Akron Marathon 2016: Just Call Me Miss Positive Split

Akron Marathon: September 24th, 2016
Goal range: 2:58-3:06, place higher than 9th
Result: 3:12:37 for 9th female

     The training block for this race was nearly flawless. I hit most of my workout paces, including a 10 mile pace run two weeks before the race at a 6:41 average and a several wave tempos where I averaged in the 6:50s including the warmup and cooldown miles. Everything indicated that I was fit enough to tackle a 6:50 average for a marathon, even allowing a few minutes for the hills of Akron. Six days before the marathon I raced a 5k in 18:34, which translates to a range of 2:56-3:00 for a marathon. Racing that 5k may have been a mistake in itself. In August I raced the Classic at Mastick 5k four days before tackling the Rock Hall Half off an 80 mile week. I almost didn't finish that half marathon and experienced one of the most epic physical crashes I have ever had, not just during the race but for the rest of the day where I was so weak that I couldn't get out of my bed. The whole debacle was so bad that I changed my diet around to ensure I was getting the proper nutrition to fuel my training, something I have resisted doing for three years. Two weeks later I ran the race of my life at the Moebius - Green Monster Trail 50k, hacking 33 minutes off my trail 50k pr. So I forged ahead with training, convinced that I would have my first strong marathon at Akron.
     I felt pretty good the week of the race. Getting some taper jitters and fresh legs. I did a small workout on Tuesday (2 miles in 13:19, 0.25 jog, 1 mile in 6:25) and then ran easy 8 and 6 milers up to Friday, 3 mile jog the day before. Friday night I went to the elite athlete technical meeting and picked up my packet and bottles. I used grape Gatorade in three bottles that I had placed at miles 10, 15 and 20. I love the concept of the elite athlete program at Akron. It supports all of the local racing teams and sub-elite runners, including top masters runners. Brian Polen and his staff does an amazing job coordinating everything and communicating with the athletes. Two years ago when I was on a relay team I experienced the exact same level of expertise from the race, so it isn't just at the elite level.
     After about 7 hours of good sleep I woke up at 4:15 a.m. race morning. Had one cup of coffee and cornflakes with milk. Made sure I had all my stuff in my backpack and my gear check tag attached. It is only about a half an hour to Akron from Medina and there was almost no traffic at 5 a.m. As soon as I arrived I turned my bottles into the race staff and then went up to the elite athlete lounge to chill for a bit with my Team Ohio teammates. Amanda and Ro would be my company for the first third or so of the race and I was hoping Ro and I could stick together for even longer since she was racing the full as well. Amanda was tempoing the half so she would leave us at about 12 miles. I was feeling excited and ready to tackle my second Akron Marathon!
Start to 5.8 miles: average of 6:47. Shook hands with Meb (!!!) and countdown to the start, all the half marathon fasties and some marathon fasties going out at sub 6 min pace and spreading down the road like a human river in front of us. I found Amanda, Ro and Alissa right away and also fell into step with Laura, who was running the relay. At points we were running with Tracy from Team Ohio as well. We were a tight group all through these miles, talking occasionally and taking turns leading. Amanda warned me in the second mile that I was trying to run away at 6:30 pace and pulled back just in time. It felt so, so easy, as if I was on a controlled long run. I only looked at one split during this mile and it was a 6:36 fifth mile. I panicked a bit but Amanda assured me that our other miles were slower. I took my first Gu Roctane at the 5 mile aid station.
5-10: about a 7:00 average. After I noticed that fast split I realized that my legs didn't feel great. The pace still felt easy but my legs felt heavy from the constant up and down. I fell back from Ro and Amanda a couple of times but stayed mostly with them until about 10 miles. After working too hard on an uphill, I realized I needed to back off and gradually fell back. I now wish that I had waited to back off until I got to the half so that I could commiserate with Ro as we tackled the miserable double hills in the 13th and 14 miles. I'm sure I would have fallen back after that but it would have helped to get me through. Our teammates Alex and Maria were all over the course during these miles taking pictures of our awesome pack.

Rollin in our cute unis. Photo credit: Maria Moore.

Miles 10-14: well over 7:30 average with several minutes of straight standing. I would like to block these miles out but then I won't learn from them. I would say that the rest of my race was decent, though slower than I wanted, but these miles were a complete failure. I slowed down purposely to help my race but of course women caught up to me. Two women went by me in miles 11 and 12 and this left me feeling very defeated. One of my goals was to race for place in the second half but here I was not even through the half and not able to race. I definitely got in my head these miles but what was happening to my legs was not imaginary. My legs were utterly dead on the uphills and didn't really recover on the downhills. I realized that the rest of my race would be a dead-leg painfest and I wasn't sure I was ready to cope with that. I passed by Amanda Jamil and her babies before the half marathon turnoff and I waved and shouted to them. I passed the half in 1:31:31, more than two minutes off goal pace and my body let me know that the second half was going to be much slower. On the long uphill just past the half I stepped off the course twice. The 3:04 pacer ran by, along with Theresa, looking strong and determined and in the master's lead. Pretty much exactly where she passed me last year, but this time I was standing on the side of the road, trying to convince myself to keep going. It is so much harder for me to face pain when I know that my goal is not attainable. This doesn't apply to workouts because those are a series of events that lead up to the goal attempt. I'm in a lot of pain during each workout but a race is so much different for me. I shook my legs a few times, turned my watch off and stepped back on the course. "You're going to finish."
Miles 14-17: about a 7:30 average. I approached these miles cautiously so as not to fall into a mental funk and want to quit again. My main goal was to not walk or come to a complete stop. During mile 15 I caught and passed a lady who was having an even worse day than me and told her "Just do whatever you have to do to get to the finish." I saw Chelsea at her aid station around this time and waved and smiled, trying to look positive. I drank my Gatorade at mile 15 and it tasted delicious. I started feeling chilly during these miles as there was a cold wind blowing. I actually remember going through Stan Hywet this year! I had the company of a nice older guy up to about mile 17. He caught me during mile 15 but I ended up pulling away from him later as I began to feel better.
Miles 17-20.6: 7:30 average. I was feeling pretty good during these miles and I passed the point where I could consider dropping out. A few times the fear of running a slow time crossed my mind but I shut those thoughts down. The goal was to finish. I was accepting the Cliff energy gels that were being handed out and taking a small taste of them to get extra energy on top of my Gatorade. I don't think I stopped to walk at all during these miles. I was actually quite steady with my average pace, but my legs did not feel any better. I was basically forcing them through a very long, slow march. My quads and calves burned so badly with every step that I was cautious to keep my form perfect and hit the ground lightly on my toes to decrease the impact. I kept hearing people cheering for my by my first name, so that meant they knew me and I tried to wave and smile to them as I passed.
20.6-finish: average 7:22. Fun fact, this is my fastest last 10k that I've ever run in a marathon. Last year my last 10k was about 7:35 pace. I knew during these miles that I was finishing quite strong compared to previous races and there wasn't going to be a wall for me to get over. I was still mentally weak at this point however, because when a woman passed me on an uphill in the 23rd mile I was devastated. Shoutout to Katelyn Heun who I'd never actually met before for encouraging me right at this moment! I actually walked a few paces after the woman passed me but I shook it off and continued on. The lady was finishing strong and ended up passing Theresa right at the finish for 7th place female. This race was a good reminder to me to never bring other racers down in your mind for having a good or a bad race. Sometimes bodies deliver and sometimes they don't. Those who are doing well should be celebrated for their performances and those who are having a hard day shouldn't be looked down on. Before I knew it I was at mile 24 and into that beautiful downhill section. I'd been waiting for this section for 10 miles! I sped up quite a bit through here and passed some men. I refused to stop or walk for the next couple of miles even though my legs were in serious trouble at this point after pounding down that mile long hill. The last mile felt like it dragged on forever but soon I was making the right turn down into the stadium and when I first saw the clock it still had a 3:11 on it. I sped up slightly going into the finish but that was all I could manage. I launched myself across the mat and wobbled for a few paces before collapsing onto the finish area just past the mats. My legs were toast. Brian and the finish line crew picked me back up and I actually caught a glimpse of a wheelchair! No, I wasn't that bad off! I felt okay after a few seconds and was able to walk over to the dugout area where my teammates were looking on with very concerned faces. Marissa smashed her half marathon pr in a low 1:21 for 5th in the half, Amanda ran 1:29 for her tempo and finished 12th in the half and Ro finished 4th in the marathon! Tracy and Lauren also finished the half in 1:31 and 1:38. I'd say Team Ohio was good and present at Akron Marathon this year! Honestly, it made me excited for what the future holds with this team. I love training with them and sharing in the racing experience and I'm looking forward to a lot more of this in the future.

Last step of Akron Marathon 2016. Photo cred: Andrea White

Post race: This was nearly as big a fail as after Erie. Not quite as bad. I'm pretty sure I damaged my kidneys after Erie with three days of dehydration that included peeing blood and a total weight loss of 5 pounds during the race (weight was 98 at the start, 93 at the finish). I'm at a healthier weight now and I don't lose as much during a race but I wasn't able to get anything down after Akron for fear of puking it up in front of my teammates. So I drank just half a water bottle of water and a few sips of Powerade in the hours after the race and that all got puked up after I got home. I was dehydrated until the late afternoon and didn't pee from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Not good! One of my goals for the Towpath Half in 10 days is to work on my post-race fueling. I tend to skip all the food and barely drink for hours after a race. That needs to change. I'm basically recovered from Akron four days later and excited to tackle a half marathon pr there. I have a race plan and the speed in my legs to do it, so we'll see how it goes! I'll keep working with Becki Spellman as my coach through the fall and into the winter where I'll be going after a sub 18 track 5k in a series of indoor races. Next summer I'll attempt and hopefully conquer my first 50 miler at the Mohican Trail 50 mile. And yes, I'm going back to the Akron full next year. Despite my struggles on this course I can't wait to give it another shot. Maybe I'll even become one of those Akron streakers. I'll see how long I can stay in the top 10 female finishers and then in 7 years I'll be in the masters field.