Never again. That's all I could think as I finished the 2018 Marine Corps Marathon. All that time and effort put into my training just to get a pretty good chunk into the race before everything really came off the rails didn't seem worth it. I've done this distance twice. I've proven that I can do it. Why do it to myself again?
Well, I'm feeling a bit differently 5 days later. The marathon is starting to emerge as a challenge to be solved. It's pretty clear to me that I have a few changes to make in my approach to this distance if I'm ever going to hit the times those online predictors say I am capable of based on my 10K time.
Before going into what I need to do better, I would like to highlight some things that went well. The first, and most important, successful aspect of my training that was the fact that I completed the training. This is the second marathon that I've run in the last two years. That means I've spent the last two summers training for a marathon. I ran 420-430 miles in each of these 16 week training cycles. I can remember a long walk back to my car after a 10K several years ago where I was in so much discomfort I thought there was no way I could ever do much more than 6 or 7 miles. I've gone well beyond that, multiple times, while avoiding injuries. Avoiding injuries should not be dismissed. That's a big deal. Injuries popped up pretty regularly when I started running 3 or 4 times a week. Plantar faciitis took away a few months of summer running one year, I had calf issues that plagued me for most of 2014. I lost most of late 2016 to a knee injury. Injuries are part of running, but as I have gotten more experience, I have learned how to keep my body healthy and active. This is a significant accomplishment.
I made it much deeper into the Marine Corp than I did into Richmond before things were a real struggle. The wheels really starting falling off between miles 15 and 16 during Richmond. I was well above 20 when the same thing started happening last weekend. I crashed really hard in the last two miles of the Marine Corp, but that's just something that I need to work on.
Another success, I avoided significant chafing. I had a bit on my stomach, which is the first time I've ever had chafing in that spot. The combination of the tight shorts under my running shorts and liberal application of lube did the job perfectly. This is a significant advance as walking around all day with chafing after a long run is miserable.
So what changes do I need to make with my approach to training for these long races? I need to improve my endurance. That means more longer runs. I've gotten very comfortable with distances up to 15 or 16 miles, but once I get above that I really start to struggle. Going past that point more often and making sure that I keep running a reasonable pace will make those last 10 miles of the marathon less of a struggle. A key point in overcoming this endurance gap is developing an appropriate fueling strategy. My body runs out of fuel after those first dozen or so miles. I need to find a way to keep a steady supply of calories coming in during these long runs. I may have to try gels despite my inherent aversion to them. I need something that I can carry in bulk. Regular food just takes up too much space.
I need to really train during my runs and not do what I can to just get through them. I was too happy with just getting the distance in on some of the shorter runs while not worrying about pace or form. I know that I fall into the camp of doing my slow runs too fast and my fast runs too slow. I need to push it more on the intermediate distances and make easy runs really easy. I get too impatient to run slow and lose a chance to recover and develop more cardiovascular capacity. I'm also reluctant to really push myself on my 6-10 mile runs. The early mornings required to get these in are a big part of the equation here. It's hard to go into the painful part of running when I'm barely awake when I head out the door. My best results have come when I push myself to run in an uncomfortable space during training. I need to get back to this place if I'm going to grow as a runner.
I do plenty of upper body weight training. Bench press, shoulder press, pull-ups, lat pull downs, I do these several times a week. I never do squats or dead lifts or anything else that strengthens my lower body. Building up strength in this area is vital to increasing my abilities as a runner. I already have the habit of going to the gym. Now I need to add some lower body into the mix.
More rowing. I've been consistently getting in 5000 m or a week, but that's just doing an easy 10 minutes at the gym before I lift. Adding more rowing to my routine will result in better running. It's not hard to know why. I did 5000 m at a reasonable clip on Sunday. I could really feel it in my left butt cheek. Rowing works muscles that help me run but do not get worked out much when I run. It is not a coincidence that my 10K PR came a few months after I completed the holiday rowing challenge. I rowed over 100,000 m between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That requires consistently getting out and rowing 5000 m or so. All that rowing resulted in better training for the 10K. I did not complete the holiday rowing challenge last year. My 10K time was well off my PR pace. There are more factors at play than the absence of rowing a bunch in December (a super cold winter was a big part of that), but rowing builds a solid running foundation.
Those are the main highlights and lowlights of my training cycle for the 2018 Marine Corps Marathon. I could eat better and get more sleep, but those are pretty much constant refrains that could be applied to numerous aspects of my life. When it comes to doing more marathons, I need to do more miles and find a way to keep myself fueled. Those are both pretty simple statements to make but they involve so much energy to execute. That's the point of putting myself through these marathon cycles. It's a way to get better and learn a bit about who I am at that moment. It sucks in the moment, but it's a highly rewarding experience.
Oh, and one more thing (that I will just add a couple of months later), I need to just flat out run more. I graphed my weekly distances from 2017 and 2018 in a single chart. I did not run enough in 2018, especially during marathon training. The 2018 line was shorter than the 2017 line pretty much every week. All those skipped Friday runs, shortened long runs on Saturday, and doing the short end of the recommended distance rather than the longer side on Monday and Thursday added up over the course of the training. Running a 16 miler this year that I missed last year closed the total distance, but that one run doesn't make up for all the shorter runs.
Now that I'm a couple of weeks into 2019, I can provide a way too early progress report on my efforts to implement some of these changes. Rowing more is definitely helping. Ramped up rowing in December has brought better running in January. I'm doing my shorter runs at under 8 min/mile pace. That's a nice step over last year's January efforts (following a December where I bailed on the Concept2 Holiday Challenge halfway through the month). That faster pace is also attributable to a conscious effort to push myself. Last year I was too satisfied with simply doing the workout. I'm digging deeper this year (both running and lifting).
There is no marathon for me in 2019. I may train up for a half, but I'm relieved to be taking a break from the crazy long runs all too integral a part of marathon training. I'm trying to reach 1000 miles in 2019 even with no runs longer than 13 or 14 miles over the course of the year. Steady effort will make the difference.
