I ran a flat full marathon on October 29th in an attempt to BQ. My legs felt great, but my GI had other plans for me that day. So, while I PR’d I missed my BQ by several minutes. After regrouping with my coach, we decided to ride my fitness and try again at the Tucson marathon on December 9th.
It’s apparently a tricky course because of the intense downhill with few pretty steep climbs. Despite it being advertised as a good BQ course, I actually picked it more for the timing and location. I’d love to hear any tips from those of you who may have raced this before. And, if anyone feels like they need to tell me I’ve made a mistake by picking this race for my second attempt, please refrain. I’ve already committed and my mental game needs to stay strong. So please constructive tips or and insight only!
If you are going to run a course with lots of downhill then you need to train doing lots of downhill. I ran the st. George marathon and Boston and both of those spaces left me with quads of Rock. You need to condition your legs to take the beating especially your quads. Just be careful don’t do too much at once.
I honestly need help in the downhill area as well. I excel on the uphill and do just fine on the flats…but that downhill destroys me every single time.
Are there basic fundamentals to running a downhill?
When listening to Kona they announcers were talking about having to make your marathon gains on the downhill. For me I seem to run slower on the downhills.
I haven’t raced that marathon but I have ridden Oracle quite a bit. Just be prepared for those uphills (I do not remember anything being steep, but I am sure they feel that way when you’ve been running consistently downhill) to feel pretty awful. I would say that it’s not an “intense” downhill but rather a steady decline.
Realistically you’re too late to do much training for the downhill at this point. Try to do any remaining long runs on a steady downhill course. For the race, I would suggest running the downhill miles (especially the first few) barely faster than your goal average pace. Maybe 10-20 seconds per mile. Going out too fast on this race will punish you more than most marathons. findmymarathon.com has a pretty good tool to calculate splits adjusted to elevation profile. The uphills are really not that bad, just keep your effort consistent.
Thanks ryla. That’s been my thought process as well.
Having only run the half, I can’t speak to the first half of the course, but I can tell you that one at 23 is short, but nasty.
And just looking at this profile, the 3rd mile doesn’t look like much fun… look at the scale on that chart.
That being said, it’s too late to modify your training. Just take the downhills easy enough that you stay in control without “braking.” Your quads will appreciate it if they are NOT what you’re using to slow yourself down.
