CIM Goals

Choosing a marathon goal is a crucial part of my pre-race preparations. I like to analyze the data and make a goal early in the week. It's sometimes a stressful experience and getting it out of the way early is necessary to helping me relax. Finding a goal this time around proved to be especially difficult. In the past, I've always had a good idea where I stand in terms of fitness. Chipping away a minute or two here and there has been logical.

This is what my calendar had to say about Sunday.

Then I drastically changed my training this summer. Mountain ultras have always been a comfortable place to spend those long summer days. This year, however, I kept my volume lighter and focused on short intervals and tempo runs. What was my mile repeat pace suddenly became my weekly tempo pace (6:50), then my 5K pace.

In training for the half marathon this fall, I ran up to seven miles at a 7:08/mi. in training. The same workout this spring was a huge struggle just to break a 7:25 pace. That summer speed translated well to a half marathon PR, during which I unofficially broke PRs in the 10K, 15K, and 10 mile too.

At this point, I think it's safe to say my previous lack of short distance training caused me to plateau in the marathon, improving slowly from 3:31 to 3:30 to 3:28 and finally to 3:27. So now that I have improved my fitness, my lactate threshold and VDOT both shifting faster, I'm not quite sure what that means for the marathon. Part of my pre-race preparation is analyzing the data. I compare my race times all the charts I can find and then analyze my own training as a whole.

Here's what Jack Daniels said I could run. My summertime training was based off his training formula:

lolol ok sure, guy.

Historically, my times have always been pretty aligned with the McMillan Calculator. Here's what that had to say:

Quite a bit more believable

And finally, my own training. Just as I like to create a training plan before the season begins to see the big picture, I find it helpful to analyze all the data afterward when creating a goal. Here's a breakdown of what happened this fall:

Hiking not included in totals.

While September lacked some of the traditional speed workouts, I think the two long trail races provided a unique twist on fast finish endurance runs. Perhaps those provided an even better training run than the marathon pace workouts on flat pavement. Then as I progressed through October, everything came together in the way that my Type A personality likes the best: two 10 mile runs at a 7:33 pace, each during a 70 mile week. Both felt comfortable and sustainable for a longer period of time.

Is your head spinning yet? After all that, mine was.

Then the second part of my goal making process is to talk it out. Out loud. In front of the mirror. Lay it all out there: fears, concerns, and finally the pep talk.

What it all boils down to is that I know my body and how it responds to the marathon. How it should respond at several different points in the race. If it isn't right, I'll pull the pace back, whatever it is, until I hit the right effort level. That's why I choose a starting pace and don't worry about anything else. Last year's CIM started off pretty rough. I pulled the pace back a bit through much of the first half and surged the last 5K and ended up with a PR. That same savvy helped me run well at Boston this year when it was too hot to go for my original goal and I was one of the few who didn't have a complete blow up.

So here's the plan: I'm going to go out at a 7:40-7:45 pace and see what happens. If I need to slow down a bit, that's okay. If I've got a little energy leftover at mile 22 when I cross the American River, I can pick it up then. That pace should net me a finish time somewhere in the low 3:20s.

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Now for the final part of my race week prep: Forgetting all of that. I've found that the best way for me to keep from getting nervous is to try and pretend I'm not running a race on Sunday. :) Other than the expo, I stay way from all the excitement of marathon weekend. Sacramento isn't quite as marathon-centric as Boston is on race weekend, so this part should be easy.

Wish me luck!