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Monday, March 19, 2012

All of my hill training in one day.

Publix Geogia Marathon, 3:14:something, and I got all my hills training for my entire life in on one day. Very efficient of me.

I was running this race as hills training, sort of, although I couldn't really decide what I wanted to do going in. The problem is that the course is 100% hills, not a single flat meter, and I just didn't know how I'd do on hills. I run them so rarely that I just didn't know.

I had considered pacing the race for one of the pace teams - the 3:30 group was short a pacer - but when I offered I was, ahem, decidedly turned down. I got the impression that the pacers are stringently vetted. That meant I had to decide on my own pace. I decided to go for a typical long run pace, so I should be between 3:15 and 3:20. As you can see, I pretty much nailed that pace. That surprised and pleased me. I am so unsure of how to run hills that I thought I'd have a terrible time hitting the pace I was aiming for. It turns out that,while each mile split varied considerably (some of the hills were really long, over a mile), I was able to adjust for those miles at other points in the race. By the time I hit the mile 5, I could guess how to make adjustments, and I purposefully sped up in anticipation of the tough final miles (almost straight uphill for the last 5 or 6 miles). The strategy worked, I hit just where I wanted to be, and I enjoyed a less-agressive race. It was fun to feel ok at the end (although it was very hot) and I actually liked the course, even though I would certainly call it challenging.

I will do a better recap later, but for now I'm just happy to have gotten some hills in and not feel too terrible afterwards.
Huge thanks to Ashley and Vanessa for hooking me up with a free entry! My Boston training wouldn't be complete without it!

13 comments:

  1. You are a machine! Clearly capable of a sub 3 hour marathon and more if you are cranking these puppies out.

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  2. Sounds like it was all in all a great training race for you!

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  3. 3:14 a training run....seriously...I admire you.
    whatch out Boston!!!

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  4. Um...you failed to mention that you were the fourth woman to finish the marathon. Nice job!
    I can't tell you how happy I am that I just ran the half. THOSE HILLS!

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  5. 4th woman...you are a running machine!!!! and a 3:14 on hilly nonsense? my jaw is agape as per usual when I read your running reports.

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  6. so amazing! I train on hills, not like Atlanta, but rolling hills, and I, well, I'll be frank, I suck at racing on hills. You go, with no hill training and do EXACTLY what you plan to do, in uncharted territory. Totally nailed it! Nice!

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  7. Awesome training run! And you should totally be a pacer for a marathon, I think you would be hilarious at it. Especially since you don't like to follow time guidelines or anything - you would be saying to another runner "what pace are we running? Perfect, we are right on schedule" lol

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    1. Oh my gosh you are so right. I'm the worst pacer ever. I actually stopped to kiss my godchildren during this race. I'm sure that would thrill the socks off the people I was pacing!

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  8. I would love, love, love it if you were my pacer in a race. Pretty please!!

    oh, and congrats on yet another good time! ;-)

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  9. A hilly race like that should definltely get you prepped for Boston! Nice work.

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  10. That's a great pace for a hilly race! I mean, shoot, that's a great pace, period. But good job on nailing the hills. I think you are Boston ready, girl! I really hope you have a great time AND kick some serious Beantown butt!

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  11. Sounds like a success! A hilly 3:14, I am so envious of you this year. In a good way, of course :)

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  12. So the more I catch up on all you have been doing, the more I think you are so amazing. Really. Seriously. You ARE the real deal:)

    Joy:)

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