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After the National Marathon back in March, I decided to add a late spring marathon to my schedule. I didn’t want all that winter training to go to waste with just a single marathon. The Frederick Marathon seemed to be the perfect fit both schedule-wise and its close proximity. I had a few goals for this marathon. The main one was to do better than the previous, and thus, set another PR (personal record). The other more farfetched goal was to somehow BQ (Boston Qualify) with a 3:15:59 or better. Yeah, right. Even though I had some good training runs the past 6 weeks, that was probably a pipe dream. My plan was to go at a 7:30 pace through 20 miles (2:30:00) and then do a 7:24 pace or better the remainder. That would do it. But, I knew the course was tough in the latter miles, and so, I wasn’t going to be totally bummed if I couldn’t reach this difficult goal. Plus, I still haven’t added more than 1 sprint workout to my training. More on that later. In the end my 3:25:20 finish turned out to be 3:18 better than my National Marathon. I can live with that.

PRE-RACE

I got up at 3:30am for the 6:30am race. I didn’t get much sleep I must say. Hydrating all day and all evening has its downside. I made the ~hour long drive up to Frederick, MD for the 2nd time of the weekend. The day before I drove up for packet pickup. The Frederick Fairgrounds (race and packet pickup HQ) is a quaint area nestled next to the downtown section. Parking seemed to be ample, but parking in a grass field on a day when rain was expected was a little worrisome. I had visions of cars stuck in the mud later. But, it turned out not to be an issue (I think).

I got to meet the famous, Steve Speirs (aka, @britishbulldog and also the creator of the 100 pushups program), and his lovely wife, Allyson. They’re good people. I was just standing around the port-a-pottys, and Steve came walking up in his Brooks Racer ST3s. Same shoes I was wearing. It was Steve who had kind words about the Frederick Marathon, when I was considering it, as he had ran it a few times before. It was great to chat with them before the race. I’m sure they walked away saying “OK, now there’s a loser”.

I also talked to another runner, as he was wearing a Garmin Forerunner 305 on one wrist and a Road ID on the other. Same as me. Oh yeah, I was wearing my compression shorts and shirt, as well as, my doo rag head cover. All were soaked by the end.

I finished an Orange GU with water (my only breakfast) about 30 minutes before the start. I then lined up for the race just in front of the 3:20 pace guys, and after Steve stopped by and offered a quick “Good Luck” on his way up to the front line, the race was shortly under way…

RACE

Again, I wanted a 7:30 pace through 20 miles, but as you can see, I had a few splits beforehand that were too fast, and then, eventually too slow. It’s hard to get Mile 1 right, it seems. The built up energy causes a faster than desired pace in the beginning. Mile 1 went through the main-street like area of the town. Nice scenery. I was able to reign my pace back in for Miles 2 and 3, but was back into the 7:1* again for Mile 4. Even though I wanted 7:30s, I said I would be happy with 7:25 - 7:35. I’m not yet a machine, like some runners who have very even splits. Miles 5 and 6 felt the same, as the splits suggest. I had another Orange GU with some water to wash it down around the Mile 6 area. During these opening miles, I had traded places with a young lady doing the 1/2 marathon. She laughed when I played to the race photographers, when I twirled my pointed index finger in the air, as if I was saying “whoop-dee-doo” to the whole affair. After Mile 7, I mentioned to her that I couldn’t get into my target pace. She said she had the same problem too, as she wanted a 7:45 pace and 7:30s later. And, she said she hated full marathons. I pulled away from her, shortly thereafter, but would later see her pass me near to the end of her 13.1. She must’ve PR-ed big time.

Oh, the rain had started sometime around Mile 8 or so (maybe earlier/later), depending on how you define rain vs. sprinkling mist, etc. It wasn’t bad at that point in the race, but would become a factor later on. I was feeling fine nearing the end of the first half. I was looking for Clustered Spires Golf Course around Mile 10 or 11, a course which I played with my uncle about 10 years ago. The race map showed it right next to the course, but GoogleMaps later showed it was a little further away. No wonder I didn’t see it. I kept thinking it was just around the corner, but never saw it. I had another Orange GU with water around the Mile 10 water stop.

I reached the 1/2 way point around 1:38:00. The 13.1 for us full marathoners was just outside the fairgrounds track, and so, my Garmin was my timer for that point. Once back on the main street where we started, I saw @britishbulldog running the other way of the short out-and-back. He had just finished his 15 miles, as he passed by saying something like “Looking strong Andy”. I gave him a “Go get ‘em” cheer, not knowing where he was in the standings, and unaware that he was struggling. Mile 14 went a little too fast for my liking. Maybe passing the crowd near the start area was a push. Or, maybe running on brick sidewalks by the downtown canal made me fast. That area of the course was my favorite. Beautiful there. Around 14.5 miles, another guy in ST3s flew by me. He had to be going at a 7:00 pace. He said “Nice shoes”, and I reciprocated, after he was probably out of hearing range. I don’t know if it was that deflating pass or what, but my Mile 15 split was the first that I cringed at. 7:43? It was around there that I was starting to feel it. I knew I would be “clocking it”, “phoning it in”, etc. With hills to come, I knew I didn’t have what I needed for a BQ, let alone even splits coming home.

And, it was still raining as I approached Mile 16, where I had my final Orange GU with Powerade. I had planned another GU stop around 22 or so, but later canned that idea. As you can see from the elevation profile above, a lot was in store for the next 4+ miles. A more jagged graph would show more of a climb, where this one shows little bumps and valleys. I like this graph’s colors and shading. Thanks to Kristen F. for pointing us to these graphs. Miles 17 and 18 were climbs up the highway hills on the shoulder of the road, as a car or two would go by, every now and then. Around Mile 18 I passed a guy wearing a 3:10 pace bib. He wasn’t a pacer, but a guy who signed up to run with them. He was struggling, and I said “This rain sucks!” and he agreed. I figured that was probably the best thing I could say to him.

Heading towards Mile 19, runners crossed the highway with help from the police to head into the Spring Ridge community, where the entrance was another steep (but shorter) climb. I passed another guy on the latter part of this climb, and said the same, “This rain sucks!”. He didn’t really agree. I think he said something like “Eh, it’s ok”. After Mile 19 or so, a guy flew by me. He had an “R” bib on the back, which meant he was a fresh-legged relay runner. The Spring Ridge community is a nice, newer single family housed area on the outskirts of town. It’s kind of nice, actually. There weren’t as many race supporters as would normally be, since the rain just kept coming down. I did have one memorable and funny moment around Mile 20. A little girl saw me running by, wearing my doo rag, and I heard her say to her dad, “That’s a boy, right?”. My immediate thoughts were of Conan O’Brien in Jim Gaffigan’s Pale Force, where is always portrayed as the wimpy, girly side-kick of Jim’s Pale Man character. Also, around Mile 20, the 3:20 pace group went by fairly strong. My chances of a sub-3:20 had faded.

Around Mile 21, a fellow Brooks ID young lady ran by me, looking awfully strong. By the time I read the Brooks ID badge on the back of her singlet, she was out of hearing range, and I didn’t want to yell at her that I too am a Brooks ID member. Three ladies finished ahead me in the results.

The last 4 miles was more rain, a small climb, and more rain and wind. Towards the end the rain was coming in at an annoying angle. The running gods were letting me know that it wasn’t over yet. I kept plodding along in my soggy shoes. Oh, I’ve had soggier shoes. The ST3s let water out better than most.

I was happy to see the finish area and line, as I raised my arms coming down the stretch. I hope I have some good pictures. They should come quick with only 824 finishers to sort through. I was happy with beating my previous time PR. The course was tough and the weather made it harder.  I was 58 / 824.

WHAT NEXT?

Well, my next marathon is the MCM on 10-25-2009. But, I may find another for early September. I still want to BQ for 2010. Putting it all on the MCM would be tough. Actually, in the MCM, I can alternatively BQ for 2011, with an extra 5 minutes given to me (40 yr olds are in with a 3:20:59 or better). I turn 39 in November, and 2011’s race would cover races back to the fall of 2009. You see, BQ is based on race day age, not qualifying day age. But, I really want to do the 2010 Boston.

I know I need to do more sprint workouts, and I’m going to do them after I recover from this race. I tried one Yasso 800s workout about 2 weeks before Frederick and had a hard time. I did like them though. They added variety to my otherwise same ol’, same ol’ workouts. I knew I couldn’t get in the proper speed workouts in my 6 week window, after I was educated from the last marathon that I needed to do such workouts. I’ll definitely incorporate them into my training from here on out. I don’t want yet another marathon where I start to crash in the 2nd half.

Thanks to all my DailyMile.com friends and also the running community on Twitter. You’ve given me lots of support and motivation. Run Happy!

andy running BrooksID, marathon, race report