Race Week!
What an exciting week! As I’m writing this I have 6 days and a wakeup until race day. That statement is a little misleading, I don’t have a race on Saturday, about 30+ of my friends in Clayton Area Runners have a race on Saturday. There is a large group of us doing the full Marathon and more doing the Half and 8K races.
I can honestly say that the overwhelming majority of my runs during this Marathon build has been with friends. We’ve put in a lot of miles together, starting with the hot and humid miles in July and August to the hot miles in September and October was a dream. What started as a redemption run for myself has turned into a group effort of shared struggles, miles and smiles.
The race is on a Saturday morning but the adventure starts on Friday. Everyone is driving up Friday to attend the race expo, then many of us sharing an Air B’nB for Friday and Saturday nights. We’ve got a post-race social planned for the club and overall this is looking to be a great weekend of a racing and celebrating with friends.
November 5th, 2023: City of Oaks Marathon & NYC Marathon.
The runners in my run club are simply amazing. We had a couple dozen runners on the road between the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh and the NYC Marathon. Our runners were racing in everything from the 5K up to the Full marathon. I was originally signed up for the City of Oaks Half Marathon as a training run for Richmond but work sent me to Texas and thus I must sit out and watch the results from my phone.
It’s hard to describe the feeling of bearing witness to my friends when they do hard things, accomplish goals and set new PR’s. For many of these people I’ve logged countless miles with them, heard their stories of struggle with running and seen their smiles when they reach a new goal or set a new PR. All morning long it was an almost constant stream of Strava data blasting out PR’s and finishing times of my friends.
The first one I heard of was Paul, who entered his first race ever. The City of Oaks 5K and he was nervous. Over the weeks we’d talked about strategy, what to expect and how to approach the race. Apparently all of that went out the window!
The best pace is a suicide pace and today is a good day to die! -Pre
That’s about exactly what he did! He placed 46 overall with a time of 22:29! Simply incredible for his first race, especially at one of this size in the Capital City!
After that the finishing times and PR’s continued to flow in from the rest of my friends. It was an exciting morning watching the NYC Marathon on T.V while my Facebook was blowing up with finishing photos.
Even my friends that didn’t set a PR or have a great race, put in weeks if not months of hard work and showed up on race day! It takes discipline, effort and courage to tackle a half marathon or a full marathon. It is not easy. Their effort, discipline and courage to tackle something so difficult demands respect. I even had a friend complete the 10K while still in recovery of bruised ribs. The man was out there to provide support and cheer on the team. Acts like this are clear examples of what makes the club so great. It’s the people.
Our club had another half dozen or so runners up in NYC. One of our runners Anthony was running with the Boomer Esiason foundation and raised a good amount of money for the entry. At one of his fundraisers I won a signed NFL ball by Boomer Esiason! I’m glad my friend got to race and set a PR to boot!
As for myself I am in my taper week with three easy miles on the day. I’m feeling great after the 12-mile run yesterday, plenty hydrated and ready to go. It wasn’t until noon that I got to the trail and the temps creeped up to the mid-70’s. Not too bad honestly and the run was easy.
3.02 Miles | Avg Pace: 10’32” Avg HR: 126 | Best Mile: 10’24” | Feeling: Recovered
Closing out the training plan.
The taper has been a serious emotional and mental vortex that I don’t think I was ready for! It’s been 15 full weeks of training and now, just a week before The Marathon my weekly miles are way down and I feel like all is lost! I have this feeling I’ll be on the start line back at Day 1. Back at 230+ lbs and struggling!
I know that’s not the case, it’s just how it feels in this taper.
With just a few more training runs on the schedule, I got them done after a full day of work and they felt good. Nothing strenuous or concerning.
On Monday, November 6th I did an easy 4 mile run, and by easy I mean real easy. I kept the pace right at 10’30” and that had my heart rate around 125. This was not challenging at all. I got my miles in, broke out into a light sweat due to the warmer Texas weather and finished up. I felt good.
4.04 Miles | Avg Pace: 10’31” Avg HR: 125 | Best Mile: 10’31” | Feeling: Restless
The following day was a rest / zero day and my mind can’t seem to wrap around it. I’m used to running 5-7x per week and this is my second zero day this week. It just feels odd. Regardless of my personal feelings on the matter, I rest assured that Coach Brown’s plan will work and her expertise in running and racing will pay off.
This is why I hired a coach. To guide me down the path and provide invaluable insights and recommendations. She knows what she’s doing, I trust the process.
Following yet another ZERO day, my last workout for this building up a “Quality Run” consisting of a 1.5mi warmup + 4x 400m at 7’50” pace w/2min rest + 1.5mi cooldow.
This workout was incredibly easy and even the 400m efforts seemed to just glide along. I completed the 400m efforts on average of 7’10” pace and I was nowhere near a “sprint”, it was a fast run that left me feeling confidence.
I closed out my Marathon training in Texas in 80F heat. I’m really looking forward to the 38F start in Richmond.
4.55 Miles | Avg Pace: 9’54” Avg HR: 135 | Best lap: 7’05” | Feeling: Ready
With the training closed out, all I have left is to travel from TX to NC, wake up and then drive to VA and relax.
With a work trip so close to the race, I really haven’t had time to process how insane this is. I’m excited, nervous and apprehensive. I’m hoping I hit this sub 4:00hr Marathon and I don’t bonk out like I did in COO.