Do I really know how to run a marathon?
The answer to that (I'm pretty sure) is no.
I have now run six of them, and I've learned many things. But the main thing I've learned is how much I still have to learn.
The major thing I'd like to be better at is how to pace myself in a marathon. Here's a look at the paces for my last three 26.2s, mile by mile, according to my Garmin data (I don't have this data for the first three I ran, and because of Garmin discrepancies these numbers may not add up to my official finishing times or match the official race data exactly):
Top of Utah--September 2011
Mile 1--8:29
Mile 2--8:11
Mile 3--8:15
Mile 4--8:28
Mile 5--8:28
Mile 6--8:44
Mile 7--8:38
Mile 8--8:27
Mile 9--8:35
Mile 10--8:53
Mile 11--8:30
Mile 12--8:28
Mile 13--8:31
Mile 14--8:34
Mile 15--8:21
Mile 16--8:40
Mile 17--8:31
Mile 18--8:54
Mile 19--9:30
Mile 20--10:03
Mile 21--9:14
Mile 22--10:36
Mile 23--11:10
Mile 24--10:36
Mile 25--9:41
Mile 26--9:40
Final .2 pace: 8:35
RESULT: 3:59:11
Houston Marathon--January 2012
Mile 1--9:26
Mile 2--9:01
Mile 3--8:33
Mile 4--8:25
Mile 5--8:19
Mile 6--8:36
Mile 7--8:31
Mile 8--8:36
Mile 9--8:46
Mile 10--8:46
Mile 11--8:47
Mile 12--8:49
Mile 13--8:45
Mile 14--8:29
Mile 15--8:36
Mile 16--8:46
Mile 17--8:47
Mile 18--9:00
Mile 20--8:59
Mile 21--9:04
Mile 22--9:08
Mile 23--9:12
Mile 24--9:08
Mile 25--9:19
Mile 26--8:57
Last .2 pace--7:50
RESULT: 3:53:28 (my current PR)
California International Marathon--December 2012
Mile 1--9:19
Mile 2--8:57
Mile 3--8:39
Mile 4--8:51
Mile 5--8:56
Mile 6--9:00
Mile 7--9:07
Mile 8--9:01
Mile 9---9:00
Mile 10--8:47
Mile 11--8:45
Mile 12--8:59
Mile 13--8:51
Mile 14--8:53
Mile 15--9:00
Mile 16--9:06
Mile 17--11:36 (bathroom stop)
Mile 18--9:04
Mile 19--9:14
Mile 20--9:17
Mile 21--9:05
Mile 22--9:12
Mile 23--9:18
Mile 24--11:40
Mile 25--11:08
Mile 26--9:57
Final .2 pace: 9:02
RESULT: 4:06:32
What do these races have in common? If you said, you hit the Wall, Terzah, and right around the same time in all three races, well, you'd be right.
The fact that I markedly slowed down in Houston, too, albeit more modestly than the other two drama fests, surprised me. In each list, I italicized the mile where I think the Wall came. Each race had its own unique reason: Top of Utah killed me when the screaming downhill turned flat; CIM killed me due to the headwind and my stomach...and even Houston, a race I am still mostly proud of and felt good for the entire way, featured a noticeable point where my pace slowed. In that case, I don't really know why. Poor fueling, maybe? Hard to say, because I was enjoying myself.....
These data also show me that in each race I put in some early miles that were faster than what I was ready for. Top of Utah--which lures you in with a screaming downhill for almost 15 miles--is understandable. But someone like me shouldn't have been doing an 8:11 mile that early in any marathon, for any reason, and especially not in my first marathon in six years. In Houston, I started too slow (9:26?! really?!), but I made up for that with too-fast times in miles four and five. And for that day at CIM, knowing the worst of the headwind was still ahead, I shouldn't have run Mile 3 in 8:39. I was trying too hard to keep up with a pace group that, on that day, was too fast for me.
So here's my homework for April's Eugene Marathon:
1. Be honest about my possible pace, and not only that but be honest about my possible pace for the weather and health Mother Nature deals me on THAT day, NOT necessarily what my pace could be on a perfect day. Darren can help with this, but Darren isn't going to be with me in Eugene on April 28. In the end, I have to know my own body and be honest about the weather.
2. Aim for an even pace, tilted toward slightly slower in the first half and slightly faster in the second half. This will be the hardest part, I think.
3. Fuel properly. Practice this in training. Truth is, I hate eating while running. I barely ate anything during Top of Utah or CIM, and I may not have consumed enough calories in Houston, either (though I'm less sure about that). Time to get over that. This cycle I plan to experiment more with sports drink and Gu-type things. Shot Bloks work well for my gut, but they are bulky and cumbersome to carry and after 13 or 14 miles, my mouth just doesn't want to chew them.
I'm in good company in cultivating true humility in the face of this distance. In my weight training sessions with her, Colleen has said a couple of times that the marathon must be respected, no matter how talented a runner you are or how many you've done (she told me she's lost count of her marathons, but I know they include four Olympics and at least one Olympic Trials victory).
Any other advice? How did you run your best marathon: even paced, or negative split, or positive split? Has anyone really mastered the marathon (maybe Meb has....but anyone less, um, gifted)?
