Race Report: Space Coast Marathon 2016

Every year on Thanksgiving weekend, I participate in the Space Coast Marathon.  Now only 2 hours away from us on the "other side" of the state, this has become a popular race due to a series honoring the retired space shuttles.  This was year 4 into the 5 year series.  This would actually be my fifth time participating in the race.  It was also the race's 45th anniversary, making it one of the longest running marathons in the US.  I prepared this year for the marathon by actually quitting triathlon for the fall.  I chose to focus on one sport with the hope of performing well at the marathon.  Read on to see how that worked out. 

Race Week

Race week was terrible.  Since Thursday before the race (Thanksgiving and my birthday), I was sick with a chest cold that spread itself to my head as well.  Coughing, sneezing, runny nose, sore throat and everything that goes with it was present for most of Friday and Saturday.  I picked up multiple meds and prepared.  The issue was that if I didn't do the race, I would not be able to finish the series as a true finisher.  So that would be a lot of wasted time.  It wasn't bad enough that I would not be able to at least just walk the marathon to finish.  

I spent most of the week going through the states of grief about getting sick.  There was sadness and anger but also bargaining where I would play out a million different scenarios to get me to my PR goal.  "If I only..."; "Maybe if I can..."; "Modifying X will..."   You get the picture.  Eventually, I just accepted that I most likely would not do well and it would be a chore to even finish the race.  But you can't tell a stubborn person any of this. 

Race Day 

I woke up on race day feeling actually ok.  I still had my cough and congestion but I had slept the night before due to the meds knocking me right out all night. I did not do the customary night before dinner or hanging out with any friends.  I just wanted to sleep.  I fell asleep watching Star Trek: TNG which was appropriate for a space themed race. 

It was a little cool on race morning at 58 degrees.  This is actually the coolest it has been at the start of the race.  Usually, the low hangs around 61 or so along the water and this felt like it could be a cooler day than usual.  I was hoping for a cooler day because that would at least give me a performance boost to not melt.  I got there early to get a good parking spot and saw some friends before the race.  The half marathon starts first at 6am.  I had an extra half hour to hang out in my trash bag (worn for warmth) before I started. 

Race 

I decided to start normally with my pace and see how things went.  I started with the 3:40 group to be conservative.  I would run the first half with them and see where I ended up.  It seemed reasonable.  We started and headed out for the first leg.  For those that don't know the race from my previous reports, it is two out-and-backs (6.5 miles north, 6.5 miles back, 6.5 miles south, 6.5 miles back).  I typically like this race because it is easy to judge where you are and there are always people to see on the way out and back on both halves. 

The first five miles on the way out were ok.  The sun had not come through the clouds yet and the groups were still fresh.  I stayed with the group or just a few meters behind.  Once the sun came out, it was not pleasant.  There was no wind whatsoever and the sun was baking the course.  It felt hotter than any other race in the past here, despite the cool morning.  I hung around with my group until just around the halfway point.  At the 13.1 split, I was on target for a 3:40-3:45 but I knew I would not last.  My legs already felt like concrete blocks and I had been coughing for the past 6 miles.  So I started walking and jogging around mile 14.  There is no use in hurting myself or making myself worse for this race.

Around mile 19, I got a second wind and started running again.  I ran the next two miles at around a 9 minute pace.  As we turned around at mile 20, we had a nice headwind to cool it off a bit but it was too little too late.  I lost it again at mile 21 and just put it into survival mode.  Like a lot of other people, I was just riding out my time and trying to get back.  I gave up on formal intervals and opted for landmark-based Fartlek intervals.  I would just run until I didn't feel like it, then I would pick a new landmark for my next run start. 

The odd thing about this race was that it was completely silent.  By this, I mean that nobody in our pace group nor anybody around me seemed to pick up conversations.  Usually pace groups are quite chatty, even the quicker groups.  On the back half, many people strike up conversations with each other as they switch into survival mode.  This was the first time where I ran the whole race in silence.  Odd.  I don't run with headphones for safety purposes but it seemed surreal that besides the people cheering, the participants were quite introverted. 

Overall (4:34)

Overall this was obviously not my best effort but it also wasn't my worst.  It wasn't even my worst time at this race so it is disappointing but not the end of the world.  I took advantage of the showers at the YMCA before heading over to meet friends at WDW for some post race eating.  I still was not feeling well so it would not be raucous revelry but I don't get to see friends that often so it is good to get out. 

Since late July, I have been doing the 80/20 running plan.  I feel like the plan was not a fit for me or my personality.  I felt woefully underprepared for the race.  Mainly, because most of the training has been well below goal pace (train slow to run fast) and at high volume, I felt like my endurance was there but my speed/stamina was not going to be there regardless of my illness.  I still believe this plan can help you if you are new to running but for experienced runners, it may not really give you the results that are needed. I honestly don't care how many professionals are name-dropped in the book.  Friends of mine have had much better success with the high intensity plans of the Hanson brothers. As I stated in my post on the book, each type of training has scientific basis and has a merits. I certainly will not be continuing with the 80/20 method and will be returning to what has worked for me in the past (shorter but higher intensity sessions).