Pheidippides’s BodyBlog

Marathon done, time to look forward.  I’ve started putting together a race schedule for 2009, with an emphasis on 5Ks, 10Ks, and half marathons.  Right now I don’t see going to Boston to do the marathon in 2009.  My time qualifies me for the 2010 marathon as well, so maybe I’ll do it then.

Weight this a.m. 172.8.  BF 16.9%.  Waist 36.75.  Slight movement in the right direction.  Have to keep eating well.

Last night my calves still felt like they had rocks in them, but I ran anyway with the running group.  I skipped the intervals and just ran steadily with some other recovering marathoners.  About 5 miles total.  It felt good, even if the legs were still very tight.

I may run a 5K in early January, but right now I haven’t begun training for anything, and I like it that way.  I’ll just concentrate on my diet, some pushups, and getting gently back into my weekly running regimen.  And family and the holidays, of course!

Yesterday, after 14 weeks of training and many more months of anticipation, I finally completed my first marathon.  My goal had been to run it in 3 hours, 20 minutes, which is the time needed to qualify for the Boston Marathon for my age group.

I finished in 3:20:00.  I hit my goal with no time to spare.  That’s "chip" time, meaning the time it took me to get from the starting line to the finish line.  Since I was stuck back a ways in the crowd, I didn’t get past the start line until 50 to 60 seconds after the gun went off.

It was cold (40 degrees), damp, and gray yesterday — perfect marathon weather.  No wind.  I was a bit nervous about the cold beforehand, but decided to suck it up and dress light — shorts, sleeveless top, light gloves, and a thin running cap.  I took a fuel belt with three gels, but didn’t carry water.  The aid stations were well stocked so there was no need.

My plan had been to run with the 3:20 pace group, but, having started back from the finish line, I had to spend the first two miles catching up to it.  I stayed with it roughly for the next twenty miles.

The first half of the race was fine.  I reached 13.1 miles in 1:39:17, under my race goal time by 43 seconds.  The crowds were fantastic, enthusiastic and often quite large all the way.  At 17 miles I ran by my neighborhood and my wife, kids, and a good friend were there to cheer me on.

After that I found it getting a bit more difficult to keep up with the pace group, but I was still well under the pace needed to reach 3:20.  In fact, through the first 24 miles I consistently maintaineda  pace of 7:30 to 7:42, averaging about 7:35.

At 24 miles, I finally hit the wall.  I didn’t feel terrible, but I just couldn’t move as fast.  The pace group was disappearing ahead of me.  I knew I had a little cushion to give, but I was worried I would use it all up.

Finally, the California State Capitol Building loomed on the left, and I knew the finish was just minutes away.  I kept looking at my watch.  It was going to be close.  Turned left, then one more left right after that, then picked up the pace (I can’t say I sprinted) on the final short straightaway, and across the finish line, with Jennifer and the kids there (they’d driven downtown) to greet me.

Up to this point, despite the onset of considerable muscle fatigue the last two miles, I’d felt O.K.  It hadn’t felt cold to me while I was running.  That changed about two seconds after the finish.  I was drenched with sweat,  and totally spent, and it was no more than 45 degrees, so I instantly turned cold.  My muscles ached everywhere, even my upper body.  While some other finishers seemed to be enjoying the aftermath and milling about the capitol, I just wanted to go home.

A few hours later, fortified by tons of food and beer, and lying like a happy slug watching football with my twin boys, I felt much better.  Sore, but content.  I qualified for Boston, but I doubt I’ll go.  It’s hard right now to imagine jumping right back into another marathon training program,  and, besides, I’m more interested in focusing on shorter, faster races in 2009.  Who knows.  For the time being I’m just going to enjoy having completed my first marathon and meeting one of my goals for the year.

I ran about 3 easy miles in about 30 minutes this morning, my last run before the marathon on Sunday.  I think I’m as ready as I’m going to be — I’ve got my outfit ready, my gels for nutrition during the race, plans to get to the starting line, etc., etc.  I’ve haven’t run a lot this week so my legs should be in good shape, and the soreness in my Achilles tendon isn’t bad right now (although it’s not completely gone, either).

I’ve decided I’m going to go out with the 3:20 pace group, and take my chances for qualifying for Boston at 3:20 or under.  If I don’t make it I should  still finish in under 3:30, a very respectable time for my first marathon.

The forecast is good.  It will be cold at the start, but not terribly so — a bit over 40 degrees, with no wind forecast.  What will make it a bit difficult is standing around the starting line in shorts and a tank top before the race.  It wouldn’t be a marathon without a little adversity, I guess.

I can’t wait for the start.

I worked out with the running group last night.  The workout was supposed to be 3 x 2 miles @ goal marathon pace, but I cut the last interval short to one mile.

My times were:

1st 2 miles:  14:44  (7:22 pace)
2nd 2 miles:  7:36  (7:18 pace)
3d 1 mile:      6:56

At the beginning I still wasn’t sure whether I was going to go for 3:20 or 3:30 in the marathon, but I decided I would run the workout at 3:20 pace, which is 7:38 min/mile.  I couldn’t help myself, though — since the others were running faster than that, I did as well, averaging 7:20 min/mile over the first two intervals and going a lot faster than that for the last one.  The pace didn’t feel too hard or fast, although definitely faster than I would want to attempt for a full marathon.  I felt good enough about it that I am going to go for 3:20 on Sunday, assuming my legs feel good when I get to the starting line.  Beating 3:20 would qualify me for the Boston marathon.  I may not actually choose to run it, but I would like to qualify.

The forecast for the weather on marathon day remains almost perfect: low of 41 degrees, partly cloudly, no wind.  It will probably be about 42-43 at 7 a.m. when the race starts, and will warm up to around 50 by 10:15-10:30, when I hope to finish.
This a.m.: weight 173.6, down a bit from yesterday.  BF: 17.1%, same ballpark as day before, so at least the measurements on this new scale are reasonably consistent.  Waist:  36.75 — no change.  I won’t sweat it now, before the marathon, but after the marathon I need to be just a bit more vigilent about the dieting to start seeing some real results.  I’m determined to get my weight down to 165 or less by Valentine’s day, before our Hawaii trip, so I don’t spend the whole year, and the running season, thinking about weight loss.

I bought this new digital scale that supposedly tells one’s bodyfat percentage as well as weight.  My last one, purchased about 13 months ago, broke, and it’s been quite a few months since I’ve even tried to use it.

Yesterday my diet was quite good.  Not completely clean, given I had some leftover Thanksgiving stuffing.  But I controlled portions and overall calorie intake well, and I drank lots of water.  So I thought I was ready for an accurate measurement this morning.

Well the results are weight: 174.2 pounds, and bodyfat: 16.9%.  The weight figure is about 2 pounds or more over what my analog scale was showing me a week ago, which doesn’t seem right.  The bodyfat figure is completely out of the ballpark from what my previous scale was showing me.  Since my waist has not shrunk since my measurements a year ago, I’m pretty sure it’s not quite accurate.  But if it is, it gives me a very different picture of my bodyfat level.  At 16.9%, I’m much lower than I had thought, and if I lose ten pounds my BF will be MUCH lower than I had anticipated — somewhere around or under 12 %, I think.

I’m going to go ahead and go with the new scale figures, since they give me something consistent to work with. That being said, I’m going to modify my weight loss plan, since according to the scale my weight is higher but my bodyfat is a lot lower than I had thought.  If I kept my lean body mass at the same level and go tmy weight down to 162 pounds, I would be at 10% bodyfat, more or less.  I think that’s to ambitious for now.  My new plan will be to reduce my weight to under 165 pounds and reduce my waist to under 34 inches (I will strive for both goals, not either, so if I have to I will lose some more weight to get my waist down, and vice versa).