Froggie Ted Distance Runner: Preparing for the Race

Here it is 5 weeks out from the 2014 Boston Marathon and I am already getting nervous. I am not sure why. I ran the 2009 Boston Marathon in a PR and then survived the 2012 Boston Marathon in the blazing heat. I know I can run and finish the race. It is just that I want to see if 2009 was a fluke or that my training has really prepared me to be able to run a sub-4 hour marathon. It really shouldn't matter whether or not I do rather I should be proud of all I have accomplished in raising money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

As proud as I am, I still want to run well. I have been getting ready for the race for 14 weeks now. As I said, the panic has started to sink in. I know it isn't necessarily bad to be a little nervous, but if I let it take over my thinking and mental preparation it will lead me down the wrong path and ultimately take away from my ability to run the race I have been training for. To avoid this fate, I need to put together the correct plan. This way I can eliminate the negative thoughts swimming in my brain and get to the starting line in Hopkinton ready to run the best race possible.

What I have learned in my 25+ years of running is that a great race doesn't just happen magically. Instead it comes through a combination of hard work, attention to detail and a certain amount of luck. In the seven marathons I have completed, I have always been physically prepared to run 26.2 miles. I have had some bad marathon races in the past due either to conditions I could not have predicted (the luck side of the equation) or I did not properly plan for my race mentally and did not correctly set my goal pace. This year I know my body will be ready. At the same time, I will be mentally preparing as well to ensure I can run my best race given the conditions on race day.

I have been using the Brooks-Hanson Marathon Training Plan (see my blog post from June 14, 2009). I used it for both of my Boston Marathons. I am sure you too have a training plan you use to prepare for the big day. I am convinced that my program works well for me and that come race day I will have done my utmost to prepare. Even though I trust my program implicitly, there is still that nagging suspicion that my marathon training is still less than optimal.

Why do I feel this way. I think part of it is due to the fact that I will have been training for 18 weeks come race day. This program is obviously very stressful on my body. I am running six days per week and trying to rest and recover each day including one true rest day. I find that throughout the process I have days where I experience a dip in my efforts during a particular workout. Those times where I did was not able to hit my workout as hard as I should have or had to skip one altogether nag at me. But I need to ignore those nay saying voices in my head and have faith that like most marathoners I have done enough to be ready for the race.

My last long run will be a 16 miler on March 30th. At that point, there is very little work left to be done. I will start into my 3 weeks of tapering towards race day. I know that the primary goal of the tapering phase is to prepare me to race. It is my time to rest and relax. Logging any extra miles is really unnecessary. If I feel the need to take an extra day off, I know it won't matter nor affect my race. The hard part for me has always been getting my head in the right place to race. Even harder is trying to decide on how I am going to pace myself in the race.

Every runner I know has their own approach to marathon racing. I wrote a piece on race pacing strategy back in April 2011. I cannot just pick a goal pace out of the air and expect to hit it no matter what happens on race day. Instead, I am going to use the even pace strategy I described in my earlier post. I will go out at a 9 minute per mile pace from the start and when I get to the half way point assess how I feel. If I believe I can step up the pace a little faster than my goal marathon pace, I will increase the pace. My goal is to get to mile 20 feeling strong. What happens in the last 10K is entirely up to my mind, body, and soul.

I will start out focusing on my pace and ignore all the people passing me. I will remind myself that they are probably starting out too fast and I will catch them later if I stick to my pace. The key to a successful race will be to try and stay as calm as possible. I will conserve all of my mental energy for the last third of the marathon. I know that my mental toughness will be tested during the later miles of the race. Therefore, I need to make sure that I don't give into periods of self-doubt and perceived physical discomfort. I will remind myself that I have put in all the training necessary to complete the race and rely on it. If I start to lose mental focus I can let my mind take over from my body and try to focus on my surroundings like the spectators, other runners, and the scenery. I know that I have worked hard to get to the starting line and that I have run through fatigue during many of my training runs and I can do it again. If I can do all of the above, I will have a great race and a memorable experience.

Mar. 3 – 6.10 miles (54:44, 8:57 pace)

Mar. 4 – 9.50 miles (1:19:40, 8:23 pace) – Mile Repeats

Mar. 6 – 9.50 miles (1:17:10, 8:7 pace) – Tempo Run

Mar. 7 – 6.10 miles (1:03:03, 10:21 pace)

Mar. 8 – 10.10 miles (1:29:34, 8:49 pace)

Mar. 9 – 10.10 miles (1:27:19, 8:39 pace)

Mar. 10 – 9.50 miles (1:21:00, 9:14 pace) – Mile Repeats

Mar. 11 – 8.20 miles (1:13:05, 8:57 pace)

Mar. 13 – 9.10 miles (1:12:39, 7:59 pace) – Tempo Run

Mar. 14 – 7.10 miles (1:02:35, 8:49 pace)

Mar. 15 – 16.10 miles (2:19:31, 8:42 pace)

Mar. 16 – 8.20 miles (1:15:41, 9:14 pace)