Back in December 2012 I had to
sit out CIM, having been hit by a still undiagnosed left thigh ailment just 3
weeks before the race. Decided to get my revenge this year, I signed up early for
CIM. Following the Kona Marathon in June, I took a
couple of weeks break from structured training, and restarted mid July to
build a base, focusing on hills. By mid september I was hitting good mileage
and saw my fitness improving. Unfortunately this period of great training came
to a grinding halt early October. A week prior to a 10k I started to feel some
stiffness on the top and side of my left thigh. I ran the 10k, which went OK
considering the circumstances, but a couple of days later when I stepped out of
the door for my morning run, I felt excruciating pain on the left thigh at the first running step.
The same issue that sidelined me before CIM 2012 was back with a vengeance.
Although this was still far out
from the race, I knew right away that I would be out at CIM, and started to feel that I was cursed on this race, vowing to never sign up for it again. Last year,
it took me over 2 months after the onset of injury to get back to running pedestrian
paces without pain, so I didn't think I would recover quickly enough. I spent
the first week spinning and testing the legs every other day without success. I
then remembered that a gym nearby had an AlterG antigravity treadmill available
and I decided to give it a shot, thinking that this would do a better job at
maintaining my fitness than spinning or deep water running. After a 30 minutes tryout I
decided to buy 10 hours on the machine, and once I burned through these in less
than 10 days, I bought unlimited access for a month.
Even if my left thigh was aching just
walking, I was able to 'run' on the AlterG and do some
hard quality workouts with minimal discomfort, and these workouts were equivalent in time of what I would have done on the
road.
AlterG workout from 11/11/2013: 13M at 92% body weight with 5x2k tempo intervals (6:11)/2min30s recoveries (8:14)
I kept trying to run on the road a couple of times a week on Wednesdays and
Fridays, but these were usually slow and painful. Interestingly, the leg was hurting more at slower paces (>8:30 min/mi) than at more moderate ones. For the Saturday long runs,
after a couple of sessions doing 1h45 straight on the AlterG, I decided to mix
it up and run 6 to 10 miles on road, followed immediately by 1hr to 1h30 on the
machine. The first half of these runs were very tedious, barely hitting 8:30
pace but the finish on the AlterG brough some relief and thi allowed me to regularly run between 2h15 and 3h on Saturday mornings. I ramped up the body weight percentage
every week, starting from 75% mid October and working my way up to 95% mid November. Overall I logged 39
hours on the AlterG between mid October and early December.
During that time, I finally figured out that I was suffering from quadriceps trigger points. Rather than being an IT band issue as originally suggested, trigger points in the Vastus lateralis and Vastus intermedius. These trigger points were generating painful diffuse spots on the top and side of my left thigh, and limited the range of motion of my left leg, which messed up my running mechanics. I treated these with the help of acupuncture sessions and by rolling on a hard ball, which generated some excruciating pain when I hit the trigger points. I also started structural integration (Rolfing) to try and fix some structural issues that might have been responsible of these issues.
During that time, I finally figured out that I was suffering from quadriceps trigger points. Rather than being an IT band issue as originally suggested, trigger points in the Vastus lateralis and Vastus intermedius. These trigger points were generating painful diffuse spots on the top and side of my left thigh, and limited the range of motion of my left leg, which messed up my running mechanics. I treated these with the help of acupuncture sessions and by rolling on a hard ball, which generated some excruciating pain when I hit the trigger points. I also started structural integration (Rolfing) to try and fix some structural issues that might have been responsible of these issues.
Things were evolving slowly and I
looked for a backup race. I wanted to run something before the end of the year, but only 2 races were far enough in time from CIM, Jacksonville
and the 3 Bridges Marathon in Little Rock, Arkansas. I chose 3B, only to learn that the
race was sold out. I still put myself on the waiting list, thinking that I
could always sign up for Jacksonville if needed. After a couple of weeks of
email exchanges with the very friendly RD Jacob, he took pity of me and upgraded me from
the waiting list, so I was officially in.
By late November I started to see
good signs of improvement. I was no longer in pain while walking,
and some runs felt almost normal towards, even if the mechanics were still a bit off. I managed to run 19M on road
on Nov 30th, with the last 8 at marathon pace - although slower than I wanted, and did 22.6M outside on Dec 7, the day before CIM took place. I did another fast finish long run of 19M with the last 9 at 6:49 avg pace a week later. I was
encouraged by these signs of progress and finally booked my plane ticket to Little Rock. I had 3 weeks of training mostly on road before a 2-week taper and the race, with some solid workouts (a 4M tempo run at 6:14 avg; 3x3M MP intervals at 6:49 avg; and 4x1M intervals at 6:08 avg) and was glad I could
step the start line healthy, even if the training had been non-traditional. My pace for MP heart rate (164) was between 6:48 and 6:52 which made me think that I was ready for a sub-3 attempt.
Pre-Race
I flew to Little Rock on Thursday, and woke up
early Friday morning to do my 20 minutes shakeout run on the paved trail where the race took place. I
drove to the site of the start of the race and ran all the way to the Big
Dam Bridge, the first bridge that we had to cross during the race. I stopped there to do some drills, take pictures and then ran back to the parking
lot near the start/finish. It was bitterly cold for someone living in SoCal (~31F), with tears dropping from my eyes and my
fingers getting numb. Despite the cold conditions the run felt good, the legs were zippy and I felt ready to race.
Selfie in front of the Big dam bridge, in the middle of my shakeout run the day before the race.
After showering and resting a bit
in my room I picked up my bib and shirt at Rock City Running, a local
running store owned by Bill Torrey, a famous Arkansas runner, who also certified the 3B marathon course. I chatted with him for a while about the course,
the organizer and RD, and about his trips to California with his wife. I wanted to get a running
souvenir from the store, and when I told him I would rather get a short
sleeve/singlet which were not in display, he disappeared in the back of the store and came back with a
couple of singlets. When I asked him about the price of one of those, he told me that it was
free for me. I was blown away by his generosity, and bought a pair of socks to support
the store.
With Bill Torrey at the packet pick-up where they inflated the finish line gate in front of the store.
After lunch I chilled in my
room and didn't do much for the remainder of the day to rest my legs. I didn't sleep
well, with frequent interrupted sleep and recurrent dreams of not being able to hit my pace, but woke up before the alarm went off
at 4:45. After a quick breakfast, coffee and shower, I foam rolled, did some active isolated stretching and drove my car to the parking lot about a mile from the start. From there I
was picked up by a shuttle which dropped me to the start. It was cold down
there (35F), but it did not feel as cold as the day before. The sound system was
blasting some old classic rock songs, which made me feel good and pumped up for the race. 20 minutes before the
start I removed my warm-up pants and jacket, but kept my $1 Goodwill fleece to do
my warm-up drills. I finished the drills about 3 minutes before the start,
removed the fleece and lined up at the front.
The race
We started at 7:00
sharp. A group of 6-8 runners was leading, with one guy - the eventual winner - way ahead. I tried
to focus on hitting close to 6:50 pace, which felt easy during the first mile. Once that mile was in the book, things started to get harder. We did the first crossing of the
Big Dam Bridge during the second mile. I tried to hit a pace close to 6:50 without overexerting myself, but the uphill got me and I slowed down, despite a relatively
high heart rate. That's where the lead pack dropped me and I started to run
alone. After going down the bridge the legs did not feel good and I was feeling my shins, which never
happened to me in training.
Around Mile1, after crossing the small wooden bridge that leads to the Big Dam bridge. The lead pack has already passed, I am on the right with the red shirt/white singlet.
After crossing that first bridge we entered the
bike/pedestrian trail, where I tried to focus on hitting the tangents. This turned out to be an exercise in concentration because the
path was very curvy. During M3 and M4 I started to feel lousy
and saw my pace slowing above 7:00 pace. In addition, there were now a few
seconds difference between the markers and my GPS, which made me feel worse. So I pushed the lap button a second
time after hitting each official marker to get an idea of the difference between
GPS pace and official pace. I knew right then that sub-3 was out of the picture,
but was thinking that I might be able to finish strong, as this happened to me at previous races. An older runner with a yellow singlet (visible on the picture above) passed me
around M3. At that point I threw away my fleece beanie from the 99c
store, which made me feel slightly better as my head felt cooler.
After a few miles in the park
area, the trail hit North Little Rock with a bit more of an urban/industrial
feel. I kept plugging but the legs did not feel good and the breathing was labored. Around M8, a runner with mexican music
blasting off his earphones passed me. I kept contact with him, and at M10 we
reached the Clinton Pedestrian bridge. This was a tough mile, as we had to cross
the bridge, turn around at the bottom - but not before doing a weird turn
around in front of the Clinton Presidential Library, and cross the bridge back.
That's where I caught up with Mexican music guy and dropped him for good. M12 after the bridge felt easier
and was the second and last one below 7:00 pace.
Clinton Bridge
Going around the roundabout before getting back to the Clinton bridge
After the turnaround, it became
harder to negotiate the tangents because slower runners were now coming from the
opposite direction. However a few miles after, the path got less crowded so getting
the right trajectories got easier. I was making peace with the fact that this wasn't my
day and that I should be accepting running anything between 7:00-7:15 pace. I
crossed the half point in 1:33:35, and was hopeful that with a strong finish
and a negative split I might be able to run under 3:05. Unfortunately this did
not happen. Miles were clicking, and keeping pace was just not getting easier,
with heavy legs and the breathing labored, despite a heart rate
that was dropping a good 10 beats below normal marathon pace heart rate. I was
running mostly alone, except sometimes passing early starters or other users of
the trail.
I crossed the Big Dam Bridge again and was in position to pass older guy with yellow singlet who had passed me at M3 and who was now slowing down. I had seen him in front of me for a few miles from far away, but I closed on him and picked him up between the two bridges. We briefly exchanged words of encouragement.
Section between the Big Dam Bridge and the Start/Finish, going towards the finish. The 8 mile marker does not correspond to any mile of the course.
Right before crossing the 3rd
bridge, we had to pass the start/finish area. This was psychologically hard,
knowing that there were still 7+ miles to go. The thought of dropping out of the race there
briefly came to my mind, since I was nowhere near being able to PR, and I was
quite convinced at this point that the end of the race would not get easier.
However I remembered the story of Meb finishing the NYC Marathon this year
despite having a lousy race, and I decided to finish regardless of how painful this would get.
The last bridge (two rivers bridge) which we had to cross twice, at Mile 20 and Mile 26
I crossed the two
rivers bridge and entered a forested park area. I was passing some runners,
but most of them were early starters. The run became a grind, and the pace was getting slightly
slower with each mile. We came out of the forested area towards open fields,
and between miles 22 and 24 I picked up two other runners who were in the lead
pack at M1 and had clearly overestimated their pace. One of them finished 5 minutes behind me, clearly blowing out after I passed him. At that point
I was just telling myself to go for just one more mile. After M24 the idea of a strong finish
went out the window, and I thought for a brief moment what the heck, I should
just drop below 8:00 pace since there was not much left to be gained at this
point. I passed an early starter who told me that I was the 6th runner to pass
him, so although no one was in sight to pick me up, I just tried to maintain
something near 7:20-7:30. Some runners coming in the other direction were
encouraging me "looking good" but at that point I just wanted to be
done. A woman at an aid station yelled at me at M25, probably trying to be
encouraging, but this was mostly a nuisance
I crossed back the two rivers bridge at M26 without much of a finishing kick, just looking at my Garmin to try and finish under 3:10. I leaped over the finish line, since I had no ambition of trying to squeeze any extra second, and was just glad to be done. I saw Jeff Necessary who was helping at the finish, got some drink and food, and hung around the finish until I got my 1st Masters plaque award.
I crossed back the two rivers bridge at M26 without much of a finishing kick, just looking at my Garmin to try and finish under 3:10. I leaped over the finish line, since I had no ambition of trying to squeeze any extra second, and was just glad to be done. I saw Jeff Necessary who was helping at the finish, got some drink and food, and hung around the finish until I got my 1st Masters plaque award.
With Jacob, the race director who was kind enough to take me from the wait list and answer all my emails
Splits:
| Interval | Distance | Time | Avg HR | Max HR | Note |
| 1 | 1 mi | 06:53.0 | 164 | 173 | |
| 2 | 1 mi | 07:03.9 | 174 | 184 | Bridge |
| 3 | 1 mi | 07:05.0 | 165 | 169 | |
| 4 | 1 mi | 07:11.2 | 163 | 165 | |
| 5 | 1 mi | 07:19.1 | 162 | 165 | |
| 6 | 1 mi | 07:13.3 | 161 | 165 | |
| 7 | 1 mi | 07:09.3 | 161 | 164 | |
| 8 | 1 mi | 07:09.5 | 163 | 167 | |
| 9 | 1 mi | 07:05.5 | 160 | 163 | |
| 10 | 1 mi | 07:17.7 | 163 | 166 | 2xBridge |
| 11 | 1 mi | 06:56.0 | 161 | 163 | |
| 12 | 1 mi | 07:18.2 | 159 | 163 | |
| 13 | 1 mi | 07:06.8 | 157 | 159 | |
| 14 | 1 mi | 07:11.1 | 156 | 160 | |
| 15 | 1 mi | 07:13.9 | 156 | 160 | |
| 16 | 1 mi | 07:19.9 | 155 | 159 | |
| 17 | 1 mi | 07:16.1 | 155 | 158 | |
| 18 | 1 mi | 07:20.4 | 159 | 164 | Bridge |
| 19 | 1 mi | 07:08.6 | 157 | 159 | |
| 20 | 1 mi | 07:11.4 | 156 | 159 | Bridge |
| 21 | 1 mi | 07:21.2 | 154 | 158 | |
| 22 | 1 mi | 07:23.4 | 154 | 157 | |
| 23 | 1 mi | 07:18.9 | 155 | 158 | |
| 24 | 1 mi | 07:29.0 | 154 | 156 | |
| 25 | 1 mi | 07:25.9 | 153 | 155 | |
| 26 | 1 mi | 07:34.0 | 155 | 159 | |
| 27 | 0.24 mi | 01:33.0 | 158 | 161 | Bridge |
Epilogue:
I finished 6th overall, 4th male
and 1st masters out of 366 runners in 3:09:36 with a 3 minutes positive split.
I am glad I did not pick Jacksonville as they had temperatures in the
70's with high humidity and pouring rain, which would have made my race
even more miserable. Objectively I should be happy with this race given that I was unable to run on the road without pain from early October until late November. However this was one of the most disappointing and laborious marathons I have ever run. The time
wasn't what I wanted, probably because I overestimated my marathon-specific fitness due to the lack of road running. Although I maintained excellent cardio training on the
AlterG, the leg conditioning just wasn't there. I may have overexerted myself on the second mile, but I am not sure the HR data is accurate and I don't think it explains the overall performance. The most
frustrating part was how bad I felt during almost the entire race, and why running at a HR 10 beats lower than MP HR felt so difficult in the second half. I
just could not find a rhythm and never felt in a groove. The slow fade towards the
end was certainly due to my subpar training, but that doesn't explain why I
felt lousy almost from the start. I am glad I ran this race because it brings a
closure to 2013 and to my Fall season hampered by injury, and also because I
now have a Boston qualifier-10 minutes for 2015. But I will be looking for
answers as of why this race went so wrong from the get go.
