Chicago Marathon 2019 -- Short recap
So, it turns out that you CAN train for a solid marathon by "just" doing PPF triathlon training. N may = 1 for me, but following the Baseline plan and sprinkling in a few longer runs was all I needed to rip off an amazing Chicago Marathon. Well, that, and a healthy dose of realistic race-day planning and spot-on execution.
While it wasn't a marathon PR, Chicago represented my best-ever 26.2 in terms of how it felt and how it played out on the day. I did 1 x 18 mile and 1 x 22.5 mile prep run in the month leading up to the race, and all other training was directly from the Baseline plan. Now that I'm past the race, I am absolutely convinced that the PPF workouts gave me an incredible amount of strength, resiliency and endurance that showed itself on the streets of Chicago. After being brutally honest with myself (I knew I was likely in 3:25-3:30 marathon shape), the plan was to run the first 18 miles at 7:50-8:00 pace, then see how I felt and start dropping the pace if I was feeling good. I've always struggled coming home in marathons, so I was cautiously optimistic and hopeful that I would actually be able to drop the hammer over the last 5-10k.
Those first 18 literally flew by in a haze of smiles, high-5s for the little spectators, cheers from the 1 million + fans, and "easy" running. I hit 30k at 7:52 pace. Bingo. With 8 miles to go, I stayed a bit patient and conservative, so I ran just ever so slightly faster to 35k (23:57 for 30-35k, vs consistent 24 min splits prior). At 35k, I couldn't hold back any longer, so I went for it, and dropped a very gratifying (and kind of easy) 22:42 split to 40k. My legs felt great and I was flying by the "Went out too fast carnage" on the road. At mile 25 I was in full flight and ended up logging my fastest mile of the day from 25-26, a 6:53. Shock, awe, pride, confidence, gratitude. It all hit me. Spot on execution. Absolute personal victory on the day.
Other than a timing mishap (my bib didn't register me crossing the start line, so my "official" time is off by 5:40), and not able to get any good pictures from the weekend, it was pretty much a perfect day. A most satisfying 3:22:45 (yes, I have the GPS file to prove it).
What's better? My legs are nowhere close to being "trashed", and other than some residual tiredness from the weekend, I feel ready to jump right back into training. 100% of the credit for that goes to PPF and the workouts that have me absolutely feeling Strong Like Bull!!!
Now, back to training.... 46 weeks to go until IM Canada! :)
Cheers, Tim
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Wow, what a testament to the program and to your dedication! And congratulations on an awesome finish time too. That is very cool. I know Dixon harps a lot on how much benefit biking and swimming has for your run, but sounds like you're definitely living proof! As someone that has seen improvement in my run even doing shortened versions of the baseline, but has historically struggled in running prior to joining squad, this makes me really excited to see where the base plan will get me!
Congratulations again on a stellar performance!!! What a great day for you. -
Tim - well done ... great effort.
Read this with a lot of interest. While I'm mostly focused on triathlon races, I'm giving a go at a second qualification for Boston early next year. The first time I qualified, I was at the front end of my age group (40-44) .... 4 years later, I'm now at the back end... and the qualifying times have lowered (the 3h10m I ran 4 years ago, wouldn't be good enough now to make the cut). So, quite the challenge. And particularly to achieve this without injury. It makes quite a bit of sense to me that solid triathlon training can serve as great prep for a top marathon performance... and I plan to do exactly that for this BQ attempt. Your testimony is very encouraging, especially as you did it with the PP plan.
Following article was also helpful:
https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a28472702/nell-rojas-olympic-marathon-trials-qualifier/
Good luck @IM Canada!
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