Eugene Marathon Recap

Race Planning
The feeling of grabbing my OTQ at Hartford was amazing.  I was content...but not for long.  After the mass production of fast times at CIM I became eager.  I can definitely run a couple minutes faster!  The trials wouldn’t be for well over a year and waiting until then to do another marathon seemed too far.  I wanted to avoid back to back marathon cycles so the fall was out, which left spring.
I decided I really wanted to run London.  Mike has never been, timing was ideal, I knew the course and my sister and brother in law live there.  It was flawless entering the 2015 London Marathon as a championship runner.  However, this was not the case for 2019.  After several attempts it was clear London wasn’t happening.  I was bummed.
After some research and the suggestion of my coach, we decided on Eugene.  The destination excited me as did the training cycle and goal of running higher mileage than before.  I was in.


Training
In January I got engaged and started to plan a wedding 10 months away.  I took a new job which wouldn’t start until mid-May, but had to go through a ton of paperwork.  I had high stress at my current job which secretly I was feeling guilty for leaving when things were so crazy and we were short staffed.  I left for a conference in February in Arizona.  I was excited for a week away from work to just absorb lectures and run.  However, it became a struggle.  I couldn’t hit my workouts, I had just gotten my iron done in December and my ferritin was 85. I was confused and convinced I had too much stress.
I returned home to eventually discover my ferritin was now in the 20’s.  How does one drop so much so quickly, I was frustrated.
After a few weeks things started to turn around and I finally hit a high week and ran a half marathon in Virginia (faster than I expected for everything going on).  I came home and strung together another solid week and a half of training... then after a nailing a long workout, my knee started to hurt.  It was classic runner’s knee, I knew exactly what it was but what I needed to know was why.  I had been doing my glute exercises and when I went to get a PT evaluation there was no obvious weakness.  2 of the PTs I saw told me I had arthritis of my kneecap.  I left the office and cried in the moment.  Then the logical side of me kicked in.   Umm you can’t diagnose arthritis by touching my knee.  I’ve never had a serious knee injury, there is no deformity, and I’ve never had surgery.  I became angry someone would tell me that so casually when 1- I do joint replacements all day long and see the intensity and brutalness of it and 2- running is a huge part of my life.  After venting at work, I was able to laugh at such a silly statement.  I also got a beautiful sunrise view of my perfect patella.

I sent a video out to Craig, the PT and friend I used in Colorado.  He gave me some exercises and I went to work.  Thankfully I was able to run through most of the runner’s knee this time.  After 2-3 weeks I was back in business.  At this point however I was considering dropping down to the half marathon at Eugene.

2 weeks out from Eugene was the first annual Helderberg to Hudson Half Marathon, which I really wanted to run.  Normally I wouldn’t race a half so close, but I had nothing to lose.  The race itself was deemed to be fast.  I knew the dramatic downhills could mean different.  The warm and humid weather was the first of the season and everyone went out hard.  I seemed rather controlled and wary of the 100 ft drop over 0.7 of mile 1.  By the 10k I was starting to gain on several guys and by mile 8 I caught many.  The next couple miles I caught guys I normally shouldn’t and it was obvious their legs were hurting.  I finished 1:18:28, slower than I wanted, but the course took its toll.  The next 3 days I was pretty sore and I'm certain there was DOMS going on, but that is what no Boston Marathon training does for you (not practicing the downhills)!

And now it was time to taper.  My knee finally felt normal and just when I was confident I’d make it to the starting line healthy my back threw in an issue.  My SI joint was locked up and was causing pain that went into my glute.  I took a day off from running, got into the chiropractor twice that final week and begged my coworkers for 1 day managing the floor vs. standing in the operating room wearing heavy lead.  It was now time to leave for Oregon.

Travel to Eugene
Mike and me arrived in Portland at midnight after traveling all Thursday and by the time we reached the hotel it was 1 a.m. or 4 am EST.  I made myself get up the next morning to do a shakeout run before heading to Eugene.

Thankfully Mike drove while I napped.  The expo was easy, not overwhelming but not boring either. Afterwards, we went to Pre's rock, had a nice pasta dinner and went to bed early.

Saturday morning I did a short shakeout and grabbed breakfast before walking around a farmers market a bit.  Aside from the elite meeting and dinner the day was my typical pre marathon routine of laying in bed!  Another early night before waking up at 4:15 the next morning for race day!

Eugene Marathon
I woke up just in time to watch the end of the men’s race at the London Marathon.  It’s always motivating to run after watching Kipchoge!  We took the shuttle from the hotel to the start and went up to the elite suite once we got there.  There were plenty of bathrooms, space and warmth!  After a quick warm, some stretching and drills it was go time!

I started the first mile wearing a t-shirt over my crop top.  I’ve learned I’d rather overdress with throw away clothes than to be cold from the start.  We started as a large group with the first several miles.  

some half marathoners in our pack

My first bottle was at mile 5, which I missed since I was wearing cotton gloves with no grip.  One of the men then came along side of me with my bottle!  For real, how nice?!  The next several miles myself and 2 other women separated ourselves from the larger pack as we were consistently running 6:10.  After the uphill at mile 10 we were still together, but Jen started to pull away.  Several times I looked down at my watch and the pace was significantly faster so I’d back off.  By mile 12 Jen had separated herself from Meaghan and myself.  Around this time we came onto the bike path (the first 12 are on the road) and I wasn’t feeling it.  The path had a lot of little turns and bumps and I was having trouble getting into a rhythm.  Also, I started having some reflux and thought for sure I was either going to puke or have GI issues soon.  The next several miles felt like I had just given up and slowed significantly.  I contemplated dropping out, but told myself I really wanted to finish in the stadium and get that stupid medal! Around mile 16 Meaghan pulled away and I told myself just to get to 20.  At 20 Claire and Perry caught me and told me to go with them.  I laughed and said they looked good, but I was ok just taking it in easy.  From there I felt okay, nothing really hurt, my stomach seemed to ease, but I just stayed consistent.  I crossed the finish in 2:45:34, which was my second fastest marathon.  At first I was happy, happy that it felt relatively comfortable to run a 2:45 without being fully mentally or even physically invested in the race.  Then of course, it was why couldn’t I have cared a little more during those last 6 miles, I could have easily run 2:44-something.  Did it matter, does it matter?  Probably not.  What did I want to get out of doing another marathon before trials?  A solid training cycle.  Heck, I would have done a cycle without the race, but that motivation is a little harder in my opinion.  So ultimately I added some good muscle memory in my legs and completed some great workouts while running consistent mileage which will all help me next time!  

Pacers and ladies who got their OTQ

Just after mile 21 on the course