Final Thoughts on My First Marathon Experience

     If I was asked to give an overall grade to the Columbus Marathon committee on this year's race I would have to give the whole entire experience an A or A-.  Overall I loved the race, the course and all of the town support to go along with it.  Being as I have never run any other marathons you can take my recommendation for what its worth, but if you are trying to considering where to run your first, I would say to put it right at the top of the list.  Why I didn’t give it an A+?  Well, come on nobody is perfect! LOL! Seriously though, the layout at the expo didn’t make for a great experience and the problem with the overcrowding of the corrals at the start really bugged me.  Another was the temporary fencing they used seemed a little dangerous to me for those running along it with how the legs stuck out into the course. This was especially bad at the start, with all the runners crammed in I was running along the fence and I found myself high stepping a little to keep from tripping.  The last thing that I had issue with was the road during the 24^th or 25^th mile they took us down.   It was a road made up entirely of all brick and had a lot of ruts and high/low spots. Not that I think that kind of road is ever really good to use for any course, but at the end of the race where a lot of people are shuffling their feet vs. running normally made it a little dangerous.

     Other than those little picky things, I loved this race and would totally do it again some day.  Every water/fuel station was well maned and all the volunteers were great.  Plenty of port a potties to satisfy the size of the field and all the spectators alike. Out of the entire 26.2 the only boring part of the race, as far as the scenery goes, was a bike path with fields on either side that only lasted a few hundred yards.  I think the race committee new this because there was a lot of great signage featuring inspirational and funny quotes for a laugh and to keep us going.  This race seems to really pride itself on providing an "all about the runner" race experience and boy did they deliver.  
  

     While I was sitting here reflecting back on the marathon for this post, I couldn’t but help think back to my first ever race experience.  The idea of running a marathon at that time would have been crazy talk considering just running an entire 5K was a challenge to me.  That race was in April of 2013 and I finished the 3.1 miles with a 33:27 and an avg. mile pace of 10:46 and in just 18 months I completed a twenty six point freaking two miles averaging 8:53 per mile. 

     
     As amazing as that sounded to me I really wanted to give myself a little different perspective on this so I looked up what my weight was and what my marathon time would have been if I ran one 18 months ago.  Using the average pace from that first 5K I would've had a 4:42:05 finish time while I was weighing in at a whopping 260.5 pounds vs. Sunday's race which was 3:52:43 finish time at a weight of 177.5 pounds.  That is a difference of 42 minutes & 22 seconds and a weight difference of 83 pound.  I really don’t know what to say to that, just thinking about it out gives me a lump in my throat.

     As for my training, I will have to look back at it little more to decide what, if any, changes I would like to make.  The three 20 mile runs I think really helped me prepare for the mental aspect of the race, so I am sure those will defiantly stay in.  I do like how I kept my training plan flexible to accommodate my work and personal life schedules, while keeping it strict enough to maintain some quality training.  If I was going to make any big changes, it will revolve around doing a little more speed specific training and cross training.  I am not sure what that will entail yet, but it is on my radar. 

     The two things I couldn’t live without when it comes to marathon training, other than my shoes, is my Garmin and my Camelbak.  Despite the occasional issues with the Garmin, it really helped me analyze my runs and kept my pace in check.  My Camelbak was a life savor on the long runs.  It kept all that weight off of my hips from my fuel belt I usually use, which helped my running form and allowed me to carry enough water and nutrition to last the entire run without stopping.  I know I have been slacking on getting my product reviews done, but for now I will give both these great items two huge thumbs up.

     
    So where do I go from here?  Well I can say without a doubt this was my first, but defiantly will not be my last marathon.  When the next one will be remains a big question.  I was thinking before Columbus that if I finished the race and wanted to do another one it would be the Medical Mutual Glass City Marathon that I am one of the ambassadors for.  However, now I need to see how long my recover takes, because 7 days after that race I will be at my SoleMates reunion running a half marathon with them.  The way I feel 4 days after I am sure I could do the race, but I don't think it would be a PR attempt by any means.  The other thought I had was if I ran the Toledo half instead and the Indy half that next weekend I would qualify to join the Half Fanatics club which is on my my to do list.  So needless to say the decision to do the half or the full in Toledo is up in the air at this point.  For now, I think I am going to run the Monroe half in a couple weeks and do another turkey trot on thanksgiving.  Then I am going to concentrate on some speed work this winter and finally get down to my goal weight.

Marathon Training - Week 1 Recap

    

     I sit here looking back on my first week of marathon training feeling satisfied with how it went but also knowing I got a long way to go.  Basically what lies below is a quick little synopsis of how each day went and how I felt.    

Sunday:

     Day one is in the books and it felt pretty darn good.  I had 4 miles with 2 at race pace so I hit miles one and four at a easy pace and picked it up on the middle two.  I kind of like that set up; it gives me a chance to stretch my legs and get into a rhythm.  My average for the day was a 9:24 pace and I was able keep my pace pretty steady for each mile.  All in all it made for a perfect start to the week.

 

Monday:

     Yep a day off already, but this is how my plan is set up so I will take it when I can get it.

Tuesday:

     Today was an easy pace run and I felt like I struggled to keep my pace steady throughout the run, but when I got back and saw how my miles landed I guess I didn't do to bad.  I wanted to stay at the fast side of my pace allowance, which was 9:45, and other than getting a little fast on mile two I did just that.  I love these early morning runs just as the sun comes up.  It is still a little to dark for my when I head out so I use a head lamp and a red flashing butt lamp for safety, it is so peaceful out.  I hate having to crawl out of bed in the mornings and it is very easy to just skip it, but I always feel so much better after I am done.

Wednesday:

      My long run went very well today.  I tried out my new Camelbak Marathoner vest, and to say I was in love by mile one would be an understatement.  I will be posting a full review of it later, but I will say this; it made my run a lot more enjoyable from start to finish.  Without having all that extra weight hanging on my hips I felt like my running form stayed solid throughout my entire run.  I still don't know at what mile markers the marathon will have their aid stations set so I decided I would refuel every two miles with my Clif Shot Bloks and hydrate at those points as well.  Do to the heat factor I also hydrated a couple of other times during my run, just for a safety factor.  My goal was to try and not go out to fast and try to maintain a steady pace from mile to mile.   My pace was a little faster than I had scheduled for myself, but I was feeling good and I managed to keep my pace pretty steady throughout.  I only had two miles that dropped off a little bit more that the others, while my first and last two miles were my fastest, which makes me feel real good about where I am at.

Thursday:
Ahhhhhhhhhh a much needed rest day.  Legs are a little tired today, but all and all I still feel pretty good.

Friday:

I got up this morning and the last thing I really wanted to do was go for a run, but I need to be committed to this so I crawled out of bed and did it.  Turns out it was all worth it.  Last week I hit by accident my fastest mile ever without the aid of a long steep down hill.  Today I was just starting mile 2 and I was feeling really good so I decided to give this mile a go at my mile record.  I finished mile 2 with a 7:55 and was extremely happy with that.  I am sure I could have pushed harder but I still had 2 miles left to go and my goal isn't the fastest mile its the marathon.  Other than my work in mile two I did pretty well keeping my pace fairly consistent.

Saturday:

     Wow today was a tough one!  I woke up exhausted for some reason and my legs just felt like jello.  I got ready anyway and headed out the door.  If you look at my times for all three miles you probably wouldn't think this was so tough for me, but it sure was.  I will say I did find my groove pretty early and my legs started to open up a little after a half mile or so.  Today was just slightly more humid than the last couple of days, so take that and add a sunrise run on a bike path surrounded by trees and you have a perfect combo for the bugs to be out.  I hate to say it but I probably got 1/3 of my required protein for the day while on this one.  I maintained good pace and even though I was tired and didn't want to do it, I got out there and plowed through it.

Week two begins now!

* For quick access to my entire Marathon training journal click the "Marathon Journal" tab just below the Running In The Fat Lane header

And Here We Go!

     In the words of the Joker played by the late Heath Ledger "And here we go!"  Marathon training has begun.  I can't say how excited I am to start this journey, but I think its a little fitting that I use a quote from the Joker because you have to be a little crazy to pay a fee to run twenty six miles three hundred eighty five yards just for the fun of it.

  

     I am feeling pretty darn good with where I am at right now.  I have had three solid weeks of running with little to no knee pain, I feel like my form is good and I was able to build back a nice base to build off of.  This past week, even though I wasn't running any super long distances, I was able to follow my training plan exactly.  It feels like I have the combination correct, but I won't know for sure until I really start piling on the miles.  I still have to work on keeping my pace as even as possible, I seem to have trouble keeping a steady pace through out each mile.  I always seem to have to make adjustments to keep my pace in check. I also have to remember not to run a faster pace just because I feel good and can.  I have set those paces for a reason and the last thing I want to do is sabotage myself or injure myself because I was greedy and thought its no big deal to run faster on an easy pace day.

     I did pick up a couple of things from runners warehouse this week that should help out.  Where I live, I am surrounded by a lot of farm land so when I am out on my long runs there won't be a lot of places to stop and rehydrate.  I love my  Amphipod Runlite 3 hydration belt, but in the dog days of summer it just doesn't carry enough fluid without me having to refill it.  I don't really want to swing back by the house, because then I will feel like just calling it a day.  I want to be able to just head out and when I arrive back at the house I am done!  So I picked up the Camelbak  Marathoner hydration pak.  I haven't given it a try yet so I don't have a "review" for it, but it holds a whopping 70 oz of fluid and has plenty of pockets for my nutrition and iphone.  It fits pretty darn well on me, but we will see how it all plays out this week on my 10 mile run on Wednesday.

     The other item I picked up was a case of orange flavored Clif Shot Bloks for my during race nutrition.  I am not a big fan of Gu and other gels and when I was at Ragnar we received a few of the shot bloks in various flavors to try.  I ended up really like the orange flavored ones vs. any of the others so that has been my go to item for my fuel.  I first used them in my last half marathon and I seemed to be able to consume them easily on the run with no GI issues.

     That's all for now, I will check back in a couple of days for Wednesday Weigh In.  Bye for now!