alarm. True to forecasts, the weather looked perfect; temperatures in the 40s climbing to the low 50s, no humidity, and light winds. Couldn't ask for better conditions.

My focus the past 6 months was to right all the wrongs I experienced leading up to and during my first marathon last September. I crashed and burned by mile 20. To make sure this wouldn't happen again, I extended my training plan from 14 to 18 weeks. I added a two month base build up. I increased my average weekly mileage by 30 miles. Dropped 10 pounds. Carb loaded the final week like there was no tomorrow. Steered clear of beer those last few weeks. Only water. All of the water. I felt bloated. But I felt great.

Christine and I woke up, had our coffee and pre-race nutrition. The start was set for 7am. Christine was running the half which started the same time as the full. We drove over to the start from our airbnb and had plenty of time to drop off our bags, warm up, and get to the start, which was a few blocks from Hayward.

For this marathon I decided to start with a water bottle (~10 oz) and flip belt that held my clif shot bloks. The plan was to take nutrition at miles 4,8,12,16, & 20. I hoped using the water bottle to hydrate immediately would help make sure I got in enough liquid during the early part of the race. Something I clearly failed at last time.

My plan was to go out conservatively, somewhere around 21:00 for the first 3 miles, then gradually get to a pace of 6:50 - 6:55. The goal was to negative split, coming through the first half anywhere from 1:31 to 1:32.

I wished good luck to Christine and made my way towards the first corral. I positioned myself in front of the 3:05 pacer, wanting to avoid the masses that would go along. After the national anthem, Eugene's own Alexi Pappas gave the commands and the field was off. Almost immediately I got caught behind the 3:05 pacer and a herd of about 50 taking up the entire stretch of road. Arghhhh.

But in retrospect I think this was a blessing. They forced me to stick to my strategy for the first few miles as it was nearly impossible to get through them. So I relaxed and kept it comfortable.

Mile 1: 7:04
Mile 2: 6:56
Mile 3: 7:00
5K split: 21:49

During mile 4, the 3:05 pace group started to settle to their goal pace, and I used a water stop to surge through and get clear air.  Two minor hills on the course occurred on the front half, the first of which was a gentle one in mile 5. Nothing too dramatic. This past training cycle I actually did not do any hill repeats because of the flat profile of this course. Although I incorporated hills on most of my daily runs, I think it was a mistake to not do repeats at least sporadically to strengthen the quads. Anyway, I took my first clif shot blok here and naturally dropped the first one on the ground. I found myself responding better to the caffeine free bloks this time around, so I ditched the black cherry in favor of salted watermelon. Yep, salted watermelon. Wish that was a sour patch kid flavor.

Mile 4: 7:03
Mile 5: 6:55
Mile 6:  6:53
10K split: 43:18 (21:29)

After the 10K split, I found myself running next to a guy from Chicago aiming for a 3:02 as well. We chatted a bit over the next few miles. Always good to find someone out there to work with. The last hill of any significance was short but moderately steep just after the 8 mile marker. I was still feeling pretty comfortable and exerting a low level of effort. I took my second shot blok and continued to take either water or gatorade at each hydration station.

Mile 7: 6:55
Mile 8: 6:54
Mile 9: 6:56
15K split: 1:04:47 (21:29)

The course splits the half and full during mile 10 and this was when I increased the effort just a little to try and get closer to 6:50 pace. I started feeling like I was working a little bit here, which was moderately alarming since I didn't expect this effort until the mid-to-high teens. But I didn't panic, and just remained focused. I knew I was where I wanted to be, and nothing was telling me to back off the pace. I took my third shot block just before 20K.

Mile 10: 6:48
Mile 11: 6:50
Mile 12: 6:53
20K split: 1:26:00 (21:13)

Just after mile 13, there were a group of four of us bunched together. One of the guys looks over to us, panicked, and asked "this isn't the full is it?" Someone answered, he shouted, then stopped, realizing he missed the half/full split. Ouch. Only takes once to learn that lesson.

I came through the half right on target, 1:31:29. Hydration and nutrition levels were good. Was still relatively comfortable. Mentally, I was trying to get to mile 20 in as good a shape as possible. Really just kinda zoned out for the next four or five miles miles. I do remember beginning to pass people after 15 which allowed me to move my focus from one person to the next. Actually, from here through the end of the race, not one person passed me. Pfitz plans ftw!

Mile 13: 6:51
Half marathon split: 1:31:29
Mile 14: 6:50
Mile 15: 6:53
25K split: 1:47:22 (21:22)
Mile 16: 6:49
Mile 17: 6:45
Mile 18: 6:52
30K split: 2:08:32 (21:10)

We started making our way north on a bike path along the Williamette river. Nice change of scenery from the previous miles along the highway. We passed mile 20, and I was still feeling somewhat comfortable. I recall thinking if I felt this strong at 22, I would pick it up. Those thoughts didn't last long though. I took my last shot bloks, feeling confident that I had all the nutrition I needed to get to the finish.

Mile 19: 6:52
Mile 20: 6:56
Mile 21: 6:53
35K split: 2:29:56 (21:24)

Thoughts of going for sub 3 ended pretty quickly during mile 22. My effort level was increasing dramatically and any remaining comfort was gone. My quads and hamstrings started hurting and the miles seemed to slow to a crawl. At this point, I just told myself to hang-on and try to cruise as efficiently as possible, trying not to cramp up along the way.

Mile 22: 6:53
Mile 23: 6:55
Mile 24: 6:58
40K split: 2:51:33 (21:37)

With two miles to go, I was battling mentally. Physically, things were hurting, but I was ok. I kept doing physical checks - left quad, right quad, left ham, right ham, left calf, right calf. This seemed to help, but man these last miles were the longest of my life. I kept counting down, just 15 minutes to go and I'll get my BQ, 10 minutes to go and I can run/hop straight to the beer garden. I was still passing runners which helped a lot. As the course got closer to Hayward, the crowd support began carrying me and I really dug down on the straightaway leading onto the track (see awesome pic).

Mile 25: 6:59
Mile 26: 7:00

Running the last 200 on the hallowed grounds of Hayward Field was almost an indescribable feeling. Back in high school, Pre was a god. I remember having psych parties to watch Without Limits. We learned about Bill Bowerman and the storied history of the Oregon program. To be able to finish on that track was an honor.

As I rounded the last turn heading for the finish, it finally hit me; I was about to qualify for Boston. I flashed back to all the hard work the past year, and especially the last six months. I realized how lucky I was. A lot can go wrong out there. Any number of factors can quickly derail ones race and months of preparation. You can put in all the hard work and give yourself the best possible chance to succeed, but at the end of the day a lot of things are out of your control. I was also thankful that I was about to qualify on only my second attempt. Many have tried a lot longer. I thought ahead to the goals that I could start to tackle now that I got the BQ monkey off my back. I thought of family and friends, and most of all my race-cation partner-in-crime and amazing wife, Christine. I heard a dog bark from the distance and knew Poe was cheering me on from afar.

I raised my arms as I crossed the finish line. 3:02:06. An eight minute BQ and one minute negative split. Boston, here I come!

0.3: 6:32 pace
Last half marathon split: 1:30:38
Finish: 3:02:06