Harrisburg Marathon 2007

Pre-Race

I spent the last two weeks recovering from the Marine Corps Marathon and training for this one. I had some good training runs prior to Sunday and felt fully recovered from the MCM. I changed my diet around three days prior to Sunday; I really loaded up on carbs. During my last two marathons I was plagued with cramps around mile 20. I figured it didn't have as much to do with lack of training as lack of fuel. So, after doing some reading, I loaded up the muscles with glycogen.

On race day, I got up at 5:30 and went for a 1 mile run to get the system warmed-up. I ate a bagel and drank a glass of Accelerade. We got the kids ready and "Team Enck" was on the road by 7:00. I ate a Powerbar on the way to continue the fueling process.

We got to City island around 7:40 in the morning and check in was simple. The weather was brisk, but the sun was out and you could feel it's warmth as long as you weren't in the shade. Went for a half mile run and was back at the starting line by 8:20.

While at the starting line, I met John, who took Pilates from Tina. He had two friends, Howard and Andy, who were, like John, trying to Qualify for Boston. John and Howard needed 3:30s, but Andy needed a 3:20. I too wanted to try for a 3:20, so Andy and I decided to run together.

The race went off promply at 8:30

Miles 0-5

The race was a little bunched at the start, but not as bad as the MCM, despite a little more room to maneuver, we only managed an 8:20 pace for the first mile. After that, we picked up the pace, and made up the deficit by mile 3. In hind sight, this might have been a little too much too early. Perhaps we should have made it up over a longer period of time as we were running at sub 6 minute pace for short periods of time. This section included a short run on the Greenbelt which was nice and easy on the legs.

Miles 6-10

Settled into a nice pace averaging about 7:30 per mile. The weather was perfect and the views along the river on front street were phenomenal. Both Andy and I were running smooth and were able to maintain a conversation, which was an indication that we were running within our means. At one point during this stretch, we had almost 1 minute of time in the bank. We decided to slow up a little and conserve some energy.

Miles 11-15

No problems here. Pace was good, around 7:35 a mile. We did encounter our first hill, but it wasn't that bad and we pushed over the top and made our way towards the HACC campus. This section was flat and it was the first time that I was able to rendezvous with "Team Enck, " which now included Linda K. I enjoyed the cheers and Kyler's pronouncement that Tristan "peed on his leg." This gave me something to ponder and chuckle about. Also had to take care of an equipment issue around mile 15.5. My timing chip, which I laced onto my shoe, was digging into the top of my foot and cutting off circulation to my calf. I loosened my shoe, and things were back to normal.

Miles 16-20

Boston may have "Heartbreak Hill, " which I intend to experience, but Harrisburg has Wildwood Park. We were running with 30 seconds in the bank when we entered the park, but I knew after the first hill we were probably going to expend that quickly. This part of the run, while scenic, was brutal and consisted of 4 steep rolling hills along the eastern edge. They took their toll and as we came out of the park, we not only burned our surplus, we were in a 40 second deficit. The question became, how fast do we make it up? By mile 19, we had gotten back about 10 seconds. "Team Enck" was waiting at Mile 19. I gave Kyler a high five and pushed on. We made it up a short hill at mile 20 and only a 10K downriver remained, but that was going to be a long 10K with a 30 second deficit.

Mile 21-Finish

There were a few runners in front of me, and I decided to try and overtake them to provide myself with a goal that would help me pick up the pace while taking my mind off my flagging energy levels. I was maintaining about a 7:40 pace, and knew I had to hold that to crack 3:20.
At mile 23 I was running on empty and glanced down at my watch only to realize that I had fallen to about a 7:55 pace. I did the math, but it wasn't going to work in my favor: I couldn't muster a 7:30 pace over the next 3 miles. I came close, but a 3:20 will have to wait for another day.

All in all, I was happy with my performance: I ran a 3:21:57, which is a new PR, came in 87th overall and 7th in my age group. It was a great day to run and I enjoyed running with Andy. It was certainly nice to have someone to help with the pacing and keep my mind off the run. And, I solved another piece of the marathoning puzzle: Fueling properly before a long race can stave off cramps.