In 2009, back when <35 women only had to run a 3:40:59 to qualify for the Boston Marathon, I decided to go for it. I’d ran a few other marathons with my best being 4:08 previously. A 27 minute PR was doable right? I mean, I’d improved 30 minutes from my first to my second so this all seemed realistic. So I pieced together a solid plan, got a training partner (aka convinced a good friend she also needed to run for a BQ) and set out with big goals. A few weeks into training I slightly pulled a hamstring trying to run hills on cold legs. I kept running and compensating and ended up with two hamstrings wound up into knots so tight it took months of PT work and no running to get to the point where I could almost touch the floor with a deep knee bend again. I did run that marathon. I did not qualify for Boston. Although I still gutted out a 10 minute PR and broke 4 hours.
Injuries are a part of this sport so many of us love. Whether acute from an isolated incident (rolling an ankle on a run) or use-based (tendonitis in the knee built up over time) – running multiple days a week over years and not at some point dealing with an injury would make you a unicorn. Over the last decade I’ve had a range of them and have subsequently learned how to help mitigate them and spot them if they are starting to build. I’ve experienced the range: from my hamstring pull to the tendonitis in my knees, from severely rolled ankles (or really the same one, several times) to what I now know was probably mild plantar fasciitis, and from runner’s knee to my most recent injury – a tear in my soleus (deep calf muscle). Some of these injuries literally took years to heal while others required a view from the sidelines for only a few days. I don’t think any of these injuries put me in a place to define my return to running and training as a “comeback”. It isn’t a comeback when injuries are part of the cycle. When I finally did run a qualifying race for Boston, 6 years later, I wasn't coming "back" to anywhere I was before. I ran a 33 minute PR. Sometimes you get a really really long, strong cycle with no injuries. And sometimes the break between is painfully short and rage inducing. So along this line of thinking, NYC wasn’t a comeback race for me – but it was my first marathon after a fairly severe injury and I had to approach my training differently than I have in the past. I didn’t have the base of 35-45 miles per week to start from and I was absolutely 20 pounds heavier that I should have been to start an aggressive training block. I built a new plan, one that would start at the right level of volume and speed and build slowly, when I was ready. I was still able to hit a 65 mile week, which is what I feel is necessary when running at this level with the goals I have. I removed true speed week (intervals etc.) from the first few weeks and built my tempo run distance very slowly. I also layered in several races (3 half marathons and 2 relays) to build more accountability into my plan and allowed me to work on different mental strategies that I hadn’t focused enough on in the past. Like negative splitting a half marathon FOR THE FIRST TIME, as a result. It took me 30 half marathons, but I finally did it. The result of this new approach – heavily in tune with my body first, mileage and workout goals second, is exactly what I needed for this training. It also required a lifestyle shift to make that happen: no alcohol, no meat, no dairy and a lot of legs-up-the-wall. I lost the weight, felt fresh on my feet come race day, removed the enormous load of pressure I put on myself at Boston and started the race at a restrained pace. The result? I ran the NYC Marathon in 3:17:19, a 45 second PR over my previous in Boston, and I never reached a point where I felt like I was falling apart. Here’s a quick and dirty recap: 1 | 7:35 Uphill climb over the bridge – proud of this pace, feeling loose 2 | 6:50 Fastest in the race – but almost no effort exerted. Downhill coming off the bridge 3-7 | 7:21, 7:13, 7:17, 7:19, 7:17 Settled into pace – goal was to average between 7:15 – 7:20 8 | 7:24 This mile felt really hard – it was in the heart of Brooklyn and where all three sections merged onto the same road. I felt entirely overwhelmed and claustrophobic with the volume and increase of people on the course. It also climbed ever so slightly. 9-14 | 7:27, 7:11, 7:30, 7:12, 7:26, 7:14 Bit of a yoyo in pace – moving with the slightly rolling hills through this section. Ran through the halfway point on average pace target of 7:20. 15-18 | 7:51, 7:35, 7:13, 7:20 I’M STILL IN THIS! My mantra over the next 4 miles. This was the point in the course where we ran over the bridge into Manhattan. It was not a small hill. I was fortunate enough to run next to my friend and fellow GRRL Britt for these miles which felt comforting. Making it through 16 (where I usually hit a wall hard) feeling good was the best part of this race. 19-22 | 7:31, 7:44, 7:57, 7:53 I can pinpoint these miles as the point where I started to fade. Nothing substantial and it wasn’t really “falling apart” – but it became obvious by 22 that I wouldn’t be hitting my “A” goal (sub 3:12) or even likely the “B” goal (sub 3:15). Aside from some strange chaffing sensations around mile 20, I still felt good though! (Also to note: many people will say the Bronx is the boring part of the course but I loved it. Dirty hip-hop playing all around!) 23-25 | 8:08, 8:XX (???), 8:10 Ahh the dreaded 8 minute miles. I held them off until mile 23 which is the longest I’ve held this pace! That hill into Central Park feels endless. It’s legit longer than you think it will be and feels pretty brutal. Around that time of mile 24 my GPS also started saying I was running really slow but I was not… (I was trending to run about 26.3+ miles and all of a sudden reached the 24th mile marker way after my watch. Sigh. Technology!) 26-finish | 7:49 Those crowds running toward Columbus Circle and mile 26 are incredible. That and my sloppy math telling me I needed to dig in if I still wanted to PR (“C” goal) helped me finish the race in 3:17:19. This wasn’t a comeback. I recovered from a bad injury, changed my training, and ran a PR. This year, and this journey to a PR at a Marathon major, wasn’t easy – but it’s part of my running story. Call it a play on semantics but I’ll call it a mindset: I don’t want a comeback. Because I want to be better. I don’t want to “get back to where I was”… I want to be where I am now: on a journey to get stronger and faster. Even when there are bumps and bruises along the way. Forward – not back. This race was a strong milestone on a journey that I intend to be on for a very long time.
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AuthorA Midwest girl gone global. I choose happiness everyday: I run, eat well, travel, and love completely. Archives
March 2022
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