Snohomish River Run 2024: Marathon PR by 7 Minutes

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3:31:15 at Snohomish River Run — a 7-minute marathon PR. Slower slow runs, no skipped intervals, better fueling, and a 180-bpm playlist saved the day at mile 14.
Author

synesis

Published

October 13, 2024

Running milestone: Snohomish marathon today – I got up at 4:30am, left home at 6, and started running at 7:30. My watch/Strava reports time was 3:31:15 pace 8’03”/mi, and the official time was 3:31:22 pace 8’04”/mi. Both are my PR (7 minutes faster)!

Sharing what may have helped in this PR:

  1. Training: slower slow runs and NO skipping of interval/speed training! +Yoga!
  2. Better pre-race diet and in-race fueling: carb loading w/ low fiber pre-race, and one liquid gel per 4 miles during the race (love it!).
  3. Pace management: I followed decent runners for the first ~8 miles then judiciously sped up. At 14-mile realizing I was slowing down, I put on 180-bpm playlist and it worked like magic!
  4. When time is tough, remember: THIS IS EXACTLY WHERE I WANT TO BE!

This is my 4th marathon race this year (or ever) – one more to go!

Originally posted on LinkedIn.