Oshkosh Marathon - Race Report

Alright, so lets be honest, I ran this race on April 29th and it is August 8th today.  I am already now two races down as far as Race Reports go and I'm already closer to my next marathon than I am to this race's race report.  But, as I tell my kids, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.  This was my second ever full marathon at the Oshkosh Marathon.  If I had the chance, I honestly wouldn't choose this race.  But, when I registered, I though this was the only spring marathon I could run, so I couldn't pass it up.  It's a cheap race and it's close to home, so I can't turn it down, especially when it's the only weekend I can race.  But towards the end of my training, I accepted a new position at my work and no longer work shift work.  I am now working straight days, Monday though Friday.  Sure, it sounds great, but, it's quite the change after 8 years of working night shift.  I gave up my extended "weekends" and all my spare time to train.  But, I didn't find out about the job change until a little over a month before the race, so it really didn't totally effect this training plan as one would think.  Honestly, the weather had a bigger effect on my training than my job change did.  But I sucked it up and did what I could with what I could.  That meant training many early mornings in sub-zero temperatures on top of trudging through some snow here and there.  Over the years, I have become accustom to it though.

Training for This Race

Going into this race, I really wanted to work on my weakness.  Even though I have run over a dozen marathons and even run a pretty successful 50 mile ultramarathon, I honestly think my weakness is long distance.  I guess to be more specific, running fast at long distances.  So with this training plan, I upped my usual long distance training runs.  This training plan, I scheduled long runs up to 24 miles, with the idea that this would help build my comfort with running long.  I also threw in my marathon standard of 800 repeats.  My training went well, other than dealing with the weather, as I stated earlier.

Prerace

I honestly don't totally remember exactly how my race morning went.  I remember getting up early as usual and got to the race site early (as usual).  The weather forecast was decent, a bit cold if you ask me, but for a late April race in Wisconsin, it was as good as you could ask for.  My warm up was good, I ran about a mile to a mile and a half and felt good at the end. 

Nutrition Plan

In the past, it has seemed that I have always struggled taken in calories towards the end of every marathon.  So, to hopefully circumvent this issue, I planned on taking in few calories, more spread out over the 26.2 miles.  I had planned on taking in 4 gels over the 26.2 miles.  Prior to the race, I took my usual dosage of 4 Hammer Anit-Fatigue Caps with 4 Endurance Aminos.

Miles 0-26.2

As soon as the race started I did my best to try and hold back and not succumb to the urge of starting out too fast.  After the first mile or so, I knew I started out a tad too fast.  I felt good though.  I didn't want to mess with what was feeling good.  Then, at about mile 2 or 3, I met up with an old friend from my YMCA days.  I ran with him for a few miles and talked a lot for my tastes.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed chatting with him and it sucks that it seems I only see him at races, but I hate talking while I run.  I mean, I absolutely HATE talking and having a conversation during races.  But, that is what I (we) did.  I don't regret it, but it sure did throw off my pace and my breathing.  I ended up pulling away from him around mile 6, which is right about the same time I took a minute or so to stop and put some band-aids on my nipples.  Sarah thankfully brought some for me since for whatever reason, I completely forgot.  Don't worry, my nipples thanked her later for bringing those for me.  I kept pushing on after that.  Everything was going really well.  Like really well.  No, I mean REALLY well.  My pace was all below my goal pace.  I felt good, like really good.  I was beginning to think this was going to be race.  The race that I finally break 3 hours.  Then, mile 19-20 hit me...as always.  I hit mile 20 and everything just seemed to slow down.  It was like molasses in December.  My breathing struggled and my legs felt like cement.  This has been my nemesis in my marathon races.  I don't know if it's a mental struggle or a purely a fitness struggle.  I'm thinking it's likely a combination of both.  Either way, I finished the race in 3:04 and change, which is the best time I have put up in a marathon since my BQ in 2009, when I ran a 3:03 and change.  So considering this is the best race I have ran in nearly 10 years on top of the fact that my training was so-so, I was left very motivated for what is to come.

Post Race

After the race, I hung around for a while with the family and some friends.  It was cool and windy, so I didn't stand around too long.  But enjoyed a good race.

What's on Tap 

Well, this is interesting.  If I had written this somewhat after the race, I would talk about running the High Cliff Ultra 25k in August or even my training strategies for the Fox Cities Marathon in September.  But here I am, 4 days after the Ultra 25k, and almost a month out of my fall marathon.  So, I guess I'll just say stay tuned for my race reports from those races, which I will do my best to get posted ASAP.

Thanks for reading and as always, cheers!