Jacksonville Marathon Race Recap


Saturday I ran the Jacksonville Marathon and am as pleased about how a race went as I have been in a long time. I think it’s safe to say this is probably as well as I will ever execute a marathon. I trained using a “old man” training plan designed to offer a bit more rest and recovery, but still pretty aggressive. I hoped to be able to run in the 2:54.xx range to bring me half way from my current PR to 2:50, which is the lifetime goal I’m chasing. 

Training went well and I was pretty confident that I could run Jacksonville well. And run well I did, finishing in 2:54.46. I surprised myself. The weather forecast looked very nice a week before the race, then continued to fall apart as the race approached. 63 degrees and rising, few clouds, 90+% humidity, 16 mph winds were not going to make for ideal conditions. I decided the night before to go for my C goal and run conservatively, which was to take any PR. The B goal I had set weeks before was to run the 2:54.xx if weather was very good and the A goal was to take a shot at 2:50 if conditions were perfect. Conditions where neither perfect nor very good, so any PR became my goal. 

I figured I’d start at 6:50 pace, work down to 6:40 by the 5k point, and then stay there as long as possible. Yet as the race progressed, the miles kept clicking over in the low to mid 6:30s even as I actively tried to target 6:40ish. Mile 18 I finally had to fight a bit more as we turned into a head wind that would be with us pretty much to the finish. Yet that mile clicked over at 6:31. Finally, as I reached mile 21, I felt myself falling apart. A side stitch, a pain in one shoulder, a shortening stride. Fight! I decided to target trying to stay under 6:50 and absolutely no 7 minute miles and I’d finish in 2:55.xxx. And it worked! A 6:44, 6:46, 6:42, and a couple miles back in the 6:30s; and I was on the finishing track with 200 meters to go just after the clock clicked over to 2:54. A little kick to the finish…and 2:54.xx! My 5k splits and first half/second half splits were incredibly even, probably what I’m most proud of all. I’m giddy about how this race went! 

Next up, Chicago Marathon and under 2:50!

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