11/17/2005: MCM Redux

Or, "How I Done Did It"

A number of people have asked me what made the difference in going from a PR of 3:17 to nearly 20 minutes better, with a finish of 2:57 and change this year. It honestly wasn't anything magical; the core of my success was the training, and dedication thereof. But in addition there were some subtle factors that helped me along the way.

Here's a recap of what I believe helped me make such a vast improvement in my marathon time:

1. Focused and dedicated training. Quite frankly, before this year I'd been following a training schedule that I really didn't understand. While I knew the purpose for the variety of workouts, I really didn't know what they were accomplishing. In 2005, I read Pete Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning, and it made a world of difference. Not only did it have a variety of detailed and specific training schedules, but there was a great deal of explanation and scientific support behind the training prescribed. Additional information was given on nutrition, hydration, and strategy. With the properly selected schedule, I then dedicated myself to keeping on track with each daily workout. In past years, I may have skipped days or shortened workouts. This year, despite some last-second travel and other commitments, I kept to the schedule almost 100%. At times, it was not easy; I'd estimate that 75% of my workouts were done in the early morning hours between 4 and 7 am. And some days it was pouring rain, but still I ran; after all, what if it was raining on race day? In the end, it was obviously worth the sacrifice.
2. Get help. This was my fifth marathon, and my third with BBBSNCA. In addition to the weekly email newsletters and training sessions they offered--I actually have a personal preference to train solo--I did benefit immensely from the advice of my assigned training coach, Nick Paniebianco. Every time I had a question, Nick had an answer. At times when I think I may have been pressing to train too hard, he convinced me it was OK to lay off a bit, and rest. I got advice from Nick on all sorts of things, from nutrition and hydration to strategy, benchmarking and even a suggestion on a good pair of socks. Any serious runner will tell you those are critical to success.
3. Get more help. I also talked with many other fellow runners about a variety of topics, and culled the Internet and runner forums for even further info. One friend who is an ultramarathoner told me about using Succeed salt tablets, which I began using on my long runs and races. Along with other nutritional changes, this was huge.
4. Don't overtrain. A high school friend and veteran of several Boston Marathons, Dan Sweet, gave me two pieces of advice I remembered throughout my training this year. In the October 2003 marathon, I'd been training consistently since a week after the 2002 race, or effectively for 12 months. This may have been too much, and my time from 2002 (3:17) didn't improve, but regressed severely, to 3:32; my splits were 1:30/2:00. Ouch. Dan's advice was simply to follow a prescribed 18 or 24 week schedule, and up to the start of that schedule, simply stay in "maintenance mode". Run a few times a week to stay in shape, but not the 5 or 6 times weekly as with actual training. Great advice. And secondly, in our conversation following his 2005 Boston Marathon, I noted that I wished I could put on 15-20lbs. in hopes of aiding my endurance. His reply? "Consider having to carry that extra 15-20lbs. for 26.2 miles". Touche, my friend. Touche.
5. Follow your progress and set some benchmarks. I kept this journal/blog starting in June 2005: every day, every workout from the training schedule. Having a written history of my progress was helpful and gave me a frame of reference for future training. Additionally, the schedule I chose had several points with selected races, to help with race-day preparation and strategy as well as to incorporate longer training runs into a competitive environment. This proved to be extremely worthwhile since it allowed me to build confidence in my quest to break three hours. The races I competed in were Riley's Rumble (Half-Marathon) on July 24, and the National Capital 20-Miler on September 25. Each race was scheduled to coincide with my long run for that weekend. For the Rumble, I finished in just over 1:30; on an extremely hilly course, I thought that was just about on track for my goal, maybe a little better with more training. For the 20-miler, I finished in 2:15 and change, and felt great at the end. Again, another hilly course but a result which gave me my first solid glimmer of confidence in breaking three hours; basically, at that pace all I'd have to do would be to finish the last 6.2 miles in 44 minutes. Roughly a 7:06 pace, albeit the toughest miles of the marathon. But most importantly, these races answered the question, "How am I doing?" as my training moved forward.
6. Use science. Part of the book and literature I read talked about maintaining a good heartrate throughout a given workout or race. Yet I had no idea--aside from sweating and panting--how hard or easy I was expending myself. So I bought a Polar HRM and used it for my longer workouts and races. This allowed me to statistically track my workout effort, and kept me from expending too much energy during the session.
7. Carbo-loading. I'd always thought that this meant a big bowl of pasta the night before a race. Not even close. The concept of carbo-loading is a multi-day process and involves several meals--and snacks--across those days. I'm convinced that along with other nutritional supplements (salt tablets, GU gels, Gatorade/Powerade) taken during the race, carbo-loading is the most effective means of gaining an energy edge in the realm of nutrition.
8. Know the enemy. At least a week before each of my three races, I did a workout--or more--on the actual course, or in the case of the MCM, a portion thereof. Thus on raceday there were not any surprises with respect to the course, except that instead of a few dozen other runners there were an extra few hundred or 30,000.
9. Comfortable shoes and socks. This sounds like an obvious no-brainer, but in the past I'd given it less thought than was probably merited. I went with the Asics Gel-DS trainers and some multi-layered crews from Thor-lo (thanks, Nick.)
10. And last but not least, have a strategy. After putting so much time, effort and dedication into one day, it would be a shame for the gun to sound and suddenly into your head pops the thought, "Uh oh...now what???". I'd done my homework, so I knew the course. I'd carefully calculated my target times, and I wrote down certain target splits I wanted to hit along the way. The week before, I'd carefully begun my race-week preparations and carbo-loading to ensure that nothing was left off the schedule. And in my mind I envisioned several times running the race and actual points along the way, including, reluctantly, certain catastophic events which would preclude me from finishing (dehyrdation, injury, etc.). In short: be prepared.

Sounds easy, huh? Now you do it!