Napa Valley Marathon - How Not to Train for a Marathon

Napa Valley Marathon. Invokes images of a long summer afternoon spent savoring bottle after bottle of that sweet nectar doesn't it? It's not. It's a stupid running marathon. The Interwebs are full of training guides on how to run your first marathon or run a faster marathon. I didn’t follow any of those. I am an idiot ultrarunner. Typical for my races, I just dived head first into a road marathon without any real preparation, because training is for sissies. How might one actually train for a marathon and what did I do?

Set a realistic time goal

My only road marathon was 7 years ago. That disaster started with a lack of breakfast, enhanced by a hail storm, and topped off with a cramping, walking finish in 4 and a half hours. The icing on the cake was that someone clogged the toilet on the train back home. I'm not gonna say who, but I think you know him very well. 

At the behest of my brother, I would make a modest attempt at qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I thought these plans were on hold after his injury but green light was given just two months before the only local marathon that fit in my schedule. I thought I was being “realistic” by setting a goal of 3:40 to finish, with the idea that I might push for a BQ 3:25 if I felt well, or make a second attempt this year if I was close. As the King says, only fools rush in….

Train more at race pace

What is my race pace anyway? I needed to run 7:49 min per mile to qualify and I trained hard - 4 runs total. Not per week, but 4 total. Correction, I trained hardly. Once to break in new shoes, and three more times running some sort of interval/tempo on flat roads. The rest of my winter was spent either on trails or jogging with my old dog. Technically, the first race of the year was the Hot Chocolate 15k that I ran in a semi-relaxed 8:06 pace, so BQ (Boston qualifying) didn’t seem out of reach. But 4 runs and a total of about 12 miles at race pace, I guess, was not enough.

No, Alan. It's not that kind of marathon.

Wear the right gear

Signature orange shorts, blue singlet. Not having done any substantial road races, I had no idea what to do with my hands - do i take bottles or not? Or just give the occasional thumbs up? I bought “race” shoes a month before NVM seeing as how ragged my road shoes were, but I didn’t get much time in them and never solved the tension on my instep nor calf cramping after 16 miles.

Race before your race

What does this even mean? Maybe Napa Valley Marathon is just training for my next marathon? Do I race after I race?

Taper and Rest

Huh?

Hydrate

This, I had no problem with. We sampled some wine at the race expo, and discovered a great Malbec for a beer chaser. Then we had wine with lunch at Il Postino. Then we went wine tasting at Luna Vineyards. Simultaneously hydrated and carbo loaded, or at least I was loaded.

Everything in moderation even hydration

Napa Marathon Wine Partners. Top that, Rock n' Roll Marathons!

Tasty tasting menu at Luna Vineyards, Napa, CA

Race Day

The ever reliable spousal unit dropped me off at the finish line where shuttle busses took us to the race start in Calistoga. The course is a one-way affair down one of the most beautiful roads in California. Particularly at this time of year, with abundant creeks and verdant green shit everywhere permeating and surrounding the many vineyards and chateaus, I felt like I died and gone to Switzerland. Unfortunately, I forgot my phone/camera so you’ll have to make do with these stock photos. Is there a road equivalent to trailgasm? Roadgasm just doesn’t sound right. Marathon-gasm? Yeah, I was having that.

The first half went really well. The road mildly undulates on the edge of the valley floor, keeping things interesting but making settling into a steady pace somewhat difficult. I was a couple of minutes ahead of the 3:40 group so all was going according to plan. While I paused to drink at the mile 14 aid station, the 3:40 group passed me. I put in some effort to catch the group, but the headwind, the mild hill and fatigue got to me after a couple of miles breaking wind by myself (probably the first time that's ever happened). Now having let go of the possibility of BQ, I could relax and enjoy the scenery more, and, I suppose, continuing to break wind by myself.

So two things happened then by mile 16-ish. The relaxed pace made the second half of the run much more enjoyable. While I spent the first half fretting about pace, I spent more time admiring my surroundings like I would in a trail run. The other thing that happened is that my old nemesis returned. Both of my calves started to just cramp a bit and I knew that a single misstep could lock up both puppies. I slowed to a 9:30-10:00 min/mile pace with short choppy steps the rest of the way. I sauntered in the final yards, in a state of peace. Amen, brother.

In case you haven’t figured out by now, a road marathon is not just a shorter ultra or vice versa, so it's not necessarily easy for an ultrarunner. Trail ultrarunning is a vastly different sport than road running. And like how it takes different skills and it’s difficult to be simultaneously good at holding onto a girlfriend and a wife, it’s not easy to train and run both trail ultras and road races. My finish time of 3:58 hit the sweet spot of dissatisfaction. Just fast enough to be under the 4 hour barrier, not to mention a few minutes ahead of Dean Karnazes (take that, Ultramarathonman!), but also far enough from BQ that I don’t have to worry about this shit again.

Spot turned to beer when she got home