Walb weather

If you live on the water or on areas where flood insurance is needed, you may be interested in this.As many outlets are posting, here's a thread that will give you the most straightforward information and trying to cover it nationwide.
Please post below, for more relevant information in your area:
- NYTImes, probably the main article this week. Trying to avoid paywalls on this list, but this is the NYTImes: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/24/climate/federal-flood-insurance-cost.html
- Good explanation about what is the Risk Rating 2.0 and the new FEMA rates policy: https://kvoa.com/news/2021/09/26/flood-insurance-rates-to-change-under-new-fema-policy/
- Great explainer and relevant to Hoston area: https://www.khou.com/article/weathehurricane/why-is-flood-insurance-getting-more-expensive-federal-flood-insurance-program-fema-changes/285-d4e87880-d900-4ddb-b16d-1900647509e7
- Timely info after hurricane Ida: https://apnews.com/article/hurricane-ida-new-york-floods-storms-business-e5be064e0ec53c565569b1fe7cd31e53
- Oficial FEMA information on Risk Rating 2.0: New policies beginning Oct. 1, 2021, will be subject to the new rating methodology. Also beginning Oct. 1, existing policyholders eligible for renewal will be able to take advantage of immediate decreases in their premiums https://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance/risk-rating
- No paywall, NBC Miami: https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/fema-flood-insurance-changes-first-of-many-shifts-in-south-florida/2559732/- https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/6-to-know-top-stories-of-the-day-21/2560361/
- An interesting case where flood insurance may actually be reduced https://www.times-standard.com/2021/09/18/fortuna-floodplain-maps-updated-could-reduce-local-flood-insurance/
- Another good explainer related to Georgia https://www.walb.com/2021/09/23/fema-changes-flood-insurance-could-impact-how-much-you-pay/
- A Twitter hashtag to read the latest and comments https://twitter.com/hashtag/Floodinsurance?src=hashtag_click&f=live or this https://twitter.com/search?q=%23riskrating&src=typed_query&f=live
- Not media article, but a commercial insurance provider. Good info and video: https://wrightfloodadvice.org/video-risk-rating-2-0-flood-insurance-declarations-page/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=RiskRating2.0Changes&utm_campaign=wrightfloodsocial
- Good summary from the National Association of Home Builders: https://nahbnow.com/2021/04/femas-risk-rating-2-0-framework-will-alter-flood-insurance-rates/
Thanks, https://waterfrontgurus.com

Race information

• What? Snickers Marathon
  
• When? March 6, 2020
  
• How far? 26.2 miles
  
• Website? https://albanymarathon.com/
  
• Strava activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/3162181966/
  

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	<2:23	Wait
B	Top 3	And
C	PR (<2:24:31)	See
D	95% effort tempo race (2:25-2:26ish)	...

Background

The Berlin Marathon opened up a new frontier last September that I was eager to explore. Given I struggled to make it to line, I cut back my volume for the next six weeks. I never ran more than 70mi/week. In that time, I still took an ill-fated shot at a sub 70 at the Hartford Half Marathon, ran my first Trail half marathon (and got lost), won a race with my dog Mindy, and placed second in the Conservation Marathon in Springfield, MO. I thought about writing a race report on the marathon, but it was a very meh race. I went in trying to snag a win (I didn’t) and just make progress on my 50 states goal. To briefly summarize, I felt horrible after mile 8 and refused to look at my watch. All alone for 18mi, I still pulled out a surprising 2:28:56 establishing a marathoning floor that just a year prior was my marathoning ceiling. My dad however crushed his PR on the course and will make Boston 2021 after agonizingly missing the cutoff by just over a minute this year.

Training

(tl;dr: training calendar and Strava training log and Elevate fitness trend)

With the marathon behind me, it was time to start my Tokyo (oh god it still hurts..) cycle. I settled on following a very similar training plan to Berlin. I figured if I could mirror what worked last cycle and actually have a peak week and proper taper, I would undoubtedly be in PR shape. Early on, I struggled. I was not happy with having to run in the dark every morning or evening and my new job eliminated the possibility of lunch runs. Of my first four workouts, I struggled to maintain the objective in three of them. I was only satisfied with a set of 200s that kicked off the cycle. I met up with forwardbound for a Boston long run and aired my grievances... just two weeks in. I complained that Berlin had started off so much better in comparison, but it was too early to be too worried.

I broke through with a solid Manchester Road Race and my fortunes started to change. For the next six weeks, I hit the objective on nine of eleven workouts, notably longer tempo runs at marathon and half marathon paces. I missed only two days of running, both due to air travel, and only had to adapt one workout to the treadmill due to snow (the only one of the cycle, in fact). I did however struggle in my second race of the cycle; a very hilly 10 miler toward the end of December and left a little to be desired in my first 20 miler with marathon tempo work. I could tell fitness was building but to continue, I needed some help.

The latter stages of my Berlin plan were tailored to accommodate many late season races. Out of worry of repeating past mistakes and out of lack of New England winter races, I did not plan to race in January or February before Tokyo. I went back to my teammate/architect of my Berlin plan and received an incredibly thought-out and tuned set of workouts for the final seven and a half weeks. Rather than follow formulaic weeks of Tuesday = track work, Friday = tempo work, Sunday = long run, I was given challenging marathon paced tempos, float and push workouts, and track work between various efforts all with adequate recovery. The idea was to have no excuse not to hit every workout as planned. Some weeks would contain just one workout, but they would be the toughest workouts I’d attempt. At this time I began to track my runs on an Excel calendar. Every planned run and workout would occupy the cell of a calendar day and when finished, I would edit it to reflect what I actually did and color code: green would signify the objective was met; yellow would signify off-pace or effort to be desired; orange would signify a bonked workout; and red was reserved for pain, generally above a 3/10. With a much more sophisticated training scheme in place I was ready to build to my peak.

The month of January was immediately tested with a work emergency that required travel to California, Texas, and Brazil. I lost two more running days, again due to air travel, and had to dig deep to find motivation to fit workouts into long, stressful work days. Some snow storms also had me desperate to find indoor tracks to get in important track work and stay on schedule. In all, I completed eight workouts, five of which I marked green, two rather harshly marked yellow, and one marked orange -- attributed to icy roads and air travel. While the air travel was becoming a thorn in my side, the long flight to Brazil gave me good preparation for the flight to Japan. I failed to leave my seat or stretch and learned upon arrival, cankles are a real thing. For weekly mileage I was maintaining pace for 90s stretching back eight weeks and even reached 100mi a couple times. It was starting to feel like I was surpassing Berlin’s all time high training efforts.

Going into February, I decided to defend my King of Pain title from the previous year. With a very similar elevation profile to my 10 miler in December, I finished this time with a PR despite a slightly (and acknowledged) long course. I was brimming with confidence and ready for my peak week, which concluded with a daunting 20 miler with 14 miles at marathon pace. To prepare, I headed to the local rail trail, wore an older pair of Vaporflys (I’m sorry that’s a thing), had a Maurten gel and put on my best running playlist consisting of EDM / 90’s Hip Hop / and Demi Lovato (...ya). Keeping efforts controlled through the first few miles, I naturally sped up and maintained, then sped up and maintained again. Going in, I wanted to possibly hit a sub 70min half marathon as a reach goal and well, I did!. By now it was almost time to taper. My body was responding really well to the mileage and I wanted just one more hard week. At this point, I was in uncharted territory and knew to be careful. More emphasis was put on stretching, sleep, hydration and nutrition. I wanted to not only reach a peak in fitness but also wellness and everything was going according to plan.

I woke up February 17th with notifications on three social media platforms from fusfeld with nothing more than my name. I believe I replied “lol what’s up?” to which I was greeted with the news that the Tokyo Marathon would be cancelled for non-elite runners. It took a few minutes to set it. I was in denial. I emailed the race wanting confirmation that I, a self proclaimed (when convenient) elite-sub-elite runner would definitely not be allowed in. I thought about the possibility of Covid-19 being cured in the next week and half. But I soon realized it was completely out of my control. I didn't think it would feel right to be in Japan during the race and not run. The same day I pulled the plug on the trip. I went from watching a 3hr documentary on feudal Japan the previous night to feeling utterly deflated the next morning. However, I received an outpour of support from teammates and redditors. It helped me realize I was far from the only one affected and in the scheme of things, there are much worse race related problems I could be dealing with, let alone life events.

I scrambled to find a new race. In order to make a new trip worth it, I set criteria. The race had to be in a state I hadn't yet raced and not too expensive. My first choice was Atlanta the day after the Olympic Trials. I knew a number of qualified runners and figured the experience would be incredible. I foolishly slept on the decision and greedily emailed for an elite spot. By the next morning, the race had filled and accommodations for elites were well... for the day before. My next choice was the Marathon of the Treasure Coast in Florida, located in the same town as one of my best friends. Unfortunately he was going skiing in Vermont that weekend. Next was Little Rock. I saw fast times from past years, but nothing notable in recent years. I looked into it more and found out they cut out prize money and had filled up their comped entry allotment . The flight alone would’ve eaten most of my flight voucher so I continued looking. Becoming more desperate I started searching all races the following week from the Google sheet that was being passed around. I initially laughed at the Snickers Marathon in Albany Georgia, but saw race results in the low 2:20s and even a recent OTQ from a familiar Connecticut runner. There was also sizable money involved and a cheaper flight directly to Albany. The race was on a Saturday so I would have to burn PTO, but I would be guaranteed either fast competition or the ability to reimburse the trip. So It was settled.

Because this race was a week after Tokyo was planned, I felt I had to delay my taper. I attained one more 100mi week, light on quality and went into tapering. Not traveling to Japan the weekend of Tokyo meant I could race my club’s USATF road series 5k championship. It was perhaps a reckless decision, but nevertheless I smashed my PR and got a boost of confidence for the race 6 days later.

No matter how rough the early stages of training may go, the important thing is to just keep pushing through with effort. I really tried to become more intimate with the pain of running this cycle. Tempo runs incorporated into my 20 milers sure did that and most of them I executed well. I also needed to work on endurance. I missed a lot of 20 milers in the Berlin cycle, only completing two. This time around I completed eleven and ran twice as many weeks at 100mi (four) in this cycle than I had in my entire running career. I took just four rest days in 17 weeks, all related to air travel. While the work trips were tough, overall external factors such as professional stress and weather were far less of an issue than Berlin. The unplanned 10 mile and 5k races, combined with an unofficial half marathon PR in the final 5 weeks proved that aside from the stats, I was really in the best shape of my life.

Race strategy

My initial goals were to improve on my Berlin time and target a 2:22:XX. Berlin is an amazing course with the most ideal conditions for a PR. I knew Tokyo was also considered fast. Once I settled on Snickers, I did not modify my goal time. I was eager to show my PR, which was over four minutes faster than any other marathon I’ve done, wasn’t just attributed just to pampered conditions. While the Snickers course is definitely considered flat, there are some gentle rolling hills and nowhere near the atmosphere of a World Major. I did modify my other goals. With Tokyo cancelled, Boston became my main concentration. I would be perfectly fine with a well-paced tempo in the 2:25-2:26 range, given the range of competition that could show up. Finally, I wanted to place in the money to offset costs.

I planned to go out with the leaders unless it was clear they were running beyond my capabilities. From there I would commit to the PR or tempo. I analysed my Berlin splits and wanted to finish the last 5k on pace or faster. It’s been two years since I’ve negative split a race and finished strong. I resigned to a racing style of going out at pace from the start ever since and always seem to fade as a consequence.

I went to Fleet Feet the day before I left and they only had caffeinated Maurtens. I had been on an extended caffeine tolerance break and hadn’t had a coffee in almost a month. I usually bring 4 or 5 gels but worried about the effects of more than 300mg in a race so I bought three packs and a maple syrup packet to use, despite what happened in Berlin (I’m a forgiving person). would preload Maurten 320 the night before and have a half glass of Nuun immunity (to keep Covid-19 at bay) in the morning. I had tried BeetElite for the 5k and figured the extra hydration in the morning couldn’t hurt, so a full glass of that would also be added to the routine. For breakfast I planned to have a packet of oatmeal, a banana and a stroopwafel.

Pre-race

The week of the race, I had a nice long session of dry needling and a sports massage, as I typically do. There was a race update posted to Facebook warning that there had been severe flooding in the area, but that the race would “not be cancelled”. Well, my eyes immediately scanned to the word “cancelled” and I nearly lost my shit. First pandemics, now flooding?? However, this only impacted the portion of the course near the river and was remedied by shifting the last mile a few blocks west. This is what the finish was supposed to be like and this was it once I arrived.

I left for the airport at 5:30am Friday morning. I hadn’t slept well for the past two days and was slightly worried about it. TSA pre check saved me possibly missing my flight from the long security lines and my tardiness. On the plane to Atlanta I watched A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood for some good vibes and boy, it’s a fantastic movie. My layover in ATL was only 39min so I got a little shakout through a few terminals, but ultimately was well on time. While waiting to board, I spotted a woman in a 2013 Boston jacket and Boston Vaporfly Flyknits talking to a couple other women. I asked if they were also running and within a few minutes, had an invite to coordinate dinner plans. Between the three of them, they had completed about 200 marathons and ultras. I was in awe of their accomplishments; one of them was wearing an Umstead 100 finisher necklace. When we landed, there were no Ubers around so I gave two of them (both Marathon Maniacs) a lift with my rental car. I couldn’t check in to my AirBnB or go to the race expo for a few hours so I headed downtown for lunch. There, I saw the same two women and we went to a local place where I was served a whole fried catfish between two pieces of white bread and not utensils for a salad. It was for sure an experience. Once finished, the two women made it imperative to find a package store. They were staying a couple nights so I figured it was just a celebratory post race thing. We wandered into a section of the city we probably shouldn’t have and the ladies purchased a flask of Jack. We then headed directly to a brewery and it became clear our race preparation was a little… different. I took a look at the tap list for later and headed to my AirBnB.

One of the most enriching experiences of the 50 states goal is becoming immersed into a town or city I would otherwise never have visited. One of the best resources for this I’ve found are private room AirBnBs. Not only are they cheaper, but also much nicer than the budget motels and a well-rated host can act as a sort of local concierge. This was my experience in Albany in the short time I was there. The bed was super comfy and there was even epsom salt to use in the private bath tub. I never got the chance to meet my host unfortunately, but I felt right at home -- a huge boost going into raceday. I laced up for a 3mi shakeout around the neighborhood and headed back downtown for the expo.

The expo was on the floor of a civic center and was about what you’d expect for a mid-size marathon. There were the standard discounted apparel from a running store, a few local health and wellness companies with booths, and the official race stuff. The most interesting booth was a company called SlayRX, with a pop-rocks like race fuel product in a small plastic tube. The idea is that you pop open the top, dump the powder in your palm and lick it up for electrolyte replenishment and caffeine boost. It tasted great and I’ve definitely not been paid to advertise. Just like I’m definitely not passing up the chance to use Cherry Bomb flavored Spark Plug to meet the fueling needs of my next endurance challenge (seriously though, I wish...). Once I got my bib, there was a chip checker where you could scan your chip to confirm it was working. When you did that, it would display your registration info. Those who know me won’t find it hard to believe I hung around there waiting for anyone whose calves touched before their thighs, Athlinks search bar at the ready, to check for possible competition. With disappointing results from my stalking, I met my two lady friends for dinner.

We went to a nice Italian restaurant, rather than the millions of chain restaurants around. I had spaghetti and a salad (with a fork this time) and then headed back to the brewery from earlier to have my standard pre-race stout. I ended up spending a little more time than planned there and got back to the AirBnB close to 9pm. I laid out my racing gear for my standard pre-race IG post, took a nice long epsom salt bath, stretched out, and went to bed. Generally, I had been pretty relaxed in the buildup to raceday. The adventures with the Marathon Maniacs made the day a little busier than planned but it was fun. However, anxiety started to set in. I worried about being caught in no-man’s land behind the leaders. I worried about the tightness in my ankle. I worried about not waking up in time for the race and the lack of sleep I’ve had. And I worried about community spread of Covid-19. I fell asleep relatively quickly, but woke up three times with night sweats.

As I usually do on race day, I beat my alarm, got ready, and made the 10min drive to the start. The logistics of the race couldn’t have been easier. The parking lot outside the civic center could accommodate every runner and then some. The weather was also ideal; mid-30s, clear and just slightly breezy. I popped in my earbuds, did my warmup and drills, shedded layers and checked my bag to the finish. I took solace that at last no injury, illness, flight cancellation, flooding, or pandemic would stop me from running my marathon. At the line, I was profiling the other runners for particularly fast looking runners. Someone close to me reached over and wished me luck (side note: if I ever wish someone luck randomly before a race, I’m definitely sizing them up). He revealed to me he’s a 2:19 guy and I came clean about my 2:22 goal. He proclaimed that we seemed to be only ones capable of sub 2:30 and was ecstatic about the perceived level of difficulty to finish within the money. I was a little disappointed that before the race even started, I figured I’d have to settle for second, but having someone to push me to a PR was the best case scenario. We took our marks and an air horn started us on our way.

Miles [1] to [7]

(note: splits corrected to Strava calculated course distance)

I went out side by side with the runner who approached me. If it wasn't clear by the first 100yds that we were each other's only competition, the half marathoners split in the next 100yds to leave us already gapping the rest of the field. It was very calming that I had someone willing to run with me. In the first few miles we got to know each other, laughed and assured that working together would be in both of our interests. I remarked that if he would be able to pace 5:25/mi, he could do what he needed to in the final stages of the race. He acknowledged but emphasised going out conservatively. Going into the race, I figured 5:30/mi would be a better early stage target. Both excited, we hit the first mile fast and consciously backed off for the second. The wind was calmer than the night before, but still something to deal with. Both of us remarked how it was getting annoying.

Through four miles, we were still side by side crossing the start area and a decent number of supporters. All smiles, this was feeling easy. I learned that he completed well over one hundred marathons, winning a large amount of them. I completely lucked out with the situation of having a personal pacer and just had to finish basically to place. Though the marathon is a long race and I wondered if I could trust his pacing and advice.

We made our way down the shoulder of one of the main roads for the next few miles still conversing. The course joined up with the back of the half marathon and made maneuvering between the narrow available road a slight issue, but the cheering from the runners helped. He told me some of his biggest racing accomplishments, like qualifying for team US for the 50k and kept remarking about how happy he was for the easy money. I mentioned some of my better running experiences and brought up New Jersey 2018. He was familiar with the Let’s Run thread belittling the winner’s unorthodox choice of race wear, and my first experience with internet running trolls. At some point it was mentioned how large of a lead we were building and that we could slow to a 2:30 finish and still place just as well. I appreciated the reassuring attitude, but I didn’t want to lose focus on the PR. My watch GPS was horribly off, so I had to manually calculate the splits or rely on my buddy calling them out. This put him more in control of the pace, but I was still pushing to maintain 5:25/mi. Around mile 7 his intent to slow down was made clear. I generally agreed so that I wouldn’t burn out, but part of me wanted to keep cranking away faster. I obliged and we slowed up.

5:20 - 5:33 - 5:26 - 5:22 - 5:23 - 5:23 - 5:33

Miles [8] to [13.1]

This did not last long. I was nervous about seeing the < 5:30/mi split and retained our previous pace. Then I started to get a lecture about holding back until after halfway and that I should consider the effort given that Boston is just weeks away for me. I got more annoyed with efforts to slow me down. I realized he had valid arguments, but I came to Georgia for a PR. I started to wonder whether or not he was actually in the shape to pace me to my 2:22 not to mention match his 2:19. Perceived effort definitely kicked up a notch at mile eight, about what you’d expect after a hard 45min of racing and I could tell we both felt it. Then he made a comment I couldn’t shake; he told me we could run in together and claim a share of first and second. I jokingly remarked ya, holding hands, we can just hop over but he responded he was serious. I was baffled. Why would he be so generous given his clear ability advantage in both experience and speed? How would that even work with chip timing?? I didn’t have a good response.

I soon realized there could only be one explanation, his fitness level did not match his swagger at the start line. Suddenly, winning the race was a real possibility and our time together was running out. Our conversations diminished in mile 9 and by mile 10 he was running on my shoulder, rather than side by side. The course clock at mile 10 allowed me to orientate myself with how off my watch was. I was surprised to see I was just barely under 55min. It was an unofficial 10 miler PR, but not quite the pace I was hoping for. My mind started to race. I didn’t want to ditch him, but I needed to maintain pace at the very least and couldn’t afford to slow down.

I subtly threw in more effort around mile 11 and like the Eagle descending from the command module, we drifted apart. In the words of Demi Lovato, sorry not sorry. This was much earlier than I would’ve liked to separate. I’ve benefited from pacing in other marathons before splitting away for a faster finish, but never this early in the race. However, I knew based on the course clock I would need to hit faster splits to achieve my time goal. Drawing inspiration from my peak week 14mi at pace workout, I tried to erase the last 11mi of the race and by mile 12, pretend I was back on the rail trail. I was careful not to go recklessly fast though. I didn’t know it at the time, but I crossed the half mark at exactly the same as Berlin. I did know in order to break 2:23, I would have to negative split.

5:24 - 5:23 - 5:29 - 5:25 - 5:19 - 5:24 (1:11:45)

Miles [14] to [20]

I tried to not let the nerves of running solo affect me. I was being led through the course by a police car and there were aid stations with energetic supports every two miles. The course support was fantastic, but it didn’t change how lonely it felt running in between the stations. I had my first Maurten since the start just before halfway and could feel the caffeine jolt kicking in. By mile 15, my watch was so out of sync with the course, I stopped looking at it completely. At this point in the race, I like to employ mental techniques like counting down the miles left from ten or breaking the race up into smaller pieces. I started this count down and set a target to make it through mile 18 before focusing on later stage strategy.

I didn’t know just how fast I pushed this section until reviewing my splits. I was under OTQ pace for six miles. I made a similar move in Berlin, but five miles later in the race, and only lasted four miles before hitting the wall. I was conscious of this fact and worried how to sustain the last 10k. As my countdown reached lengths of familiar training routes, I tried to imagine myself on those loops back home to be more intimate with remaining distance. I also kept referencing my 14mi tempo for confidence. With some rolling terrain and an elevated heart rate, I hit mile 20’s split a tad slow but overall negative split the last ten miles by 30sec. I had 34:01 on the clock left to run 2:22:XX. I decided to split this objective into two sub 17min 5ks, took another Maurten, and went to work.

5:14 - 5:17 - 5:14 - 5:15 - 5:16 - 5:16 - 5:30

Miles [21] to [26.2]

The course rejoined the half marathon to the finish and I started to pick off some runners. The switch to residential roads gave more room to get around and the lead car was doing a good job getting runners off to the side for me. Like the start of the previous ten, I got off to a hot start and posted my fastest split of the race on a gentle downhill mile. It was harder to keep concentration though and I felt the temptation to cut efforts back. Some of that was rooted to my mile 23 collapse at Berlin and fears of not having the ability to do better this time. Still, I made extra effort to keep my arms pumping and keep my rhythm.

Passing mile 21 and also seeing the mile markers for the half, I was reminded of my past struggles closing out the last five miles in recent half marathons. I evoked my training goal of embracing the pain and kept effort steady, though my pace had slowed. Through mile 23, I waited until the mile marker for ten to go in the half before glancing at my watch. I saw 2:06:XX, meaning I was a few seconds slow and would definitely have to close in the 16’s for the last 5k. I couldn’t afford to dwell on it, but I definitely felt that I was running faster than the course clock validated.

I was in the range to put myself mentally on the three mile warmup route I take for my home track workouts. Mile 24 felt like it was taking forever to appear and it didn’t help that my watch auto lapping was going off close to a mile off. Running through some uncomfortable twists in the course, I was really struggling to hold on. One 90 degree turn approaching two miles to go was particularly hard, but by this point I had broken through the Berlin’s limit. I didn’t know if I could speed up, but I was confident of maintaining at least low 5:30/mi.

The flood adjusted course had a mile long straight away followed by a quarter mile long down a left turn to the finish. I hadn’t analyzed the course well enough to know this and agonized for the end. My concentration was slipping. I couldn’t get a read on just how much further I had to go, but I couldn’t see where the stream of half marathoners ahead were turning and knew hopes of 2:22 were fading. Finally, I could see cones marking off the road ahead. I had just over 2min to run the last half mile. My first thought was that it simply wasn’t possible to make it in time, but I brushed that off knowing that I would still PR. I threw my arms forward and started my kick. At mile 26 I glanced down and saw I would need to close the last quarter mile in under 60sec, nope! Still, I pushed on hard until the end. I could make out the finish line clock tick past 2:22:XX but I was proud. Dodging a few half marathoners I arrived at the finish, jumped off my left foot, punched the air and clocked a 2:23:25 (apparently losing 2sec, but worth it!)

5:10 - 5:27 - 5:27 - 5:24 - 5:32 - 5:30 - 5:22 (0.2mi) (2:23:25)

Post-race

It wasn’t long until I was approached by a pair of reporters with professional video cameras for an interview. This was a first. I was still catching my breath and the music was loud I couldn’t hear myself speak!.You can judge the results here and on the local news here. I watched it once, and never again! Ah my voice! I saw second place come through a few minutes later but never got the chance to talk. Having the chance to ease into the race for eleven miles was a huge help. Without it, I doubt I would’ve ran as solid of a race. However, our race objectives were not compatible. Trying to talk me out of attempting a PR and essentially abandon my plan, soured my lasting impression of our partnership. It was clear it wasn’t advice meant in my best interest. In most race situations when I find myself matching someone I know to hold faster PRs or that I perceive to be in better shape, I concede defeat. This manifests itself into backing off pace sooner than I should or losing the ability to kick as well as I know I can. It’s been a concern of mine, but this time was different. When I heard 2:19 at the start, I mentally conceded that winning this race was impossible. Unfortunately for second place, the more he talked, the more fired up I was to prove I could win.

I gave another interview to a local paper and collected a Snickers quarter zip as an award to go with the cash prize. Everything about this race was plastered with the Snickers logo, even the medal was a spinning Snickers bar… with a ribbon of more Snickers! I loved it! I hung around the finish for a bit then headed back to the AirBnB to check out. The airport was just a ten minute drive and my flight wasn’t until mid-afternoon so I took a nice warm bath and headed back to the finish to watch the Marathon Maniacs finish. I received a text from one of them. It was a selfie featuring the flask of Jack from yesterday now empty! I couldn’t believe it! I then headed back to watch them finish. Once there, I got to experience the side of marathoning I never get to see: the back of the pack finishers. As the volunteers began taking down booths and tables, inspirational finishers filtered in, just as happy as any BQer. There were first time marathoners, some who had been convinced to run just weeks before with no prior training, runners with disabilities, some on a weight loss journey, and runners just having the time of their life taking it easy. My new friends came in just under the six hour mark with big smiles and the empty Jack bottle. I then headed to the street festival a block over for some nice nutritious meal before starting my journey home.

What's next?

When Tokyo got cancelled, I seriously tried hard to think as little about it as I could. It would’ve been such an adventure and having it ripped away just sucked. However, I was able to collect myself and keep motivated enough to adapt training even while it took over a week to select a race. That patience literally paid off and I couldn’t be happier. I clocked my second half of the race in 1;11:40, a 5sec negative split! This was the first time I’ve done that in two years. Top to bottom I hit all of my objectives, bar the sub 2:23. But on that note -- this course was definitely long. Although my watch measured nearly 27mi, corrected via Strava the course still showed 26.65mi. The course on MapMyRun shows 26.73mi and the shortest finisher activity I could find was still at least 26.5mi. The race director assured the course is certified and that last year she had to deal with an essay from someone complaining it being 0.2mi long. I have no doubts it is an official marathon course, and I also have no doubts it is long and I have trust in my splits. In the end though, I still PR’d having to run 15mi solo through suburban Georgia. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little bitter about the course (I wouldn’t be writing about it if I wasn’t) but better to be longer than shorter and it gives me a sense of unfinished business to address in my next race!

In the current state of living through a pandemic, I truly don’t know what my next race will be. I’ve already had the World Athletics Half Marathon Championship in Poland postponed from the end of the month to October, and I’m not holding my breath about Boston. Even local races are now being cancelled so I’m incredibly grateful to sneak this one in. Still, I will prepare for Boston until it’s cancelled and then continue to move objectives until I can run a race. It’s been a great start to the year regardless, in three races I’ve set three PRs!

Race Report Index

Manchester City Marathon 2:56:28
Vermont City Marathon 2:47:07
Newport Marathon 2:52:22
Marathon 2 Marathon 2:50:25
Philadelphia Marathon 2:38:19
One City Marathon 2:31:33
Boston Marathon 2018 2:35:38
New Jersey Marathon 2:28:58
Chicago Marathon 2:43:32
Boston Marathon 2019 2:28:33
Berlin Marathon 2:24:31

Thanks for reading!!

This report was generated using race reportr, a tool built by BBQLays for making great looking and informative race reports.

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