Portland Marathon 2016 -Gateway to my Boston Qualifier - Race Report

Sense of Contentedness...hard to explain...

The very first thing i have to say is i am overwhelmed with contentedness with my performance at the Portland Marathon 2016, more so with relevance to the efforts put in by self and family, and the repeated failures in past few attempts.

Whats after my previous "A" Race in Feb 2016?

After my previous race which was back in February 2016 at Orange County California, where i miserably had a failed attempt ending with a 3:14 finish, obviously a lot of lessons learnt from the race, with a lot of improvements to make, started my training with the same unfulfilled ambitious goal of cutting short 9 big minutes from my previous time, i strongly believed i had to just simple change how i had been training to see that remarkable improvement.

On-boarding with MAF based training & Menon Fitness

While i had no clue what my next race would be other than the potential Bengaluru marathon in October 2016, i started to take it on along with Sunil Menon, who was equally interested in helping me out with achieving my dream, there i on-boarded with his training whole heartily in all dimensions with much more than just training, nutrition, rest and many more starting from March 1st 2016.

Hard to believe its close to 8 months now since i on boarded the new pattern of training and have slowly and steadily seen improvements in my HR based training and much more non stat related practices which i have been through during the same time period, shall detail out in the foot note in specifics.

Pre-Race Day

with utmost confidence that i had gained with more of my consistent outcomes from MAF tests and Run-Walk-Run sessions ranging from 1.5 hour to 3 hours, pushing my anaerobic capacity to a new level, i was super confident of my good performance at the race. I knew it was going to be a super long weekend, i had my YIC classes the whole evening of Friday, and Saturday, i head out to the classes and directly drive to Portland which is a 3 hour drive, having had to stay the first half, i had to start at 2 PM and reach there just around 6, to get my bib collected. I was just right there in time around 6 PM,with no break in the 3 hour drive. Managed to collect my Bib right in time. The excitement started to kick in once being in Expo. Had my Energy gels purchased, just had a round of view of the expo, just i have to say, its nowhere near to what we had for AHM. Soon i get to the youth hostel where i was put up for the night. Just grabbed a coffee and settled in the room to plan for the next day.

The lodging was 1.5 mile away from the start point, it was raining the previous day, the forecast for race day was heavy downpour as the time ticks. Figured out the route from my place, unfortunately due to security reasons, there was no Baggage Check in, which means, i have to literally walk to the start point and with no change clothes to be back. Hard fact but had to take it. Home cooked pasta specially prepared by my wife, helped me carb load enough at the comfort of my room and not have to roam around for food. With my bib set up and timing chip tagged on, i set out for a super clear 8 hour sleep for a 5:15 AM wake up call.

Race Day Start

Alarm went off at 5:15 AM, for the first time, i never thought too much about the race and calculations over my sleep, i was fresh enough, get my morning duties done. Taking a leaf out of Vijay's blog from his berlin experience, tried my dose of bland Curd Ride as a replacement of my Morning coffee. i just kept peeping out of the window, badly expecting the rain to stop or at least stop until i reach the starting point. Had a dose of BeetElite right at 6 AM, which i had been trying out during my last few long runs. Got to my race attire, mainly lacing to the right pressure and had a dose of FastandUp Activate at 6:30. At around 6:38 i head out to that every raining outdoor, with the slight drizzle, jogged towards the start point, felt better as i see quite a few runners walking towards the start point.

Race Start

With a 7 AM start, for the first time i get to a Corral A along with a Elite runners, that by itself was a great feel, i was there at the start point at around 6:50 AM, with 10 minutes to start, quickly use the honey bucket and load with a dose of tasty Salted Caramel Gel :) with a dose of water. With National anthem sung,the wheelchair folks let out at the first go, we were the second wave to start at 7:03 AM. I strongly feel we should do that back in India for our races too, that kicks in the patriotic feel in everyone. 7:09 AM its still dark and drizzling, i start to yet another attempt for my epic feel with a loud hooter sound.

I was in great dilemma whether to run by myself and try a negative split plan or join the 3:05 Pacers and tag along. I thought i would stick around  for few miles and figure out how it goes and then decide. 

Mile 1 to 5

Per my original plan i had to maintain 7:06/mile for first half and 7:02 then after, but boom my first mile was 6:59, I was glad in a way that i did not over-speed to crazy 6:30s which i ended up doing for quite few miles out of the adrenaline at the start. I was tightly staying along with the 3:05 pacer. We get through the China town and streets of the Portland downtown for our initial miles, with great crowd, cheering all along, was feeling fine. Initial 3 miles i was kind of feeling tight with my breathing, not sure of the reason, but was not that comfortable with breathing, i was too skeptical to not have another failed attempt. After another half a mile i started to feel the rhythm and felt better off to keep up with the pacing group. by now i have decided to keep up with the pacing group as much as i can and ditch the negative split plan. 5 miles went just like that boom,boom boom, 6:59, 7:01, 7:10(small climb), 6:37(run down),6:49. By now i started to feel if the pacers are really are right on task..Based on my previous best experience with the same pacing group in 2011,i just trusted upon them and kept going along with them. i cross 5k in around 21 minutes, feeling strong.

Mile 5 to 10

Just at the beginning of the mile 6 was my planned intake of gel, right around 41 minute mark. Quick gulp of the gel and decent intake of water, i was top loading myself, also to remember the remark from sunil during AHM run and pre race inputs that i have too much intake of water, i was rationing myself with lesser water, with the rain i was even more rationed. Mile 5 to 10 was the most flat section of the course, with lots of turns along, overall there were 52 turns which was officially declared, so the only onus on me beyond being guided by the pacing group was to cut corners as crazy as you can and avoid any additional time baggage. this 5 miles was crazy fast as well, by nearing end of 10 miles we had around 37 seconds in bank ahead of a 3:05 finish. we almost many under 7 min/mile. i was feeling great, but always kept telling myself, its obvious to feel so fresh in the first half, and be wary of the consequences. My 10k timing on my watch was around 41 minutes, good to have number during a full marathon timing of my target.

Mile 11 to 16

my nutrition plan was just straightforward intake of Gel every 40 minutes along with water. the electrolyte on course was something by the name of ultima, i did not want to try out something new on the race day, so i was just relying on my gel and water. There was a very small bumps(per Hyderabad standards), we were cruising past the miles, looking forward to the half way mark. by now i was in conversation with my pace leads, they were appreciative of my metronome like strides and being tagging along with them all along, i would take the compliment, after all all those takes you to the finish line. there we were at half marathon mark at around 1:31, the timing mat was off target and place before, at around 1:29, i just thought about people who would potential be tracking me feeling excited with a 1:29, that would end up being my Half PR :) , we were running around the industrial area, and suddenly we have heavy head winds, and sudden downpour for next half hour, feeling to have being slapped with water. again quite a few miles under 7 min/mile, i felt better to have good run in spite of the headwinds and downpour at this point in time, with still the upcoming long up climb in the 17th mile that was in store.

Mile 17 to 21

I know that the climb was coming, but did not expect the pacing group to drift away from me so far, i assumed that all the sub 7 min/mile was to be generously lenient on the climb up the hill to the freeway, but they were still going at a sub 7 or close to 7 min pace up the climb. the mile 16 was 6:49, and they kept going at the very same pace up the hill. at this point i started to drift from the pacing group. it was also the typical hitting the wall distance, i do not want to get stuck with that. post that climb, i came strong out of it, climbing the vintage bridge, with an awesome view of the portland downtown amidst the showers. In spite of falling back from the pace group, i was strangely confident of be able to get a respectable qualifying time, given the energy left at that point in time. Weird feeling isn't it.

except for the climb where i was at 7:56 min/mile pace, just 50 seconds apart from target race pace i drop off the pace group. I know there a huge downhill coming, got my breath  back , happily posing for the photos and was closely getting off the bridge, cutting corners as much as i could

Mile 22 to Finish

After the downhill post the climb up the bridge, i was almost certain i might not be able to keep up anywhere close to target race pace, but i vowed to keep pushing as much as i can, so that i stay so close to my target pace. though i be deviant, i cannot be much more than 3 to 4 minutes behind, with too many sub 7 min/mile, i was at least wanting to see a 3:07 worst case plan that i had in mind. From then on my only plan was to overtake as many people as i can. as a matter of Fact i ended of walking twice between mile 22 to finish. i felt i needed it much after a heavy pounding on my calf muscle, running down the hill. I kept going with my only target to overtake people as soon as i can.

at around mile 23 i was already feeling it too much to push, but i do not want to loose out but for the last 3 miles, now i started to see people lined up, cheering on loudly with some music on. But to dampen all those, again a heavy downpour was in place to hinder the performance.

The last 2.5 miles was the hardest,as usual, i just kept telling myself, i am not giving up, and do not want to even utter the sentence, yet another futile attempt. i kept pushing hard, by now my left arm was aching like hell, possibly due to my very bad form of left arm coming in so far and fighting the headwind with my arm movement. Dragging through the last mile i was almost wishing i would not stop or slow down in any means. i was literally drained out.

the last mile and half i was literally feeling as if i am running my time trial, yet my pace was still around 7:25 to 7:30, i would totally take it given the tiredness i was set into. The last half miles i could hear my name being called out, the lone Indian pushing strong being called out, i could see 3:07 on the clock, i just wanted to sprint to have it before 3:07:30 worst case, sprinted hard with all my might to achieve my long term goal to get my Boston Qualifier. It finally happened!!! oh my god, though its a big feeling, at that point i was pretty much exhausted, with the paramedics, looking at my crooked vision and huffing and puffing sound, come running to me asking if needed any help. i was fine to walk around. Happily posing for the finisher photographs.

By far the Portland marathon had the best of goodies, a Rose plant, a tree sapling, Finisher t-Shirt give only at the finish line and a beautiful medal, a memorabilia coin and a pendant. Much more than the goodies, the very feeling of a proud Boston qualifier was just sinking in me then. Happily walked the 1.5 miles back to the hotel which took 20 minutes, shivering in the rain. Mission Accomplished! So much Contentedness, i was greeting everyone on my walk back.

I would take this opportunity to thank every single one of the folk fore involved in seeing me achieve my long term dream, not to name the individuals. Just a special mention of my ever patient wife, bearing my endless races, diet asks, frequent travel and all activities revolving around runs and races. My Coach for initial 7 years from Seattle Chuck Bartlett, My coach for last 8 months Sunil Menon for their valuable guidance and help me sustain running as an addiction for so long.

STATISTICS

GRAPHS

MILE SPLITS

GARMIN ACTIVITY

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1398688121

SUMMARY OF CHANGES IMPLEMENTED

• 8 hour rest cycles highly valued and followed at least to 80% of the time period
• Enough intake of Protein, being veggie with least options, i was always falling short, this time around had a adequate intake of proteins in some form or the other
• One day of 24 hour fasting every monday(my rest day) to detox the body regularly
• Adequate intake of Virgin Coconut Oil on empty stomach and adequate intake of Butter/Ghee
• Significant reduction in Carbohydrate intake, with last 2 months of near no rice intake in any form, with very few exceptions(got to thank my wife on this to bear me on this)
• Adequate intake of vegetable and fruit fiber with pumpin seeds/sunflower seeds mixed up
• Trials of BeetElite, a powdered beetroot powder used for long runs.
• Yoga every alternate day, strength training on almost all days along with the workouts in the morning
• total dependency on MAF based training, with 8 week long base training followed with monthly MAF tests
• Overall Body fat % reduced from 21.5 % to 17%, still a long way to go.
• Run-Walk-Run (5 min run and 30 sec) walk during last 2 months to mimic near race conditions
• Absolute normal routine with no other hectic schedules around race time.
• Tried out testing running a run-walk-run stratergy in AHM 2016.
• Mainly move away from Highly Cushioned Asics Kayanos to Nike Free 5.0 for predominant time and last 1.5 months moved onto Asics hyper Speed racing flats. That was by far the biggest transitions i had to make and get used to.

NUTRITION AROUND RACE & DURING RACE

• Boiled potato 2 days before the race
• Pasta the day before along with liberal supply of TOFU for lunch and dinner.
• Mixed grains and and coconut and all underground veggies for adequate supply of carbs
• Bland plain Curd rice 1.5 hours before the race
• Gulp of BeetElite powder with 250 ml water 1 hours before the race
• Fast and Up Activate 30 minutes before the race
• 1 Gu Gel 10 minutes before the start of the race
• 1 Gel every 40 minutes totally 6 of them during my race
• 1 chocolate milk, 2 orange slices, 1 cup of water, one cheese strip for immediate intake post race

All along it has been a great learning experience, obviously the journey doesn't end here, i would have to potentially get much better timing than this so that i stand a good chance of getting a Confirmed entry. By the way all this for Boston Marathon edition of 2018, as all of us know that 2017 edition is now full and registrations are closed.

Looking forward to the continued support and motivation from every one of you and with my continued efforts get a much better time. Until then happy training everyone