GR marathon, mile-by-mile
In case you missed it on Friday, I shared a link to a video about how to objectively analyze your marathon. The idea is to lay out the mile splits from 6 through 20 (I did all 26 for kicks and giggles), include any elevation change, course, and anecdotal information that you can remember. Then you can see how all the elements affected your pace. I wish that I would have done this analysis closer to my last race which was 4 weeks ago now (tomorrow’s my one-month BQ anniversary, but who’s counting?). I feel like there might be pieces of data that I’ve already forgotten about. So, even though it’s not ideal here is what I have come up with:
notes of clarification: I ran with a 10 oz. water bottle with a 50/50 mix of water and Gatorade that I exchanged with my friend Andi at different spots along the way. So, I always had access to fluids. The elevation is tricky for me to put into numbers, so I just looked at the highest and lowest points for each mile and did my best to estimate the feet gained or lost.
Honestly, I’m not sure what to do with this information now…
One way to look at it is the number of miles over/under my goal. I wanted to run conservatively and hit even splits ranging between 8:20 and 8:25. 10 of my miles were over this goal and 4 were under. Pink=over, Blue=under.
I’m seriously trying to figure out what this can tell me about what I should be doing differently. I would love to figure out why I felt so HORRIBLE from mile 20 to 25. The good news was that I was still able to churn out 3 goal pace miles during my emotional meltdown (don’t know what I’m talking about…check it out here).
So…what do we think? If you were my coach what would you tell me to do differently? How can I learn to run strong from the first step until the last? I can’t wait to hear what you have to say!!
Anyone else planning on doing the analysis? I’d love to link to anyone else that’s interested in sharing what you’ve been learning about your race. Let me know if you do a post with a race analysis!
Well, I found your comment on my RR
thank you! And I wish I had the mile by mile…but i never had the GPS splits, just the mat times (which weren’t always correctly placed, I learned).
My analysis is that you were very cosistent!
I need to check the link you had about miles 20-25.
One other observation: (something I did in my race also), drinking gatorade and taking gu. Were you washing down the gu with water or the G mix? I read after my race that it should be either Gatorade only, or gu with straight h2O. Maybe that caught you at mile 20?
It was in this article: http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=19166&PageNum=1
If I have a GPS by Boston I am doing the break-down!
Got my letter in the mail for it 
)
i would think that was the problem, but i never felt indigestion…it was all just discouragement and lack of will. i wish there was a long-run equivalent that would help strengthen my mental muscles to face those demons that we can’t escape during 26.2 miles…
I just posted a big comment but don’t see it?! Agh. I’ll wait a awhile and try again
OK… but here goes:
I wish I had the mile by mile splits for it. The best I have is the mat times which weren’t all in the proper places. :/
Thanks for your comment on my RR!
The analysis of yours shows me that you were very consistent! I haven’t looked at miles 20-25 and the breakdown part, but I will
One observation: you took gu (not sure if it was with water) and also gatorade mixed with water. I did the same thing). After my race I read that you should wash that gu down with water, not gatorade. article: http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=19166&PageNum=1
so maybe by 20 that affected you? Regardless, It looks like you finished really strong!!
I love the info…I am a geek like that and obsess over every little part on your chart! You are amazing!! As soon as you figure out how not to feel like crap from miles 20-25 let me know because I have yet to come up with a way! Do you always run with a water bottle?
i do always run with a bottle. i ran my first two marathons without it, then i did a half with a handheld and LOVEDDDD it! so i train with a 22oz. and race with a 10oz. its great to be able to stick to my fueling plan and not rely completely on the aid stations. if i didn’t have as much support i would have just used the water provided at the aid stations to refill. i’m super awesome at filling up on the run–way better than trying to drink out of those cups.
Maybe it just goes with the territory? Phrased another way, why would you expect to run 26 miles and NOT feel like crap from miles 20-25? If any dope could run 26 miles and not feel like crap from 20-25, then it wouldn’t be a big deal and you wouldn’t even be blogging about it. Besides, you ran 22-24 within your range.
I thought your times looked remarkably even. Can you get access to other people’s times on the web somewhere and see how much their times vary from mile to mile? Come on, math girl, where’s your calculus?
Gosh. I’m no coach but in looking at your splits it seems you ran VERY evenly. You didn’t fall off the horse at all and you did run strong from beginning to end. You felt like you didn’t because I’m quite certain no one feels like a bowl full of cherries from 20-25 ha! Fun reading your race report too!!! Congrats again on such a great accomplishment! Boston is a very strategic race. My goal there was two basically even halves but maximize the course where I could AFTER the first 6 miles, by utilizing the downhills and banking for the uphills. I researched the H out of the race and I really feel like it paid off as I was really pleased with the approach I took. I just really think you are going to do so great!!!
So I don’t have anything great to tell you about all this, but I CAN say that it’s super cool. And that you ran pretty consistently, which is great (something I need to work on!) I think it’ll be really interesting if you can then compare this break-down with how you do at Boston…and then you can see how similar you ran and how that turned out.
As far as feeling bad at the last miles, I really think that’s normal…or relatively so. Those are definitely the toughest miles of a marathon. I’ve had many an emotional break-down during that part of the race. And when you’re trying to qualify, that extra pressure only makes things worse! That being said, it’d be nice to run a marathon and feel great the whole way.
Thanks for sharing this. Now I want to sit down and do it for my own marathon!!
Seems like an interesting exercise, although it’s always hard to figure out what to take from it. Make me want to do this with my last marathon . . .
I had to wait for the kids to go to bed so I could read your race report uninterrupted
!
It was fabulous! I couldn’t figure out how to leave a comment there, but what a race! I understand why you were going through that anguish from 20-25. I’d be scared too, with not much time to spare and everything on the line. You will re-qualify no problem this time. I am sure of it.
I’d love to know what you did for training. You have really taken some serious time off of your marathons
I love love love looking at your splits!!!!
I’m so glad you found me! Yes us ‘Dawn’s’ are kindred spirits, right?
I think as runners we can never have too much info or breakdowns of our runs. I’m always analyzing to see what changes I can make and how to do things better. So jealous you’re in Boston! I’m hoping for 2012 – that seems like forever away… I’ll be following your training!
I love this little program! It’s so fun to look at your splits! Can’t wait for another bloggie/running date soon!
Gina–maybe miles 21-25 were so rough, just b/c they were miles 21-25. You and I both know anyone can run 20 miles, the real fun begins the last 6.2. I would also say, that if I remember correctly some of your negative talk about whether or not you would get your BQ began to creep in during those miles. Since there isn’t any real evidence of your times dipping which would result if your body just couldn’t do anymore, I would asses that your feeling awful during those miles was a direct result of the negative thoughts. So I would suggest find a mantra that you only pull out when you feel the negative talk coming at the end of a long or a very hard run! This mantra will ONLY be for those times. Maybe even a positive scripture you could recite over and over again.
Okay now here is my analysis of the rest of your chart and some suggestions: First of all I wouldn’t even count your first mile as being over your desired pace. In fact I think that it was slower shows your maturity as a runner. Most of us go out to fast. But look at the elites they go out always slower then their ultimate desired pace. I.e. NYC, if the race hadn’t gone out pedestrian Shalane might not have gotten 2nd. Also, think about how slow the Men’s Trials went out a few years ago. Throughout the whole beginning of the race Ed Eyestone kept bemoaning how pedestrian it was, then Ryan Hall took off and ended up running a 2:08 or 2:09 on a very challenging course, with him basically giving high-fives and partying all the last several miles. I think you going out in 8:30 was beneficial for your overall run and besides you got all those five seconds back, by mile 3 you were averaging an 8:25 right on pace. Your pace drops at almost all the spectator spots…maybe be mindful of this, especially in Boston where there are going to be some places that are just a cacophony of noise! What can you say to yourself to slow your thinking and stay even? Maybe check your watch a little more. I think that allowing the spectators to carry you and speed you up the last few miles if great, but early on you want to be careful. I also notice after several of the declining miles you then slow down for the next mile. Work maybe on keeping an even tempo through the down hills. Use them to gain ground, but not at the expense of losing it all immediately after. What is the point of going a lot faster and tiring yourself out on the downhills only to give it all back on the flats? Then you’ve just burnt valuable energy for a lot of nothing. What was it about the bridge that made you run 8:30? It looks like the only miles I would say you struggled obviously time wise would be 19, 20, 21. But I would look at that struggle as a positive, that is the wall my friend and you ran right through it. Those 3 miles stacked together were your slowest miles of any 3 stacked and yet you followed it up with an 8:25, 8:25, 8:24–that is some good running! You maybe started to break form there a little, but you got back on it! I am proud of you! I think you should think about putting in a lot of miles below MP for any runs under 12 in your training. So if you are going to be running a 2 miler like you did tonight, don’t look at 7:30 as punishing the pavement, but what you wanted to run. If you are want to run an 8:20 MP then next time you do 10 miles run a middle four of them at 8:00-8:10.
That is my take.
From one amateur to a more skilled amateur. By the way are you flexible, what do you do for stretching?