17 - Race Report: Eugene Marathon

Heyooo. It’s been a month(!!) since the Eugene Marathon and I’m just getting this out now. That was partly intentional. I’ve now had a lot of time to step away, digest, kind of forget about it (oops), and then reflect hard to remember and capture all my thoughts about the race. It also took me a while to figure out a format for how I want to talk about the race, but I’ve settled on something I like for now and can tune up as I write more of these.

This one’s definitely more lengthy than my previous blog posts, especially since I give a little more background on training and race concepts. It’s denser with content, if not just simply dense with words. So feel free to leave and return, maybe with some popcorn and a cool drink. And let me know any time your thoughts on this post! Ultimately one of my goals with this blog is to share my experiences and knowledge in a digestible way, so feel free to pass along any notes of what works, what doesn’t, what entices you, and what bores you. Any feedback is always appreciated :)

Ok, let’s begin:

Race Info

• Name: Eugene Marathon
• Date: April 30, 2023
• Distance: Marathon, 26.2 miles
• Location: Eugene, Oregon
• Finish Time: 3:22:45
• Pace: 7:44/mi (4:48/km)

• Overall Placement: 506 out of 2134
• All Male: 388 of 1280
• Male 25 to 29: 87 of 242

Goals

I really had just one goal for Eugene: Race a smart, clean, strong race.

Sounds kind of nebulous, so I’ll try to state all I mean by that and then give the background of my goal setting. For me, running a “smart, clean, strong race” means racing (close to) the pace I’ve trained for. It means executing each phase of the race intelligently—running the first 10 miles conservatively, holding on for the next 10 miles, and then squeezing out what I’ve got for the last 10 kilometers. It also means not bonking, or hitting the wall, which I had done for my first marathon time trial and my first two marathon races. It means running to the capacity I feel is appropriate for each part of the race and finishing knowing that I gave what I needed to every moment of the race. More succinctly, my goal was to race the whole distance without ever running so hard that I gas out later on, or so slow that I finish feeling like I could’ve given more.

In racing, it’s typical to see runners set A, B, and C goals, rather than just set one goal. That might look like:

A) Finishing time of sub 3:20

B) Sub 3:25

C) Finish the race

Having three different goals allows for some wiggle room for the unpredictable things that may happen on race day, such as weather anomalies, sickness, or gastrointestinal distress. An ‘A’ goal would be the moonshot goal; “This is what I’ll get on a perfect day with perfect weather and perfect execution”. The ‘B’ goal would be a more realistic, still slightly reach-y goal. The ‘C’ goal would be the most conservative one that allows for the unplanned and still gives the runner a sense of accomplishment.

With where I am in my marathoning, I find it preferable to set just one goal. This is what I did for Eugene, and it’s what I’ve done for the only other two marathons I’ve raced. I initially got the idea to set only one goal from Pete Pfitzinger’s Advanced Marathoning. I’m forgetting exactly what his reasoning was, so I’m not going to try to restate it here. For me, I find setting multiple goals distracting, and kind of counterproductive. It feels like setting contingencies (because it is, and that’s okay), but it also feels like planning to fail.

Setting one goal allows me to focus on just that one goal. It simplifies things and makes sure I measure any decisions I make in the race against that goal. This relieves some mental stress during racing. When I’m running, I don’t want to be bouncing between multiple goals in my head, wondering if I’m going to hit this time goal or fall back to that one. I occupy my headspace enough with checking in on how I’m feeling physically and mentally while keeping myself on pace. Any more, I think, adds to the exhaustion.

Having bonked during my first two marathons, I trained for Eugene very intent on not having to slow down significantly or stop or massage or walk off some cramps. I wanted to run that calculated, well-executed race, which I could use as a benchmark for how I want my future races to go. I wanted one good race to take to the bank and then know for sure that I could execute a well-run race. And I did just that :)

Fueling Strategy

The marathon requires runners to take in calories, water, and electrolytes while racing. Below are all the things I consumed before and during the race. The pre-race Drink Mix and banana give me easy reliable calories before the race, and all the gels I take while racing give me the nutrition I need to sustain race effort for the length and duration of the marathon. I planned to take each gel roughly every 3-4 miles.

Pre-Race:

• Maurten Drink Mix 320
• Banana
• Inhaler - Albuterol Sulfate (to stave off exercise-induced asthma. My primary care physician prescribed me this before I went to Everest Base Camp in 2022!)

In-Race

1. Maurten GEL 100 - Mile 3
2. Maurten GEL 100 CAF 100 - Mile 6
3. Huma Chia Energy Gel - Mile 10
4. Maurten GEL 100 - Mile 13.5
5. Maurten GEL 100 CAF 100 - Mile 17
6. Huma Chia Energy Gel - Mile 20ish
7. Gu (from aid station) - Mile 23 (I think)

Kit

• Shoes: Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2 - I’ve used this model for all of my marathons so far. It’s comfortable and reliable for me
• Singlet: Nike Dri-FIT ADV AeroSwift - lightweight, airy singlet
• Half Tights: Nike Trail Lava Loops - lots of pockets to carry my phone and all my gels securely
• Arm Sleeves: Nike Arm Sleeves - helps keep my arms warm during the earlier part of the race when it’s colder, and easy to slide down/remove when things start getting warm
• Underwear: Uniqlo AIRism Ultra Seamless Boxer Briefs - running shorts typically have a liner, and mine does. I just like to wear underwear also. Never had chafing issues with these!
• Headband: BUFF DryFlx Headband - the only headband I’ve found that can tame my hair without squeezing too hard or slipping off. I take this on nearly every run. I should get more
• Earbuds: Apple AirPods 3 - these do a fine job staying in my ears tucked under my headband. I used to use one of those Shokz bone conduction headphones, but those felt fatiguing to listen through on longer runs, and they don’t fit so well under a headband.
• Playlist: My “Half Marathon” playlist - mostly handpicks of Kanye through the ages, and then some of my feel-good go-tos, and a Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco album. I made this for the first half marathon in 2018 and haven’t touched it since, and I’ve used it for nearly every race I’ve run.

Training Block Reflection and Pre-Race

My Eugene training block, starting from January this year, was actually the most consistent I’ve been in training. No major bouts of injury or illness. I also added some new auxiliary work to support my running. Nearly every run was followed by a yoga session, and I generally stayed on top of my strength maintenance exercises and running-specific strength exercises. From January til the Eugene Marathon, I had logged 667 running miles in training with a peak at 64 miles in one training week and with 4 consecutive weeks over 50 miles.

Oh, I was also mostly dry for this training block! I wanted to reduce my drinking and be more picky about when I did drink. I had maybe 4 alcoholic drinks during this time? Feels good!

My taper, the last few weeks before the marathon, was a sharper taper than planned. Through the taper period, a runner will progressively decrease their weekly mileage while keeping some intensity to maintain fitness. This ensures that the runner makes it to race day with fresh legs and without the accumulated fatigue that builds up during successive training weeks.

For me, during the weeks before the race, life seemed to get busier, leading me to cancel some runs. I was able to get most of the quality runs in (the workouts and long runs) so I wasn’t too worried that my taper was a steeper drop in mileage than planned. And besides, this is the time to prioritize rest and recovery over eking out a few more miles. The planned taper for the last three weeks of training was 58 miles per week (mpw), 45 mpw, and finally 31 mpw for race week (excluding the marathon). I ended up running 46, 29, and 22 miles for those weeks.

Carb loading went super smoothly. I wrote a prior blog post on that, but succinctly, I think I found a good carb loading regimen that works well for me. And also came up with some solid ideas for how I can improvise when it’s hard to be completely control of my food options and portions.

In the days leading up to the race, I took more time to myself and generally tried to ease up on my lifestyle. Less late nights, less stimulus overall, more relaxation. I slept decently in the nights leading up to the race. I think I normally struggle to get a quality 7 hours of sleep, but I was able to get close to that in the nights before the race. Flying into Eugene Friday morning was a great move since it gave me a lot of time to get settled in and meander comfortably through Saturday. Saturday night I put myself in bed at 8pm for a 3am wake-up.

Sunday morning, I woke up ready. Eyes open, I started my planned morning routine like clockwork. I was out the door by 5am and walked 0.4 mi to the shuttle pick-up area. I was one of the first there and was on the first shuttle to the start line.

My shuttle got to the start area at Hayward Field before 6am, so there was sooo much time to kill before the 7am start. I thought for a second that I made a mistake in showing up too early. Fortunately I wasn’t anxious; I was calm, relaxed, with faint feeling of anticipation. I walked around, used the restroom, took a bunch of pics of Hayward Field, and finally settled on taking a seat in the bleachers until around 6:30, when I started my warm-up. During this waiting period I don’t think I had much in my head. I was just soaking in the ambiance and the cool weather.

Warm-up

• 5 minute jog - to get the legs started up and help to identify any tightness or niggles to address during the next step of..
• Dynamic Stretching: Leg Swings, Hurdle Trail Legs, Butt Kicks, Calf Raises, Hamstring Floor Sweeps, Ankling
• 5 min jog, including some strides - another jog to check if those tight spots got addressed, followed by strides, or 5-10 second accelerations, to get my legs turning over at race speed. I felt smooooth after this sequence

Strategy and Mile-by-mile

I had my mind set on running an even split for the race. That means holding a consistent, steady pace for each mile of the race. I think I also got that from Advanced Marathoning. Another pacing strategy racers commonly attempt is the negative split where the second half of the race is run slightly faster than the first half. I had trained for 7:40/mi pace, which would be a 3:21 finishing time. The race had pacers for 3:20 (7:38/mi) and 3:25 (7:49/mi), so I decided I’d start conservatively and stick with the 3:25 pacer for at least the first 10 miles of the race and then see where I felt from there. With previous races I’ve tended to start too fast off the starting line, so I felt secure in using the 3:25 pacer as a forcing mechanism to have a slower controlled start. I positioned myself with the pace group just a few minutes before race start, queued up my playlist, and stood and bobbed in place while the clock counted down to race start.

The gun goes off..

And it’s go time! Whenever I start a race, I immediately get this feeling of resoluteness. Like Hey wow we’re here. We’re IN IT. I had been waiting for this race for months, and finally being here, I found myself with a clear headspace. There wasn’t any cascade of emotion of THIS IS WHAT YOU’VE BEEN TRAINING FOR, NICO*. THIS IS WHY YOU’RE HERE! Just an overall Ok, time to execute.

Off the starting line, I was with the pace group. Very quickly we were moving in unison, almost as one mass. I put all my faith in the pacer to hold me at pace, so I was able to completely remove pace from my mind and just focus on sticking with the group, monitoring how my breathing and body felt, and taking in gels and water as planned. I only ever glanced at my watch to see the live pace and take a quick mental note on if we were ever above or below pace by much.

I stayed in this zone for at least the first 12 miles, and that seemed to work too well. I say that now because the first part of the race has a few hills, but I didn’t ever think too much of them because I solely relied on the pacer to get us through those hills appropriately. I seesawed between the front and back of the group a couple times but generally preferred to be at the front. Now at mile 12, I only started think about if or when I would break from the group. I mulled that thought over the next two miles or so and then noticed some people were beginning to pull ahead from the group. I joined them.

It just a few of us that broke off. Maybe 8 from a pace group of 30+. The 8 of us weren’t very tightly packed, some a few strides ahead of others. But I felt this quiet camaraderie with them. We were all racing our individual races but seemed to share the same mind on when to break from the original pace group and at what pace to do so. I held the other runners in my mind as reference points, and my goal, much like with the starting pace group, was to stick with them or eventually pass them.

Crowd support was thinner and more dispersed as the miles ticked on. Usually, hearing a mass of strangers cheering gets me to perk up mentally, and sometimes that translates to running faster and smoother. That became less reliable, but whenever I saw a group of spectators ahead of me, I’d try to get them riled up by smiling wide and raising a fist in the air. They’d often reciprocate with the cheers I was hoping to milk out of them. Hehe.

The next goalpost in my head to get through was mile 20, since that’s where (colloquially) the race really starts. I remembering taking mental note of when I passed mile 18, then 19, and then I’m at mile 22 and still feeling decent. This was new to me. In previous races, it was in these miles that I would break down and I’d succumb to fatigue and cramps. So at this point I was just wondering when or if I’d get there.

Fatigue was starting to set in, but I didn’t feel like I was in any danger zone. I was still moving well and maybe felt just some soreness creeping up in my quads. I did feel like I could use a boost, so around mile 23 I took my last gel, which I had picked up from one of the aid stations. By mile 20 I had finished all the gels that I carried on me from the start of the race, and I remember wishing that I had picked up up at least one more gel from an aid station earlier in the race.

From there I found my mind switching to counting down the miles, and I was just slightly aware that I was beginning to slow down. Through those last miles I felt like I was on a tightrope where pushing harder would surely throw me over. I kept my rhythm and stopped looking at my watch for pace. I stayed firm on holding on, and soon enough, Hayward Field came back in to view. As soon as I stepped on the track I made my kick for a sprint finish, fist back in the air, and I cheered myself through the finish line.

And all at once it was over. Over three hours of running, completed. The culmination of months of training. Kind of sobering! The thing I felt most, though, was that I was pleased. It was a new feeling to finish a marathon strong and with my legs and morale intact. Bundled up in there, too, were feelings of new-found confidence and bright eyes for my future in running.

Post-Race

After the race I took my time walking over to the stretching area and got some good stretching in while calling family and friends. I came to Eugene alone, but I knew I had loved ones watching from afar so it was nice to catch them up and share some excitement. I was keen to get some food in though so I went back to my hotel to shower, rest, and scarf down the leftover fried rice I over-ordered for my carb load.

I don’t have a usual protocol for getting food and active recovery in after a race. Actually I didn’t really have a plan at all! So I just went by feel and listened to my cravings as they came. A massage sounded like a great idea, so I made an appointment for that and then made plans to catch up with a local friend over pizza and beer. Walking to the massage parlor and restaurant and back to the hotel got me to walk about 3 miles, which satisfied my itch to get some circulation in my legs to aid recovery. As I was walking back to my hotel after dinner, I saw a Five Guys and instantly had a craving for fries and a milkshake. COPPED THAT and munched on those back at the hotel to round out my marathon day.

My legs seemed to recover quickly over the next few days! I planned to do a few walks through the following week, but I was also itching to get back to running. I remembered from some podcasts that it actually takes several weeks for the body to fully recover from a marathon, so I stayed conservative and didn’t set any hard intentions or expectations to run. In the time since, I’ve done a few runs for fun, researched a bunch of running shoes to decide on new daily trainers, and built routine in going to the gym.

Looking Ahead

With this victory in hand and after taking some time to step away and come back and reflect, I want to continue to be intentional with my training and lifestyle going into the next phase of training. The overall pursuit is still the same: get really good at racing marathons.

Reflecting back on the prep that my coach and I did for Eugene, I’m really happy with how I was able to build consistency in my routine and start to get several weeks of volume at 50 miles per week. Also this training block had more emphasis on supporting the running with yoga, ad hoc stability and foot strengthening exercises, and overall strength work. I think all of those helped me stay strong and injury-free through the block, but my approach came from a more preventative mindset. Into the next phase I want to do even more active strengthening and support work to (hopefully) get ahead of the demands of a more intense running regimen. Also keeping the alcohol consumption low will be a continued emphasis.

My next planned race is the California International Marathon on December 3rd, 2023. Quite a ways away, but for now I’m decided on racing marathons just a couple of times per year. This is mainly due to the lengthy recovery time after each race, and I want to spend as much of the year as I can training and building. Race-specific build up will begin about 4.5 months out from the race, so that’s about mid-July. I’ve consulted with my coach and expressed that I want to build higher mileage and strength workouts through the summer, so that’ll be the immediate next focus. And that starts this upcoming week!

Whew, now that this report’s finally in and I’m entering non-race-specific training, stay tuned for more varied blog content. Let me know if there are any topics you’d like me to cover, and I’ll look to queue it up. As always, thanks for reading! -Nico