Author: mattcroce

2019 Races

Tomorrow I will attempt to run my first ultramarathon. An ultramarathon is defined as any race longer than marathon-distance; in other words, any race longer than 26.2 miles. Some of the most common distances are 50 kilometers, 50 miles, 100 miles, and more. I’m signed up for a local 50k race – Hell Hath No Hurry.

My history with distance running is one of fits and starts. Inconsistency is probably the word I’d use to describe my historical approach to training. I’ve now run three marathons, but I’ve signed up for probably a dozen or more. Most of the time my marathon signs ups have resulted in me switching to running a half-marathon instead. See above for my approach to training if you’re interested.

That said, I’ve found myself this year able to hold to a consistent level of training and I think it’s because I committed myself to something of a ludicrous plan. Here’s my race calendar for 2019:
May – Pittsburgh Marathon (completed in 3:56, 45 minutes off my PR but a good day for me right now. This was used as a training run.).
June – Hell Hath No Hurry 50k. This is tomorrow. I’m feeling pretty good about this right now. It will be a challenge, no doubt. But I’m decently fit, have been running consistently, and am looking forward to it.
August – Baker Trail UltraChallenge. This is a 50 mile ultramarathon in Western PA. Fun fact: this year’s race is ending about 15 minutes from where I grew up in the middle of nowhere. I’m feeling cautiously optimistic about this race. Not that I can win or anything, but that I can actually finish and beat the cut off time, which is 14 hours. This is my true goal race for the year.
November – NYC Marathon. I’m super excited to run this marathon. I entered the race lottery on a whim, never expecting to have my name pulled. Well, lo and behold, they drew my name. So I’ll be running New York in the fall. I love New York and it will be a blast to run around the boroughs. My feeling is that after all my training this year and preparation for ultramarathons, this might feel a bit easier and will be a nice way to cap my official race calendar for 2019.

If you’re thinking that looks like a lot of racing this year, you’d be right. It is a lot, at least for me. I’m more of a “one marathon or half-marathon per year” kind of guy. But here we are. My body feels good and is holding up pretty well. I think I’m ready for it.

A reasonable question to ask right now would be “Why?”. Why run ultramarathons? Lots of words have been written on this topic and the answer is different for everyone. For me, it’s about wanting to see if I can do it. Setting a goal and making it happen. Ultramarathons seem to be about mostly being stubborn, not stopping, and making sure you keep putting one foot in front of the other. I can do that. Can I do it for 50 miles? I think so, but we’ll find out.

Pittsburgh Marathon – Race Report

Race information

Goals

Goal Description Completed?
A Under 3:45 No
B Under 4:00 Yes
C Avoid medical tent Yes

Splits

Mile Time
1 8:15
2 8:28
3 8:35
4 8:26
5 8:31
6 8:12
7 8:34
8 8:26
9 8:33
10 8:27
11 8:20
12 8:43
13 8:46
14 8:28
15 8:24
16 8:46
17 10:12
18 8:43
19 8:49
20 9:10
21 9:48
22 9:04
23 9:40
24 8:54
25 9:50
26 10:42
26.2 5:08

Training

This is the third time I’ve lined up to run the Pittsburgh Marathon, although it’s maybe the 7th or 8th time I’ve registered. I’ve had some injury issues in the past, so I have quite happy to make it to the starting line relatively injury free this training cycle. Training went really well and I attribute my health to slowing down and not worrying so much about running fast. It’s been 6 years since my last full marathon so I’ve lost a good bit of fitness and gained a good bit of weight. Slowing down and taking it easy seems to be just what the doctor ordered.

Pre-race

I was diagnosed with an ear infection and respiratory infection on Thursday, 3 days before the race. I knew my breathing might be a bit labored but I wanted to go see what happened on race day and decided to run anyway. At the end of the day, it was ok. Breathing was difficult but not impossible and I don’t feel like the sickness had more than maybe a 10% impact on me that day. It was raining the morning of the race so I sat in the car in a downtown parking garage with my buddy and we watched the weather radar on our phones, debating whether or not the storm would pass us by. It would not. We left the car and entered the corrals (Corral B) around 6:30, made our way to the port-a-potties, and then found a spot to wait in the corral until it was our turn.

Miles [1] to [11]

Mile 1 – 11 were great. The crowd support Downtown, through the Strip District, and on the North Side is always great and it’s a terrific way to start the race. My mile splits were surprisingly consistent through this stretch of the race – this is not a normal feature of my running. As we made our way to the West End I was feeling good. The effort felt reasonable and although it was beginning to rain, I was pleased to be running in cool conditions. The stretch along West Carson Street is positively my least favorite part of the marathon course. It’s barren and boring and ugly. I understand it’s a bit of a necessary evil to get from the West End to the main portion of the South Side, but whew golly it’s a soulsucker.

Miles [12] to [20]

After cruising through East Carson Street and the awesome crowd support of the South Side, it was time to head over the Birmingham Bridge and up Forbes Avenue into Oakland. Everyone complains and bellyaches about this hill around mile 12 but honestly it’s not so bad. If you train for a marathon around Pittsburgh, you’ve definitely run many longer and more difficult hills. They key is to replicate the location of the hill in your long runs. Coming through Oakland and into Shadyside, my mile splits were still fairly consistent and I was pretty happy/surprised about that. The effort still felt sustainable and all was well. On Penn Avenue we stopped to pee and I walked a bit while I ate a Picky Bar, which explains that 10:12 split at mile 17. Moving into Homewood, the rain started to pick up and the crowds were noticeably thinner than in years past. Homewood is usually pretty rocking and this year it was slightly less so. Between miles 17-20 I was starting to feel tired a bit, but not terrible. My splits were slowing down but it wasn’t outrageous. Somewhere around mile 20 I dropped my buddy by a few minutes and we wouldn’t meet up again until after the end.

Miles [21] to [26.2]

Mile 21 passes through my home neighborhood of Highland Park, and running down Bryant Street is a favorite. I met up with my wife and kids and stopped to chat for a minute before continuing on my way and onto Negley Avenue. The stretch from Negley to Baum to Liberty is a tough one for me, but I managed to keep on running. I told myself I could walk a little bit after I got to the last little hill on Liberty Avenue. That was a mistake. I made it to Liberty and continued running most of the way up Liberty but as soon as I started to walk in Bloomfield, it was run/walk for me the rest of the way in. My splits from mile 23 to the end will attest to that. The last stretch down Liberty and through the Strip District to the finish Downtown is tough. I managed to gut my way to the end in a respectable 3:56, which is a full 45 minutes off of my PR but that’s ok. I enjoyed the day and was happy to get through injury free. 

As a bonus, this is my first full marathon that didn’t feature me ending up in the medical tent — I’ll take it!

Post-race

I came home, showered, and enjoyed an afternoon of burgers and beers with friends. Doesn’t get any better than that.

What’s next?

I’ve got a 50-miler on the calendar for August (my first ultra!) and then the New York City Marathon in November. It’ll be a busy summer of running for me – lots of long runs. If you’re in Pittsburgh, let’s get out for some miles.

This post was generated using the new race-reportr, powered by coachview, for making organized, easy-to-read, and beautiful race reports.

Minor update

I haven’t posted anything recently but I’ve been busy with family, work, and running.

We added to the family recently – welcome Max.

Work has been good but busy.

Running is going well. Pittsburgh marathon is coming up in about 3 weeks and then it’s time for ultramarathon training. And then it’s time for NYC marathon training. It’ll be a lot of miles on my legs but I’m feeling good.

More to come.