Race Prep 331 - Official Race Plan

This is an upper division course.

Obviously, it is important to go into a marathon with a plan. There are different strategies for different people, and most people would argue that a negative split race is the best way to approach a marathon. (For my non-runner friends, a negative split is when the second half of your race is faster than the first. Often times, if runners tend to go out too fast in the beginning of a race, it leaves the second half of their race filled with pain, fatigue, and a much slower time than if they had just picked a better pace and race strategy.)

I think it is important to have a race plan as early as possible so that you can incorporate that into your mental images. Since sometimes the course determines part of your race strategy, you may have to delay your final plan until you've actually had a chance to see the course. For me, I've driven and/or run the course five times, so I'm going to go ahead and make my plan today.

Here we go...

1-7
Because of the nature of the course, the first section of my St.George race plan is from miles 1-7. The terrain is net downhill, but at a gentler grade than later in the race. There are a few small hills (and I mean tiny) in the first 4 miles. I plan to start the race by feel. I plan to run with a nice even cadence, relaxed arms, easy breathing, and then check my watch at every mile. If I feel good and the time is anywhere from 7:50-8:00, I'm going to stay at that pace. If I'm slow, then I'll reevaluate my effort and pace goals. If I'm faster than 7:50, then I'm going to reel it back to stay conservative at the start.

8-14
This is the section of the course that contains the most uphill. At the town called Veyo, there is a hill that I plan to run by feel and not worry about my pace. It is somewhat steep, but nothing that should slow my MGP down over 8:30. I will have a small recovery downhill section before a long gradual uphill between miles 9 and 12. My goal for these miles is to stay at 8 minute miles, but not slower than 8:10. I also do not want to push the pace in this section. After mile 12, I need to stay patient until I hit the major downhill sections near mile 14. I hope to be at the half-marathon mark between 1:42 and 1:45, which is definitely possible because my split at Boston last year was 1:45 something. I just hope I feel more relaxed than I did at Boston.

14-21
This is the major downhill section. This is also the portion of the race where I plan to gain the most time towards my goal of sub 3:30. I plan to relax into the hills and let my legs enjoy the downhill. I don't want to pound my quads, but if I happen to be fast during this section, that is great. I will try my best to save some of my fastest miles for miles 19-21. There is a hill around 18 that sneaks up on people and can be brutal if you are not prepared for it. I plan to run it easy, but strong. Miles 18-21 are incredibly desolate. It was extremely challenging for me at that point in the race to keep my composure and focus on my pace. My legs hurt from the downhill by mile 20 (but don't most marathons hurt around mile 20?)

22-24
Hopefully I will be feeling good. During this section, we begin to enter the outskirts of St. George and can see what is ahead. I hope to be able to crank out 8 minute miles here.

25-26.2
This section is new to me, since they changed the course after 2005 when I ran it. The course is through neighborhoods and the downtown area and has a few turns. I hope to have already previewed this section on foot as part of my 'shake out' miles on Friday. I am going to focus on 'the next turn' as I weave closer to the finish line. This section is going to hurt pretty bad because we hit some flat sections. After running downhill since mile 14, flat road is incredibly painful. I hope to hold MGP, but if I am a tad slow the last mile, I won't be disappointed.