Philly Marathon Race Plan

I've gone back to my roots for this race. I'm actually writing a race strategy for Philly. I want to incorporate a lot of the lessons learned throughout the year and make a clear execution plan for the race, so we'll see how well I do at remembering it on race day! I'll come back after the race and do a race report against the plan below.

I did a short run yesterday and had some issues with my left calf. The same stuff I've been dealing with, but now that it was 4 days before the race I had a new level of care about it. I got a calf sleeve at Delaware Running Co. and wore it most of yesterday - it seemed to help. It was only $13, which had me worried - I'm used to paying $50 for anything compression related! I'm thinking using one of the pace teams, but my issue is that I really want to aim for 3:45, but they only offer them at 3:50 and 3:40. I may talk to them at the Expo to see what their strategy is. I can always start with the 3:50 group and then kick it if needed.

Oh...and I'm not wearing a watch for this race. Nada. If I do, I'm a slave to it and I watch it religiously, for better or worse. If I see I have time to spare, I slow down. If I see that I'm falling behind, I lose all hope. So, I'm going to eliminate the chance that I'll falsely influence my strategy. They have clocks on course (supposedly every mile, but we'll see), so I can get feedback that way. They at least have markers at the 10K, 13.1 and 20K (maybe? Something around there), so I'll get some indicators along the way. I don't know if I've fully embraced this yet, but I'm going to force myself to. I need to experiment with it and see what happens.

...watch!

3 more days!!

Overall Strategy:

· Steadily increasing RPE. Start out medium and push toward the end. MED TENT OR BUST.

· Maintain good form throughout. Use quads, glutes and lower abs, not calves and hamstrings.

· Limit fluid intake so that stuff isn’t swilling around the tummy. Main fuel is from gels every five miles. Supplement with Gatorade (no water) as needed.

Miles 1 – 7: Waterfront and Center City

Goal Time Completion: 1 hour

· Don’t go out gangbusters. RPE of 5-6

· *Gel @ mile 5 water stop.

Miles 8 – 13: Zoo/Park

Goal Time Completion: 1:50

· Stay focused. FOCUS on good run form (work the quads, glutes, strong core).

· RPE: 6-7.

· Mile 8 is uphill, by Drexel. The whole climb is only 100 feet, but the whole mile is uphill.

· Sharp uphill right after mile 9 marker, 50’ total climb (through the park?)

· *Gel @ mile 10

· Sharp downhill around mile 10.4 until mile 11

· Little climb at mile 12.5, right after Art Museum.

Mile 14 – 19.5: Out to Manayunk

Goal time Completion: 2:45

· *Gel @ right before mile 15, maybe 14.5

· RPE: 7-8

· Head up, FOCUS on good run form. Stay mentally tough and keep the big picture in mind.

· Steady up and down, nothing substantial for elevation.

Mile 19.5- Finish

Goal time Completion: 3:43

· *Double caffeine Gel @ mile 20, after turn around

· RPE: 8-10. ALL OUT. HAUL ASS. GO BROKE OR GO HOME.

· *Grab a gel at mile 22 water stop in case needed for later

· Gel @ mile 24, if needed

· Mile 25 – finish is uphill, about 50’ climb

What Will Happen in Philly?

Creek Road by UD. Who wouldn't love this for a lunchtime run??

My question for the next week and a half: What will the running Gods allow me to do in Philly? I've been thinking about this a lot and come up with a list of things I want to accomplish through this race. I'm using it as a dry-run of a real "A" race - my last before IMLP next July. While I'm doing races before IMLP next year, I don't think I"ll have the opportunity to go full throttle like I will at Philly. I'm viewing this race as a chance to execute all the lessons I've learned this year (and last year) before implementation in LP.

My race plan is made up of two components: time and execution.
Time Goals
I have three categories of time goals. My long runs have been anywhere from 8:25 - 8:45 per mile pace, so I'm somewhere in that range for training paces. In descending order, they are:

5. The wheels on this bus have fallen off: FINISH. This is in case of an epic fail, complete disaster. In this case, finishing would be considered a success. This would be an injury, tripping and doing bad stuff to myself, etc. Or...other 'natural' emergency.

4. Just another day at the races: 4:10. This will beat my Flying PIg Marathon time from 2007, the last time I did a stand-alone marathon. It's a 9:34/mile.

3. I've actually improved: 3:50-3:59, or 8:46 to 9:09/mile pace. I would LOVE to go under 4 hours for this race, and I think this is a very realistic goal, based on my long run paces and overall fitness.

2. YEA!: 3:40-3:49, or 8:23 to 8:46/mile pace. I would be OVER THE MOON if I finished in this time frame. It's a bit aggressive, but not outside the realm of expectations.

1. Give me oxygen because I'm in complete shock: sub 3:40, or under 8:23 pace per mile. The qualifying time for Boston for my age group is now 3:35, which I think is a bit too aggressive for me right now. But, not completely out of the realm of possibility.


Execution Goal
I want to push myself in this race. Like, really push myself. An Ironman tests your mental strength for survival, which I would say I have passed, since I've finished two. I have proven I can endure and survive. But, I don't think I've provided that I can thrive. I don't want to say Philly will be a success if I need the med tent...but it kind of will be. I know I can do the distance and I can be moderately successful just based on the work I've done and my God-given talent. I want to see how far I can push myself to go past my comfort point and how long I can live with being uncomfortable, and frankly, in a fair amount of pain. No pain, no glory.

It's this factor - the mental threshold factor - that I need to test. If I want to be successful in Lake Placid, this is the mountain I have to climb and conquer. It's also a lot harder for me at this point because I'm unfamiliar with it. I can run repeats until my legs fall off (literally...), but it's harder to really practice this, unless you're in a race situation. You can only gear yourself up for this type of intensity once in awhile, because it's mentally and emotionally draining. So...this is my chance! Go hard or go home.

That's the plan. Race day is Sunday, November 20 @ 7 a.m. I believe live race tracking is online at www.philadelphiamarathon.com. My bib is 6388.