I drove out to Sparks Elementary School to run the road portions of my upcoming Marathon (and some on the NCR Trail). The NCR Trail Marathon starts somewhere in the School parking lot, takes a right on Belfast Road, right on York, Left on Sparks, and then hits the trail. On the way back, it takes a right onto Glencoe Road, takes a left onto Lower Glencoe back out to York Road and comes back to the school via Belfast.
I know the NCR Trail like the back of my hand, but wanted to be familiar with the road sections as well. Knowing the terrain, surroundings, and exactly when and where turns are will just make me more comfortable on race day. Of course, I had to dodge some traffic since a couple of the roads weren't great to run on, but at least that won't be a problem on race day...
I ended up running a 1:30:34. I think my run was about 0.2 miles short of 15, so my actual overall pace was probably somewhere between 6:02-6:10. I did the run with no water and no carb intake. My main goals were to memorize the road sections and get a feel for my pace. I didn't take mile splits, just an overall time, in an effort to rely more on "feel" than data.
I have improved in a hurry this year and paying too much attention to my watch on raceday is just going to slow me down or cause too much self doubt. My paces have dramatically changed, and I have to keep that in mind during this race. My plan for the race is to feel just as I did during this run. I'll probably hold back just a bit at the start to avoid wasting energy on the early hills. However, once we hit Sparks road (and a nice downhill), I'll settle in and hold on for the ride.
The pace felt decent. On the last couple of miles, I was starting to experience the "pain level off" that I have been getting right before entering my "it's not getting worse but still sucks" zone. I'm sure if I continued I would enter the magical place where I could dissociate from the pain.
Overall, the hills are not that bad. Belfast and York roll a bit but don't have real big hills. Sparks road goes downhill to the trail. The only issue is Lower Glencoe. After leaving the trail, Glencoe is flat for a little while before hitting a rather sharp and sustained uphill. Once it crests, you hit a very similar downhill section before returning to York for two more small hills.
Though it won't be fun to run up that hill at about mile 23-24, at that point, if I'm still alive, the hill isn't going to make a difference. When it comes to race day I will keep the following thoughts in mind:
1. I am substantially more prepared for this marathon than any race I have ever run.
2. I have finally tapered correctly and will still have my edge on race day...the same edge that gives me big PRs in the middle of tough training weeks.
3. Even if I don't feel comfortable early, if I keep pushing, my body will respond, and I will access that zone where the pain levels off and stops mattering.
I've always thought that the first half of most of my marathons was too "easy." I could usually sustain a conversation until about mile 16 when things would slowly get harder, and than things would begin to deteriorate. Those marathons were all run on conservative new age less-is-more plans. This time, it will be different. The pace is going to be cruising, but still uncomfortable, and I know what it's going to take to maintain it at the end of the race.
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