Trust, forgive, and adjust

Yes, not only am I a Marathon Maniac by membership in the club but truly in mentality. I run a lot. It seems like I'm always training for yet another marathon, even in these COVID times. Granted, I don't approach the mileage that the elites put in for their training, but I hit as much as 60 miles in a week right before tapering in a normal cycle. 

It's to be expected at times that the motivation just flies out the window. Yesterday was just such a day -- I had absolutely ZERO motivation to go out the door and run. And my lack of energy merely augmented that lack of motivation. This is where the trust comes into the equation: trust your mind and body. Listen to what it is telling you. Sometimes you just need to pull back a little bit and give yourself a rest. It's ok. That's also where the forgiveness comes into play. 

So you took a day off that wasn't part of your original plan. Take a look at what you have coming up in the next several days and see whether it makes sense to add that missed mileage back in across those days. Or do a run a little bit faster to make up for it. Be willing to adjust your schedule if it makes sense.

Today was a fantastic run. I did 13.1 miles on the treadmill in 1:38:48. Very pleased with the run, because it was VERY comfortable. I certainly would have been able to keep that pace for a full marathon if I were inclined to do my virtual MCM today rather than next weekend. And that is very encouraging for pushing it faster (in the 3:05 - 3:10 range) for my December race.

The above notwithstanding, if you wind up getting into a rut of multiple days of low energy/zero motivation and choose not to run or otherwise workout, you need to examine what else is happening. Are you eating poorly? Are you not getting enough sleep? Too much stress at work? You may need to force yourself to go for a run -- even an easy pace for a few miles -- to break you out of that rut and get back to your previously normal routine. Being willing to trust, forgive, and adjust isn't intended to give a way to completely give up.

Best laid plans...

Sunday was TOUGH. The temperature started at about 63F and only climbed from there along with the sun in the cloudless sky. Occasionally strong winds, but those weren't so bad. Interestingly enough, though, I don't think the heat is hat really did me in. Not sure what really did. But after Mile 2 was finished and we started up the mild, long-ish hill at Mile 3 (which repeats at about Mile 15), I knew that I wasn't going to hit my sub-3 goal. My legs just weren't turning over fast enough and my pacer gradually just got further and further away. Unfortunately, rather than fully accept that reality and pull back the effort to something more manageable, I kept pushing as hard as possible. That certainly did me in, sapping far too much energy. By the time I got back to that hill at Mile 15, I switched from all running to run-walk -- a horrible sign for me. Instead of having a Top 3 age group finish with a sub-3 time (the original goal), I wound up finishing in 3:32:05, 6th (out of 15) in the age group. While empirically a very good time, it was nothing along the lines of what I wanted and was trained for.

In the weeks leading up to the marathon, I had become slightly anemic. That was reconfirmed with a blood test after a regular doctor's visit. It will be interesting to see how my training and upcoming virtual Marine Corps Marathon go with adding an iron pill into my diet (since my daily multivitamin actually doesn't have iron it, though I thought it did). I'm not going to be pushing for a particularly fast time, since I don't want to take a long post-race recovery time to keep training for my next live marathon, taking place in December. Depending on how everything goes, I will determine whether I aim for ~3:15 or something faster. The goal, ultimately, is to be less than 30 minutes slower than the person who comes in 1st in the age group, to hopefully have a good enough total in the Abbott WMM Age Championship standings to qualify for the 2021 championships happening in London.

In the book!

Sweet! It was amazing crossing the finish line in Toronto in October 2019 knowing that I had broken a Guinness World Record for fastest marathon dressed as a super villain, and gotten the official certificate a few weeks later. At the time, it was totally unknown as to whether anything related to it would make it into the 2021 edition of their book. 

Well, the book just came out on Tuesday. Lo and behold, my record made it in there!

Definitely an enormous morale boost going into the marathon I'm running on Sunday attempting to break my PR with a sub-3 time. With good fortune, the temperature will only slowly rise from the low of 60F. But given that it will be very sunny, I think it will rise into the 70s pretty quickly, making this time pretty difficult to achieve. Certainly worth a shot, but I will be very mindful of the possibility of overheating. Finishing safely is ALWAYS more important than pushing too hard, hurting oneself, and not finishing.

Taper in high gear

Today's final long run was only 15 miles @ 7:15 pace. Garmin was considerably off outside today (over 3% short of actual distance, average), so having reliable splits was not possible. While my splits look pretty bad compared to deired pace, I was pretty much spot-on, considering final distance was 15.25mi as opposed to 14.76mi.

This coming week is going to be very bizarre for me, given the huge fluctuations being called for in my diet. I'll be eating carb-heavy snacks for ~70% of my diet for a few days before dropping carbs down to 20% to deplete for a couple of days before I ramp them back up in the 2-3 days before the race. Lots of extra sea salt in the last few days as I pre-hydrate a lot, too. Race day is going to be HOT (starting ~65F), so hopefully this strategy will help me be fully hydrated at start and allow me to retain sufficient salt and water during the race itself.

Relatively limited amount of running this week, but I'm going to make sure to do it outside in the heat, to re-acclimate myself to running in those conditions. (Today's run was gorgeous, at ~45-50F.)

And then there were two

Well, the Dallas Marathon -- which was one of the three remaining 2020 domestic marathons eligible for the Abbott Age Championships that still had open registration -- has just postponed to April 2021. Sigh. What are the odds that I can manage that one extra qualifying race in the next 3 months? Now it's down to Rock 'n Roll San Antonio and Gulf Coast (in Biloxi, MS). Here's to hoping. 

Training has gone a little better this week. While Sunday really took a lot out of me, Tuesday's and Wednesday's runs were really solid, comfortable even at marathon pace for multiple miles. Less than two weeks left in this taper until my sub-3 attempt. And then to see if I get the bug to continue going sub-3. It'd be fabulous to do that in San Antonio or Biloxi (virtually assuring me a place in the Age Championships), but I think a more comfortable/more easily achievable time would still suffice. Still... I have to wait several weeks to see what's open still, and look to maintain fitness for the additional ~4-6 weeks.

Another tough run

Wow, the cumulative fatigue across my training regimen has certainly taken a toll on me this time around. Today's run is something that should have been easily in my wheelhouse -- 20 miles at 7:25 pace. That's approximately the right pace to get a 3:15 marathon, which is not unreasonable for me. But today... I dropped from pace after 12 miles, and then again at Mile 14 and Mile 16. What should have been a little under 2:30 total wound up being over 2:40. And thoroughly wiped.

At Mile 18, my vision started ever so slightly to be affected similar to what happens when you get lightheaded -- I was right on the edge of that. I was mindful of it for the remaining two miles, prepared to step onto the rails of the treadmill and hold on, but that was not needed. Interestingly, only after I started my cooldown walk on the mill did I start getting lightheaded.

Lunch today was a great local BBQ place, mercifully I was permitted to eat indoors. I desperately needed the food in me, and have no idea how I would have fared if I had to continue back home first. But it took a long time for me to get through my meal. Just the energy needed to eat was a bit hard to muster -- not standard for me. And then to walk back to the car (please, maybe 100-200 feet?)... I was on edge the whole time driving back, looking to just collapse onto the couch.

Clearly something is insufficient in my diet lately, and I need to adjust it anyway to deal with some too-fast weight loss today. But the biggest thing that I truly need is to get my head thoroughly back into the game. Marathon Day (for a real in-person event) is really going to be the only time that truly happens. I have to be confident that my training has put me in good enough stead to make my sub-3 goal, even if the last couple of big runs have gone nowhere well enough to give that impression.

As many people have as a mantra (and as the Marathon Talk podcast just might have as a trademarked slogan on their apparel -- I don't know), "Trust The Process." 

Let's get-er-done!

New excitement

One of my plans for this year was to qualify for the Abbott World Marathon Majors Age Championships to be held in 2021. I had already gotten a great first qualifying run in Toronto in Oct 2019. I was all set to get my next qualifying run with Rock 'n Roll DC in March 2020... until it was canceled. Along with all of the other races I had originally registered for in 2020. With only one good race under my belt, I am nowhere near the Top 85 for my age group. I need one more approved race where I finish within 30 minutes (preferably much less) of the top-placing in my age group.

Abbott just announced that they are extending the qualifying period to the end of the year. So, even though  my planned sub-3 race in 3 weeks won't qualify (it's not on the list :-( ), there are a couple of other US marathons currently set to go forward before year's end where, judging on past results, I very well may be within about 15 minutes of the top finisher in my age group. If that all comes together, I have very good odds of qualifying for the Age Championships to be held in London next October!

Anxiously waiting for these next few weeks to proceed to see if the marathons in question continue to be approved or are canceled. Fingers crossed!