Chicago Marathon: Hitting The Wall (and Breaking Through)

Today, I ran the first run of my taper week, 8.25 miles to the lakefront trail and back. The temps were around 60 degrees and it was windy (as you can see by the sailboat pictures I took this morning). One question I keep asking myself during my runs is, "during the Chicago Marathon, at what point will I hit the dreaded wall, and will I be able to handle it so that I can keep running?" 

Over the Wall to Victory!

Sail Collapse in the Lake - 9/30/12

Collapse Point: Luckily, there is a formula I can do to figure out just when I might hit the wall.  The formula is part of the "Collapse Point" theory. Without going into to much detail, it says, you should have averaged at least 65 miles/week for last 8 weeks before the marathon in order for your "wall" to be at 26.2 miles.  This means you would theoretically finish before you hit your wall.  If you have trained less than 65 miles/week, you can calculate what mile you will hit your "wall." Since I trained less than 65 miles per week, my wall should be just after mile 21.

How far can I go?: However, the Collapse Point formula is a little basic.  I did quite a lot to torture my legs in my marathon training to rely on a quick calculation to determine my collapse point. Realistically, I am betting that since I ran 7 days a week for most of the last 18 weeks, that I can maybe push my legs until mile 23 or 24 until I hit the wall.  For me, hitting the wall has had two meanings: 

• Laying on the sidewalk along Michigan Ave. for 10 minutes because BOTH of my legs won't move (Chicago '10). 
• Walking the last 3 miles of the marathon (New York '11) due to leg cramps.

However, this time around, it will be the point where my mind is telling me to stop, even though I actually have enough energy and stamina to pull off a decent finish.

 Breaking Through The Wall: So, how can I handle the wall once I feel I am about to slow down along Michigan Ave.?  Here's a list I came up with:

Will I be able to crest the wall when things get stormy?

#1) Memories: Remember the 117 of the last 126 days that I laced up my shoes and headed out the door sometimes in the oppressive heat, sometimes twice a day, just so the last 6.2 miles of the marathon would be more of a breeze! 

Will I soar like this guy?

#2) Find A Group. Get pulled along by runners that are at a similar pace. Draft when necessary.  Gain confidence when a runner falls out of the group because I am still able to go faster.

Make some temporary running buddies during the Marathon

#3) The Crowd:  Let the cheers of the crowd pull me along. How many times in my life will I have thousands of people cheering me on? The least I can do for them is to pick my head up and move my legs a little faster! Also, I need to eat the sugary/salty things that they are handing out when they offer them.

Let the crowd pull you along....

#4) Run Slowly Early: Aka, run negative splits. One of the most accepted theories of why runners' legs cramp near the end of a marathon is due to too many fast, early miles. Yes, I have a tendency to try and "bank" miles early, and I have proven to myself beyond all doubt this does not work.  As an added bonus: If I run the first 3 miles as a warm-up, the marathon becomes only a 23.2 mile race!

Remember the 100+ solo runs that got me to this point...

#5) Relax and Have Fun: If I am having fun during the final 6.2, the only thing that I will be dreading is the finish line coming too soon! I won't be running another fun marathon until April!

Relax and have fun!

   How do you plan on "breaking through the wall?"

"This workout is going to hurt, but it will make you faster."

Let the taper begin!

Today was my last S.O.S. (Something of Substance) workout. I ran it at the North Park University track. There was a high school track team practicing there at the same time. I heard the coach telling the boys team:

"This workout is going to hurt, but it will make you faster." 

He then shouted, "Go!", and without missing a beat, the boys team took off running fast around the track. I guess kids are not afraid of coming face-to-face with pain!

Anyway, it was fun being out there, because it made it easier to run fast when a bunch of fast runners were flying all around me.

At the track this morning

6 x 1 Mile Workout Summary:

• 1.75 mile warmup
• 3 miles @ 6:27/mile
• .25 mile walk
• 2 miles @ 6:28/mile
• .25 mile walk
• 1 mile @ 6:21/mile
• 1.75 mile cool down

How this week compares to the week before my Marathon p.r.:

Today, my average pace per mile was 6:26 for the 6 x 1 miles. This is a whole nine seconds faster than the identical workout I did one week before my marathon p.r.. However, when I set my p.r. in 2011, I was averaging 57 miles/week. For the 2012 Chicago Marathon training cycle, I only managed to average 47 miles/week.  I may be slightly faster today than I was in 2011, but my legs are not as "battle hardened" and I likely have slightly less endurance. So, what should my marathon pace be?

A view this morning of the "L" looking southward from the Lawrence Ave. Bridge over the Chicago River

Determining My Marathon Pace:
I would like to set a new marathon p.r., which would mean averaging 7:02/mile. I trained for around a 7:00 pace, but, realistically, I did not put in a ton of miles this training cycle, so my confidence in finishing the marathon strong is not super high. In any case, all of my personal records in races were set when I ran negative splits, so I need to run negative splits for this one too. It would seem that my best bet is to shoot for a 7:10 pace and if I am feeling good at mile 13, I can drop down to a 7:00/mile until mile 20. If I am still feeling good at mile 20, I can drop my pace down to 6:55/mile. That would bring me to my marathon p.r. If I am not feeling good at any point, I can slow down a bit and still get a decent finishing time.

By the way, I do all of my marathon pace calculations based on a 26.3 mile course, since I don't always cut perfect tangents. In fact, my Garmin said I ran 26.5 for my marathon p.r. in 2011!

The Bottom Line: In order for me to break my p.r. I need to run negative splits. Also, it needs to be cool, say 45 degrees at the start and 55 degrees at the finish. A little drizzle would help if it is warmer. As a bonus, a nice little tailwind for the final few mile run up Michigan Avenue would be fantastic! If I start the race too fast, or the weather is disagreeable, then I can likely kiss a new p.r. goodbye.

The Bottom Bottom Line:
If the race day weather is warm or I start the race too fast, I'll be in the race purely for fun, so you marathon spectators should get ready for lots of high-fives and smiles from me!

Sunrise over Lawrence Ave.

Tapering Goals Next Week: Stay injury free, run 35 miles to stay sharp. Oh, did I mention that I am going to stay injury free?! :-)

Do you have any specific goals over the taper week?

Artistic rendering of Lawrence Ave.. Thanks Photoshop!