Tough 23-mile run at Los Gatos Creek Trail!

This was the last long run before the actual marathon. And how I did is captured in the graph on the left (click on it to see a larger version). As can be seen, I did not do too well. In fact, I was slightly disappointed by my performance. Yes, I did complete my run and actually did one more mile than was scheduled for Chicago runners. However, my time was slow (4:27). This is an average pace of 11:38, easily slower by at least 40s per mile than any other long run I have done to date.

I have been thinking about the reasons for this unsatisfactory performance since the run today. On the macro-level, clearly my go-for-negative-split strategy did not work today. This strategy is to run really slow (11-11:30 min/mile) for the first half, feel good that I have conserved energy, and then pick up speed in the second half (10:30-11 min/mile) to arrive at the finish line with an average pace of somewhere between 10:30 and 11 min/mile. Ending strong also has other obvious post-run benefits. Today, however, this just did not work. I was going by the plan of going for 22 miles as prescribed by the schedule. So, Manish and I started running together, and we had finished 11 miles in 2:01 (average pace till then of 11:04). We were taking 1 minute walk breaks after every 10 minutes and in hindsight, did this half a little bit faster than what we should have. Taking the 5 minutes that I took to take a restroom break at end of mile#4 out, our average pace was really 10:30 which does not align with the go-slow-early strategy. No wonder, I was feeling a bit tired by the end of this half.

On top of that, mile#12 was a brutal set of steep up-slopes, which we mostly ended up walking. We ended up clocking 17 minutes for that mile after which we had to turn around. On the way down, I wanted to go down fast but Coach Rajeev Char happened to be right there and urged us to walk the down-slope too to avoid injury. We ended up doing mile#13 in 13:34 and pretty soon our average pace at end of mile#13 had dwindled to 11:43. I started getting antsy and took leave of Manish at this time to try and run faster. However, the faster run of the first half and the hills had sapped my energies already. I really should not have tried to run too fast realizing my current state. Another mistake I had made was that the time gap between my GU intakes was too much (please see graph above). I did run mile#14 in 10:03 and the next two miles in 10:35 and 9:24 respectively. However, the third and greatest of unfortunate events had struck me by the end of mile#16. I probably took too much water/gatorade at the previous water stop, or may be the Vanilla flavored GU did not suit me too much but I was having stomach cramps and stitches. I had to slow down, and even stopped for a bit, doing mile#17 in about 12 minutes. I tried to ignore it in the next mile (#18) but it wasn't going away, and I was holding both sides of my stomach while running. On top of that, I was feeling hungry now. (I don't know why that would be the case, because I ate my usual energy bar + coffee and even took an extra slice of bread with peanut butter in the morning...) Anyhow, I took my last GU at the water stop at 18.7 miles, and the real troubles had now started. I felt like a twitching somewhere just north of my left knee. In all my training, I have never had a problem in any at or above the knees. This twitching gave me a weird feeling and as it wouldn't go away, I decided to increase my walk breaks. Besides, I was really tired by this point.

At mile#19, I made the decision of going for an extra mile. That may sound strange given that I was not feeling very good. But, precisely for that reason, I thought I should train myself for those times when I am not feeling that good and still be able to run a bit extra. I don't know whether that contrarian logic was smart, but it definitely did mess up my timing even more. I was already doing my miles in almost 12 minutes after mile#18. Mile#20 brought me back to the start, and I would now have to go 1.5 miles further from the start and come back to complete the next 3 miles. These 3 miles proved to be very tough! My left brain was asking me to slow down and take more frequent walking breaks, plus it was getting harder to run after the end of the walking break. When mile#21 got over, the extra 0.5 mile I was doing at my own whim proved to be the toughest. At the end of this, I had to ask Rashmi (who happened to be there in her run) for two sips of water. I turned around and my left brain was still pounding on me to take even more frequent walking breaks. I was already walking every 0.5 mile at this point, and even that was getting to be too long. Mile#22 was the toughest and I did it in 15 minutes! Of course, mile 23 being the last mile was not as bad and I managed it in a bit over 12 minutes.

The fact that the run today was not great actually makes it a bigger learning experience for me. I have never had stomach cramps or upper body injuries of any kind and the experience of this run now gives me the confidence that even in the (seeming) worst of times, I can actually go on and finish the marathon. Besides, there is no sign of long term injury (the knee injury went away soon enough on the run itself) and that is actually great news.

In summary then, any of these could be the reasons for my slow time today. They also serve as the key learning points from the longest run before the actual marathon:

• Ran the first 11 miles faster by 30s / mile than usual. Should stick to 11-11:30 min/mile for the first half.
  
• Ate a Clifbar rather than my usual powerbar (well, unlikely reason but...)
• Never really got into a rhythm. Getting into a rhythm has been important to me as it makes me feel realxed and move forward in an easy manner. I have usually gotten it in the last few miles.
• I experimented with different flavors of GU. I had already settled on the "Tropial Flavor", but had a packet each of two different flavors with me today and wanted to finish them.
• For the first time, I drank cytomax and gatorade on the water stops. Usually, I only take water. But I wonder whether the combination of GU and cytomax/gatorade was just too much for the stomach to handle.
• I couldn't apply my mind in the last 5 miles. I was giving in to the negative messages from my left brain. Running with someone would have helped, but I couldn't find someone my pace to give me company in those crucial miles.
• I did not take GU early enough. I need to make a point about taking GU at 6 miles and then every 4 or 5 miles after that. So, I will need 5 GU packets for the 26.2 miler (at 6, 11, 16, 20, 24).
• I have a bad habit of gulping the water in my water cup in one go! As Uma told me, this is not good on the stomach...
  
• When I was feeling hungry, I should have grabbed something to eat at mile#20 which was the start point. However, I was already feeling uneasy at being slow, and so did not want to take an extra minute to take the 25m detour and stop by the table. Bad idea! I did the last three miles in 38:34. One minute detour to eat something would actually have helped my overall time!
• When things are not going well, there is no benefit in forcing them! Doing this could just cause more problems.

And so I now feel better equipped for the 26.2 miler in Chicago that matters the most. I have learned so much during these long runs, but I am sure something new will come up on the actual day. Hopefully, I will be prepared to handle whatever that will be.