BQ by 40

It's been a roller coaster year for my running. 8 PRs this year, including back-to-back 10 miler PRs (-10 minutes each time) and a PR by 55 minutes (3:39) at Flying Pig. Then came a rough showing (4:42) at the Hatfield-McCoy Marathon, followed by tendonitis and an SI joint injury. My physical therapy ended September 25th, so the Flying Monkey marathon came just 8 weeks + 3 days after physical therapy ended. I made it up to 50 miles for one week prior to tapering (40, 30 and 14 miles for the 21 days prior to Monkey).

We had a send-off for a co-worker (beer involved) on Friday, and then wine Saturday, so hydration wasn't optimal.

On to the report:
It seemed to take forever to get to Mile 2. This was no trick by the Monkey RD; my Garmin 305 confirmed that I was only at mile 2. There's nothing like wishing a MARATHON was over at mile 2. This feeling continued through mile 6. I managed to get a little benefit on the first couple downhills, but my joints paid a heavy price for the extra speed I gained. The downhills also caused so much friction that a large, heart shaped blister formed in the front arch area of my right foot. (The good news is, my forefoot actually went numb from the pain).

It was at this point that I resigned myself to slower marathon than I had hoped for that I started enjoying the scenery. The trees provided a nice autumn picture, the sun highlighting the trees at times. At each water stop I paused, mostly to rest.

By the second half, I couldn't control my stride enough on the downhills to get much benefit from them, and had some pain reminiscent of SI joint pain at mile 18, and had to walk the downhill. ...I had several miles in which I had to break stride and walk, principally miles 19-20, where the full elevation was scaled in two miles, mostly in 19. Amazingly, I had something in the tank left for the last two miles, and managed to get my second best marathon time (4:30:30) on minimal time to train after recovering froom injuries.

Due to the cool conditions, I held things together here better than my Hatfield-McCoy performance. I'm certain that a summer Harpeth Hills course would have been far more brutal than H-M. H-M has one huge hill and some relentless small hills. Flying Monkey has several relentless large hills:

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	4:30:30	10:21 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	4:30:16	10:21 pace
Distance (mi )	26.10
Elevation Gain (ft)	+3,850 / -3,849
Temperature (°F)	46.4°F avg.	51.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	S 6.0 avg.	S 6.9 max.

Elevation Data

Elevation Change	Total (ft)
Total Elevation	7,699
Elevation Gain	3,850
Elevation Loss	3,849
Net Elevation Change	1

Vertical Speed	Average ( ft/min)	Maximum (ft/min)
Ascent	14.2	288.1
Descent	-14.2	-219.0

Grade	Average (%)	Maximum (%)
Overall Grade	0.0	--
Ascent Grade	5.7	22.5
Descent Grade	-5.5	-23.3

Splits

Lap (#)	Time (m:s)
1	9:16
2	8:16
3	8:24
4	9:10
5	9:02
6	9:11
7	8:47
8	10:07
9	9:20
10	9:49
11	10:09
12	9:54
13	10:39
14	9:42
15	11:26
16	10:02
17	11:04
18	9:56
19	15:01
20	12:36
21	10:15
22	13:33
23	11:32
24	12:48
25	10:10
26	10:09

Labels: race report

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Well, I'm present for the Flying Monkey Marathon, at least.

Met fellow RunningAhead.com members at the packet pickup... One of them asked me if me if I had driven the course yet. I said that I hadn't, to which he responded that I probably shouldn't.

I then remarked about my shins hurting a little. The response... "It won't matter, because your legs will be numb after the second mile anyway."

Nice.

All for this little finishers... umm.... medal?


Less than 16 hours to go.

Labels: countdown

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After quickly building up to 50 miles per week (+5 miles per week) for one week, I had an 80% and 60% week the last two weeks, and 14 miles this week on Monday and Tuesday.


The goal? The Flying Monkey Marathon. After finally pondering the elevation chart of this nutcase runner's marathon through Percy Warner Park, I can only conclude that it is a fortunate time to have a gut-busting gorge-fest four days later (that would be U.S. Thanksgiving for the international folks). I certainly won't be interested in running, after all.

Flying Monkey Elevation

I ran the Hatfield-McCoy marathon earlier this year, and I'm well aware of how trashed your quads fear after such steep downhills. Unfortunately, while the Hatfield-McCoy had one steep downhill, the Flying Monkey has 9-10 steep downhills of 1/3 to 1/2 the elevation drop.

Hatfield-McCoy Marathon

Less than 60 hours to go.

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It's likely that many of my runs need to be slower.

McMillan Running Calculator paces for a 37:05 5 mile race.



Daniels 2nd edition training paces based on 37:05 for a 5-mile race:

Labels: training plan

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Elevation chart:

Got about a 10 am start, and temps today ended up warming up quite a bit faster than the last few days--no risk of frost this morning either. Still, the temperature was in the low 50s and sunny to start--a little chilly for a sleeveless running shirt. By mile 15, I was happy to have the warmer weather gear on. Did a lot of out and backs, and found a new connection between streets.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	3:00:08	8:59 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	2:59:47	8:58 pace
Distance (mi )	20.02
Moving Speed (mph)	6.7 avg.	9.8 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+1,229 / -1,230
Temperature (°F)	62°F avg.	66.2°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	SE 2.3 avg.	SE 3.5 max.

Laps (goal pace was 9'00", so only missed the mark on the last three miles, and held the average pace below 9s).

Lap (#)	Time (m:s)	Distance (mi )
1	8:44	1.00
2	8:22	1.00
3	8:59	1.00
4	8:51	1.00
5	8:53	1.00
6	8:46	1.00
7	8:55	1.00
8	8:38	1.00
9	8:33	1.00
10	8:58	1.00
11	8:58	1.00
12	8:51	1.00
13	8:57	1.00
14	8:48	1.00
15	8:59	1.00
16	8:57	1.00
17	9:00	1.00
18	9:14	1.00
19	10:05	1.00
20	9:53	1.00
21	0:18	0.03

Labels: workout commentary

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