How much training can someone that would be considered a "beginner" marathon runner actually get done in 6 weeks? Not much really. But it would be more than what I did last time...which was zero. This time, I wouldn't be leaving an expo thinking, "Did they say they trained for a marathon? People actually do that?"
Ideally, you'd want to give yourself enough time to build up a good base, then work in some speed training and marathon pace tempo runs. Then the last phase of your training includes race prep along with the taper. At least that's what I was told. That's a lot to try to squeeze in 6 weeks considering you'd want to spend about 6 weeks for each phase.
So, what was my plan to pull off an 18-week training program in 6? Simple math...break everything down into 2-week phases. I didn't know if it was going work, but I had no real goals. It's not like I was going to try to qualify for Boston. I just wanted to finish the darn distance and finish it without bonking as bad as I had 11 years prior. But I did have a few things motivating me. A co-worker of mine finished a marathon in 4:35 earlier that year and I thought I could run faster than that. I also wanted to beat Oprah's time of 4:29:20 which was P. Diddy's goal. He was able to do it in 4:15:54. I guess I thought that if these "non-runners" were able to do it, I could too, and do it faster. But whatever. My motto was "train to finish" and if I ran a faster time than them, then all the better.
My plan was to build up the miles for two weeks, hold that for two more weeks, then taper the last two. I was told that I needed to run a few 20-mile runs just to get my legs use to that distance. I figured the weekly long run would look like this: week 1 would be 16 miles, weeks 2, 3 and 4 would be the 20-miler weeks and I'd taper with 16 in the last. What actually happened was this: Week 1, bonked at mile 15, walked the last. Week 2, bonked at mile 16, walked 2 and stopped. Week 3, got in 18 miles but too tired to continue so stopped there. Week 4, made it all the way to 20 but felt more exhausted than I would have liked. Week 5, bonked at 12. There was a lot of bonking going on and because of that, I went into the taper week lacking confidence and motivation. This was going to be an interesting 26.2 miles of running.
The last week before the marathon, I tried reading race reports and even watched "The Spirit of the Marathon" to try to get myself motivated and psyched up for the big day. Nothing helped. I found the movie rather boring probably because I couldn't relate to any of the main characters. Then a coworker of mine suggested that I read "Born to Run." I found the motivation I needed in that book. I was ready...kind of.
I headed up to Sacramento the night before the race and met up with John who picked up my race bib. 5150. How appropriate. (In short, a 5150 is a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric hold that is placed on someone that is danger to himself or others or is gravely disabled...basically, you're some kind of crazy.)
After some Thai food, we headed back to the hotel to have a pre-race beer at the bar. I overheard a couple guys talking about just completing a 50-mile race. I thought, "Hey, I just read a book about people running 'ultramarathons.'" This guy is one of them. And he's going to run the marathon tomorrow? Now that's crazy. I'm still hoping to get through this one OK.
I had a pretty decent night's sleep. Got up in the morning and went down to have some breakfast along with all the other marathoners. We hopped the shuttle to the start where I sat and listened to more folks talking about all the marathons they've done and the ones that they've already signed up for. Geez people. How many marathons do you need to run? I just wanted to do this one and be done with it. I still didn't know what I was going to run. I figured I could at least try for a sub-4 hour. Why not. Get it done and never have to run this distance again.
One more trip to the porta-potties then I headed to find a pace group to run with. How did I decide which group to run with? 3:30? Hmmm. These guys looked fast. 4:00? Yeah, looks like I can hang with these guys. But it didn't look like a fun group. 3:30 again? No. These guys still looked too fast. Let me check out the 3:10 group. I wouldn't be running with them but I'd like to see what a BQ group of guys look like. Yeah, way too fast. Guess it'll be the 4:00 hour group. So I headed back to the back of the pace groups to settle in. But what's this? 3:40? Wow. There are a lot of female runners in this group. This was the female BQ pace for my age group. I could at least try to hang out with these ladies. If anything, I'd have nice scenery for 26 miles or however long I could hang with them.
Julie Fingar, ultramarathon great, was our group pacer. I didn't know how great she was at the time but she introduced herself, offered some words of encouragement and reminded us to stop and drink at every aid station. "I won't stop until the halfway point but you guys should stop and drink at every aid station." I thought, "Wow, what a stud, she doesn't need to drink for 13.1 miles."
Then we were off. Most of the race was uneventful. I drank a cup of water and a cup of electrolyte drink at every aid station. Took a GU every 4-5 miles and a salt tab every hour just like I practiced during my long training runs.
I felt good approaching mile 20...the dreaded wall. I ran right through it. I felt surprisingly good. The pace felt comfortable. I was actually going to do this. But I didn't want to jinx myself. But somewhere along the mile 22 section, Julie sped up a bit. I was the only one who followed her. I guess when she realized it, she slowed her pace back down and I kept on going. There were only a few miles left, I figured I should put some more effort in to it now. I crossed the line with an official time of 3:38:25. Big PR. I was quite impressed. And still am. Although I've been told that that's too slow for what I could actually run it. Meh, I don't care too much for racing.
I made my way through the chute to look for N. Thanked her for her support, lined up for my post race massage and headed back to the hotel. On the walk back, I thought, that was actually not too bad. I could have either ran it faster or gone another 5 miles, couldn't I? Like I said, I don't care to race or run another marathon faster, but could I run farther? There was the challenge. And so my entry into the ultramarathon distance was born. But not for another 15 months....
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