Seeking an 11 Minute Marathon PR

I'm working on my 2013 resolutions list, but I've known for months what my main goal for 2013 will be -- a marathon PR. 

Marathons of course need at least 3 months of planning, generally more like a year given how quickly some of them fill up (sometimes even more than a year, and you have to register on the very first possible day, so you need to know when that is). 

This year, my main marathon will be Berlin on Sept. 29.  It is considered the fastest course in the world, and it is where all the recent world records have been set and then broken.

Interestingly though, there is currently a marathon that has been run faster than the world record. 

Boston in 2011 (2:03:02) was run faster than Berlin in 2011 (2:03:38).  But the world record is Berlin 2011.

Doesn't make sense, does it? 

Boston's course is not eligible for world record consideration because it is a "point to point" course, which means it starts and finishes at different places.  That's not automatically a disqualifier, but the issue with Boston is that there is a net elevation drop and because the course runs pretty directly from the start to the finish, there is a possiblity of a strong tailwind that could artificially boost performance.  Therefore the elites cannot set a world record at Boston -- technically, the course can be too "easy" to set a world record. 

Most people don't consider Boston to be an easy or fast course.  It starts off downhill, which means that most people go out too fast (including me, the theory is that you take advantage of all downhills, whether early or late in the race) and that means their quads are shot by the time you hit the Newton rollers, a series of rolling hills from miles 16-21, culminating with the notorious Heartbreak Hill.  After Heartbreak, it's more downhill into the city -- it makes for a very tough race.  For those of us non-elites, it takes a lot of work to manage your energy well (and actually, it probably takes even more effort for the elites to do that as well, but they have so many other variables like pack pacing, etc.). 

But for me, Boston 2011 is my marathon PR. 

I ran one marathon in the fall of 2011 (San Antonio), but it was far from a PR.  It was a warm day and I hadn't trained hard.  (I definitely trained hard for Boston.) 

2012 included two marathons for me, but the first one in 2012 involved carrying a backpack weighing at least 35 pounds (mine weighed in over 40), and the second one in 2012 (San Antonio) was another warm one and to make matters worse, was run a couple weeks after returning from several weeks of vacation in China, which included virtually no running.  So no PR in 2012.  That leaves Boston 2011 as my PR. 

So that leads me to Berlin on Sept. 29, 2013.  The course there is supposed to be easier -- no beating on your quads from a downhill start, not many turns, equal headwind/tailwind time.  So that is where my goal is to set a new PR. 

More than just a new PR. 

My goal for Berlin is to set what I'd like to term my "lifetime PR." 

Most older runners I've met keep track of their PRs before age 40, and after age 40 (age 40 is where you become a master's group runner).  I know a few people who keep track of PRs over age 50, but many of them weren't running in their late 30s and early 40s (as I plan to), instead, they are people who ran in their 20s or 30s, took a decade or two off, and came back to it in their 50s. 

But either way, that magical time from your youth (relative though it may be) with your fastest race ever becomes your "lifetime PR".   The fastest you've ever run. 

When you're much older and your lifetime PR was many years earlier, when someone asks you what your PR is, general running etiquette suggests you state two numbers -- your lifetime PR, and then you include a recent PR (generally within the last two years). 

The number I want to see on my results in 2013 would make me content to say for the rest of my life that it is my lifetime PR.  Instead of trying to beat it, I won't push myself to do that.  I'll retire on that number, and future marathons would be for fun.

But that means I really want to hit that number.  Berlin seems to be my best shot (I'll have just turned 38, and many many women peak in their mid to late 30s), but if I don't do it there, I will likely try somewhere else (maybe more than once) over the next several years. 

In hopes of hitting that elusive time in Berlin, I have decided not to do any spring marathon in 2013 in hopes of working very hard to improve my speed.  Lots of track work, lots of short distance.  Hopefully I will make significant improvements, and then I will begin marathon training in late May 2013, and I will be able to sustain a significantly faster pace.

Which of course will lead to a faster race on Sept. 29. 

Right now, my current goal is to run Berlin 11 minutes and 30 seconds faster than my current PR.  Since technically Berlin can be a harder course (we did have a tailwind during Boston in 2011, in fact), that means I need to get in shape in 2013 to run my personal best in the fall.  Lots and lots of work this spring.  In training and outside training (diet, sleeping, cross-training, etc.). 

I have an interesting history with 11 minute PRs. 

I have to set aside my very first two marathons (both about a year before marathon 3), because they don't fit, but check this out:

Marathon 3 was run in 4:49.
Marathon 4, about 2 years later, was run in 4:38 -- 11 minute PR.
Marathon 5, about 2 months later, was run in 4:27 -- another 11 minute PR.
Then a year later, marathon 6, improving more than 11 minutes.
Marathon 7, about a month later, was run technically 12 minutes and a few seconds faster (but very close to 11 minutes and change).
Then a few other races happened, several races of squeezing another couple minutes out of the PR.
Then I got yet another 11 minute PR to get my Boston Qualifying time.
And then the 11 minute streak ended. 
There was another small PR (Boston 2011, getting my "Re-Q"), and then some races of falling backward. 

I view it as a total of 5 marathons where I have improved my PR by 11 minutes (I am counting the 12 minute, 10 second improvement in there).  All over the course of about 6 years.

The bottom line is that I am due for an 11 minute PR. 

My goal time is also very significant to me in more than one way, which I suppose I will share if/when it happens. 

But my overriding goal for 2013 will to get a PR in Berlin by 11 minutes and 30 seconds (technically, 11 minutes and 26 seconds would be equally lovely; 11 minutes and 25 seconds or less is a bust and will not be satsifactory). 

I have decided how I will make that happen in 2013:
Until May, I will not run any race over 11 miles.
Until May, I will not run any training run over about 13 miles.
Until May, I will regularly commute to and from work by running (3.75 miles each way) (at least 4 commute runs per week), in addition to my other mileage.
Until May, I will work hard on running faster at shorter distances.
Beginning in February, I will take a running speed class three days per week, working with one of the best coaches in Dallas.
In May, I will begin to gradually increase my distance.
In September in Berlin, I will run that magical goal marathon time.

And let me say, I would be surprised if any other runner in the world set this exact time as his or her goal time. It's very precise and unusual, but meaningful to me (and the few people who know my goal thought it was an awesome choice).  I can't wait to make it come true and to share.