Race Recap: NCR
Marathon Number 12 - State Number 10
What a race! I can’t save it until the end…I got a HUGE PR at the race with a finish time of 3:41. That’s a 17 minute improvement from my previous PR.
I want Boston, I want it so bad and I’m feeling like I’m in the time when I’m going to achieve that race result. I’m feeling strong, confident, driven and I am ready to make the sacrifices. My initial goal when signing up for this race was to qualify for Boston. I knew that it would be asking a lot for that to be possible but I needed to set that goal. I needed to go after it. So I hired a new coach (not great but I’ll talk more on this later), got specific, and started monitoring everything I was doing for this goal, basically a self-audit if my actions were in service of my goals. I was going to need an absolutely massive time to hit my goal I mean a 30 min PR which is just kind of crazy, but I kept it in sight throughout all of my training.
Training
I often start a race recap focusing on the race itself but for this race it really all came down to the training. I think that is honestly more important to focus on right now.
I really threw myself into making sure I hit my plan goals from day one. I hired a new coach wanting more guidance, I just wanted a more hands-on and involved coach which is not what I got. I got a plan put together by VDOT and it did not feel specific to me. I’m going to leave that there because my coach did nothing wrong it just wasn’t what I wanted. I did really like the speed work so that I will absolutely be taking with me but I spent money to basically just do my own plan. Being a coach myself I get asked sometimes why I need a coach and it’s the same answer you would get in many other spaces—your therapist should have a therapist, your doctor should have their own doctor, etc.— and for me it comes down to being accountable to someone. Here is a bit thing I learned though, I want this goal so bad that I don’t need to be accountable to anyone to get it done. I’m my own best trainer, worst critic, all the things. As long as this goal stays this important to me I’ll show up for myself.
Speed training was a huge huge focus for me. This is where I put most of my energy because bottom line I just needed to get much faster. I needed to get comfortable being uncomfortable at a faster pace for a longer time. Here’s the run down of how I structured my weeks:
Monday nights I did tempo runs with my run club, running with people faster than me has seriously impacted my running in probably the most meaningful ways of all the things that I have done
Wednesday’s were dedicated speed workout days.. I truly prioritized putting in the work on faster days because I knew I needed some big gains to get to my goals.
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday were all easy runs with normally strides thrown in one day a week.
Saturday’s are long run days for me. Every Saturday I had a workout built into my long run that included some marathon pace work.
My biggest takeaway from all of my training is to run with people faster than you are. If I hadn’t had those people I honestly don’t think I would have had such a successful race. Being able to get lost talking with someone and keeping up to their pace was where my biggest gains came from.
In addition to run training I was also incorporating lifting and resistance band work. I will say this wasn’t as specific for this race as in the past. I kind of didn’t really have a plan. If I could make it into my gym on days that worked than I would do that otherwise I was pretty much just throwing things together at home or occasional lifting days at a gym. I was just kind of piecing things together this time around which is not a great plan but at least I was staying consistent. This isn’t the best approach but I was also transitioning into a new job right at the start of my training so I was definitely distracted. But I was getting some stuff done, here is roughly what I was incorporating weekly:
Banded work weekly— things like clamshells, knee drives, shuffles…it was easy to get those movements incorporated into my day to day.
Keeping up with swimming and biking throughout. Again no solid plan but just when it fit I made it happen. I treated biking and swimming as easy recovery
About once every other week I was getting in some heavier lifting or a Burn workout
I have also been seeing a PT for some ongoing issues that seem to all be related to incredible muscle tightness and tension. Basically my muscles seem to literally never relax. I’ve been experiencing a lot of pain but luckily it has not had an affect on my running just everything after running…and some other areas of life also. I’ve been getting dry-needled a lot (ouch) which seems to do the trick for a while but then it comes right back. So the mystery as to why my muscles tighten so aggressively is ongoing. Working on a lot of stretching and strength training.
My focus was really on running and running fast. That was my training plan.
Nutrition
I mentioned at the top of this that I took a good look at my actions throughout training and really focused on purpose, if all of what I was doing was serving my goal. I keep saying I want this big goal but my actions do not always align with that. So if I truly want this I knew that things were going to have to change.
I started seriously tracking my food and cut out alcohol. I needed to know that what was going into my body had a purpose and was helpful. Our body runs on what we put into it and I needed to make sure that I was supplying my body with the things that I needed to run hard, recover well, and show up to the start line ready to go. Cutting out alcohol gave me a huge edge in training and in life. I showed up everyday more clear and never sacrificed a training session to being too tired or feeling sick. With my nutrition my main area of focus was on making sure that I was eating enough throughout the day. I was tracking with the goal of getting in at least 1,000 calories by lunch. This ensured that I was refueling after my runs and then not binging later on more unhealthy foods. I saw some serious physical gains from prioritizing these areas.
I kept it simple, I didn’t try to do too much but started with the small things that would lead to better habits. Cutting out alcohol and focusing on calorie intake led to even better nutrition choices as I progressed through training.
Race Day!
Pre-Race Day
We landed in Baltimore on Thursday night and couldn’t get into our Airbnb until later in the evening since it was Thanksgiving. We explored DC a bit which was interesting since I’ve never been there before. We were staying in like a suburb of Baltimore that was closer to the race than to the cities. It was nice being kind of away from everything busier. The Airbnb was interesting…but it worked out just fine for us. That’s it for Thursday evening.
Friday the main goal was to get to pick up my packet and just keep the day easy. The pickup was at a local running store and luckily it was Black Friday because they had deals on deals. I keep looking at the Sprints towels online but just cannot justify that money but they had one on super sale so I mean it would have just been irresponsible to not buy it (yes we got everything to fit in the luggage by some miracle). For this race they gave out sweatshirts for swag which was such a nice change and it was a really nice sweatshirt. Also, love that the sweatshirt is such a simple design and is one I will actually wear. So we did the packet pickup thing and then we did a little bit of walking but really tried to keep things simple for the rest of the day. We went to the store and got my usual pre-race pasta to make back at the Airbnb.
Race Morning
This race had a much later start than every other race I have done which meant I actually got some really solid sleep. Race start was 8:30 so we left the Airbnb about 7ish to get to parking and had more than enough time. The race takes place on the Northern Central Rail Trail (NCR) which meant busing to the start since there wasn’t near enough parking at the trail for all the racers. It was a cold morning but race start was at a school so we got to hang out in the gym to stay warm before the start. For how small of a race this was they had things seriously organized. Just a little before race start they called us all outside to line up (there were less than 300 of us running the marathon so wasn’t too busy at the start).
It was cold that’s for sure. It was maybe in the low 30s and I had a light jacket layer, gloves, and a headband. All super needed for me.
I was feeling ready, but nervous. I’m always nervous at a start line, but I was as prepared as I was going to be. I did experience something though for the first time…this feeling of just not wanting. It wasn’t exactly not wanting to do it but not wanting to be uncomfortable (more on this thought later). I had to shake it off though because it was time to go. They lined us up, counted us off, and we were off—downhill.
The Race
The course is ran on a trail through beautiful woods, on packed dirt, so pretty ideal. It’s an out and back so on the way back you know exactly what to expect. So we are off at a steep downhill right away that had me running way faster off the start than I would normally do but it also helped me to warm up. A quick turn and were on the trail.
I knew I needed to run my race. I needed to keep my goal insight but not burn myself out pushing too hard at the first half and blow up in the second half. Let’s go back to what I said before about not wanting to be uncomfortable…I have, recently, been a bit too comfortable with being comfortable. The notion of doing something to make myself uncomfortable is just ugh so not what I want to do right now (please picture Cher in Clueless saying this). The first half of the race was way more mentally challenging than physically because I was cold and just felt...not that I didn't want to be running but that I just didn't want to let myself down. The thing is, once I got to the halfway and saw my time I turned things around fast mentally. I realized that HELL I AM SHOWING UP! I saw 1:55 on my watch and knew all that was standing in my way was myself. I had to get it together because I was putting together an amazing performance and I couldn’t let it slip.
I was locked in the second half. I started a 3 mile cadence of looking at my watch to check my pace. 3 miles was just the right distance for me to check that I was on my pace and keep myself focused. I started picking people off little by little. I would see someone down the path and set them as my goal. I FELT STRONG. My legs had it and finally my heart had it. As I was getting to mile 20 I just took it mile by mile watching my pace and seeing it all come together. I was doing it like seriously doing it. The last mile I ran so strong. The best feeling during that last mile was knowing that I had so much more to give, my legs were getting it down with more in them. My training did this, I did this. I ran across that finish line so proud and so happy. I cried at a finish line for the first time in a long time because honestly until that moment I didn’t know if I could do it. I thought I was doomed to be a barely sub-4 marathoner forever. I didn’t believe in myself but oh boy do I now!
One of the first things I said when I crossed the finish line was it’s time to go to Vegas. That’s where I will be running my next race in the spring.
Official Finish Time: 3:41:42.55
Somehow I also got 3rd in my age group, now that was a surprise.
Final Notes
Oh girl, do not doubt yourself. Get uncomfortable. You can achieve so much more than you ever thought was possible.
