The 2015 Rocket City Marathon Race Report

So here is my race recap of the Thirty Ninth annual Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville Alabama on December 12, 2015. There were 1272 official finishers that made it by the 6 hour cutoff. There were runners from all over including Leesburg Virginia, Chicago IL, Irving TX, Cedar Grove NJ, New Windsor NY, Janesville WI, Salt Lake City UT, Tampa FL, Denver CO, Overland Park KS, Ketchikan AK, Liberty Lake WA, Burlingame CA, Grand Rapids MN, Medford MA, Nova Scotia CN, and even Surrey and Glasgow UK.

The RCM is a premiere marathon event in the South.  Sponsored by Nike and many others, the RCM is put on by the Huntsville Track Club. It is a very well organized race with lots of local support. It is a flat course (~400 feet total elevation gain) and is a well known Boston Marathon qualifier.  The normal weather for RCM is usually a low temperature of 34 and a high of 54. This year the weather at race start was 63, cloudy, and 94% humidity. Knowing this, I changed my original clothing strategy from long sleeve tech shirt, tights, and my long compression running socks (with a throw away sweat top hoodie); to tech tank top, shorts, and regular running socks.

 I had some Gu and a few salt tablets in my hydration belt (never used them), but I was going to rely on 2 bottles of Fruit Punch flavored Gatorade that I manually filled into a 1.5L emptied bottle of Smartwater with the nipple top. (I hate drinking those cups on the course). I carried one with me at the start of the course and handed a second one to a friend from my running group who she was volunteering at the aid stop at 13.2 mile mark.  I had been carrying a 32oz bottle of Gatorade or PowerAde on every single long run this year. So I am used to running with a bottle in my hand. I took a sip or 2 every time we ran through an aid station and every time we hit a decline on the course. So I made sure I regularly had a drink at regular intervals to make sure I was hydrated (but not too much where I had to pee) and a constant slow intake of carbs. The plan worked very well for me and I felt afterwards that the heat and humidity were not huge factors for me.

This year is the second year of the "new course". It is designed as a kind of figure 8 (or 2 out and back loops). It starts off in downtown Huntsville at the Von Braun Center and heads down into downtown Huntsville, into some nice neighborhoods, 5 Points, Chapman Jr. High, Lee HS, Optimist Park, and the Huntsville War Memorial before heading back towards the VBC. The second half takes you into the western part of Huntsville along 9th Ave and Governors Drive (with I-565 next to you), up towards the Space and Rocket Center, the Botanical Gardens, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville Park, and Milton Frank Stadium before heading back towards the VBC. Along the route were many "Spirit Teams" as well as spectators cheering everyone on. Many, many signs including your typical "Run Faster - I just farted" and "Worse Parade Ever". My favorite was "Marry Me and I will make you the pride of the doublewide".





There were quite a few live bands out on the course, a drum corps, a couple of local HS cheerleaders, and even the cubs scouts. Many local spectators and residents came out. There were a few local residents out on their front lawns playing music and handing out water, fruit, and other things. One was handing out Jolly Ranchers. Another group of college aged kids were offering "beer". Lots of costumed characters too. My favorite was at mile 23- The Grim Reaper with a sign that read, "The End Is Near".





The race ended up inside on the floor of Propst Arena in the VBC. This is where the local hockey team the Huntsville Havoc play and is the venue of most of our major concerts and events.

So we got to the VBC a little after 6 AM and met with my Panera Pounder running group for a 6:30 AM photo.

 Then I head out behind the starting line for a quick warm-up. Sipping on a small bottle of GatorAde I had with me. Then it was time to find my pace group. (no official corral line-ups) You kind of find your pace group paced upon when you think you are going to finish. This was a big decision for me. I was initially going in with a 3:30-3:35 goal. If you remember I originally was going to attempt a BQ at 3:25 but scratched that idea after my time trail at the Huntsville Half a few weeks ago. But with the warmer temperatures and humidity, I wasn't sure if 3:30 was going to be wise or not. I figured I was going to positive split anyway with the temperatures slightly rising as the course went on (even though the humidity was dropping), so I said what the heck and lined up with the 3:30 group. I prmised myself that if I felt that was too fast that I would slow down and let the next pace group catch up with me.

The 2 official race pacers for that 3:30 group was Timothy and Will. They were fun and very outgoing. They initially introduced themselves about mile 1 and asked who was running their first marathon. Then Timothy said, "This is Will's and mine first too. I am sure glad we did that half marathon training run last week." Every time we were coming up onto a spirit group, Timothy and Will were trying to see if we would out spirit them. Our first couple of miles were a little fast (3:30:00 finish is about a 8:00 or 8:01 pace).

 

First couple of splits was 7:46 and 7:45. I remember hitting the first mile and them saying, "oops I guess we made up too much time on that first mile". They slowed down after mile 2 and I felt like this was a very comfortable pace for me, so I decided to continue on ahead of the group. This would have been very close to my BQ pace and I could still see the 3:25 pace group up ahead at mile 3.

I picked a few people that were running about what I was and stayed with them for a while.











At mile 13 I was passing the VBC and drank the rest of what was in my first bottle. I also noticed my left sock bunched up a little at the ball of my foot and was causing an irritation that I mentally had to fight through. At mile 13.2 was my Panera Pounders running group and I tossed my empty bottle to the side and Denise handed me my second bottle.



Panera Pounders aid station at mile 13.2

At mile 16 I began to feel the oxygen debt and my heart rate increase a lot. This was the long straightaway heading towards the Space and Rocket Center along I-565. This was the point I lost my pace group last year. This year they caught up with me and I stuck with them for a couple of miles. I remember Timothy talking to me when they caught up with me. He was telling me to relax and think of this as a meditation and not let my emotions during the race contribute to my heart rate increasing. He reminded me to keep good form and keep my hands loose. He even took my Gatorade bottle for a bit while I relaxed. That helped a lot as I was able to regain my composure and get a little back into pace, and hitting some downhill's helped too. I started losing my pace group just before mile 19 well into the Space and Rocket Center but still maintained a pretty decent pace. At around mile 24 or 25, one of the 2 official pacers for 3:35 passed me. (I am not sure where the second pacer was). My legs were really feeling it bad (especially the foot with the bunched up sock) but I never did hit any wall nor did I slow down enough where I was forced to walk. I finished my second bottle around mile 23 inside the Botanical Gardens and took a couple of the aid station cups of PowerAde there and around mile 25.

I finished strong inside the VBC at 3:38:06 on the clock and walked through the chute. I saw Skip and another woman handing out the medals. The other woman initially was putting a medal around me when I told the woman I wanted Skip to give it to me instead. Skip's mom snapped a quick picture of us. Then another woman handed me my finisher's hat. I had a choice between red and blue and took the red one since I already had the blue one on my head from last year already.

I felt very sore but much better than last year. I walked around for a short bit to catch my breath, got a couple more cups of PowerAde in me then hit the PR gong.

I made it inside the food area (this year we did not have to walk up any steps to get to the food thank God). I drank a couple of small cartons of chocolate milk, ate a small ice cream sandwich, ate a banana, took some grapes and a Moon Pie into a lunch bag they gave me, and took some chicken noodle soup with crackers. I had a rough time sitting down on the floor to eat my soup. They had bagels and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but not interested. Getting back onto my feet after I was done with my soup was very rough. Then I walked upstairs to the spectator area and met Jenn at the entrance. There we waited for my certificate to get printed out. I then went and got a free massage. Every year they have students from Virginia College give out free massages. After walking around for a short little bit we left for home and took a long nap. LOL
Another successful year in the books. I was a little disappointed that at my finish but very happy with my time considering the warm humid weather. If anything, it may have contributed to my accelerated heart rate at mile 16-26. I definitely need to work on meditation since I felt that helped me a lot. I tend to let my emotions get the better of me towards the end of races which speeds the heart rate and contributes to the oxygen dept. It is best to remain as relaxed as much as possible and remember good form to preserve energy.







My splits were as follows:
1. 7:46
2. 7:45
3. 7:49
4. 7:59
5: 7:52
6: 7:53
7: 7:54
8: 7:52
9: 7:55
10: 7:55
11: 7:49
12: 8:00
13: 7:55
14: 8:05
15: 8:05
16: 8:16
17: 8:05
18: 8:05
19: 8:17
20: 8:38
21: 8:55
22: 8:57
23: 8:56
24: 8:57
25: 9:25
26: 9:18
26.41: 3:47


3:38:11 8:16 avg pace (best pace said 6:13- apparently this was just after mile 11)










I never did stop my watch right away. I stopped it a few seconds after crossing the finish line.

Cadence: Avg 171 spm (max 186 spm) and avg stride length of 1.14m.
Elevation Gain 466 ft
I wore my Newton Blue Energy running shoes.

The Michigan Workout

I am blogging this to come back to later on.  A workout that I want to try after RCM.

Here is what the workout looks like for different experience levels. Be warned, this is NOT an easy workouts. Even top college and professional athletes perceive it as one of the hardest workouts they do.

 Beginner: 2-mile warmup, 2 miles at marathon pace, 1 mile at 5K pace, 1 mile at marathon pace, 800 meters as fast as you can, 2-mile cooldown. Note: This is a continuous session: NO REST INTERVALS

 Intermediate: 2-mile warmup, 2 miles at marathon pace, 1 mile at 5K pace, 2 miles at marathon pace, 800m at 5K pace, 2 miles at marathon pace. Note: This is a continuous session: NO REST INTERVALS

 Advanced: 2-mile warmup, 2 miles at marathon pace, 1 mile at 5K pace, 2 miles at marathon pace, 800m at 5K pace, 2 miles at marathon pace, 400 meters fast as you can, 2-mile cooldown. Note: This is a continuous session: NO REST INTERVALS

In the various versions of the Michigan workout, you’re alternating between running at marathon pace and 5K pace. The first 2 miles at marathon pace and 1 mile at 5K pace shouldn’t be terribly difficult hard. However, as the workout progresses, you’re going to have to convince yourself you can pick up the pace again.

 

Not only is this workout a great lactate clearance session, it also trains your mind to let go of its preconceptions about what it can do. You’ll inevitably hit that second or third pick up and think, “I can’t go any faster” — just like you would during a race. Now is the time to teach yourself how to overcome this doubt.

Taken from: http://running.competitor.com/2014/01/training/teaching-yourself-how-to-race_60581/3#59ppFeplVquEhdGa.99

 

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The 2014 Rocket City Marathon Race Report

This is the original race report that I posted on My Fitness Pal back on 12/13/2014 from my very first marathon experience at Rocket City.  This is a repost, but added a few pictures.

The 38th Rocket City Marathon occurred on 13 December 2014 (Saturday 7 AM).
My Strava data from RCM 2014.

Rocket City Marathon 2014

This is the 38th running of the annual Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville Alabama.  This year was a brand new route for this race.  For the first time, the course took you to through the US Space and Rocket Center (where Space Camp is) and the Huntsville Botanical Gardens.  The race course this year was sort of a figure 8. The first 13 miles started from the front of the Von Braun Center and took you down various sites of Downtown Huntsville (Centennial Village, Five Points, John H Steigerwood Field, and the War Memorial to name a few).  The first half looped back to the VBC and headed down Clinton Ave to Seminole and up 9th Ave to the Space and Rocket Center.  To adjoin the downtown part of the course to the Space and Rocket Center, you have to run through questionable neighborhoods.  The Space and Rocket Center marks 18 miles and the Botanical gardens marks ~20-21 miles.  When you get to the Rocket Center, you are now looping back towards downtown again.  Leaving Botanical Gardens you run through some more residential neighborhoods and head back.  You pass by Brahan Spring Park, back up Seminole to Clinton and through the back side of the VBC when the finish line is right inside the arena of the VBC.  The Rocket City Marathon is the very first marathon in the state of Alabama and probably the most well known and best organized one in all of the state of Alabama.  With the city's official backing, the Huntsville Track Club, and Fleet Feet as well as tons and tons of other sponsors, this is very well organized and a pleasure to run.

The official 2014 Rocket City Marathon course map.

This was my first marathon.  I had a hard time getting to sleep and actually woke up early.  I guess I was pretty excited.  I grabbed some Chocolate Milk at around 4 AM and then tried to get another hour of sleep.  Officially woke up a little after 5 AM and got ready. Most of my stuff was organized the night before.  Got my wife and daughter up.  She made a couple of egg breakfast sandwiches on the go for herself and Emily.  We got to the parking next to the VBC lot a little after 6 AM.  It was a short 13 minute drive from the home to the VBC.  Our combined running groups were scheduled to meet at the sign in front of the VBC at 6:30. 

After a quick photo op, I then did a warm-up lap in front of the VBC.  I found my pace group lined up around 6:50. 

After a few brief announcements including our Mayor Battle and RD's Dink and Suzanne Taylor (who owns the local Fleet Feet in town) and the singing of our National Anthem, the gun went off and it was the start of my race.  I lined up with the 3:35 pace group.  However, my pace group actually started out very fast.  I stayed with my group until about mile 17.  Somewhere around mile 17 on our way towards the Rocket Center I lost my group and no longer could keep up.  Splits are as follows:

1: 8:00
2: 7:56
3: 8:07
4: 7:57
5: 8:01
6: 8:01
7: 8:02
8: 8:06
9: 8:02
10: 8:08
11: 8:08
12: 8:11
13: 7:59
14: 8:09
15: 8:17
16: 8:24
17: 8:31

As you can see, this was very aggressive for a 3:35 pace group.  The correct pace for a 3:35 should be an 8:12 pace.  This was way fast and probably ruined my chances of meeting close to my goals.  I could feel my left knee tighten up just a little bit around mile 12.  Slowly my left leg and my right buttucks were getting more and more tight.  I still felt strong at the Rocket Center but I knew I was in trouble.  Somewhere after leaving the Botanical Gardens I had to walk for the first time.  I could no longer run.  From about mile 21-25 I was fighting with run walks.  It was heart breaking to have the 3:40 pace group pass me around mile 23.  At that point I was very upset and was shouting mild expletives.  I knew 3:40 was not even possible and I wanted it so bad.  People running around me that heard me were giving me words of support.  That was very nice.  There were a few of us that were doing the run walk thing at this point.  Just grappling with our bodies and seeing how much we can force our bodies to go.  Around mile 24 was another aid station and I took a couple of cups of PowerAid.  It tasted so good.  From mile 25 till the end, I was able manage a non-stop run to the finish.  With one mile to go, we made the turn onto Clinton and I just held on for dear life up to the VBC North Hall building.  Turning into the VBC, we ran around the back end of the building for what seemed like the longest quarter of a mile in my life.  There was another guy that said out loud what I was thinking, "Where the hell is this finish?".  LOL  We turn the corner and you can now see the inside of the VBC arena, with the finish line like 25 feet in front of us.  Someone said watch your step and I almost tripped over this little hill just before the finish mats.  Who the hell would put that there?  I think it was where they were running cables.  My feet were barely shuffling at this point and trying to lift my legs over this thing was a major chore.  Jennifer told me later on that people were tripping over and falling right and left over this thing.  I barely stayed on my feet, thank God.

Last set of splits:
18: 9:08
19: 9:08
20: 8:58
21: 9:40
22: 9:42
23: 10:21
24: 10:32
25: 10:55
26: 9:36
26.2: 9:41
Official time: 3:50:15. 

I saw the clock reading 3:50 and some change.  While I was upset that I didn't make 3:40, I was also very happy with my finish and that I did sub-4.  Crossing the line, this one girl volunteer greeted me, put my medal around my neck and handed me a hat and walked me to the back where I first saw my daughter very excited and then my wife.  The woman was trying to get me to stop but I told her that I wanted to keep walking.  Jennifer finally met me and the girl passed her onto me.  I told Jennifer that I wanted to pace back and forth for a bit.  I did not want to stop and I did not want to sit.  Eventually Jennifer and Emily now led me to the back exit from the arena floor.  You had to walk up steps to get to the finishers food section.  What kind of sadistic nut thought this was a good idea.  I carefully walked up to the area mezzanine (man my legs were really sore) and out to where they had the food.  Banana's, moon pies, chocolate milk, yogurt stick, ice cream sandwich, bagels with cream cheese and more bagels with peanut butter, hot vegetable soup...  Somewhere they were serving beer but I didn't want any.  After grabbing my food, I went downstairs (yes more stairs) to eat and then schedule a free massage. After eating, I finally sat down for the first time as I waited to get my massage.   After my massage I met up with some other friends and chatted and finally told Jennifer that I was ready to go home.  I was cold and shivering even with that foil cape thing they were handing out.  I wanted to go home and take a hot bath. 

Thank you everyone for your support.  It was MFP and the running friends that I made on here that first encouraged me to start racing.  From Columbus Day in October 2013 (running on a treadmill for 3 miles at a time just to loose 45 pounds) to my first 10K in March 2014, and my first Half marathon in April 2014.  This has been a crazy and wild rookie racing season and now it comes to a close.  I am looking forward to some rest and then get back out there and train for my next set of races.  it will most likely start with the very same 10K that started all of this.  The UAH Spring Road Race in March.  Then I meet Doug in Knoxville for the first of 4 back to back weekends worth of HM's.

NOTE: I never did meet Doug in Knoxville, but I did get my 4 back to back HMs to earn a Jupiter status in Half Maniacs.



Card that my daughter Emily made for me after the race.

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My 2015 Taper Schedule for RCM

In my last blog, I gave you my general plan of attack and some high level initial plans.
So this past week I ended up running 64.7 miles with a 22 mile long run on Saturday.
(Rest Day today). 

So I start my taper schedule tomorrow (11/23).

I range about 60-65 miles during my peak training.
80% of this is 48-52 miles in the first week of my taper. 80% of this is 38-42 miles and should be easy running.
22 miles was my longest run but I will use 20 as my mark. 


Week 1
So this week I will run between 50 miles with a long run of 17 miles.
40 miles is easy paced to include my 17 mile long run.
Mon  7 Easy
Tue   8  1 mi w/u (5 at gmp) 2 mi c/d
Wed  5  Easy
Thu  8  1 mi w/u (5 at gmp) 2 mi c/d
Fri  5  Easy
Sat  17 miles  (Easy)
Sun  REST DAY

Week 2
Following week: 60% of 60-65 miles is 36-39 miles. 
Easy running:  29-31 miles. Long run: 12 miles.

I will set a goal of 37 miles (30 easy).
Mon 6 Easy
Tue  5.5  -- 1 mi w/u 3.5 GMP 1 mi c/d
Wed 4 Easy
Thu 5.5  -- 1 mi w/u 3.5 GMP 1 mi c/d
Fri 4 Easy
Sat 12 Easy LSDSun  REST DAY

 I will figure out my last week after I see how these 2 weeks go. This will include my Carb Load Schedule.

Sat 26.2 Rocket City Marathon (December 12th)

You can keep up with me on my Facebook The Running Stan page.  You can also follow me on my Strava page. 

My Marathon Taper and Carb Loading

DISCLAIMER: I tend to sometimes speak or write without knowing what the heck I am talking about.  I welcome any comments.  So please comment below if you caught me in a lie or have a better idea.  It's how I learn.  I'm a big boy. 

So this week is an interesting week.  It's my last big week before I start my 3 week taper for RCM on December 12th.
It's also the week coming out from the Huntsville Half.  Theoretically I should be recovering from my half but I also don't want to get caught into a 4 week taper.  So about as much as it will suck, I must press on this week.

Sunday wasn't too bad (the day after my half) and Sunday's are usually my rest day.  So I rested and was all ready to start my last week back up on Monday.  Woke up Monday morning and really felt the DOMS.  This was very delayed.  So I decided to skip my morning run.  At work I did some stretching at my desk and rolled around on a tennis ball that I keep at my desk.

Later that night I decided to sneak in 5.5 easy miles.  Woke up Tuesday morning for my group run with my WRH Brueggers crew.  1 mile warmup, then a tempo'ish/steady state pace for the first 5 miles then followed up with 4.5 miles.  I usually do strides but I elected to skip them.  I really felt my glutes get sore as I eased into my easy pace run. 

So tomorrow I have my recovery run scheduled, then Thursday Panera Pounders Group Run.  Another recovery run on Friday and then my last big long run for Saturday.  Then my 3 week taper.  Here is my basic philosophy that I developed for marathon taper and combined with the carb load.  I posted this before in the MFP forums, so it was a simple copy and paste.


Some things about carb loading. it's a little more complex than just eating a bunch more carbs.

They did different studies. The first was done by a Sweedish physiologist named Gunvar Ahlborg. He found out if you trained really hard at the beginning of the week going into race weekend for 2 or 3 days along with eating low amounts of carbs, then followed up by 3 days of rest and eating extra carbs - the first few days almost depleted all of your glycogen, then followed up with no exercise and lots of carbs - the body went into what is called glycogen overload. That means that your body can temporarily store more glycogen than it can normally store. Almost twice as much can be stored. This is awesome. The ability to store almost twice the extra glycogen going into race day. However, the cost of this is an intense set of workouts early on the week. The body needs tapering and rests for a few weeks so the muscles are at their best going into race day. So this strategy was not the ideal. Glycogen overload = good, muscle overuse = not so good.

So some smart people discovered that you didn't need to almost completely deplete all your glycogen in order to maximize glycogen storage. You can get nearly the same glycogen benefits if you follow a less intense strategy.

The No-Depletion Carbo-Loading Method
1.Perform a long workout (but not an exhaustive workout) one week before race day.
2.Eat normally (55-60% carbohydrate) until three days before a longer race.
3.Eat a high-carb diet (70%) the final three days before racing while training very lightly.

During the carb load, you eat more carbs but less fat and protein in order to maintain the same number of calories. Early in the week, before carb load starts, you can do light workouts low mileage, but once carb load starts, you are supposed to stop working out. You can probably get one short shakeout run the day before or 2 days before race day, but that is it. No cross training is allowed either.

OK! So that is the general idea behind it, but the devil is in the details. Tapering and Carb Loading is really more of an art than a science. So much of this depends on how your body make up and how it reacts to the specific training you did all year. To make a long story short, the first time you attempt this, you are almost going to get it wrong. You have to learn how your body reacts to different stuff and do something different the next time around as you learn more about how your body specifically reacts. First off, do you do better by taking a complete day off from running the day before a race, or do you do better by going out for a short 1 mile or 2 mile jog the day before a race. Different people react differently. Intensity going into race week. Some people can do better by maintaining the same intensities of the same workouts they did in the last few weeks of training during their taper, but with just reduced mileage. So if you were doing VO2max and repeat intervals during training, you continue that into the taper but with reduced mileage. Other people, they do better by going no faster than goal race pace during taper. Others do better with some short bursts thrown in at slightly faster than goal race pace.

So before we get into the details of carb loading, let's start with the taper. Because both go hand in hand. What I will give you here is what we will call a "text book" taper for a marathon. What that means, you will have to learn through experience on how to modify this to make it best work out for you.

Tapering should mean you cut volume, but not intensity. Meaning, not everything is a slow easy jog. However, you should still have like 70-80% of all your running to be easy or recovery pace with the remaining devoted towards your more speedier workouts. This is when you focus on your goal race pace. It is sometimes wise to throw in short bursts of slightly faster than goal race pace just to remind your muscles of this pace in times you need a short burst during the race. It also makes your goal race pace seem easier. But we are not talking repeat intervals, or major workouts at slightly faster than race pace. You may however be the rare person that performs better by actually working out at faster than race pace during a taper. But even in this case, the volume of this is very small. Most of your "speed workouts" should be at goal race pace.

So you figure out what was the peak number of miles during training (before taper). I personally took an average of the last 3 weeks going into my taper the first time I did this. Whatever number you come up with will be your base mileage for the taper. So you have 3 week tapers and you have 2 week tapers. Again, some people actually do better in a 2 week taper, but the general agreement is a 3 week taper. So I will cover that one here. No cross training during this time.
No strength training this time. It will do you no good to do either. The "hay is in the barn" already. You won't make any gains that will effect your race this late in the game. The idea of a taper is to rest your muscles so they can heal, so that come race day, they are at their maximum strength. No major hill workouts. Try to run flat as much as you can. A normal diet is needed. Enough protein and healthy fat to aid in the muscle restoration process, and enough carbs to maintain healthy weight and energy levels. Eat all your vegetables and fruit and leafy vegetables/whole grains (fiber).

In the next 3 weeks, the volume of running will drop gradually. How you shave off each particular workout is a personal customization. Everyone reacts different. However, the idea is that your shorter runs remain the same, but the longer runs get their miles chopped off.

3 weeks before race day you run 80% of your base mileage for the taper.
-- your long run is reduced by 10-20% from your largest long run
-- If 20 miles was your biggest long run, run 16-18 miles.
2 weeks before race day you run 60% of your base mileage. (Others say 70-75%)
-- This is where it gets tricky and you have to learn how your body reacts.
-- VO2 workouts and tempo workouts should be replaced by goal race pace (GRP) workouts
--would be wise to throw in some strides or bursts at slightly faster than GRP
-- Long Run is 50-60% the max (If you ran a 20 miler, run 10-12 instead).
The week going into your race day
-- Significant mileage drop
-- Maybe 2 - 3 sessions this week.
-- Some people do great with a shake out run the day before, some people need the extra rest
--This week is the most trickiest part of the taper since it is difficult to know how your body specifically reacts.

This week is when you start your carb load. (start 3 days before the race and continue on even in the early morning hours before the race)

You should have gotten in at least 2 short workouts already before carb load starts. The last workout depends on whether you do better with a shake out run the day before or not. If not, then do your last short workout 2 or 3 days before race day. Remember, this is an easy paced run. No faster than goal race pace. Most of this last workout is much slower than GRP. Maybe a few bursts are done at GRP. Run in the shoes you plan to wear on race day as much as possible.
You should have worn the clothes (socks, shirt, shorts, underwear, etc.) and even all your accessories you plan to have on race day a few times already. If it's going to be cold at the start of the race, I have been known to buy a sweat shirt at the thrift store ($3) and wore it a few times in training, then come race day, if I need to toss it on the road (never to be seen again) it's no big deal.

3 days before Race Day
Start dropping fat and protein and increase carbs
Monitor closely how many calories you eat per day and how many grams of each macronutrient
The last thing you want to do is gain weight via fat- only maintain weight
You should know your maintenance calorie range by now
Make sure you get in electrolytes, and all your vitamins and minerals by eating a variety of foods and carbs. Remember, nothing new. Eat only foods you know how you will react to. That means you should have been eating most of this all throughout training. In the next 3 days, you will want to eat about 4 grams of carbs for every pound of body weight. (150 lb runner will need ~600 grams or 2,400 calories). I read on 1 site that you actually need 7-10 grams per kg of body weight (That would mean 3-4.5 grams per pound of body weight). This can be very hard if you are not used to eating this many carbs. As you eat mostly carbs with very little to no protein and fat, your blood glucose levels skyrocket. You will get sugar highs and crashes. You may get some GI distress.
Watch your total calorie intake for the day. Do not go over your maintenance level. use this MFP site to track what you eat. Eat more smaller meals if eating a ton of carbs makes you sick. This is the only 3 days you can go crazy on Reese's Peanut butter Cups and bottles of Coke. You will want to eat healthier carbs in the first couple of days (brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat bread, potatoes, whole fruit). But going into the last day, you will want quicker (simple) carbs and less fiber.
I tend to stop eating salads the day before a major race. if you are pretty regular and can be sure that you can have your last bowel movement the morning before the race, then go with what works. I personally don't chance it. I limit the amount of fiber I eat the day before race day.

VERY IMORTANT: Glycogen production requires lots of water. For every molecule of glycogen, 3 parts of water are bound. During the whole 3 days drink lots and lots of liquids. This means you WILL gain water weight during these last 3 days. But you will also shed this water weight during the race as you use up your glycogen. Drink sports drinks, drink Coke (or favorite soda), drink fruit juice. Just log it as you do. Pay attention to grams of carbs and total calories. Try not to go over total calories for the day beyond maintenance. Cut proteins and fats out if you must to get the number of grams of carbs in.

The night before can be very creative meal. Pancakes with extra syrup for dinner? Oh yeah. it can be more than just spaghetti. Measure everything. Log everything. Remember, nothing new either.

The night before the race get to bed early. (If you can sleep well). You will need to get up super early. Eat a small meal of carbs. 600 grams of carbs 3 hours before your race. You lost quite a bit of glycogen while sleeping. You need to top off. About an hour before the race, be sipping on Gatorade. Be careful not to over hydrate before the race or else you will need the porta potty early on the race.

The last 2 days before the race, try to stay off your feet as much as possible (minus a shake out run the day before if you need it). No cutting the grass. No helping a friend move in/out. Even limit the time to walk around at the expo the day before the race.


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OK!  Now we are done with the general philosophy stuff, let's get into specifics.
I range about 60-65 miles during my peak training.
80% of this is 48-52 miles in the first week of my taper. 80% of this is 38-42 miles and should be easy running.
22 miles was my longest run but I will use 20 as my mark.  So next week I will run between 16-18 miles.

Following week: 60% of 60-65 miles is 36-39 miles.  Easy running:  29-31 miles. Long run: 10-12 miles.

I will figure out my last week in another blog.

You can keep up with me on my Facebook The Running Stan page.  You can also follow me on my Strava page. 

The 27th Huntsville Half Marathon Race Report

The 27th Huntsville Half Marathon Race Report

November 14, 2015 - Stan W. (The Running Stan)

So this is my first attempt at a blog, and my second attempt at a race report. I posted one on MFP for my first experience at the Rocket City Marathon last year. 

It was a beautiful morning at Hillwood Baptist Church in Huntsville, AL for the 27th annual Huntsville Half Marathon.  Jennifer and I got there about 90 minutes early since we knew parking was going to be very limited. She was volunteering with her Run For God group at the mile 3 aid station.   It was about 39 degrees 6:30 AM.  So I had my tights and sweat hoodie on as I got warmed up. 

Had a chance to take a few pictures with my Panera Pounders Running Group as pictured here with a few of my peeps.

By the start of the race it was in the middle of the 40's so I got rid of the hoodie and elected to keep my tights and long shirt on.  I had shorts in my bag just in case I decided to change.  There were about 800 of us on the starting line at 8:00 AM.

The Huntsville Half always falls on the Saturday closest to Veteran's Day and Huntsville is a great running community that knows how to honor the veterans.  A quick prayer by the Pastor of Hillwood Baptist Church and the singing of the National Anthem. 

Then the Race Director got on and gave a few last instructions.  Then the announcement, "Runners on your mark...  Go!"

So race strategy for me.  Well, the purpose of this race was really to get a sense of my goal marathon race pace.  I hadn't really had a strong race since the Cotton Row Race 10K which was on Memorial Day.  I had a 45:59 finish to include one massive big hill.  Not the perfect 10K to try and get a PR on.  I had also just PRed on the Bridgestreet Half Marathon with a 1:39:26 on April 12th.  My last official race was the 10.2 miler in Fayetteville, TN on June 27th but I was suffering with very sore hamstrings and glutes, but still managed a respectful 1:29:01.  So this 1/2 was my shake out race before Rocket City coming up on December 12th.  Not only is the Rocket City Marathon my feature race for the year, but my last opportunity to get a Boston Qualifier (BQ) time this year.  I need at least a 3:25:00 finish which equates to a 7:49 pace.  In order for that to be realistic, I was hoping for a 7:20 pace at this half marathon using the 30 second faster pace rule of thumb.  That equates to a 1:36:00 finish.  That didn't work out so well as I ended up with a 1:39:38 finish.  That beats last years finish at Huntsville Half (1:40:51) but not a PR (missed it by 12 seconds) and not the BQ confidence builder that I was hoping for (today's overall pace was 7:34/mi which is 14 seconds to slow than I intended). 

So now you understand my goal for this race, you will now understand why I did not readjust my pace strategy as I realized that I was going a bit strong at the beginning.  I learned a while ago that when you go out too fast at the beginning of a race, you will pay for it big time at the end of the race.  Here is my strava data for this race.

I had a hard time finding my pace in the first mile.  I let quite a few people pass me as I tried to settle into my own pace.  Every so often checking my watch and trying to adjust my pace according to the split time on my watch's top screen.  I ended up splitting my first mile at 7:02 (18 seconds too fast).  As I settled down into my pace in the next few splits (7:18, 7:21, 7:29, 7:18).  At mile 3 I passed through the first aid station (the one my wife Jennifer volunteered for).  It was great seeing her cheering me on as I crossed the starting line coming into the opposite direction (the first 3 miles was a short out and back through a neighborhood).  However, I knew that I was going to have a real hard time keeping up with my current pace.  But my stubborn mind kept pressing on.  For the most part, it is a pretty flat course, but there is a long low grade hill at this part that deceives you.  Some more neighborhoods before approaching the greenway.  Since it is an out and back course, you hit the low grade hill twice.  Usually hills don't bother me, but when you try and maintain an already tough pace, the hills can do you in even more if you are not careful.  My gut told me that 7:20 was way to fast to try and maintain, but I kept with my strategy and decided to see what I had in me.  No guts no glory.  Another thing you can tell from my Strava data is that I don't do a very good job maintaining a steady pace. You can see above with paces within a split ranging between 6:00 to a little slower than 8:00. 

 

Just after the mile 4 mark did start a long gradual downhill.  So if I could just maintain pace, I figured maybe I could get a breather in.  Towards the end of mile 5 it was great that I had the chance to run with Susi Bowermaster for about a quarter of a mile.  She's a really fast runner who ended up placing 3rd in her age group today.  She ran just ahead of me but just seeing her at this point on the course was a real booster.  At the mile 6 mark just before entering the greenway, I knew I would see my Panera Pounders. There were a few of us that were not racing this half and were volunteering the mile 6 aid station.  Seeing them gave me a pump and a burst of energy to keep on going.

 

 This is what I had waiting to greet me:



You can tell how happy I was to see them as I approached the aid station excited with my arms in the air.

So now I am heading into the greenway.  It's an out and back course and the turnaround mark was right at the far end of the greenway.  So that means I will begin to see the lead runners as we head into the greenway.  Sure enough, about halfway into the greenway was Josh Whitehead heading towards us.  The next group of runners would be about 2 minutes behind him.  Mile 6-9 splits were: 7:22, 7:44, 7:42, 7:35.  I am now slowing down and finding it very hard to maintain my pace.  Somewhere at this point, I remember looking at my overall average on my watch and it read 7:22 pace.  I was thinking if somehow if I could find a way to find a second wind and make the last few miles strong, I had a chance to maybe reach my goal and the hope of maybe BQing next month would still be a reality.

I would be seeing my Pounders group again coming out of the greenway just before the 10 mile mark.  Mile 10 split was 7:47 which was indicative of how the rest of the race was going to end for me.  I gave it a valiant effort but with a 5K still left to go and feeling the effects of my fast pace started to get the better of me.  And now I was heading back into the low grade hill again.  Mile 11 just continued to get the better of me, 7:56 split.  Then a 8:18 split for mile 12.  Somewhere in here was one last aid stop and remembering stopping for a second to down a cup of PowerAde.  I was thinking that maybe the taste of sugar give a boost to my brain. But it was oxygen deficiency, not glucose deficiency.   All I was trying to do now was keep my feet moving fast even if my strides were short.   The funny thing is that I felt strong physically.  It was just a lack of oxygen, a fast heart rate, and lactic buildup.  Looking back at my data, it was between the 7th and 8th mile in the greenway when I started to really go bad.  That was also about an hour in.  That suggests to me that my 7:20 pace that I tried so hard to maintain was right around my Lactic Threshold.   Not a good pace to try and maintain for a half marathon.  You try it, you learn.  I know now where my fitness level really is.

 

It's now the last mile and all I wanted to do was to see if I can at least salvage some kind of a PR.  It was a downhill so that was encouraging.  My legs felt kind of strong despite the lactate acidic feeling in my legs which made them feel a little heavy.  I am watching the runners that were with my for the last 2 miles slowly pull away from me.  I was now running alone with no one around me.  I tried to hit the last turn just before heading in front of the church and tried to finish strong.  I gave it my all.  I knew the time was close but couldn't figure out how close.  I now was seeing the crowd in front of the church and saw some familiar faces.  Mile 13 split of 7:47 and heard the time keeper announce 1 hour 38 minutes and 50 something seconds.  Wow, very close to PR time.  Only seconds to go and  I now turned right into the church.  Last few yards and gave it my all.  I can hear the crowd at the finish line and heard the woman call our race bib numbers of those crossing the finish line ahead of me.  But I could not hear the time and I could barely see the clock at the finish line.  Still giving it my all knowing that I only had seconds to try and get a PR but not enough in me to give a full sprint that I needed.  Too winded.  Too out of breath.  Just finish strong.  Just finish strong.  I could now see the clock and knew that there was no chance of a PR. 

Finally crossing the finish line with a gun time of 1:39:40.  Later I saw that my chip time was 1:39:38. 

Off course I initially felt disappointed but knew that I did better than last year.  I was extremely out of breath and felt an accelerated heart rate.  But glad it was in the books.  Time to walk and catch my breath.  Jennifer greeted me and gave me a big hug and congratulated me.  Grabbed a water and downed it pretty fast.  So maybe I was a little dehydrated too since my only water stop was back at mile 11.  Grabbed a couple of orange slices, grabbed a peperoni Dominos and cleared my nostrils. They were pretty runny with the cool weather pretty much 3/4's of the race.  I just dealt with it.

It was a very good race otherwise.  It was local race so I was around so many familiar faces both crowd wise and on the course.  I remember seeing so many people after the turnaround on the greenway that were behind me.  Everyone I knew gave me encouragement as I tried to return the favor. 

It really was beautiful weather.  Nice and cool at the start.  Perfect PR weather.  The course was pretty much flat.  Everything was in my favor, no excuses.

I got a couple of cups of PowerAde and now time now to congratulate my fellow runners that were now starting to cross the finish line.  I was so happy for some of my friends who did PR today.  So proud of my fellow runners.  So happy to see everyone.  Even though I was disappointed with today's finish, everyone was so great encouraging me and telling me how great I did.  I really appreciated all of this.  It made me feel a bit better.

So time now to focus on Rocket City on December 12th.  Time to reflect my last week of training before my 3 week taper and also think about how I want to attack this race.  I am pretty sure BQ will be off the table this year.  But for the next day or 2, time to relax and enjoy the moment.

 

Thanks to my friends for posting pictures on Facebook and Gregg Gelmis of We Run Huntsville Photography for the pictures in this blog.

 

You can keep up with me on my Facebook The Running Stan page.  You can also follow me on my Strava page.