Psychology of running a sub 3 marathon

Goal:
A goal: sub3
B goal: sub3:05
C goal: Don’t stop and finish the race


Training
In September 2019, I finished Dwarka half marathon in 1:36 (4:34min/km), to check if I can still run fast or not. And I was planning to run a full marathon in 18 weeks faster than that pace ie 4:15min/km (3:00:00). But since it was my first FM, there was nothing to lose. I increased my mileage from 50km to 90+km. The main idea was to hit a few milestones before the race.
1. Planned: ADHM at marathon pace ie 1:30 without tapering. Result 1:26:57

2. Run 3 back-to-back 90km per week and run 32km with the last 13km at 4:15min/km. Ran MCM 32k with 13km at 4:12min/km
3. 21km with the last 15km at 4:10min/km. Ran the last 15k at 4:08min/km (faster than the ADHM pace)

4. 3 weeks before the race: 28km with the first 8km at 4:30 and the last 20km at marathon pace (4:15). RAn 20km at 4:11min/km. And 28km overall 4:16min/km almost equivalent to race pace
5. 2 weeks before the race: 10k all out in 38:20. Failed to finish this after running 19:10 5k. Looks like I will be at the border of sub3. Need a plan B

I had a lot of ITB and plantar fasciitis pain while hitting peak mileage and most of the time I just wrapped my legs with KT tapes to keep going. Not advisable at all. But I was confident of sub3 after the 4th milestone if everything goes right in the race (which rarely happens). My legs felt sluggish in the second last week because of reducing mileage from 80-90km to just 51k and I thought I won't be able to pull a 3-3:05. I asked a lot of people how to pace myself. Planned to run 3:05-3:10. But the day before the race I decided to go for 2:59:59

Course
I planned to run Hyderabad in August but an injury in June made me look for a winter marathon. I had 5 options MCM, Wings, Vadodara, TMM, and NDM. I wanted a single loop, flat course with weather similar to Delhi. Since MCM and NDM have two loops, and Mumbai weather (mid20 degrees with high humidity) is quite different from Delhi (15degree with low humidity) I didn’t pick them. Vadodara has perfect race conditions in January. Flat, single loop, temp 15 degrees and dew point less than 5 degrees (yes chemical engineers look for dew point while running a race). I didn’t want to blame the course for missing sub3

Pre-race.
The biggest hurdle was to wake up early, eat something and avoid any GI issues on the course. Asked a lot of people how to execute that. Most people recommended peanut butter before the race. Tried in workout but my body was not able to digest that in 3 hours. I am used to running races without breakfast. So ate 3 bananas (which hardly makes difference and went for the race). The plan was to run at a constant 6:50 min/miles pace. I told myself no matter what happens my Garmin should not show a 6:45mins/mile pace any time. No matter how good I am feeling on the route, keep the pace at 6:50min/mile, and if it hurts reduce the pace to 6:55 or 7:00 (4:18min/km). I changed my Garmin units from min/km to min/mile because the 4:10-4:15min/km pace has more fluctuations than the 6:45-6:50min/mile which is 4:12-4:15min/km. 6:50min/mile will put me around 2:59:00-2:59:15. I just have to run my last kilometer faster to break 2:59. I checked a lot of Drg runners and 90% of them hit the wall because they start at their HM pace and think they need to keep some buffer time in the bank to avoid missing time in the later stage. Don’t bank the time in a marathon, the bank will charge you hefty interest in the end. I can’t believe so many experienced runners run close to HM pace from the start. That's all the experience I had for my first FM, stalk people on strava and don't repeat their mistakes.

Race:
The plan was to run with a fellow runner from Ahmedabad for as long as possible. Already told him to run with me to hit sub3. Splits
Distance | planned | Result
4k: 17:00 | 16:56
8k: 34:00 | 33:50
My legs felt like I was on a long easy run. And I was hardly making any effort at this point. But it's too early to speed up. Slow down a little to come under the pace. Speeding up will going to make me run a 2:58-2:59 but bonking will make me finish around 3:05-3:10. 2:58 is also a sub3 and 2:59:59 is also a sub3. Keep this pace and don't run fast. Took the first gel at 9th km. Hydration is important
12k: 51:00 | 50:50
Salt capsule at 15th km
16k: 1:08:00 | 1:07:51
Another gel at 18th km. And damn my body is rejecting gels. Shit felt like vomiting. The same thing happened to me in ADHM. Next time don't take the whole gel. Take a sip and throw the rest of the gel.
20k: 1:25:00 | 1:24:52
Perfect timing. Keep this pace.
24k: 1:42:00 | 1:41:46
Too fast. Hold your horses. Another gel at 27th km

28k: 1:59:00 | 1:48:48
Legs were tired and the next 14km felt like another HM.
32k: 2:16:00 | 2:15:57
Still on a good pace. I never ran more than 32km non-stop in my life. This was the point I had to make a decision to keep going at 4:15min/km (6:50miles/km) pace and speed up in last for sub2:59 or dial down my pace. This is where most people bonk. My hamstring was tight and my mind wanted me to stop. crossing 32km was a huge mental barrier. Every step I was taking was unknown territory to me. But I didn't come all the way for a DNF. But the fear of hitting the wall makes me slow down. 10.2km in 44mins needed for sub3. 4:18-4:19 pace. Now I just wanted to see 7miles/km pace on my Garmin for the rest of the race. Took another salt capsule.
36k: 2:33:00 | 2:33:13
Slowest 4k. Should I stop? I am slowing down. But we are still on schedule to break sub3. Need 26:47 (4:19-4:20 pace) to break 3. Don't go fast. The hamstring is still tight. For God's sake, 4:20min/km pace is needed, that's easy to maintain. Keep on moving. Another gel to cover the remaining distance.
40k: 2:50:00 | 2:50:24
2.2k remaining. Almost there. Maintain 4:20 (7miles/km pace)
41k: 2:54:15 | 2:54:42
Wait, wtf there is a fucking flyover at the last kilometer. But all I need is a 5:00 pace for the last kilometer to break 3. Just easy pace. Wait marathon is 42.2km (4:25min/km pace is needed). But I can't run fast on a flyover. I didn't train for hills. Am I going to miss sub3 by the tiniest margin possible? I just jogged up the flyover. Woah now it's downhill. 600m to go. Bring out the 800m runner inside you
42k: 2:58:30 | 2:58:52 (Did I just run a 4:10min/km pace at the end of a marathon and that too on a flyover). 62 sec to go for 200m. Let's kick as we do in relay races.
42.2k: 2:59:25 | 2:59:35-2:59:38. 3:48 min/km pace last 200m (official time 2:59:35).

I could have gone faster but the plan was to run a sub3 and not go all out and hit the wall. As I said for a sub3, everything should have gone correctly (which rarely happens). But today was that day when everything falls into place. Perfect training, perfect tapering, perfect weather, perfect pace, perfect hydration, and thankfully no GI issues.