Colfax Marathon Review

Going into the Colfax Marathon this year, I had a plan.  Nothing was being left to chance as it meant everything to run a sub-4:00 marathon.  How can I ever hope to run Boston if I can't chip away at my time piece by piece?  Throughout the training, I tested my paces.  I ran long distance strength and tempo workouts between 8:20-8:40.  My speed work hovered right at 7:15-7:25 miles.  I knew I could run faster as week after week I proved it to myself, but 26.2 miles is really, really far.  I didn't want to be greedy and go for an overzealous finishing time, where I'd bonk the last few miles.  I constantly told myself, "Get the 3:56 that you set out for from the very beginning, finish strong, relaxed, and upright so that you maintain your confidence for the next round."

I followed the Hanson's Marathon Method very precisely for 5 months.  I ate 70% carbs the last 7 days before the race, I drank Gatorade for a day before the race and during, I calculated my fuel and water needs so that I would never have to hit a wall.  I even had my husband toss me fresh water bottles at different locations throughout the course.

Our fueling crew ready to go.  They rode their bikes 17 miles and carried extra water and Gatorade, while cheering for us along the way.  It meant a lot to have them there for two years in a row.  Thanks guys.

Before the race, I planned to stay behind the 4:00 pace group for the first 8 miles.  That way I could warm up slowly and save energy for the finish.  After 8 miles, if I felt good, I would pull ahead and not look back.  The next 8 miles, I would maintain an even effort trying to go for 9:00 miles even, while adjusting for the hill between miles 5-15.  I knew the downhill portion of the course wasn't too steep, but would allow for a faster pace so I planned for 8:40 miles, again going for even effort, between miles 15-22.  The last portion of the race I knew I would be more tired and the hills become rather large again, especially at miles 23-24.  I needed to reserve some energy for that and allow myself to run slightly slower if needed at around a 9:10 pace.  If all went well, I'd be satisfied finishing at 3:56.

Here are my splits:

Miles 1-8:

Mile 1 - 9:07
Mile 2 - 9:10
Mile 3 - 8:52
Mile 4 - 8:55
Mile 5 - 9:20
Mile 6 - 9:02
Mile 7 - 9:08
Mile 8 - 9:00

While the 4:00 pace group was ahead of me for the first 11 miles, I didn't let that bother me.  He set out way too fast, running an 8:50 pace and often faster.  I refused to hold onto him and while the hill at mile 5 slowed me down a bit, I didn't try to make up the time.  Running through the Denver Fire Station with all the firefighters giving us high fives was energizing before we headed into the Platte River.  We passed through Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium where the Broncos play at mile 6.  This is always a highlight of the race and a fun way to start.

I ran with water in a hand-held for the first 10 miles, taking 2 gulps every mile and a Gu at mile 6.


Miles 9-15:
Mile 9 - 8:47
Mile 10 - 8:48
Mile 11 - 8:55
Mile 12 - 8:54
Mile 13 - 8:59
Mile 14 - 9:15
Mile 15 - 9:05

Monica is taking off her sleeves, I am getting ready to toss out my water for Gatorade.

Sloans Lake is a 3 mile stretch of very flat land sandwiched by a couple miles of hills on either side.  It was a nice break and my speed reflected it.  I passed the 4:00 pace group at mile 11.  Around the 11th mile, I felt a blister forming on my right foot.  It was on the pad just under my big toe and every step hurt.  At the halfway point I groaned a bit knowing I had 13 more miles for the blister to grow, but the pounding of my feet on the pavement numbed it a bit.

Here is what our husbands did while they waited for us to reach each check point.  Cheers Mark!

For the middle part of the race, I ran with Gatorade which I highly recommend.  I couldn't have handled it for the entire race as I have a sensitive stomach, but the sugars and electrolytes kept me going.  I also took Salt Stick tabs every hour on the hour and one at the finish line.


Miles 16-21:

Mile 16 - 8:46
Mile 17 - 8:30
Mile 18 - 8:46
Mile 19 - 8:44
Mile 20 - 8:40
Mile 21 - 8:40


The "Screaming Downhill" is a nice break for the calves and because it is an easy grade, my quads didn't feel the pounding.  Every time I looked at my watch, I hovered right around 8:44, which felt really good. We passed through the Invesco Field at Mile High again at mile 20 and while I expected to feel exhausted by this time, I felt relaxed and energized.

Second pass through the stadium.  20+ miles in to the race.

 By mile 18 I switched back to water and Gu.



Miles 22 - 24:

Mile 22 - 8:57
Mile 23 - 9:15
Mile 24 - 9:15

I saw my husband for the last time at mile 24.  This was at the top of the last major hill on the course.  He asked me if I felt good and I smiled at him with confidence.  I felt great.  Not only was I going to finish, but I had yet to hit a wall and I wanted to turn up the pace for the finish.


Finishing Stretch:
Mile 25 - 8:58
Mile 26 - 8:26
Mile 27 - 8:26

People from all the different distances came together during the last couple miles of the race.  It felt really satisfying to pass runners with confidence.  The streets became much more crowded and I had to push past people to maintain my pace.  At mile 25, I became really tired.  For the first time during the race I wanted to be done.  I kept imagining a port-a-potty and a Popsicle.  My blister, now huge, finally popped under my foot and I felt a squishy ooze of warm liquid fill in between my toes that slopped around with every step.  When I saw the finish line, I pushed forward a little harder and collected my medal from a firefighter in 3:55:26.

My husband wanted a picture of Monica and me with our medals right away.  Right behind my knees I had really bad cramping for about 10 minutes after I stopped. This is before I composed myself to smile. 

And, hiding the pain...  We did it, and we finished together like we have wanted to do for over a year.

Not only had I completed the race, but I did it one minute faster than I'd expected.  I followed my plan very closely and executed it with pride.  While my nerves were out of control the entire morning before the race started, I didn't let them get the best of me.  I stayed calm and ran evenly by effort.  I trusted my training and numerous people told me that would be half the battle.

We finally got to meet Tony, from G Force.  Not only did he get a BQ on a really hard course, but he is also a really nice guy to hang out with!

For weeks before Colfax, my nerves were out of control because I needed my training to have been worth it.  Thankfully, I proved to myself that I can run a sub-4:00 marathon.  But the most surprising lesson I've taken out of this race was not so much from that day itself, but from those 5 months of hard work and early mornings.  I can tolerate high mileage and faster paces.  I can run 60+ miles a week.  I can run speed work, strength and tempo runs, I can actively recover while running easy after a hard effort.  My overall paces have gone down substantially as I consistently run at an effortless 8:40 pace and my 5k time has dropped from 25:02 to 21:54.

Lunch after the race.  Thank you Randall for all of your patience, help, and support over the last several months.  And thank you for being at the race, providing me with fuel and encouragement.  It made the difference.

I am currently putting together my next training and race schedule, where I will train for a 3:45 or faster.


~Roadburner

Colfax Through Hanson's

I started training for the Colfax Marathon on November 18, 2013.  Because Hal Higdon's training plans have never worked that well for me, I wanted something different.  I wanted a training plan that would hold me accountable and tell me exactly what paces to run.  I bombed my first attempt at running Colfax in May 2013.  By mile 8, I was cramping and miserable.  After mile 14, I felt beat down and defeated.  Mile 20 told me I was going to finish but at what cost?  Mile by mile went by and I held back tears and surges of emotion until I finally crossed the finish line in 4:24.  Ironically, when I crossed the finish I felt unstoppable.  After everything I'd pushed through to get to that moment I could get through anything life might throw at me.  I could have stopped at any moment.  No one was holding my legs to that flame.  It was all under my own will and stubbornness.  I've never felt pain like that before.  Every muscle in my body begged me to stop and yet I pushed forward. 

At the finish line last year

Six months after the race, I would think about the finish line and smile so enthusiastically you would have thought I finished just days before.  I wanted to recreate that feeling, but I didn't want to hurt this time.  I wanted to have an actual goal, beyond finishing, and I wanted to feel good at the finish line.  No walls, no screaming calves, no regrets. 

I felt like I'd been hit by a bus for weeks after the race.  I remember being completely delirious at mile 24 and for an hour after finishing.

After far too much research I came across the Hanson's Marathon Method.  Essentially this plan tells you to run at varied speeds to work the different muscle groups and create a level of cumulative exhaustion so that you never run feeling fresh.  Mimic the last 16 miles of the race during your long training runs, not the first.  Don't take days off because you are sore, push through it and get stronger.  Last year, I skipped easy days, I didn't pay attention to paces and I ran without focus.  The Hanson's Method doesn't work if you don't follow it very closely and I figured that out right away.

A sincere thanks Luke Humphrey and Hanson brothers.

I became obsessive about my running routine.  As the months went by, I got up earlier and earlier to fit in distance, speed work, strength and easy runs.  I felt it working and I kept thinking about that moment last May when I felt unstoppable.  This time would be better. 

Last Sunday I crossed the finish line in 3:55, just under 30 minutes faster than my previous time. I never felt truly tired until mile 25 where I reminded myself, "Five months of hard work for a few more minutes of discomfort."  I ran negative splits with my final mile at 8:26.  When I crossed the finish line I expected to feel euphoric like I had a year ago, but I didn't.  I never pushed through incredible pain to remind me that I am made up of pure grit.  I had a blister the size of Mars under my foot that wrapped in between my toes.  I felt it for 15 miles of the race and the oozing liquid spreading between my toes as it popped at mile 25, but nothing begged me to stop. 
 

This is just the top side where it stuck out between the toes, the bottom of it is the size of a half dollar around the pad of my foot.  The grass was wet by the port-a-potties and all our shoes were soaked at the starting line.  I've never blistered in my Saucony Virratas before the race. 

If I wasn't that tired, did I push hard enough?  Could I have gone faster or would I have crashed sooner?  If there was energy to spare, how do I train to go faster and feel the same sense of strength throughout the race?

There is no doubt about it, Hanson's works.  Not only do they prepare your body for the beating it takes in 26.2 miles, but the method teaches you how to taper, carbo load, actively recover, and push yourself to limits that have never been tested. 

What I learned was this, training for a specific pace works.  I trained for a 3:56 and ended up one minute faster than goal time.  That was a success.  If I trained for a faster time and put in the miles at that pace, I have renewed confidence my body could handle it as I pushed faster paces throughout the training, but I need to be more aware of my body as I pick up the pace.  I think I got lucky this time.  I ran 60+ miles a week for a couple months and didn't incorporate strength training and weights into my regimen.  Halfway through the race, my right hip flexor started to ache and reminded me that I have work to do.   The second time running the same race, my head was in the game entirely.  I ran mile after mile calculating splits in my mind, seeing what my finishing time would be at current paces.  I did body checks continuously asking myself, "Do I need water or fuel?  Is my stride good?  What hurts right now, what is giving out, what is not strong enough?  What can I improve for next time?"  I never wanted to take off faster than my prescribed pace because I respect the distance too much.

Running marathons is humbling.  It becomes addictive and the effort itself becomes more satisfying than the finishing times and results.  This time I wasn't euphoric about the finale because I steadily looked ahead throughout this process.  For 26.2 miles, I celebrated 1,000 miles of hard work in 5 months.  The race didn't feel like the accomplishment, the training did. 


~Roadburner

Colfax Marathon Taper. My hands are shaking.

I am loosing my mind.  The Hanson's Marathon Method calls for a 10 day taper.  Six days into that recovery period and I can't stand it anymore.  For 5 days I felt strong and energetic.  I was so grateful to finally have energy back.  But now I have more energy than I know what to do with.  I tap pencils, my hands are shaking, my stomach is upset, my heart races, and my legs are begging to move.  I haven't cut out running altogether and I still have a fairly high mileage over this 10 day period, but half the mileage from my peak schedule, 60 miles down to 25, is causing major withdrawals. 

I let my 3 year old son skip his nap yesterday so we could go somewhere.  We ended up at Yogurtini and then the mall where we walked around in circles endlessly.  Walking to pick my son up from school another mom asked me, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine.  I just need to do something." Her eyes bugged out a bit at my enthusiasm.

Last night I cleaned my house.  I cleaned so violently that I fell down in a heap of exhaustion at the end of it.  Twenty minutes later my legs and hands started shaking again.  I fell asleep easily last night but at 5:00 this morning, my normal running time, I awoke to a racing heart and misfiring muscles.  So I came downstairs, ate a quick snack and sat in silence wondering, "What the hell do people do with themselves who get up at ungodly hours and don't run?"

Now that my family is awake, they keep staring at me, like they are waiting for detonation.  So here I sit with my head down, legs secretively shaking under the desk.   

Crap, I have 4 more days of this. 


~Roadburner

What's after the Colfax Marathon?

I need to finish the Colfax Marathon strong and prove hard work pays off.  I am taking over 20 minutes off my previous marathon time on the same course.  It is a hard route with some rough hills and even though it is 1,000 feet lower in elevation than my home, it is still a mile above sea level.  But what's the next step?

Assuming I don't blacklist marathons forever after this race, I want to start getting my time down to a Boston Qualifier.  I need 3:35.  I'd like a minute or two faster to ensure my qualifying time is fast enough with all the runners out there under age 34.

After Colfax I will take 2 full weeks of not running.  This is going to be hard.  I am not sure how to go from getting up at 5:00 am every day and running 50-65 miles a week to nothing.  I'll let you know if I hold it together.  During that time, I will find a trainer to help me with running specific weight training.  I haven't done much with weights over the last few years and I know that is key to helping my speed, agility, and injury prevention.  If I am going to take my marathon pace from 9:00 to 8:07, I need to work smarter and include weights at least 1-2 days a week.

I also saw major gains in my VO2 levels when I ran speed work once a week.  It had positive effects across the board, leaving my easy runs refreshing, and my tempo runs more sustainable at the desired paces.

It will be important to temper my training as I gain mileage again.  I don't want to start out too high and risk injury, but I also don't want to loose the gains I've made in the last 5 months.  I will listen to my body and back off when it doesn't feel right.  Running high mileage works for me though.  The more I run, the better and faster I get.  I am learning how to use my body efficiently and I often experiment with new techniques and form on my easy days.

The California International Marathon is December 7.  I haven't decided if I am going to run it this year or not, but I hear it is a fast course and the benefits of sea level could work to my advantage.  REVEL Rockies is another option, but seeing how it is a downhill course, I am not sure if I want to trash my quads over 5,000 feet of elevation loss.  Also, it takes place in August, which might be too soon.  Another option could be the Denver Rock 'n Roll Marathon in October.  Again, it feels a little soon to run another full, so I need to wait and see how my body feels over the next month and a half.

Here is my training plan for a 3:35:00 marathon finish.  Each speed work, strength, and tempo run also includes a one mile warm up and cool down. 

I've said all along I wanted a BQ, and I know I have a lot of work to do.  I have to bite this off in small pieces and move there strategically, learning along the way what works for my body.  However, my current tempo, speed, recovery, easy, and distance paces all say I am ready for the next challenge. 


~Roadburner

Eighteen Days Left Until the Colfax Marathon 2014

Less than three weeks left until the Colfax Marathon and I feel incredibly excited and nervous.  I've come a really long way.  I started amping up my mileage at the end of October last year and officially started training for this race in November, 23 weeks ago.  Since then, I've run 852.23 miles, and lost over a minute in my marathon pace.  I get up at 5:00 am consistently, and burn over 1,500 calories before I make my boys breakfast.  Six months ago, I dreamed of running 6 days a week, but worried the constant impact on my joints would kill my endurance.  It's had the opposite effect.  I am stronger, faster, and more determined than ever.

Last week was my peak training week.  I ran 67 miles total.  I remember looking at this week months ago thinking, "How on Earth am I ever going to get there?  I am tired running 35 miles a week, is it possible for me to double that number?"  I remember my friends and family thought I was crazy.  They would look at my schedule and say, "Wait, are you serious?"

To get over that self doubt, I devised a genius plan: Don't Look Ahead.  I followed the Hanson's Method to a T.  If they said run slow, I ran slow, knowing tomorrow would suck if I didn't.  On the days where I needed to run fast, I ran fast.  I didn't cheat myself and I pushed really hard.  Speed work days taught me I'm stronger and faster than I thought.  I checked off the workout every day and marked it in green, yellow, or red marker, allowing for daily reflection and growth.  Green days signified I ran well and wanted to continue.  Yellow was okay.  I was glad to be done, minor aches and pains were small annoyances but I pushed through.  Red days were agonizing.  I never bailed on a workout but I desperately hated myself on those days.  Thankfully, I only self-loathed occasionally.

By not looking ahead, I managed what was in front of me.  Somehow, I ran myself to this point.  I am excited to see how this race goes.  I am also terrified.  Five freaking months of training need to pay off.  I took it very seriously.  I didn't bail, cheat, or skip on workouts.  I started taking 3-4 ice baths a week (after every hard effort), 1-2 epsom salt baths a week (recovery days before bed), and I rolled out twice a day (once in the morning after I ran, and once before bed.)  I've never focused on my diet so much before.  Yes, cupcakes and brownies love me, but I ate fruit and vegetables at least 10 servings a day.  I made my own energy bars each week and focus on whole grains and lean protein.  This training period has been life changing.

Because I get up so early, my husband gets up with the boys every day and gets their day started until I get home.  He has been patient and understanding and somehow willing to deal with my exhaustion and obsessive behavior.  

All this hard work will pay off.  When I began this journey 5 months ago, I wanted to get a 4:00-4:05 marathon time on this difficult course but my tempo, strength, and speed sessions were significantly faster.  I adjusted my time to be sub 4:00, hoping to push myself a little more.  In the last month, I've noticed my kick is stronger and I am learning how to work with my body when it hurts.  I use more of my body now to run, not just my legs.  I'm becoming more efficient and finding new muscles and tone in my legs, arms, stomach, back, and shoulders telling me it is working.  Eighteen days to go, I'm ready.


~Roadburner