Dean's rejoinder
http://outside.away.com/outside/news/20051018_1.htmlKarnazes Completes 350-Mile Run By Charles Bethea October 18, 2005 On Wednesday, October 12, at 2 p.m., ultrarunner Dean Karnazes went for a run. At 10:44 p.m. on Saturday, October 15, 80 hours and 44 minutes later, he had covered 350 miles in a nonstop, sleepless loop through the San Francisco Bay Area.
So I guess, despite his claim that Pam was "more competetive than him" I guess he had to go out and beat her 300 miles. LOL He ran 151 miles ot the start of The Relay and then did it.
CIM 2005 - or "don't try that either"
If you have not read Patrick's "don't tray this at home", go first and read it, then come back here.
Let's start with my 10K Run to The Far Side, a week before the California International marathon. I was after three weeks of good training, which followed about four weeks of almost no running. My target was a fast 7:30 pace. Kind of a test before the marathon. Great expectations, with some uncertainty.
I ran the 10K on a nearly constant pace for a finish time of 45:39 - a solid 7:20 pace. A new PR. An awesome feeling. I am ready for the marathon.
I feel marathon-ready. But what time should I shoot for? 3:42 is my previous PR, and I want to break it. 3:20 is my BQ time, and is out of reach. So it could be 3:35. Or maybe even 3:30. Yea, how about an 8 minutes per mile pace for a marathon? I just ran a 10K at 7:20 pace, so a 3:30 sounds like a good goal.
In all my previous marathon PR-s, the good time was a result of careful pacing. Starting just a little bit faster than my goal pace and stocking a few minutes, then keeping these few extra minutes up to mile 20, and then slowing down a bit (unavoidable) and zooming into the finish line at the original target time.
Last time, SFM-05, I started with the 3:40 pacing group and ran ahead of the pack, then slowed down, and made the finish line at 3:42. This time, I said to myself, why not to start with the faster group and slow down ? so I ended up starting with the 3:20 pacing group.
They went out fast. That's fine, I thought, as I can still keep up. But looking at my splits (8:02, 7:28, 7:27), I quickly realized that THEY are going faster than their 3:20 target time (!) So I slowed down a bit (7:34 for the next four miles). Anyone could tell that this is still too fast. I chose to ignore the signs. Mile 10 passed at 1:17 hours, a 7:42 average pace so far. The half marathon time was 1:41:48, a new PR for half marathon run ! How nice, I thought. That's a good time. A 7:46 pace !
The second half was not exactly the same. Not at all. At mile 15 I slowed down to a 8:35 pace and was able to keep it for another three miles. At mile 19 I was on a 8:52 pace, and already tired. The 3:30 pace group just passed me. They were right on their 8:00 minutes pace. I was behind.
At mile 20 I started to feel bad. At Mile 21 I felt short, quick cramps. I never had cramps in marathons before. Well, I had them once, but it was after the run. I tried to loosen my legs while running. At mile 22 it hit me hard. Very strong, both legs. I changed to walking. Actually, it was painful even to walk. The people on the street were very nice "you can do it !! keep going". I tried to run, but this hurts. Walking felt a bit better. At this point, it was clear to me that the time is not going to make any difference anymore. It was mile 23 and it was all about finishing.
So, I decided to walk up to the next aid station and fill myself with GU2O - it has lots of what I needed - electrolytes! It took me 17 minutes to walk through mile 24, and having four cups of GU2O. A few minutes later I felt a bit better, and started jogging. At a 11:50 minutes pace I do not call it running. That's jogging. My goal now was to finish, and without cramps, if possible. It took about 25 minutes, and I finally finished the run. My time was 3:56:18, surprisingly still under 4 hours. On the good side, the cramps were gone. My legs were stiff and sore for the next several days - it took an unusually long recovery.
To summarize, I had my fastest half ever, my slowest mile ever, my first cramps
experience, and a swing of mood from very high to very low. Overall not my best marathon experience, but it came with several good lessons:
1. I had to prepare better. My training break hurts (I got tired too soon)
2. I need to carry e-caps for such occasions. And maybe even have some as preventive care.
3. And, most of all, I need to decide if I want to run a full marathon BEFORE I run the first half. And PACE myself to the right goal of the two. Marathon is all about pacing, pacing and pacing yourself.
Happy holidays,
Arnon
