Final Thoughts and Future Plans

I've taken a ton of rest days this week.  The first couple because I was so sore, and the last couple because we have Santa Ana winds howling and I just didn't feel like fighting them!  I'm not worried about losing fitness, I think I needed to mental break from training as much as the physical.

Frazz is my favorite comic strip!  Especially because Miss Plainwell is the faster runner ;)

I've analyzed my marathon career (a total of four races!) and realize that I need to dial back my expectations for now.  A sub 4:00 may never happen and I am okay with that.  Finishing a marathon is a big deal and a 7 minute PR over my 48 year old self is a great accomplishment!

I don't have any regrets about my most recent marathon.  (Wait, I do have one - the professional photographer did not get a finish line picture of me. I was completely alone when I crossed the finish line and I guess they must have been bored and looked away.  I'm sad about this because Les didn't take any either - he saw the photographer and really thought they would get a great shot.)  I have to be honest with myself and say I'm not ready to run that distance any faster.  My previous best was 4:53:33, so a sub 4:00 would have shaved off almost an hour.  Kinda unrealistic, yeah?

I haven't chosen a race for next year.  I've enjoyed doing different marathons, but I really enjoyed my experience with this particular race.  I do like the smaller size (1,199 finishers) as opposed to the massive Honolulu Marathon.  I am not willing to commit to more than one marathon a year.  Sixteen weeks of training plus a couple of easy weeks recovery is more than a third of the year.  I enjoy the training process, but I also enjoy having the liberty to do less or more on any given day.  Maybe I should think about shorter races for a year?

My strategy for next time:

• Set a more realistic goal - around 4:40, which would be another 7 minute PR, with a stretch of 4:30.
• Run with a 4:40 pacer, in the hopes that starting at an easier pace will leave more in the tank at the end.
• Continue with my cross training strategy.  Running no more than 4 times a week, with cycling 1-2 times a week worked for me.
• I've got to get better at running up hills!  I have plenty of places to train, I just need to do it.
• Continue speed work.  I loved the variety of intervals that I did this time and plan to keep doing them once a week even when not training for a specific event.

Revel Canyon City Marathon Numbers

If you are not a numbers person, this post will probably bore you to tears!  I find this stuff really fascinating.

I was able to pull my mile breakdowns from Movescount.  Mile 5 was my fastest at 8:06, with mile 17 being my slowest at 16:39 (this included a pit stop, I also took a pit stop at mile 10*.)  I would give you mile by mile details, but a lot of it is a blur!

Mile	Time	Heart rate	Speed	Ascent	Descent
1	8:08	171	7.4	0	272
2	8:09	155	7.4	0	318
3	8:24	157	7.1	30	289
4	8:09	154	7.4	0	394
5	8:06	157	7.4	0	322
6	8:31	155	7.1	0	305
7	8:39	155	7.0	0	295
8	9:11	152	6.5	0	220
9	9:03	152	6.6	23	285
10	10:03	147	6.0*	0	397
11	8:51	152	6.8	0	308
12	8:59	151	6.7	0	331
13	8:47	154	6.8	0	331
14	10:37	153	5.6	39	161
15	11:49	153	5.1	49	20
16	13:10	144	4.6	20	20
17	16:39	138	3.6*	108	10
18	12:25	143	4.8	20	128
19	10:22	148	5.8	0	236
20	14:05	139	4.3	52	112
21	15:12	133	3.9	72	69
22	10:15	145	5.9	0	240
23	13:22	136	4.5	0	197
24	14:25	131	4.2	0	79
25	13:30	133	4.5	0	69
26	14:20	134	4.2	30	30
27	3:23	145	5.9	0	30

Pace from Movescount:
Average: 10:56
Fastest 30 seconds: 7:07
Fastest 1 minute: 7:15
Fastest 5 minutes: 7:49
Fastest 10 minutes: 7:58
Fastest 30 minutes: 8:10
Fastest 1 hour: 8:19

Elevation:
Total elevation gain: 456 feet
Ascent time: 42:38
Total elevation loss: 5,528 feet
Descent time: 3:27:34
Flat time: 36:23

Effort:
Average HR: 145 bpm
Easy (below 109 bpm): 36 seconds
Moderate (109-126 bpm): 16:12
Hard (127-144 bpm):  1:33:36
Very Hard (145-162 bpm):  2:48:00
Maximal (above 162 bpm): 7:48

Calories burned:
According to Suunto: 1,536
According to TrainingPeaks: 3,630

Peak Training Effort: 3.5
Recovery time: 120 hours
I hurt pretty bad all of Sunday. I was still in a lot of pain Monday morning, but started to feel a bit better in the afternoon. I got up and walked a couple of miles this morning.  Still a little sore but noticing a lot of improvement.

From Strava:
Best estimated Marathon effort (4:45:38)
Best estimated 30k effort (3:04:37)
Best estimated Half-Marathon effort (1:54:02)
Best estimated 20k effort (1:47:59)
Best estimated 10 mile effort (1:26:22)
Best estimated 15k effort (1:19:08)
Best estimated 10k effort (51:13)
Best estimated 5k effort (25:18)

Tomorrow:  Final Thoughts and Future Plans!