I was very flattered when DCFR asked me to post my race report. I have typically written detailed race reports to analyze certain aspects of my marathons. I use them as guides to help me improve as a runner and for my coach to fine tune subsequent training sessions.

 

I owe my achievement, in part, to the DCFR because you gave me the courage to run my first marathon in 2004 and I’ve been addicted to the sport ever since.  Real quickly, I want to give a personal shout-out to my friends who were able to accomplish their goals this year, whether it was through a marathon, a 5K, or an Ironman, you all continue to inspire me to train hard and to aim for higher and more challenging goals! Thank you.

 

Taper Week

 

This was my last major race of the year and my previous marathons did not result in the finishing times that I had expected.  My coach, Kelly, and I wanted to hit 2:34 during the New Jersey and Reykjavik Marathons this year, but I was unable to do that for various reasons.  Leading into this race, I was not as motivated to train because I was emotionally and physically tired from the rigorous training schedule over the previous 10 months.  I couldn’t even hit my intended personal record (PR) race pace during the last key workout of the session.  I didn’t expect to PR on 11/16.

 

The week leading up to the race was my taper week, and included the following workouts:

 

11/12 – 8 miles @ 7:36 pace – very easy pace throughout the run with controlled breathing.

 

11/13 – 2 mile warm up; 5 x 1k @ 5:20/mile pace; 2 mile cool down; Core strength training only; sleep by 9:30

 

11/14 – 5 miles in 37 minutes easy; sleep by 9:30

 

11/15 – 3 easy miles in the morning.  I ate a solid breakfast including homemade banana pancakes.  For lunch I ate a vegan lentil stew with kale and all sorts of vitamin rich vegetables. I drove to Richmond in the afternoon, drank coffee at 5:30pm, and ate a huge pasta dinner with one glass of wine by 8:00pm. I didn't walk much at all on this day before the race, which was a mistake that I made during Reykjavik.  I went to sleep at 10/10:30pm but only slept for about 5 hours.

 

RACE DAY

 

Pre-race preparation - I woke up at around 5:30am. I drank a small cup coffee, courtesy of the Richmond Airport Best Western Plus Hotel! I had to get the juices flowing early.  I also heated up my Trader Joe's Spicy Veggie Burritos, which were about 700-800 calories.  I ate the burritos less than two hours before the start of the race.

 

When my friends and I arrived near the start line, I ran approximately a half mile to warm up.  I normally warm up at least 2 miles prior to a marathon, but it wasn’t very cold that morning.  I also did some striders, leg swings, and warm up drills for about 10 minutes.  The bag drop and pre-race preparation activities were well organized and not as intense as New York or Chicago.  I hugged my friends, told them good luck and ran to the start.  As I was about to walk to the start line, I saw Taneen Carvell and gave her a huge hug.  She gave me that last minute pep talk I needed to get my confidence high and told me she would see me at the mile 25 marker. I was pumped.

 

The Race

 

The gun went off at 8:00am. It was about 50 degrees, humid (heavy air), with light rain.  I kept telling myself 'I deserve a PR today, no matter what'.  The first mile was 6:00 (pace per mile) so I picked it up a little to try to maintain 5:45-5:50 pace.  I was running with a few guys until mile 3 or 4, and then the runners started to string out a bit.  A few guys passed me running in the low 5:30 to mid-5:40s pace but I held back staying at 5:50 pace.  The goal was to push pace and PR with a 2:34.  One guy passed me at mile 8 or 9 and at that point I was hurting a bit. I thought my pace had dropped considerably at that time and so I started to get discouraged until I saw my 10 mile time of 57:46.  My half marathon time was 1:16:14 and I immediately thought, ‘I still have a shot to pull something off.’  By mile 13, my body FINALLY began to adapt to the stress of the pace: my breathing calmed, the wheezing stopped, my heart rate slowed and the pain in my legs subsided a bit.

 

I kept telling myself to stay focused, lift the knees, control the breathing, keep the heart rate stable, etc. (easier said than done). I thought about the long tempo runs over this summer and that all I had to do was run 11 to 12 more miles at ‘tempo’ pace. It’s all about the mind games.

 

Miles 14-18 were lonely.  I suffered a slight stich in my left abdomen at mile 14 and 15 and wasn’t sure if it was going to get worse/better, thankfully it went away after a few minutes.   At the 14 mile marker I could barely see the guy who passed me back at mile 8/9.  He had a cyclist tracking and following him. His cyclist kept telling me how far I was from him every mile, gaining 10-15 seconds average per mile on me.  His cyclist even gave me a sip of Powerade at mile 19/20 -nice of him to offer that.  On the way towards the Arthur Ashe Athletic Center at mile 19, I passed two people - one Kenyan (elite runner), who was sitting down, and a Pacers elite team runner (he normally runs marathons in the 2:20s, but was just having a REALLY bad day). At that point in the race the spectators were telling me that I was in the top ten overall. I didn’t fully believe that until later in the race.

 

Mile 20/21, the marathon course reconnected with the half marathon course and I had to weave around a few ‘halfers’ for about 1.5 miles until they split the street separating the full and half runners.  The clouds broke and sun started shining but only for a few minutes. At mile 22, the cyclist told me that I was 45 seconds behind his friend, which meant that the guy had hit the wall and was slowing considerably. Rich Saunders cheered me on at mile 22. Thanks for the shout out, although you had no choice ;-).  At mile 23, I was about 20 seconds behind.   At mile 24, I was about 10-15 seconds behind.  Right before mile 25, I passed him effortlessly and I was now in 8th place. At mile 25, I saw Taneen who was screaming at the top of her lungs. Someone that small should not have that much power. Rock on, Taneen! :)

 

At mile 26, I looked at my overall time - 2:32 and change. During that last .2 miles, I pushed as hard as I could (which probably didn't seem like much since it was at the end of the race). I raced the last 100 meters down that steep hill to the finish placing 8^th overall with a PR of 2 minutes and 58 seconds. It was a GREAT day!

 

Although I need to work on a stronger kick in the last 10K of the marathon, I stayed emotionally strong throughout the race even when I was almost to the point of stopping at around mile 9/10. It’s very rare for me to stay emotionally intact during a marathon.  During the race, I kept thinking that I didn’t want to disappoint my coach or the people who believed in me.  I didn’t want to waste the 1000’s of hours of training over the last year running in sub-20 degree temps, sleet, snow, lightning storms, humidity and excessive summer heat.  I coached myself through those crucial miles when I felt that the elastic was starting to snap.  It wasn’t like I was trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials, but wanted so much to PR!

 

My splits per mile: 6:01, 5:36, 5:52, 5:43, 5:50, 5:48, 5:11 (too short!), 6:12 (too long!), 5:38, 5:48 (10 mile: 57:46), 5:59 (hills), 5:56 (hills), 5:52 (Half: 1:16:14), 5:44, 5:45, 5:55, 5:54, 6:00, 5:49, 5:58 (20 mile: 1:56:20), 5:55, 5:51, 5:55, 12:00 (miles 24 and 25 – I missed a mile marker - whoops), 5:59, 1:10 (.2 miles) - I thought that the last 4-5 miles would be in the upper 5:40 range, but I was surprised that I was closer to high 5:50s. I will work on this next time. :)

 

I want to thank Taneen, DC and NY Front Runners, Capital Area Road Runners (CAR), Urban Athletics (UA), Bryan Frank and other members of the DC Tri-club, and training buddies for being so supportive, especially during these last 15 months!

 

Finally, I want to thank my coach, Kelly Liljeblad, for pushing my butt these last four months because my legs were fried and it was difficult to maintain motivation.  Our next goal is to hit 2 hours and 30 minutes, but I don’t expect to be ready until late 2014/early 2015.

 

Eddie