I'm Running A Marathon Soon

On Saturday, December 7, I will run my 35th marathon: the Tidewater Striders Marathon in Chesapeake, VA.

Why I chose this race
I came down with Covid at the end of July and I took the entire month of August off, except for three very short/easy runs in which I thought I was recovered. Those three very short and easy runs likely caused me to sink further into post viral fatigue, so I wasn't able to resume running again until the middle of September. At that point, I came back with run-walks to be 100% certain that I was well enough to run again. In total, I took seven weeks off of running. This post has all the details!

Having been through post-viral fatigue before, I knew that once I was out of the woods, I could train at full intensity. I ran 36 miles the week of September 23rd and 44 miles the week of September 30. I was back! Based on experience, I know that I don't need a really long training cycle to run a strong marathon. I just need an intense training cycle - jam-packing a lot of quality into 6-8 key weeks. As a coach myself, I don't recommend this approach to other athletes, but it's worked for me in the past. 

An ideal time to run a marathon would have been right around Christmas/New Year's - but there are no marathons within driving distance at that time of year. So my options were to go a bit earlier or a bit later. I quickly ruled out January because I didn't want to get on an airplane, so early December it was. My options within driving distance were Rehoboth Beach and the Tidewater Striders Marathon. Rehoboth is my PR and I didn't think I could replicate the magic of that day, so Tidewater it was! 

The Tidewater Striders marathon is a small race which currently has just under 100 registrants. However, there is also a 50K and 100K occurring at the same time, so it will feel slightly larger. I am familiar with the course because I set my 10-mile PR on that course back in 2021. The course is pancake flat! The downside is that it's two out-and-backs with little crowd support. And that's not much of a downside considering I will see Greg multiple times!

Training
How ready am I? Here is a graph of my training:

Thankfully everything went smoothly and we were blessed with ideal running weather throughout most of October. I did encounter quite a bit of wind on my 3 longest runs, but I still powered through it. And it could be windy on race day! As long as it's not hot, then I'm good to go.

My longest run was 21.5 miles, and I also ran a 20.4 miler and an 18.5 miler. (For some reason, I liked to be between the whole numbers this cycle). My goal marathon pace of 7:20 has felt very manageable and almost too soft, while I have struggled to hit paces below 6:40 for some of the faster workouts. I'm chalking it up to tired legs.

Shoes
When I ran Boston, I wore the ASICS Metaspeed Sky shoes. They were fun and fast, but not as responsive as I would like. I've decided to go back to adidas- my go to brand of womens running shoes. I typically race in the adidas Adios Pro 2. The "3" came out a few years ago but I stocked up on version 2 because of the higher heel drop. I was really hoping the 4th version would come out before this marathon but it's scheduled come out later in December. 

Just as I had decided on wearing a pair of the adidas Adios Pro 2, I had the opportunity to purchase a pair of the adidas Pro Evo 1. These shoes were released in very limited quantity, and they are almost impossible to find. Plus, with a price point of $500, I had determined that they were too expensive. But then I realized that I hadn't spent any money on running shoes this year because I received so many promotional pairs. When you look at it that way - why not splurge on them? The driver of the high price is the materials and the fact that they weigh less than 5 ounces yet have a full stack height.

I haven't tried them yet (they should be arriving in a few days) but I will do 1-2 short runs in them to make sure they work before race day. That's more than I did when I ran Boston in a brand new pair of ASICS! Let's just hope they fit because they were not available in the next size up.

Goals
My main goal is execution: to stay mentally strong and nail my fueling and hydration. Timewise, I am shooting for a PR (sub 3:15) but ideally closer to 3:12, maybe 3:10 if the shoes are truly that magical! (Although I don't want to give all the credit to my footwear.) Now I need to focus on resting, recovering, not getting sick, and picking out my race outfit. 

If I can pull this off, it will be the world's shortest training cycle ever! But I am relying on the endurance that I have built up over the years, not just in the past six weeks.