Marathons take a lot out of you physically. They say 1 day per mile. So with 28 days since my recent 3:02 BQ at Buckeye Marathon, I should be recovered right? I had 7 days off after Buckeye and then got back into swim, bike, and run with the goal of a Sub3 at Mesa. I set out a race plan and gave myself the confidence I needed but at Mile 7, I hit a mental wall and finished in 3:21:59. Fiona was also slower by 20 minutes coming in at 4:01 but had the cough that has been going around for nearly 3 weeks. I ‘should’ have my BQ so now it’s up to Fiona. We have decided to head to Seattle for a very fast course at the Jack and Jill’s Downhill Marathon in July, 2 weeks after Muscleman 70.3.

The last week was mostly a repeat of 4 weeks ago with a 10m run on Sunday, T-W-Th going 3, 3, 5miles and an easy hr ride on Monday. I couldn’t swim, working more hours this week. We carbo loaded for 2 days and dinner was the same: 2 Cup of Noodles. We stayed at Motel 6, meaning Hotel Sex getting woken up at 3am to… sounds. (Not the first time! “Memmories” the nught before Geelong 70.3 Australia 19 years ago!) Up at 3:30am after a poor sleep of 6hr19min and a 74score. I ate 2 pieces of bread, banana, and had 2 medium redbulls, one without sugar, I don’t know why I did that. We drove the 10min to the parking lot then hit the bus and I added songs to my Amazon Playlist with more Aviici, Christina Novelli, Alan Walker etc. We sat in the buses for a little then hit the loo and the DJ was crankin great tunes. The loo one more time and bag drop off but I forgot to put my glasses in the bag. No worries, my Sam Long Zoot shorts have pockets so was able to put them in at mile 5 before the decent and when it started to get light.

I had kissed Fi off for her 3:30goal and I headed to the 3hr start area and saw the pacer but prefer my own race. If I fail, I fail, no one else. (which is also why I have nearly always been self-coached). Before the start my race belt snapped and loosened so I tied it quick and then lost one hole on the bib and debated holding the bib but opted for the 2nd hole to hold, and it did. phew.

In the dark of morning we left at 630am and I saw the Phoenix lights in the distance. I was glad I had my glasses and they removed the stupid cones from prior races. First mile 6:18. Goal was 6:30 to M4 before the hill. Done (6:25avg on 141HR). 6:18, 6:26, 6:25, 6:29. The 2:55 pacer was 10 meters in front of me and I was surrounded by a shitload of fast men and women.

The 1.5M hill slowed me down with a 7:30 and 7:23 with HR up to a max of 150 which is very high VO2 max for me. My resting HR was 38avg the week into the race even going down to a 37 at Motel Sex.

I had 1M at 6:37 and then I hit a mental wall. The HR zapped me and the deep fatigue of one of my best ever 70.3’s in New Zealand and a marathon 12 seconds slower than my PB from 10 years ago in back to back months was something that my body did not recover from. I started to feel pain in the quads at M8 and 9: 6:56, 7:00 and was able to still go through it. I had managed to hit my 2nd goal back at M5.5 hitting the hilltop with 24seconds under 3hr pace but then this started to halt that. 7:05, 7:19, 7:13 7:29 and through the half in a respectable 1:31:08 but that would be enough cushion for a PB and I had already BQ’d so what do I do now? The 3hr pacer passed me at 11.5, the 3:05 at 14 and hundreds of racers, this was starting to get demoralizing. Practice my nutrition plan of 1,300cal, 2.8G of salt, and 300mg Caffeine. I did that and then thought at M19, just run the whole thing nonstop! Then, almoat immediately, I had to pee and figured I would actually use a loo this time since it didn’t matter now. I walked the aid station and got back to it. I was starting to pass folks that had far worse days than me and started to grab gels and stuffing them everywhere to resemble the 25 $100 Maurten move I did at Ironman Arizona that even Joe Skipper said on his podcast! Fiona and i both ended up with 16 GU Roctane’s worth around $60 🙂

7:30, 7:40, 7:46, 7:51, 8:00, 8:41, M20 8:15.

Pace really started to go to shit but HR was still quite high avg around 133 so this was clear that my body was not recovered. But, this was solid endurance work and would do me well this year.

8:49, 8:46, legs feeling trashed. 9:23, 9:07 and with 2M to go I am at 3:15..If I don’t stop, I can go around 3:23. OK, don’t stop.

8:41, 8:15 final downhill mile on this net downhill with 1,200′ of loss. Into the finish line taking some pics. My legs did nit cramp like Buckeye so the salt was exactly what I needed. Fuel was also good with no digestive issues either.

I headed back to the road, cheer in Holly and then Fiona. None of us had our day. But it’s so hard to nail it. It’s why it’s such an addicting sport.

We had some beers at the Beer Garden and recapped our stories looking up the next marathon to BQ and attempt Sub3 again. We have heard great things about Jack and Jill in Seattle, 2,000′ drop, packed softer gravel, trees etc. We have decided to go back to Pescatarian and get disciplined like 10 years ago in our best ever year.
The marathon was great as always here. The volunteers and police, very strong showing. It averaged 70F so not cold but better than freezing my ass off during last years 3:10. I went 19:52 for 5K, Damn. Fastest 5K in 4.5 years.

HR was a Bronze all time for 90minutes at 141. This was 2BPM lower than Buckeye and I went 3min slower for the Half. Another great HR and able to push.

Back to CPA studying, far harder than any race I have done 🙂 Then some mini trips coming up and back to Triathlon Training!

Subscribe and stay tuned.

And the new diet starts after Valentines Date and some well deserved Five Guys!!!