Cowtown marathon race report

3:52. Love it and hate it.
All of the externals lined up really nicely for this race. I didn't bring the kids. I did my longest run 3 weeks out so I would have time to get sick and get over it by race day. I rested the day before the race. It was cold with no wind. Perfect weather.
My plan was to run mainly by heart rate. To break the race up I to 4x6mi sections with 2.2 at the end as a victory lap. In my mi d, the race was section 4 from mi 18 to 24. The rest was warm up and cool down.
I didn't really feel anything special race morning. Just a little anxious because I knew it was going to hurt.
I had my pickle juice in an 8oz flask clipped to my shorts. I had gels in the pockets of my compression shorts. I wore throw away gloves and a good will sweatshirt over a shortsleeve shirt.
Temps would range from 40 to 50 degrees. Maybe 10 degrees Warner than ideal but still nice. I also carried an 8oz flask of perform so that I could skip the water stations for the first 8mi.
My heart rate targets pre race by section were 155, 158, 160, 163 then whatever I could muster. My goal time was anywhere below 355. My super secret best time was 345.
Then the gun went off.
Section 1 hr was 155
Section 2 hr was 156
Section 3 hr was 158
Section 4 hr was 161
Last 2.2 was 162.
So I ran a couple bpm slower for most all of the race. I just didn't have the conference to push any harder. This is marathon #7 in the past 5 years. But it was also a 28min pr. So this was uncharted territory. And while I did run a little faster on my last 2 long training runs (15 sec/mi faster in my 22mi run a few weeks ago) I just couldn't bring myself to risk blowing up by going any harder.
Cramping has been my nemesis. I have cramped in every other marathon. This time I drank a pickle juice before the race. At mi 22 I felt a cramp trying to come on. I got one at mile 23, drank my pickle juice and had no more problems.
I was able to push as hard as I could up the last hill with no cramping.
In comparing this race to my 22mi run on trainingpeaks, I was struck by the NGP data for both runs. NGP adjusts pace for hills and variability in terrain in an effort to level the effort between one session and another. The NGP pace for the race and my 22mi run were the same. The computer is saying I got the same work out of my body but the hills slowed my pace. Interesting.

Time for some rest now. Pretty sure that was my last cowtown. 5 is enough.

Cowtown race week

Ok. Here we go.
Swam on Monday. 15x100 working on leaning on my lungs.
Kinda lazy mentally but that is ok. Took extra rest. Didn't worry about send off time. Earlier in the day I took my kids for a hike and later I would take them swimming so this was my break.
Tuesday was a short track session. 6x400. Times were mostly 1:33. With one 1:23 where I went out too hard.
I feel pretty good. I know Sunday is going to hurt but I feel as ready as I could hope to feel.

Cowtown week 15

Ok. Here we are. Not quite as sick. But not well.
Day 3 of anti biotics. I wake up feeling ok but by mid day a headache sets in and it is crushing.
Tuesday got 3x1mi done at track. My hr was really really high compared to last set of 1mi repeats in December.
Got a bit of squat and deadlift as well.
On Wednesday I got on the trainer in the morning. I was gonna do strength at lunch but the headache set in and I am done for.
Got in a 6mi run on Thursday and a bike and swim on Friday. Saturday was 10mi in 1:21. By the end I felt like myself for the first time in a few weeks.
It looks like things are timing out well this go around. I'm not sick anymore and my injuries are pretty minor.

Cowtown week 14

Got on the bike a little on Monday just to spin the legs out. Walking pretty well. Achillies hurts today but not like it did Sunday. At lunch I did a timed workout consisting of 100 pull-ups, 140 push-ups and 180 sit ups.
I have a cold. Hopefully it will not become a sinus infection.
Tuesday was 8x800. My target time was 3:13 but I knew that was not going to happen. I'm flat. From the 22 or the cold or both. Times were more like 3:30. Actually, a little better for the first 5 then I just couldn't recover by the start of 6 and my times fell off a bit. 800s really suck though. Long enough for me to peg my hr, but not long enough to ever really settle in to a pace. The good news is that the achillies is better than it was a week ago. At this point, with less than 3 weeks to go getting healed and not getting sick are the top priorities.
Wednesday was to be bike intervals and a strength session. The bike was a bit weak so I bagged the strength. Still not recovered.
Thursday was a 5mi tempo and the strength I missed yesterday. The tempo was 5mi @7:40. It sounded fast by I checked my logs and I did it at 7:30 in December. By the end of the first mi I knew I was in trouble. After 2@7:40 I shut it down and jog walked the rest of the way. Still sick/not recovered.
Today is Friday. I am staying in bed.
Just too much stuff piled up at once, couple with a light day at work.
Saturday was 13mi. My plan was marathon pace. Coach mikes plan was 20 sec faster than marathon pace.
I gave his plan a shot for a couple of miles but I just wasn't up to it. My hr was elevated and my legs were heavy.
Ended up 1:54 a little slower than marathon pace with an avg hr 5bpm faster than mp.
Guess I'm still sick. Big question now is do I pull the trigger on antibiotics or try and kick it au naturale. I seem to spend most of my life with a low grade sinus infection.
I think that if I still feel it Monday I will take a short course. I'd really rather not have to though.

Sunday evening. Zero energy. Played with the kids in the pool for 30min and needed a 2 hr nap after. Gonna hit the antibiotics in the morning...

Cowtown week 13

22mi 3:09:45. Thank you very much. Last 10mi were the fastest at about 8:35 pace. Started slow, first 6mi were just under 9min pace. I didn't really watch any metrics at all. Just ran by feel. When I felt good, I sped up. Stomach was getting sour. Skipped the gel at 180min because I was almost done.
For day before nutrition, had bagel, 2bacon and egg tacos, turkey sandwich, 2more bagels over the course of the day, some chicken breast and noodles for dinner. No dessert.
Still had potty problems that I had to hold during the race. Not sure what the change was.
The other sessions of the week were unremarkable. Did a Crossfit, did a swim, hit my track session times and was a little slower than target for the 8mi tempo.
Now, how will I recover? I felt a col coming on Friday night before the Lon run. We will see what develops.