Week in Review: 10-16 March, and Rock N Roll USA Marathon Race Report

Miles:

10 March - off

11 March - 10 miles, in part with the Fed Hill Run (75 minutes)

12 March - 3.5 mile warmup, 3x(800m, 400m jog rest, 200m, full recovery)@2:53/34,3:01/36, 2:58/34, 3 mile warm-down (9 miles total, 70 minutes)

13 March - 6 miles easy (45 minutes)

14 March - off

15 March - off

16 March - 26.2 miles in 3:08:12, plus 2 total warm-up/warm-down miles (20 minutes)

Total time: 398 minutes
Total distance: 53 miles

The marathon is a funny race. A little bit here and a little bit there can make a huge difference over 26.2 miles. Being just a little bit away from a Boston Qualifying time, after four failed attempts to qualify again for 2014 (Maryville 2012, Baltimore 2012, NCR 2012, George Washington Birthday 2013), with a best time of just under 3:09:30 at Baltimore, or about 10 seconds per mile too slow, when I was still feeling pretty bad, I was pretty optimistic about my chances to qualify at the Rock N Roll USA Marathon. Friendlier course, friendlier time of year, friendlier weather, health steadily improving, workouts going pretty well . . . Yes, the marathon is a funny race, and there are no guarantees, but especially given my history of posting faster-than-expected times at this race since 2006, this was as close to guaranteed as this sort of thing gets.

And in that sense, the race delivered as promised. With a packet pick-up assist from Chris, and free lodging and parking at his apartment, near the metro and just three stops from the starting line, the pre-race was easy. I woke up feeling strong, with a lot of pop in my legs. It was overcast and cool, but not too cold - no rain, as had been threatened.

Then the race started, and about one 6:40 mile in, things started feeling just a little wrong. I could feel my legs starting to drag slightly, and even though I was holding this pace through 5 miles, it didn't feel as easy as it should have.

I tried to shrug it off, shift muscles on the surprise hills in the re-designed first half, but the longer this went on, the more it became clear that I was just buying time. I went through the half in just under 1:31, not feeling strong. I went through 20 miles in just under 2:21, feeling even worse.

I tried my best to ignore and push, but the cruelly hilly end of the race got the better of me. With 10 minutes to go until that magical 3:05 mark, I was still a little short of the 25-mile marker. I resolved to give whatever I had left for the next 10 minutes, knowing that it was probably going to be too little, too late. I passed a few runners in what felt like slow motion - my legs wouldn't go any faster.

At 3:05 on my watch, I looked up, the dead highway to the finish snaking uphill in front of me, now impossibly long.

I'd like to say that I continued to push like hell to make a point, but there was really no point to be made. I slow-motion stumbled to the finish, to what sounded like halfhearted cheers, as the stream of half-marathoners coming in at nearly 3 hours and 10 minutes were getting most of the attention.

I sat down on a curb just past the finish line, and hung my head for five minutes. I had nothing left.

Then I got up, moved on, and began the hour-long ordeal for post-race food, drop bags, port-a-pots, and the metro ride back to Chris's apartment.

The marathon is a funny race. I don't know why I didn't have a 3:05 in me. Maybe too much rest on a low-volume schedule, maybe not enough sleep over the past couple of days. Maybe not enough time and volume, period. Maybe I just forgot how to run a fast marathon.

What I do know is that it hurts to have a race die in slow motion like that. Normally, when a marathon doesn't go well, you feel it at 10, 13, 16 miles, try desperately to hang on, all the while knowing that you're going to blow up and have to walk a lot to make it to the finish line. But in this case, there was no blow-up. I stayed tough and hung on, and even at 20+ miles, I was still tantalizingly close - just one second-winded surge away from my goal. In spite of my effort, I wound up a little over 7 seconds per mile short.

I'm not going to be disappointed about this for too long. There's more work to do. But I won't forget, either - it's motivation to work just a little bit harder.