The Core Curriculum (Abebe Bikila Day International Peace Marathon race report)

It wasn't quite life flashing before my eyes; but, for sure, 16 weeks of hard training flashed by around Mile 13 of the Abebe Bikila Day International Peace Marathon three weekends ago. I first began feeling that something was not quite right just past Mile 10. The legs felt way more tired than they should have at that point in the race, and the lower back muscles felt tight. That feeling gradually intensified, over the next three miles. I brought up and tried every mental routine I'd practiced in training runs, to try to calm the growing turmoil in the mind. I tried fartlek, to see if that would wake up the legs. All to no avail. I puzzled over why and frustratingly tried to find a way out of the predicament. The race course was out and back from Fletcher's Cove, along the C&O Canal Towpath (just to the right/east of the Potomac River), westward to just beyond I-495, 6.55 miles each way, done twice (see map, lower right to upper left). As I approached Fletcher's Cove, at the end of the first

13.1 miles, I managed to only slightly pick up my pace; and, as I made the turnaround (just under the "FINISH" banner in photo), I managed a weak smile, in acknowledgment of

all the staff, volunteers, and spectators cheering on the runners. Although my average pace at the turnaround was still on track to qualify for Boston (I needed a 5-minute PR), I knew I was in deep trouble--even though I didn't yet want to admit that to myself. As I headed back towards I-495, for the second 13.1, the tightening of the lower back worsened. I felt as I was running with the upper body inclined backward and with a wobbly core. Mile 14, as shown by the pace chart, was when things really fell apart. (By comparison, even the mini-disaster that was Wineglass 2013 seems fleet-footed!)

I started to run/walk and tried to consciously relax the back muscles. I continued to hope that all the problems would just go away, even as I debated with myself whether to keep going and try to just finish, or to stop and head back to Fletcher's Cove--and to my first DNF in 10 marathons. That internal debate continued over the next 5-6 miles, as I walked more and more, with periodic stretching of the back muscles. Finally, at around Mile 19, I very reluctantly decided to pull myself off the course at an aid station and eventually got a ride back to Fletcher's Cove.

How does one know when to stop and when to keep going? In hindsight, I should have stopped and headed back to Fletcher's earlier and not have risked potentially serious injury. But, a DNF is really, really, really hard to swallow! I argued to myself that, if I could just make it to the turnaround beyond I-495, I should then be able to at least finish the race. Alas, that was not to be. I'm glad, though, that the prudent part of me finally prevailed at Mile 19.

I've been rerunning this race ever since that weekend, trying to figure out what had happened. The biggest lesson, of course, is the importance of the core; without it, the rest collapses. Or, as Greg McMillan put it the other way, "When your core is strong, everything else will follow." It's not as I've been slackening in my core curriculum, so to speak; I've been conscientiously doing all my homework. Maybe I need to do the extra credit assignments as well! It was drizzling on and off throughout the first half of the race, with a short period of moderate rain as I neared Mile 13. At the time, I wondered if getting wet and cold from that rain might have been culpable. But, I've gotten wet and cold on many a training runs. So, what else could have been the causes? There were several start times scheduled. Thinking optimistically, I opted for 9 am, the one that counted for (age) awards. :) But, to be sure of a parking space near the start line, I got there around 7 am and waited. Did I get too stiff, sitting in the car? I did warm up, just before the start, with a 7-8 minute run, followed by dynamic stretching. Did I overstretch? My first three miles were at 22, 20, and 4 seconds faster than goal marathon pace (GMP). (After Wineglass, I should have known better!) Was I paying for those early miles later on? The C&O Canal Towpath is mostly a gravelly surface. I knew it probably meant a somewhat slower pace, but did it adversely affect my running form? The back part of the out and back course is down river, and, after each lock of the canal, there's a short downslope stretch of loose gravel and sand. Did I get too greedy and run those too fast? Don't really know. Could be.

More likely a reason for what happened, I now think, is over-training plus not being well-rested the day before the race. A previously scheduled event that day kept me up late into the evening, which, combined with getting up at 4 am the morning of the race, resulted in not nearly enough sleep. The weekend before the race, I ran a 5K that I'd planned to use as a taper run. But, once that gun went off, I raced it. Definitely a mistake. But, it was fun! :) Two weekends before the race, I ran my last long run (of 21 miles) before taper on the actual Towpath race course, kind of a dress rehearsal and something I don't usually have the opportunity to do. It was 92 F when I finished. So, the instruction for that day's run would be out and back, wring, and repeat. How hot was it? It was so hot I could wring a substantial amount of sweat out of my socks at the end. It was so hot my net weight loss for the run was ~5 lbs--after all the post-run water and food and, after I got home, lunch. That run took an awful lot out of me, which, at the time, I didn't fully appreciate. The 16-week training cycle for this race went really well, in the sense that I did practically every workout according to plan, and then some (e.g., most of the miles in the second half of long runs were at GMP or faster). In hindsight, though, I did too many hard workouts, without paying enough attention to the rest and recovery part of training. I shortchanged "recovery as training." That certain dull achiness around the eyes that I'd felt the day before and on the morning of the race was, I now realize, an incipient flu-like symptom. And, indeed, after the race, I did end up with some sort of mild head cold--a rare event for me--though it only lasted a few days.

In hindsight, I should have skipped that entire last hard workout week and opted for a modified 3-week taper, instead of the planned 2-week taper. If 90% of the outcome of a race is determined before one even gets to the start line, then what happened to me three weekends ago had already been determined over the course of the previous 16 weeks. I wasn't ready to race that morning. (For more on training fatigue, see this related article.)

There was no medal, of course. But I do have the shirt, which shows Abebe Bikila, the great Ethiopian runner (who famously won the 1960 Olympics marathon while running barefoot) for whom this race was organized and named. Despite what had happened, though, I had a good experience

overall, with lessons learned from the core curriculum! The race course was beautiful; fellow runners were supportive; organization was really well done; staff and volunteers were superb. And, I love injera! I'm especially thankful to the DC Capital Striders at Lock 10 for helping me get back to Fletcher's Cove. I'm planning to run this marathon in 2015, regardless whether I BQ before then. I need to finish this course!

Next up is Harrisburg in early November, for which I'm not even thinking about BQ. Recovery is going well, as is the ramping back up of workouts. My modified plan for the current shortened training cycle: Lower volume, higher quality runs, 3-week modified taper, and being totally 

rested for race day. Goal? Finish the race!