Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Improving is fun!

Soon I will have a post on my marathon thoughts. But for now, just a comparison of my first 3 marathons that I believe shows the work that I have put in to try to understand and conquer the distance. I finally did it. I ran a marathon. There is NOTHING wrong with run/walking, it's just that it has never been my goal.

Twin Cities - October 5 2008
bib number:    5033
age:    41
gender:    M
location:    Roseville, MN
overall place:    7332 out of 7979
division place:    751 out of 784
gender place:    4516 out of 4806
time:    5:26:52
pace:    12:08
chip time:    5:17:52
5k:    32:01
10k:    1:03:42
half:    2:18:17
30k:    3:19:30
20 mile:    3:39:09


Stillwater - May 24 2009
bib number:    275
age:    41
gender:    M
location:    Roseville, MN
overall place:    295 out of 453
division place:    47 out of 68
gender place:    222 out of 314
time:    4:28:21
pace:    10:15
10 k:    55:39
13.1:    2:01:14
20 m:    3:11:22
last 10k:    1:17:00
gun time :    4:29:12


Columbus - October 18, 2009
bib number:    2457
age:    42
gender:    M
location:    Roseville, MN
overall place:    2193 out of 4076
division place:    253 out of 387
gender place:    1588 out of 2563
time:    4:08:41
pace:    9:30
10k:    57:26
half:    2:01:21
20 mile:    3:08:01

I can deal with being "slow" (though I don't want to be, just saying my self-esteem is not at risk here). It's the effort, ability to keep going through pain, discomfort, doubt that means a lot to me. So lets compare last 10k's. TCM = 1 hour 37 minutes, Stillwater = 1 hour 17 minutes and Columbus = 1 hour.

I improved my marathon personal record (pr) by 20 minutes. Based on my tempo runs and other workouts, I think I can easily improve by another 15 or 20 minutes. After that, I really have some work to do. Especially if I want to Boston Qualify (BQ), which is a 3:20 marathon.

We shall see!

2 comments:

  1. That is a huge improvement over the course of a year! Well done.

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  2. Tim, I'm amazed at how similar our progress has been. My previous PR for the marathon was 4:26 at Minneapolis, and I ran a 4:08 at Des Moines on Sunday. I stayed with the 3:50 pace group to mile 15, then the 4 hour group passed me at 22 when I took a quick pit stop, and I just couldn't catch them. I felt really strong for most of the way. It wasn't until about mile 22 or 23 when I really started running out of gas. I'm still learning about nutrition, hydration, pace, all the things that can make or break a race, and what works for me, and what doesn't. I fully expect to break 4 hours in my next marathon. Cross training and running the ski hill has made such an impact in my running, more than anything else for sure. Of course, doing the ultra trail runs makes the road marathons SEEM easier, even if they're really not. You just don't notice the hills anymore.
    Great job on the training, and best of luck on your eventual BQ!

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