Post by Justin on May 4, 2010 9:41:24 GMT -5
After finally making it into the official results I figured it was time to write a race report for Frederick. I went in to the race with a solid 14 weeks of training, the first solid training this long for me since college, 9 years ago. At the beginning of the training cycle the goal was to get through the training healthy and run a solid marathon in Frederick, which I’d say was in the 3:20 range. Last fall I ran Marine Corps and didn’t train seriously for it and really paid the price. I vowed after that to never run a marathon again without being properly trained. The MCM experience for me last fall was miserable; I didn’t ever want to feel that way again. I really do not mind not performing at a race, we all have bad days where we underperform to where our expectations are, but to perform so badly based on not preparing properly is inexcusable.
The winter training went well, I enjoyed it greatly. I really enjoyed getting long runs in with the Striders group we had this winter, and also had a great time with my work group who was training for the half at Frederick. The camaraderie of the local runners is awesome, seeing guys like Jason come back from a long lay-off, Rob’s usual gutsy training and racing, “old man” Jim Jordan’s amazing prowess was a great way to get through the tough months of snowy, cold runs. It was great to see Joe and Rick through their hats into the ring as marathon new-comers. They were exciting to watch train and progress into the unknown with excitement. The others were also great, Eric, Woody, and Denny. Sorry if I missed someone, we had some big groups out there this winter. The group at work really provided me with joy. Jennah Altobello made it through the tough winter doing much of her training on the treadmill. Formerly more of a middle distance runner she progressed just incredibly over the months and performed very well in the Frederick half. Every Sunday she was charting new waters and running longer than she had every run before. To race 13.1 was a great feat for her; I’d say she has a bright future in road racing. Another co-worker of mine, Doug Harrison, started a year ago not being able to run a quarter of a mile at once. By February he had his long run up to 10 miles and he was looking strong. He had an unfortunate injury which wasn’t running related that required surgery and couldn’t compete in Frederick, but is going to run another ½ this summer.
The winter training went well, I enjoyed it greatly. I really enjoyed getting long runs in with the Striders group we had this winter, and also had a great time with my work group who was training for the half at Frederick. The camaraderie of the local runners is awesome, seeing guys like Jason come back from a long lay-off, Rob’s usual gutsy training and racing, “old man” Jim Jordan’s amazing prowess was a great way to get through the tough months of snowy, cold runs. It was great to see Joe and Rick through their hats into the ring as marathon new-comers. They were exciting to watch train and progress into the unknown with excitement. The others were also great, Eric, Woody, and Denny. Sorry if I missed someone, we had some big groups out there this winter. The group at work really provided me with joy. Jennah Altobello made it through the tough winter doing much of her training on the treadmill. Formerly more of a middle distance runner she progressed just incredibly over the months and performed very well in the Frederick half. Every Sunday she was charting new waters and running longer than she had every run before. To race 13.1 was a great feat for her; I’d say she has a bright future in road racing. Another co-worker of mine, Doug Harrison, started a year ago not being able to run a quarter of a mile at once. By February he had his long run up to 10 miles and he was looking strong. He had an unfortunate injury which wasn’t running related that required surgery and couldn’t compete in Frederick, but is going to run another ½ this summer.