a race report by Ray Ingaglio
race information
Name: Harrisburg Marathon 2023
Date: November 12th, 2023
Distance: 26.2 miles
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/105616617
Time: 3:20:54
goals
Goal Description Completed?
A Sub 3:30 Yes
B Sub 3:25 Yes
C Run 3:20 No
splits
Mile Time
13.1 1:37:30
training
Immediately following the 2023 Pittsburgh Half Marathon, I transitioned into fat loss (156lbs to 145lbs) in order to compete in a bodybuilding show at the end of June. During this time, I was walking a lot but only running 1-2x a week for 5 miles. Immediately following that event, I did a 5-week prep period for a powerlifting meet in July. Also during July, I participated in the summer version of GRIT which helped me have volume pr for the month of right around 186 miles ran. I think that month helped build a good base for my marathon training block.
My marathon training block consisted of 4 runs a week. 2 easy runs of about 5 miles pushing my daughter in the stroller, one speed workout, and one long run. I did not follow a set plan but scaled up my long runs over time and worked in some higher pace intervals on the long runs. I topped out at 2- 18s and 2 – 20 milers. Weekly mileage was between 25-43 miles. On top of the running, I was lifting (powerlifting style) 4x a week, which included squatting and deadlifting 2x a week.
pre-race
I carb loaded per Featherstone Nutrition guide, 550-600g of carbs for the three days leading up to the race. I had my now routine meal of spicy tuna roll sushi the night before (this has now occurred 3x so its definitely “a thing” now). I’m not superstitious, but I am a “little stitious” (or I like the comfort of routine and I know my body tolerates that meal well). We stayed over with family nearby so we could get to City Island faster and I got there with plenty of time to pick up my bib, warm up, and take my last gel/electrolytes.
The race
For those unfamiliar with the Harrisburg Marathon, it is a double loop course that goes across 3 bridges, up and down Front St that runs along the Susquehanna, around a PennDot Building, and 2 U-Turn turnarounds. The half marathon and 4-person relay were run concurrently.
Miles 1-6
Pretty unremarkable start: it was smooth sailing, hitting water and gels as planned. I set out to run 1:37:30 for the first half, as my strategy was to pick a pace that I thought would be relatively comfy for the first 18-20 miles and give me a shot at 3:15 if the stars aligned. A month prior, I ran the Reading Hospital Half Marathon in 1:33:30 and felt like I left some in the tank, so that also guided my race strategy. I had set out to run sub 3:30 at the beginning of the block, but recent runs had me set a super-stretch goal of 3:15.
Miles 7 -13.1
Still smooth sailing. Came in the halfway mark right where I wanted to be. Still was feeling pretty good and manageable.
Miles 13.1-23
Right around mile 14, I started to feel my legs grow really heavy. I was very thrown off by this, because I figured this wouldn’t happen for another 4-5 miles. My miles started to creep past the 7:30 mark and I entered Pain Cave territory earlier than expected. I kept to my fueling plan and worked to gut it out.
Miles 23-26.2
“This. F——. Sucks”. The Pain Cave was in full-effect, and I was definitely not having fun here. I knew that sub-3:15 was definitely not in the cards and felt that sub-3:20 was as well. I passed my wife at one point and also passed a group of three young women who had one of those signs about marathoners being crazy or stupid or both… I don’t really remember but I definitely told them that “This. F——-. Sucks” as I passed them. They laughed, and I felt better for about 100 feet. It was right after passing them and having that fleeting moment of feeling better that I decided that I was not going to hard charge the end as I wanted to preserve my body to a degree and thought that even with a 1000% effort, that sub 3:20 was not going to happen. I crossed the finish line at 3:21:XX gun time.
Post-race reflection
I waited over 2 weeks from race day to write this report because of mixed emotions. I ran the Philadelphia Marathon (my first) last year in 4:02:04. I PR’ed the marathon by a huge margin of over 41 mins the following year. I am very happy with the margin of improvement, but wasn’t as happy and truthfully, still am not super happy with it like I have been with my other races. This was my first major race that I didn’t get the “race day magic” effect that I’ve enjoyed previously. I have agonized over what went wrong or what I could’ve done better too much. I physically recovered really well and am back to base building for future races but mentally I am still working on it. I am very Type A and control as many variables as possible so at Mile 14 when I felt worse than I thought I should’ve, I think that I became my own worst enemy because it stopped being fun for me around that point, when usually I enjoy (or at least partially enjoy) the races I do from start to finish.
I had selected Harrisburg because it was better for my family (2 babies under 14 months), but I probably won’t run it again. Crowd support was sparse and I really missed that boost from the atmosphere compared to races in bigger cities. If there wasn’t a relay, then there would have been under 100 people spectating outside the start/finish area.
I have already signed up for the 2024 Philadelphia Marathon. Seeing a lot of my friends run the half or full the following week was torturous and the FOMO was killer. I am still deciding on which race in Pittsburgh I want to do but I am very excited to race there again the first weekend of May and I highly recommend it! I am excited to continue to train and improve and will be increasing my volume and focus on running as my main goal for 2024 is to BQ.
Pagoda Pacers News 