Marathon #5 - Virginia

I chose Virginia for my fifth marathon primarily because of the Runner's World Marathon Challenge.  The Challenge is basically a race that the editors and staff of Runner's World (the best running magazine in the world!) choose every year to run themselves and challenge their readers to run as well.  They provide some perks if you sign up for the challenge (which is not without cost) such as free massages at the end, a nice place to stay warm at the start with bathrooms and bagels, a technical training shirt, and a training plan designed for your race finish goal.

 

The Richmond marathon was selected in 2009 to be the marathon for the Runner's World Marathon Challenge.  My goal this time was to break 4 hrs. Yes, for all you runners out there, that may seem pretty easy. But alas, I am slow. I will never deny that. After four marathons my PR (personal record) was only 4:20. Eventually, I would like to qualify for Boston and run that as my Massachusetts marathon, but that is probably a few years away. (The qualifying time for a woman my age is 3:40, I believe.)

The Race: SunTrust Richmond Marathon, Richmond, VA, November 2009

My Training Plan: This is the first time I really strayed from the Hal Higdon training plans.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with Hal Higdon's plans.  I actually love them, and have used them for every first race of a new distance.  But I needed to change things up a little.  If you always do the same thing, your body gets used to it and plateaus.  This race is also the first time I did speed work and ran longer than 20 miles for my longest run.  I used a training plan designed by Bart Yasso for the Runner's World Marathon Challenge participants.  My longest run was 22 miles, and I did two 20 milers as well. For speed work, I did one day each week with either Yasso 800s or mile repeats on the track.  I also did about one marathon pace run each week for my middle distance run.  I was probably averaging about 40-50 miles each week.

Weather:  There was some concern about the weather and if it would rain.  It had rained consistently the week leading up to the race.  I actually drove through a lot of rain on the way up to Richmond.  It had rained so much that part of the race course was flooded, so they had to  re-route it at the last minute.  The race itself was chilly and wet, but not rainy.

Running Attire:  I wore my black Mizuno shorts with the pocket for my Snickers Marathon bar, my Marathon Challenge technical short-sleeved running shirt, and pink Nike visor.  I also wore a throw-away long-sleeved shirt that I didn't end up throwing away because of the weather, although I did take it off and tie it around my waist. I had my race bib attached to my All 3 Sports running belt.

Who I ran with:  I started off by myself, but picked up some of the Marathon Challenge guys along the way.  One was named Nils.  I had met him on the bus tour at the expo.  He was there running his third or fourth marathon attempt at breaking 4 hours also.  When I caught up to him and a friend along the course, I was happy to run with him toward the same goal.  He ended up falling behind, but his friend (who I forget his name, unfortunately) was running his first marathon, and amazingly was able to hold on to the end, breaking 4 hours with me.

The Course:  The course takes you through many of the historical landmarks in Richmond.  There are definitely some hills, so if you're looking for a flat race, stay away. But they're  rolling hills, so they're manageable. The roads on a lot of the course are slanted, so IT band issues could present a problem (although they didn't with me). 

Organization:  This race had better organization than any race I had run in the past.  I couldn't say more good things about the organization of this race. With PowerAde and water at every two miles, and "junk food" twice along the route, I almost didn't have to carry anything with me. I loved the fact that they had bus tours of the course running pretty consistently the whole time the expo was open. The bus tours of the route really helped to know which miles to save your energy for, and the bus tour guide also provided a little bit of history about the city along the way.

Swag:  We didn't get anything special at this race.  The shirt was a long-sleeved technical shirt, and the medal was nice.

Starting Line:  This race was a little unique, in that my start and finish experience are probably not indicative of the normal start and finish experience due to the extra perks of the Marathon Challenge.  For the Marathon Challenge participants, they had a building near the start open to keep warm.  They had bagels for us (and possibly other food as well).  There were very nice bathrooms that we could use too, instead of using porta potties outside.

I always love it when races have pace teams.  I did use the pacing team some, but not for the full race.  But just having them there, helps to know about where you should line up.

Fans:  The Richmond marathon has been deemed the world's friendliest marathon.  This was evident in the attention to detail that they gave to the spectators.  There were several spectator "party zones" throughoutt the course.  The race provided directions for spectators to get between the start, three spots along the course, and the finish, so there was plenty of cheering along the way. 

I had some of the best spectators in the world for this race - my dad and stepmother.  They drove down from the DC area to Richmond just to see me at the race.  They were at every spectator party zone and even took pictures and video of me running by.  It meant so much to me to have them there, and with such enthusiasm!

Finish Line:  I didn't stay long at the finish line because I didn't want to keep my dad and Mindy waiting in the cold.  I loved the fact that they allowed you to look up your exact results right at the finish line.  We all went to the Marathon Challenge finish area, which had free massages (of which I partook) and sitting areas to rest awhile before leaving.

How I felt:  My right foot was bothering me a few days before the race, but I think it was just race nerves making me think something was going to go wrong.  It didn't end up hurting during the race at all.

I had two options for strategy before the race: 1) There was a 4 hr pace group, so I could run with them or 2) I could break the race into three segments with "recovery" miles in between. I would run the first mile as a warm-up at about 9:30 pace, run 7.5 miles at 8 - 8:30 pace, a recovery mile at 9:30 pace, and repeat that two more times.  It turns out I did a combination of both.  I started out with the 4 hour pace group, which helped me to set my initial pace.  Then I met up with some more Runners Challenge guys, and ran with them for awhile.  Running with guys typically makes me go faster (mostly to keep up), so I ran ahead of the pace group for most of the race.

Since I knew what the course was like ahead of time, I was able to eat a bite of my energy bar before the really big hills, which seemed to help a lot.  I also realized that hydration and eating throughout the race and not waiting until you are hungry or thirsty works a lot better.  I actually felt really good all the way until mile 25.  Mile 25 was rough.  I felt like I was losing it.  But after I crossed into mile 26 and knew there was only a mile left, I got a second wind.

Travel/Tourism:  I drove up to Richmond (through the rain) the morning before the race.  I didn't stay at the race hotel, but stayed at a Courtyard (or some other Marriott affiliate) not too far from the start.  I didn't do a lot of touring.  The bus tour of the course and the race itself were the only touring I did.  But I would much rather see a city on foot than in any other way.

I love Friendly's restaurants.  That is where my dad, stepmother, and I ate the night before the race.  I got a burger, fries, and ice cream.  It worked for one of my 20 mile runs, and it worked for the race also.