It was with great pleasure that the faces changed a little this morning at the Sunday Run. Jack (71) was home sick (he's not fast). Marty was only going six and Chris, who usually goes the distance with me, did 16 yesterday and was only going eight today. Tim overslept until daylight and was a no-show at the start. That left me alone to go 17 - except for new youngbloods Mark and Brett; 30-somethings who just did their first marathons at Marine Corps in DC, showed up this morning and fell in with us [Actually Mark sells pharmaceuticals to Chris' company].Mark and Brett are childhood buds who played football all their lives. Now they complain they suffer more injuries from running than in 13 years of football.
Mark is married with his first kid due in February. Brett has two boys (2 & 5), is married and can't wait for Mark to have his first baby so the "bubble of ignorance that prevails over all men until they have kids" blows up in Mark's face, so he can get back at him for the five years of abuse he's taken since his first kid.
Mark did Marine Corps in 4:15 or so. Brett was a little slower. 4:15 is the pace group time I picked for the Miami race so these guys seemed perfect to run with. Sure enough. Everybody ran at a 9:00 pace for the first four miles. Chris dropped off. At M6 Marty dropped and the three of us pushed on talking marathon experiences and other get to know you stuff.
Tim caught up to us at the M7 Gatorade stop. We did the 10-mile loop together in 1:30, a 9:00/M pace and I was quite pleased with that. Now I had to go another six by myself. [Note to self: next time pre-determine what is the 10-mile route and 11-mile route. I only did 16.]
What worked out great today, besides a good hard pace - was my fueling stops. Gatorade at M7, Gu at M10, Gatorade again in M14. I stretched extra long when I was done, enjoying the warm sunny weather (76 degrees) at the end. I debated whether to find a scone with lemon butter and Americano coffee. I checked two places and neither had scones so I opted to go home and fix a proper full breakfast: turkey bacon, scrambled eggs, raisin bagel, Quonnie blend coffee and the morning paper. What a great day.
Oh - and nothing hurts. Go figure. Must be the new Asics Gel Kayano 11s!
Secrets of marathon running learned today: drink a lot; at every stop. Long runs aren't as vital as total miles per week in training. Eat during the race whenever you can (I'm not sure about that). Eat in training what you'll eat in the race.
5 comments:
Nice run, David. Scones? I see scones in the store all the time. They kinda look like mangles biscuits. Aren't they like a British food or something?
Great run, that 5 day/week training seems to be really paying off. I think I need to move to Florida so I can run in 76F temperatures in November. The 31F temperature for my long run on Saturday was not as motivating.
be cautious with the hydration advice...i am positive that i drank TOO much during my first marathon...hydration needs are different for everyone of course, so just find your balance!
so excited for you!
Gu is great stuff. I just ran out and have to go buy another box this week.
Ditto what Dianna said...figure the hydration stuff out.
Nice to have friends who a) are there and b) run the same pace!
good job, d! way to tackle the long run and feel good afterwards.
i agree on the drink lots statement, but make sure you're balancing your fluids. all water is a bad thing. remember the whole hypotonic, isotonic, hypertonic thing from chemistry...it plays a huge role during the race.
and your base miles during the week will make those long runs easier. strange, yes, but that's how it works for me.
Post a Comment