On May 4th, 2024, I ran the La Crosse marathon. This was my second time running the La Crosse marathon, and my third time running any marathon. I was really happy with my race result because I set a new personal best and finished faster than I expected to! This post is my race report.
Summary
Training
My training for this marathon was a lot different than the first two marathons I ran. For my other two marathons, I closely followed a training program for at least three months prior to the race. This time around, I didn't actually decide I wanted to run the marathon until it was about five weeks out. I figured at a minimum I could finish the race, but I also thought it would be a good experiment to see if the running I had done since the last marathon was enough to maintain my fitness level. When I'm not actively training for a marathon, I still run 3 - 5 times per week, but I don't plan out how far I'm going to run each time or exactly what days I'll run. I was curious to find out how the lack of structured training would factor into my race results.
In January, my mileage was pretty high since I ran every single day of that month. For the past two years, I've done a self-imposed running challenge where I run every day of January. It's a good way to kick off the new year and it forces me to get outside and exercise even when the temperature is well below freezing. In February, my mileage went down quite a bit because I took it easy for a bit after my January challenge. I picked up the mileage some more in March and by April I was in full marathon training mode. Once I signed up for the marathon at the end of March, I started following the Hal Higdon intermediate 2 training program. This is the same one I followed for my last marathon in November, but this time I jumped in at week 13 of the program.
Below are all my runs from January 1st up until the race day.
| Week # | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Weekly total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7.0 | 5.1 | 3.3 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 34.7 |
| 2 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 28.9 |
| 3 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 7.0 | 33.5 |
| 4 | 5.0 | 3.1 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 7.1 | 31.9 |
| 5 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 17.5 |
| 6 | 6.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 10.2 |
| 7 | 6.0 | 0.0 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 18.4 |
| 8 | 0.0 | 4.2 | 0.0 | 3.4 | 0.0 | 4.2 | 7.0 | 18.9 |
| 9 | 0.0 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 16.4 |
| 10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.5 | 8.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 | 15.1 | 33.7 |
| 11 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 0.0 | 5.2 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 27.3 |
| 12 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 6.1 | 16.1 |
| 13 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 18.0 | 0.0 | 42.1 |
| 14 | 5.0 | 7.1 | 5.2 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 15.1 | 0.0 | 39.5 |
| 15 | 5.1 | 10.0 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 10.2 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 50.9 |
| 16 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 12.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 31.2 |
| 17 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.1 | 22.1 |
| 18 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 26.3 | 35.8 |
Marathon
Leading up to the marathon, I was checking the weather constantly. I was really hoping it was going to be warm on race day because it was warm the whole week. The high for the day was only supposed to be 60 degrees, plus cloudy with a chance of rain. A lot of runners I know love running when the temperature is in the 50s, but personally I like it in the 60s or 70s. For me, when the weather is in the 50s, it's a toss up between short sleeve vs long sleeve and wearing gloves vs no gloves. Wind plays a big factor here too. Out of sheer luck, the wind was out of the east. Since I would be running west for the entire marathon, this meant I would have the wind to my back. I decided on a long sleeve polyester shirt and no gloves.
On the morning of the race I had a plain bagel, a banana, a cup of black coffee and a glass of water about two hours before the start of the race. Arrived to the starting line around 5:30am, race started at 6:00am.
The start of the race is always fun. You're running with a big group of people, some people are chatty and spirits are high. I ran my first mile at an 8:00 minute pace, but this would be my slowest pace of the race. Over the next few miles, I brought my pace closer to 7:30 min/mile. I wanted to maintain this pace as best I could for the rest of the race. I figured I could slow down later if I started to hit a wall. Miles 1 - 10 were fun. I got to enjoy some nice scenery and chat with people along the way. I felt good at my pace and my legs were only feeling slightly tired.
Miles 10-20 were the doldrums of the run. The initial excitement has worn off and there's still a ways to go. By the halfway point, the runners have spread out quite a bit. About 200 people ran this marathon, so there were long stretches when I was running by myself. My strategy here was to clear my mind and try not to check my watch too often to see what mile I was on. Just focus on maintaining my pace and keeping good form.
By the time I hit mile 20, I started catching up to the tail end of the half marathon runners. The half marathon started at 7:00am at the halfway point of the full marathon. Miles 20 - 26 somehow felt like the longest part of the race. I knew I was near the end but I still had to push through a few more miles. By this point my legs are aching and it takes extra effort to maintain my pace. Around mile 21, a thunderstorm rolled in. It was pouring rain for the remainder of the race. Now I was soaking wet and the temperature had dropped to the low 50s, so I was feeling pretty cold. I was checking my watch frequently because I was trying to figure out what time I would finish.
Crossing the finish line of a marathon, regardless of time, is an amazing feeling. You spend so much time training and preparing for that moment where you finish the marathon and you can say that you did it. There is so much build up to it that it feels surreal when it finally happens. My finishing time of 3 hours and 15 minutes was a new personal best for me. I finished 28th out of 192. I'm not winning any awards at that pace, but it was an excellent run for me.
Below are my splits:
| Mile | Pace (min/mi) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 8:09 |
| 2 | 7:54 |
| 3 | 7:41 |
| 4 | 7:46 |
| 5 | 7:37 |
| 6 | 7:28 |
| 7 | 7:57 |
| 8 | 7:16 |
| 9 | 7:11 |
| 10 | 7:57 |
| 11 | 7:26 |
| 12 | 7:12 |
| 13 | 7:15 |
| 14 | 7:17 |
| 15 | 7:13 |
| 16 | 7:14 |
| 17 | 7:16 |
| 18 | 7:17 |
| 19 | 7:24 |
| 20 | 7:16 |
| 21 | 7:09 |
| 22 | 7:16 |
| 23 | 7:27 |
| 24 | 7:21 |
| 25 | 7:34 |
| 26 | 7:22 |
Final thoughts
Although I had a shorter training cycle for this marathon, I did my training runs as a faster pace. I think that fact coupled with maintaining my mileage between marathons is what allowed me to beat my previous time. I'm already signed up for another marathon in November, so I'll plan out the training a little better for that one. I plan to have a longer structured training cycle plus more speed work.