Niagara Falls Marathon: Registered – 1 Month and Counting
I’ve been debating for a while whether or not I’d run the 2007 Niagara Falls Marathon. The training I’ve been doing over the last three months has been both physically challenging and time consuming. There have been runs that I struggled through. I would hate to not beat my brother’s 2005 Buffalo Marathon time of 4:09:21. While I felt great at the end of the recent 2007 Rochester Half Marathon, I distinctly remember a time along the canal when I told myself there was no way I’d run a full. I won’t lie – being the only one in our group wearing a half marathon medal after the Rochester marathon made my feat a little less sweet.
But then there were the positives to consider – I shaved nearly seven and a half minutes off my half marathon time of last year. I felt great after the half. There is a full month of training time left. A full month of training time means I have 1/4 of a typical full marathon training schedule left. In less serious thoughts, I have a fair amount of free time to fill until fall archery season starts (October 13th). Oh, and I spent a lot of money on a new pair of shoes.
So I told myself I’d see how the scheduled 18 mile training run went. I’d done an 18 mile run last year, but I stopped half way through to watch some of the Bills game – I don’t even count it. I figured this 18 mile run would give me a good feeling of if I’d survive a full. I have a couple friends running the Niagara Falls half marathon, so I knew I’d at least do that, but based whether I’d run the full on my 18 mile run results.
As luck would have it, I had a wedding to attend the night before the run (congrats guys!!). While I’ve been looking forward to the wedding for (literally) years, I was very proud of myself – I only had one light beer and was in bed by 11:30. (The wedding a blast nonetheless).
Even though I was home at a reasonable time, I still slept in a little later than I would have liked to and didn’t begin the run until ~10:15am. By then it was already in the 70s, but the heat never became an issue. I’d planned a route that took me a little past my normal turn around point at Niagara Square to the Erie Basin Marina. I’d been down this way only a few times in my life and never as far as I went this time – it was a really nice run. I actually wish there was more running around the waterfront and plan to get in a run along the break wall under the Peace Bridge at some point. The only negative of running along the water was that I kept stopping to look into it, hoping to see some pike (I wear polarized sun glasses to run). None were visible.
I’d worn my new shoes for a couple shorter runs, but hadn’t given them a good workout until this day. I made sure to lace them a little looser than I had on their initial couple times out and they felt great. I likely won’t wear my old pair for running every again. I also filled up all four bottles of my fuel belt (twice actually) and was sure to use them. The weight didn’t bother me at all, but I did notice that the shirt I’d had on frayed a little bit from the belt rubbing on it. At 18 miles of abuse, I can deal with that.
Between the wedding ceremony and reception (aside from picking up a gift…) I stopped into EMS to pick up some Cliffs Shot Bloks. I was feeling adventurous, so I also picked up two packets of gel. The first was strawberry that I tried later in the week – it reminded me how terrible these things typically are. I have yet to try the second, but fell in love with the packs of GuSports Expresso Love Gu Energy Gel I also bought. I thought I’d picked up the Chocolate Outrage flavor, but discovered otherwise when I got home. I’m not a huge expresso fan, but really thoroughly enjoyed them regardless.
The run itself took me 2:47:05, a 9:17/mile overall average pace. I had splits of the following times:
- 8:48
- 8:50
- 9:17
- 9:10
- 9:30
- 9:19
- 9:56
- 8:58
- 8:15
- 10:49 (Refilled fuel belt)
- 8:56
- 8:42
- 8:02
- 10:09
- 8:58
- 10:43
- 8:56
- 9:49
I started off taking it nice and easy. Normally my first mile is seven minutes and change, but I knew better this day & conscientiously tried to stay at a 9 minute/mile pace or slower. It was incredible how much easier this made the run feel. The last couple miles were tough, but I was encouraged at still being able to run a sub-9 minute mile at mile 17.
And while I wasn’t expecting it, if I’m able to maintain or better the pace I ran at, I stand a chance of beating my brother’s time. Or cracking 4 hours. I don’t know if this is a good thought or a bad one. The weather will be cooler for the race, but it could be pouring. I’ll run faster for the race, but there’s another 8 miles on top of this run. Sigh. What a mental battle. There’s a reason why not everyone runs marathons…