Afterburners and other such things

Some runs / walks are leisurely
(Courtesy g23armstrong @ Flickr)

Given the likely pace that the timelapserunner will be going come marathon race day, photographers trying to capture the scene won't need fast film. There will be no blur. No speeding bullet whizzing by. Oh, don't get me wrong, the pace will likely seem fast to the timelapserunner, at least during the running intervals. The walking intervals will likely be viewed as a welcome but dangerous respite; dangerous in that the temptation to ease up could be strong. But wait. Galloway's method comes with an interesting catch: he suggests that after the first 18 miles, walk breaks can be reduced or even eliminated. Did I just hear a bullet whizzing by?

Some runs / walks call for afterburners
(Courtesy nagillum @ Flickr

Well, maybe not. We still won't be travelling at light speed, even if we cut out all the walking - which we likely won't. However, the adrenalin that kicks in toward the end of a race might make a negative split marathon a distinct possibility. If we go back in time, perhaps using Mr. Peabody's WABAC (pronounced 'way back') Machine, we'll see that the timelapserunner has a number of such race performances in his running log. Let's look at a few of these to see the effect - the effect of kicking in the afterburners, if you will.

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1988 Carnival Cup 5K - February 13th, 1988
Overall time: 21:19
Splits: 7:02, 6:56, 6:38

Don't remember this race, but I'm guessing I felt good after two and cranked up the pace. Still, it makes the point.

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1988 Hubba Bubba 5-miler - February 27th, 1988
Overall time: 35:20 (PR)
Splits: 7:00, 7:14, 7:13, 7:16, 6:37

This race I do remember, and quite well. I had a good workout planned for this day, but it was designed for about a 7:15 pace - which we achieved through Mile 4. We did not want to overdo this workout because the TAC mile was but three weeks down the road. But the thought of passing up people and finishing in a blaze of glory in a sprint to the finish overtook the timelapserunner and he overachieved in his last mile, by a good margin.

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1988 TAC National Masters Indoor Championship mile - March 19th, 1988
Overall time: 5:44.7 (PR)
First 1408 meters pace - 5:49, Last 200 meters pace - 5:14

The most important race of the timelapserunner's running career to that point. He had this one planned out to the finest detail - even to when the race winner would lap him - both times. He wasn't counting on a fast finish to hit his target of 5:45, but it turns out he did need it. And get it he did, racing in under the wire with three-tenths of a second to spare.

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So, we can see that history is on the side of cranking it up at some late stage in his races. HOWEVER ... we have NO experience whatsoever in a race that takes some 5 or more hours to complete. The longest (time-wise) race we've ever run was one hour long. Turning on the afterburners for 200 meters or even for a mile is much easier if you haven't run 18 or 20 or 24 miles already. Still, we're betting that something will kick in and push the timelapserunner toward that finish line as the race winds down.

TODAY'S WORKOUT: A four-miler at the Lakes after our active-isolated stretching. Planned pace: 11:48, actual pace: 11:46, using 2:03 / 1:00 intervals, with nominal running pace of 10:29. Nothing adverse to report injury-wise.