2:24:59 California Int' Marathon Race Report and Rule Breaking

2013 Cal Int Marathon. Eric Noel (L) and myself  

Its been a couple of weeks since wrapping up my race season at the California International Marathon (CIM) on December 8th. I had kind of a back to back-ish marathon training cycle this fall because I'd trained for the October 13th Chicago Marathon and instead of taking a break, just continued training into CIM. The biggest difference in the two races for me was simple- race day nutrition (keep an eye out for my next blog on "Race Day Nutrition and Performance Fueling" for more on that). I ran a 2:28:20 in Chicago with a pretty major "bonk" at about mile 20 that I never recovered from. CIM went much better... Here's my race breakdown.

CIM breakdown:

So I decided to break a cardinal rule in marathoning before the race this year. Well, actually, I almost always break this cardinal rule. The rule is to "never change anything for race day". The thing is, for me, the marathon is a great place to experiment, a testing ground of sorts. So, I broke the rule a couple different ways...

Gear (experiment #1):

I had been getting feedback from many of my friends and fellow runners regarding the cold temps and what to wear from the waist down. The overwhelming consensus seemed to be to brave the 25 degree starting temps and wear shorts with a sweatshirt on top. Not many seemed to support my idea of running in full 2XU Compression tights. But I just had to know what it would be like, and this was the perfect weather to try it out, so I went with my gut feeling... as I tend to do, for better or worse. The night before I solved the problem of "junk support" (without all that extra fabric between the thighs) by buying Calvin Klein jock strap type underwear. It seemed the perfect solution to what was my only worry about the tights. I didn't want any skin loss or blisters in new places at mile 20. Waist up (see photo above) was my LASP singlet over a long sleeve with hoodie, sunglasses and gloves. I also picked a half zip wicking runners fleece to start the race in and potentially throw away.


Nutrition (experiment #2):

Because of my previously mentioned "bonk" at mile 20 of the Chicago Marathon, and after a lengthy conversation with friend and "distance running Jedi", Josh Cox (US 50k World Record Holder, 2:13 Marathoner), I decided to take a gel every 5 miles of the race. Josh and Ryan Hall do almost twice that amount and pre-mix every gel with Powerade (every 5k or 15 minutes in a race), but for me, taking a gel every 25-30 minutes would be way beyond my usual! Check out my full chat with Josh on training and fueling here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFsYKVWovEE

Race Day:

As predicted, race day temps were a balmy 25 degrees fahrenheit. I got dropped at the start and met LASP teammate and training partner, Scott Wandzilak, at the startline. We warmed up for five minutes, stared at our frozen breath in the air, and toed the line, throwing my Malibu Marathon beach towel (extra warmth) to the sidelines. Two of Scott's college running cronies from Nebraska (Eric Noel and Tom Nichols of Lincoln Running Co.) had flown out to meet up and shoot for a PR with us, shooting for sub 2:25 finish time. The clocked ticked over and we were off.

The lead pack seemed to be about fifty strong through the first mile (5:31), by far the deepest talent I've seen in a marathon this size. After the first mile mark the pack split up as about 35 of the front runners picked it up to a 5:15 pace. Lincoln Running Co and the LA Speed Project were happy to let the front runners go, as we stuck to our 5:30/mile pace goal.

I had a race strategy of slightly negative splitting each 10k starting at 5:30/mile pace. Mile 5 came in no time and I told Eric the last thing I wanted was a gel. He reaffirmed the wisdom of it and I swallowed it down, followed by a Powerade ice cube launching straight into my nose from the frozen water at the aid station. Yep, it was still about 25 degrees! No surprise. All is good, keep it rockin.

First 10k mark passes and we are on a 5:29 average pace.

The second 10k was when I started to feel the ups and downs. It felt within my control to power up the hills and glide down them. I started to remember that David Olds had told me it flattens out after the halfway mark, and I was happily awaiting that section. My glutes were feeling the extra propulsion of the ups at mile 10 and I was happy for the 2nd gel. Luckily, it went down easy and I started to play a rewards game... Every 5, I get a gel!! Sweet!

2nd 10k split... 5:28 average

The third 10k felt great! The pace felt smooth, the weather was probably around 30-35 degrees and there was practically no wind. Halfway mark passed (1:11:30 split) and I was rolling with Eric and one of the elites, Alexander Battaglino, who was my leap frog buddy. I would pass him every uphill and he would pass me on the downhills. It wasn't for either of us trying to edge the other, rather a difference in strongpoints as runners. Alex's long stride was better when he could open it up, while my shorter legs were able to keep the power and turnover tighter on the climbs. It was a humorous back and forth after about 16 hills of it. Mile 15 passed and my third gel went down nicely with a little sip of water. I ditched the half zip fleece around mile 16, was still the most covered-up runner in our group, and we were at 18 before I knew it. The course had definitely flattened out.

3rd 10k split... 5:27 average

Going into the 4th 10k was a great feeling. I felt strong, clear headed and focused. Its about that time when you start to find out if its going to be a good day. At mile 20 I took the 4th gel and decided to see if I had any extra kick for a negative split. I peeled away from Eric and realized it might be a bit soon for a surge but it was my race plan to pick it up for the last 10k. Mile 23 is when I felt the pain set in. I took my last gel, because why not, and started to work. 24 and 25 passed and I couldn't look at my watch because I was working as hard as possible so it didn't really matter what the numbers were. Alex passed me and said "Come on! Let's pick these guys off!" Other runners were dropping like flies and we had moved into the top 20. The last mile was tough! I was still moving but it was a battle! Eric passed me and I did my best to go with him. We picked off a few more as we passed mile 26 and my girl, Cassidy, was there to run me in. We rounded the corner and when I saw the clock I realized the 2:25 was way to close so I sprinted the last 10 feet to squeeze 2:24:59 and 20th overall.

4th 10k split was 5:33 average. I wasn't able to hold it for a negative split in the end. The last couple miles actually were in the 5:40s. That kick at mile 20 may not have been the wisest move but I stuck to the plan and all said and done felt great with it.

I walked to the fence where Cassidy stood and my body went into shock for about 5 minutes as I huddled under my heat blanket. After that, I stood up and we walked straight to the nearest indoor coffee shop we could find. It was like instant hypothermia with temps barely above freezing at the finish. Scott finished right behind me with a 2:27:32 and new PR.

Conclusion:

Gear review... From the waist down, race start to race finish, my Nike Flyknit Racer, 2XU Elite Compression tights, Calvin Klein jock strap-combo was a bomber A+!! Couldn't have felt better. Experiment gone right! It's nice to have a good, fast race in the tights. I'll happily be adding these to my race gear options. With race temps between 25 and 35 degrees, I was surprisingly comfortable, start to finish. Waist up: long sleeve, 2XU singlet and gloves, beenie and half zip fleece... perfect. Cold weather race gear... Dialed!!

Nutrition... 5 gels kept my head in the game, start to finish. A special thank you to long time sponsor Pacific Health Labs for providing me with the best gels out there... Accel Gel!! I had chocolate and vanilla this time and, as usual, they tasted great and went right down (not to mention the much needed performance aid of those 500 extra carbohydrate calories). 

In the end, we feel very well prepared for our race performances because of the training program we follow. Feeling prepared and confident by hitting our key workouts, allows us to focus on all those other little variables (like gear, nutrition and strategy), so we can do what we train to do when it counts.

I was averaging around 80 miles per week for this cycle and felt great. My glutes and hammys are still beat from the 1400 ft gain and 1700 ft loss but I look forward to some rest over the remainder of the month before entering the hurt locker once more as I fall into 90-100 mile weeks and another cycle for the 2014 Boston Marathon. And I'm sure that, by then, there will be another experiment that piques my curiosity... Lucky for me, I'll get to break that "never change anything" rule, once again! Keep looking... Keep searching... it's the only way to ever #findyourFAST!!

Blue

The Recipe- The "Whats" and "Whys" of Marathon Training

As distance runners we do a lot of running. And that is the gift. We GET to do a lot of running. But if we want to get better at running, some things must change. Too many runners, including myself not so long ago, get caught up in the intermediate category when they are capable of so much more. This is largely due, in my opinion, to a lack of contrast in the type of running an athlete does.

For years I would hold myself to 6:15-6:20 per mile pace on every run and push it when I could or when I felt good. The result? About 10 marathons over two years where I couldn't break 2:42:00 for 26.2. It was a combination of working on my stride patterns and adding some missing elements to my training that has allowed me to continue my progression.

The gospel is this: save your energy for 3 specific workouts each week and the rest of the time run easy, probably easier than you think. So the question is... What are the 3 workouts? When should you do them? And why?

The three workouts are "Speed Development" (short distance intervals at maximal running speeds), "Sustained Speed Work" (commonly known as tempo workouts, fartleks, lactate threshold runs, etc.) and the, more commonly known, "Long Runs". At www.LASpeedProject.com we like to assign each of these workouts to a day of the week so we can guarantee that we consistently incorporate all of the elements into our training. The breakdown is "Track Tuesdays", "Tempo Thursdays" and "Weekend Long Runs". Once you incorporate this outline it allows you to put your head down and get the work done, day in and day out, without having to worry too much about it.

The "Whys":

I think it's important to know, from an energetic perspective, the basics of why we don't just run hard and fast 7 days per week. When we are doing the easy or "base" runs, our bodies are aerobic, meaning the intensity is low enough that we aren't operating the muscles in an oxygen deprived state. This allows for a greater volume of training to be done without taxing our adrenal system, the ever important "feel good" hormones (while simultaneously improving the body's fat burning ability). The hard workouts do just the opposite. During Sustained Speed (Tempo Thursday) workouts, we are operating in an oxygen deprived state, or anaerobically, which increases cortisol levels and drains adrenal hormones in the same way a lack of sleep and stress do. But for those of us trying to run marathons FAST, we are preparing the body to operate anaerobically for the entire race, so these anaerobic workouts are VERY important. They are actually the MOST IMPORTANT workout we do besides the long, hard run. Its during these runs that the body is introduced to fast speeds that can be sustained for progressively longer chunks of time. It is here that the body, and the mind, begin to find comfort in these fast paces. The deal is, if you drain the tanks too much, too often... You will likely discover something called Adrenal Burnout. And if you keep pushing... Overtraining Syndrome. Keep pushing still... Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. All of this equals a potential end to your endurance career and, at the very least, a massive reduction in your performance level. But don't let this scare you away from hard training. Most people don't do enough of it and only a small percentage of people do too much. Follow the outline here and if your body isn't responding well, take a little time off until you feel ready to push hard again. Under this outline, you will have only two workouts each week that have any sustained anaerobic intensity. The Speed Development (Track Tuesday) workouts have such a brief exposure to high intensity that they count as aerobic workouts.

note: Anaerobic workouts are sometimes called lactic acid tolerance workouts, or lactate threshold workouts, because the increased production of lactic acid is thought to be a muscle function inhibitor. Of course, it is a bit more complicated than that and there is debate on what is actually causing the fatiguing effect. Here is one of the latest hypothesis on the Lactate Shuttle System: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactate_shuttle


The Workouts:

Track Tuesdays are typically interval workouts between 100 meters and 200 meters, in order to reach maximum speeds to recruit maximum muscle fibers throughout the legs and to develop the motor skills of fast running, all without taxing the adrenal system due to the brief amount of time spent anaerobic and the full recovery between repeats. Exmp: 20 x 100 meters, 100 meter jog recoveries

Tempo Thursdays have the broadest range of possibility from an outline perspective. Workouts are usually directly related to how far off your target race is and what the target race pace is. I like to think of it as maximum effort at the prescribed interval distance. These workouts could be anything from an hour run with every 6th minute run fast, 5 minute recoveries, to a sustained race pace effort for an hour. Often we will do 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy for 60 minutes, or 2 minutes hard, 1 minute easy for 60 minutes. Most of these runs are run faster than marathon race pace and help us find new levels of speed and hopefully a level of comfort while sustaining such efforts.

Weekend Long Runs. Because we are trying to prepare the body to combine both long and hard running, we always have both elements in these runs. In preparation for marathoning we run anywhere from 20-30 miles in these runs and always have elements of speed built in. Nothing can prepare you mentally and physically for a marathon better than a 22 mile base run followed by six, 1 mile repeats at race pace directly after! Or three times 10k, progressing the pace with each split, followed by 4k all out! We rarely complete the workouts entirely, due to total muscle fatigue, but always try. These workouts are designed to simulate the challenges of racing the marathon. We are preparing to deal with fatigue, mentally and physically, and the ability to continue to perform in the late stages of a race.


One final ingredient in the recipe worth mentioning is progression. This is a progressive build in overall weekly running volume. Starting from wherever you are currently comfortable and building as high as possible in a four month program. We use 10% gain each week for three weeks, followed by a week with reduced volume. Each month is a new cycle that picks up from the highest volume week from the previous cycle. The rule of progression is Quality Before Quantity! If something has to give, reduce the volume, just be sure to hit the three key workouts as prescribed. In the inevitable week where you miss a key workout, don't try to make it up. Move on as if you never missed it. A couple missed workouts wont ruin your entire training cycle.

Stay healthy and rested as much as possible to allow you to really bring your game on the workout days. There is no such thing as too easy on the base days if you are truly pushing yourself in the workouts! Be patient and, over time, you will see serious improvement with this type of training. Believe me, I'm one of many living examples of it! Have fun and #findyourFAST

-Blue

Why we do short distance track workouts... All the damn time!!

So I often get asked the question "Why don't we mix up our Tuesday track workout from the usual 100 meter and 200 meter repeats?" Variety is said to be the spice of life! Yes, I would agree, it truly is. Consistency + variety in your training is the key to continuous progression. I believe in variety but we, as long distance runners, use the track workout day to specifically work on our leg speed turnover. While there is a multitude of different length track workouts one can do, we reserve the longer range intervals for the road and save it for our "tempo day". If we did 400 meter repeats on our  "leg speed day" on the track on Tuesday, then did 60 second fartlecks on the road on Thursday, it would be the same workout two days apart. More importantly, in my opinion, it would be too much anaerobic training in one week, especially since we always incorporate tempo work into our weekend long run. It's important to know '"why" we are doing each workout and what the ultimate effect is on the body in doing so. Each of the three key workouts in a week should be very different by design. Top end speed development, sustained speed training and the long, hard run should each have their day of the week. There's your variety... Now stay consistent and the future is yours!! #findyouFAST

-Blue

note: Fartlecks is a word of Swedish origin that means "Speed Play" and is used in the running world to refer to all road speed interval workouts.