Lincoln National Guard Race Report

I have little to say about the Lincoln National Guard Marathon.  It’s the marathon time trials for the National Guard marathon team and while I am able to make it onto the New Mexico team, because nobody else is submitting times, there is virtually no possibility that I could actually make the All Guard team.  I don’t mean that to sound as negative as it does, I’m actually enthusiastic about being able to get onto the New Mexico team as long as I’m able and I like to get paid to go do a marathon and, as marathons go, the Lincoln marathon is a good one.

What I mean by my apparent negativity is that I am a realist when it comes to my marathoning abilities relative to those who are actually built for marathon racing.  Believe me, as far as I’m concerned for a 200 pound guy, give or take 10 pounds, to be running marathons and consistently finishing in the top 7 to 20%, depending on the size of the marathon, is plenty satisfying for me.  I frequently get a kick out of thundering up behind someone at mile 22 that I outweigh by 60 pounds and seeing the puzzled look on their face as I roll on by but the fact of the matter is that moving my bulk at those speeds takes an incredible amount of power and stamina and I’m just not quite there.

In any case, this was my second Lincoln marathon and one really cool thing about this one is that not only did the GeekGrl come along to run but so did our friends Mark and Miki.  Miki was on the New Mexico team with me and Mark was running to make his third attempt at qualifying for Boston.  It was like a couple’s weekend out and we all had a good time.  The weather was also a lot better this year, cooler and overcast so everyone had a good run.

I ended up running a 3:37, which was a fully six minutes slower than I ran last year but I’m also like 15 pounds heavier and was not as well trained.  I have seriously struggled with getting back on track after running the Slam last year.  As I  said in an earlier post I think I tapped some reserves that normally don’t get tapped except in life threatening emergencies and so I’ve been flat all year despite my trying to both diet and train.

Anyway, the GeekGrl also ran her second fastest marathon of the season, missing her Army marathon time by only 31 seconds, Mark finally ran his BQ and still had fuel in the tank and Miki placed third in her age group and made the All Guard team.  The other two New Mexico runners also made the All Guard team, one placing third in his age group and one wining his age group.  Both of then ran sub-3 hour marathons.

I’m not sure if I’ll be back in Lincoln next year or not.  It depends on the New Mexico Guard’s budget and on who submits times but I can tell you this, I have to do something to shake up my training.  There is no way that I should have to stay at my current weight and I still don’t think that I’ve run my fastest marathon.  I qualified for Boston with a 3:28 and change a couple years ago and that was the weekend after I had run back to back marathons in Death Valley and Las Vegas.  The next year Boston dropped all its qualifying times by five minutes and I now have to run under a 3:25 and I sincerely believe I can do it on fresher legs but somehow I need to find a way to come back from the beating I gave myself last year.

So, here’s what the plan is.  I’m going to give the Hanson’s marathon method a try to build speed and I’m going to take up Olympic Weightlifting to build power.  If the lifting results in more mass but a lower percentage body fat and on the whole I don’t get much faster then I guess I’m fine with that too, After all, my good friend John Vigil does call me Big B, I may as well live up to something.