Air Force Marathon Race Report (09/19/09):

Goal:
02:59:59 or better, which is a 6:52 pace for 26.2 miles (current PR is 3:06:41 from Oct '08)

Training:
For the 16 weeks prior to my taper, I averaged 52 miles per week. Each week consisted of 5-7 days of running and included a long run, a double (typically 6/6 or 8/4), some speed work (2-4 miles around 6:2x pace) and just some general running. Other than the speed work, most miles were in the 7:45-8:00 range. I also included some races in the training plan. I think I had four 5k, one 10k and one 13.1. I really liked the 13.1, as it fell six weeks out from my 26.2 and it gave me a good sense of where I was in my training.

Weather:
Temp at the start was forecast for 54 and three hours into it would be 64. If you aren't familiar with the race, it's hosted by the US Air Force at Wright Patt Air Force Base in Dayton, OH. This means a good portion of the course is on the runways and surrounding streets, which means there's not a lot of shade and it seemed a lot warmer at certain points than the temp indicated.

Breakfast:
Bagel with peanut butter, a banana, a couple spoons of yogurt and some water and Gatorade.

Start:
I got to the start area about 20 minutes before the gun. I checked my bag and stood in line for the bathroom. After realizing the line wasn't moving fast enough, I ran behind some cars and did my thing (benefit of being a male). Once I arrived at the start, there were two parachuters that came down from the sky carrying flags. Pretty amazing site. They also had two fighter jets do a fly by. Even more amazing.

Pace Plan:
The course has a significant hill at mile two and some more hills later in the course. Since I typically like to take the first 4-6 miles as a warmup, I told myself I would be happy if I kept them under 7:00, but wouldn't be upset if they were above my goal pace of 6:50. I realize a goal pace of 6:50 is lower than 2:59:59, but I figured I would use the extra 2 seconds to makeup for any tangents missed or course extensions. I also knew the marathon course combines with the half marathon course around mile 21 and they run together through the last 5 miles. Due to this, we would be running 6:50 miles with a large group of half marathoners running around 9:00 miles (they started an hour after the marathon). Not the best situation to mix paces, but I knew it ahead of time and I tried to adjust by running 6:50 instead of 6:52.

Pace Splits:
01 - 6:57
02 - 6:53
03 - 6:40
04 - 6:48
05 - 6:48
06 - 6:53
07 - 6:54
08 - 6:51
09 - 6:49
10 - 6:48
11 - 6:51
12 - 6:49
13 - 6:48
14 - 6:50
15 - 6:49
16 - 6:52
17 - 6:49
18 - 6:49
19 - 6:52
20 - 6:49
21 - 6:49
22 - 6:51
23 - 6:53
24 - 6:57
25 - 6:51
26 - 6:50
.35 - 6:15
Overall average for 26.35 was 6:49...one second faster than my target.

Pace analysis:
If you take away the hill miles which I adjusted my pace, I had 24 miles with a pace between 6:48 and 6:54. By far, my most consistent race from a pacing standpoint.

Result:
So, throughout the course, my Garmin kept reporting the course to be a little short. This is opposite of most races, which Garmins report as long because people don't run all the tangents. Through mile 25, I was about 1:10 ahead of the 2:59:59 goal. I told myself to stay strong, maintain pace and I would even have a chance of seeing 2:58:xx. The last 1/2 mile includes two 90 deg turns, so I make the first turn, make the second turn and then I see the finish area up ahead. I have a huge grin on my face, as I just saw my family at mile 26 and I'm getting excited about hitting my goal....and then I see the timer at the finish area. It's reading 2:59:47. What??? How did I lose that much time over the last 1.2 miles when my Garmin had me at a 6:50 pace for mile 26? So, I start to turn over the legs faster and faster and I see the timer counting down 2:59:56, 2:59:57, 2:59:58, 2:59:59. I thrown my left leg out (the one with the chip) and hit the mat. The official result: 2:59:59!! Still not sure what happened at the end, but who really cares?!?! I just ran a 2:59:59!!!