I ran a virtual Boston Marathon. It is probably the only marathon I am going to run this year. I don't anticipate a return to racing until we have an "all clear." I planned the route to start somewhere along my usual route along the Anacostia River Trail, go south and then north toward Lake Artemisia. The plan was to take a bike share from my house to the starting line. Shawn hurt his foot, but he agreed to pace and support me along the way on his bicycle. The original starting line was going to be Perry and 35th, but there were no open bicycle docks. We had to go to downtown Hyattsville to fine one. And at 6:02 AM, Shawn said go!
Route: https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/3403197334
I start off slowly. I didn't really have a goal. I thought it would be acceptable to hold a 7:00 minute per mile pace. But when the first few miles came in averaging 7:20-25, I figured I would come in 3:15-20. It took me 7 miles before I loosened up. Once I got into Anacostia Park, I started to get a boost, maybe it was from my first Gu during the sixth mile, maybe I broke through the mental fog, or maybe I was just finally loose. Either way, I noticed my miles were closer to my original goal. When I got into Anacostia Park, Shawn said he had bad news: he had a flat. With quick thinking, I told him there was a bike share near at the Anacostia Pool. He ditched his bicycle in the woods (it was there when he retrieved it later), and caught up to me. I ran down to the Frederick Douglass Bridge as that served as my turnaround point. He met not far after the turnaround. Once I hit the halfway point, I was finding my groove and going under 7 for my pace. Something clicked. I think it had to do with the fact that Shawn mentioned a runner in my club posted a 3:10 yesterday. If I didn't know that, I might have jogged it in. It made a huge difference having someone carry my water and Gu and be there for companionship and support.
Shawn: "I gotta give Kenny props. He started slow and I figured he would jog it in, given the imperfect weather and the lack of competition. Then he negative split it and BQ'd."
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| Running towards Lake Artemesia |
Along the Northeast Branch, Shawn rode ahead to take some photos. I was in the zone at this point. I felt pretty good and thought if I could hold pace, I could get under 3:10. As we ran around Lake Artemisia (counter clockwise like a track) I began to feel like it was possible to hit my target. There were quite a few runners and bicyclists along the lake.
As my Garmin approached 3:00, I had a little over a mile to go and was on the straightaway coming back from Riverdale Park. I've been in this position before and knew what to do and how to hold my pace. I considered running up the ramp and finishing by the skate park on Route 1 by Melrose Park, but Shawn told me to go straight, so I did. There was a small bridge ahead that I was going to use as the finish line. Once over the bridge, I stopped my watch and saved the result.
Results: 3:09:01 first half 1:36 / second half 1:33 = 3 minute negative split;
Miles: 7:44/19/21/25/32/23/29/10/04/19/20/01/6:52/55/57/7:05/04/06/05/12 /08/17/02/15/16/08/ 1:23 (.21)
Splits 5K: 23:15/ 10K 46:31/ 15K 1:08:59/ 20K 1:31:08/ 25K 1:52:33/ 30K 2:14:48/ 35K 2:36:57/ 40K 2:59:17
For some reason, Strava cut my run short of the bridge, which served as my finish line. But I clearly ran over the bridge and stopped my watch exactly at 26.3. MayMyRun had it at 26.3, but my Garmin first had it at 26.18. I was able to correct it on the Strava app to 26.21. It is strange that it stopped recording right at 26.21 which is the exact distance of a marathon when I ran the extra tenth of a mile to ensure I ran at least a marathon. Close enough. I ran 26.3 in 3:09:44 and the app had my at 26.21 in 3:09:01, so I'll take it.
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| The final miles - just passed the College Park Airport |
