Robin Yan

2017 REVEL Mt Charleston Marathon
Published: May 5, 2017, 1:28 p.m.
  1. Overall Rating

    5/5 Stars

  2. Describe your race day.

    I think both 2016 and 2017 races were lucky in terms of weather. We finished in about low/mid 60s and sunny, but it's actually more common for the weather to be 10 degrees warmer.

    I did quite a bit of research on this race ahead of time, and I thought I would gain a 15-20 minute advantage over an equivalent flat. fivethirtyeight's marathon predictor estimated that for a flat marathon I would have been able to run a 3:19, which I thought would translate to between 3:00 or 3:05 on this course, but I ended up running a 3:11. I believe 2017's course change slowed it down some compared to 2016, but 2017 had a strong tailwind for the last couple miles.

    I think based on my faulty assumption on how much this race would give me, I went out a bit too hard. Breathing didn't seem very labored, but heart rate was higher than what the effort felt like. While the decline gave me speed, the elevation took away some, though definitely not as much as I got from the decline.

    Once I got to mile 23 and had to go out and back against the wind, my wheels pretty much fell off. Heart rate would not go down at what I usually consider a very easy pace but I never stopped running.

  3. Did you PR?

    Yes -- set a PR by about 2 minutes.

  4. How would you describe the course?

    Course was beautiful. Loved the sunrise in the beginning. The lodge at the top was great, though it wasn't big enough to hold everyone.

  5. Tell us about your training.

    I modified a hal higdon advanced 2 and switched some days due to other life obligations. I didn't follow the plan's interval workouts but instead did much longer tempo intervals, and every week I ran on a treadmill with bricks elevating the rear to simulate a 4% decline.

    I came into this race feeling like I was in the best shape of my life, having recently set PRs in the 5k and 10k from the previous fall. Though my weight was 7 lbs heavier than it was at my previous PR marathon (St George) about 7 years ago. This was the first marathon where training was complete and I didn't skimp on any workouts due to illness/injury, and since I assumed that this course was faster than St George I thought I'd get a bigger PR than ~2 minutes.

    All of my training was at sea level, and I definitely felt some effects from the elevation. I feel like if I had trained at a higher elevation it would have helped a lot.

  6. What advice would you give future runners?

    Weather at the top was probably in the mid 20s or so with some wind? It wasn't as uncomfortable or as cold as I thought it would be, but I think it helped that I used to live in the midwest and northeast. Gloves and arm warmers went off at 2.5 miles.

    Tracking accuweather.com 10+ days out from the race isn't super accurate, but once it got to about 10 days out, weather.com/wunderground.com/accuweather were a lot more accurate. wunderground.com gives you an approximate idea of what the temperature would be at the finish, and adjust expectations accordingly.

    Another recommendation is that runners should consciously try to run tangents if there is room. There aren't many tight turns but there are quite a few curves and running along the curves adds up.

    If anyone wants further information feel free to try to find me on facebook and message me - I can provide further details and my garmin data.

  7. What fun things did you do in the area before or after the race?

    Went to Red Rock! It was beautiful. Went to a bunch of restaurants. Las Vegas has some of the yummiest food. Stayed at Aliante Resort, very nice place!

Comments

  1. Teresa
    Nov. 18, 2018, 12:40 p.m.

    Thanks for your comments robin. This was really helpful. Did you see many people dropping off due to altitude problems. I am also training at sea level and want to make sure I start conservatively and maybe plan for a more conservative race

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