1003: my first shot

Originally posted to Reddit - edits made here to add video links/stats.

A few months ago I posted about trying to hit 1000lb club at same time as a 3hr marathon (http://reddit.com/101szzm). It got a lot of feedback (a lot of "almost impossible without juice") and I got a bunch of DMs. I decided to really go for it — and even make formalize the challenge (proposal: max 1 week between marathon and lift) and make a leaderboard where people can post --- the 1003 Club! Anyways, I missed 1003. But here’s my first shot:

Lifts (6 days before marathon): 875lb
Marathon: 3:01:37

The lifts

Hit a 215 bench, 315 squat, 345 deadlift. I went absolute max on bench, but I think I had more on squat/deadlift --- I didn’t think I had a shot at 3 hour marathon so didn’t see a reason to push it, only 6 days before my first marathon. Lift vids:

The Run

First half: 1:31:09, Second half: 1:30:28

Beat my expectations by a few minutes: My A goal was a 3:03. I was honestly worried when I crossed the half in 1:31 / sub 7 pace… as that bested my best marathon workout (12M at 7:00 pace). I was training at ~7:05 marathon pace with trainers, so maybe the 6:55 pace was actually a reasonable target given I wore Vaporflys. According to Jack Daniels plan - I ran a VDOT equivalent of ~53 though I trained at 51-52.
Nutrition: I ate heavier carbs starting 48 hours before. I also upped the nutrition during the race: I ate 8 Gu gels (1 every 20 min) during the race, which pretty aggressive given how much I had during training (1 every 40 min). No bathroom breaks needed!
Uphill/downhill strategy: I noticed I went slower than others on uphills (7:30 pace) and would pass others on downhills (6:30)… not sure if a good strategy, but worked for me!
Having friends made it way more fun: I basically told my friends not to come - it was a 2 hour drive and they would probably only see me twice. They came - and I am extremely glad. I truly had a blast seeing them while running. They had a great time too (or so they said).
Did I leave something on the table? Closing with a 6:30 made me wonder if I left something on the tale, but I’m not sure... I was pretty reluctant to pick up pack before Mile 26 as I felt a stitch coming on...
Stitch vs. Cramp ? Starting mile 16, I felt some light stomach uneasiness, while hamstrings feel like a cramp could be coming. My assumption was that cramping meant I should eat/drink more, but that would risk upsetting my stomach. I tried to balance it— if stomach felt good, would go for electrolyte drink at stations and eat the gels. If stomach uneasy, I would go for water and pause the gels.

Training Background

I ran XC in high school (17:30 best 5K). In the 10+ years since, I have averaged 5-10mpw and gained ~30lb (mostly, though not all, strength :)). I have lifted on an off, to ultimately hit ~1050lb squat/deadlift/bench in June 2022. I started running seriously in October 2022. I have also been told I have uneconomical ("trash") running form with wild arms. I also have a pretty low cadence (~165), though it crept up during marathon training. This was my first marathon/race longer than 5k.

The Running

I followed the Jack Daniels 2Q/55mpw plan. I ran a 19:55 (poorly paced) 5K immediately before starting the plan, so set my "initial VDOT" to 50, giving me initial "M" pace of 7:17. I loved the flexibility of the plan -- and met my goals, so only good things to say about JD. That said, when I look at my "M", "I", "T" paces over the plan, there wasn't huge improvement until race day, when I broke out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

People said expect 2-3 VDOT improvements over the plan, and that is exactly what happened - but not until race day! I got an online coach ~8 weeks before the marathon. The coach helped me build confidence / gave me suggestions on whether to run on a turned ankle in the week before the marathon (suggestion: yes, try it). I followed the plan out of the box, with 2 changes -- suggestions from the coach:

I majorly failed the 17 miler with 14 at marathon pace (2E+14M +1E) on my first attempt, bailing after 4 miles. Per his suggestion, I replaced it with a 10M progression, doing that instead of 150 minutes E a couple weeks later.
Ran the final M pace run (1E + 8M + 1E + 6M + 1E) as a "progression", with the first 8M at marathon+15 seconds.

Other notes on the training:

My easy runs were incredibly slow. Most of my miles were 9:00-9:15 pace. I bought a HRM and tried to keep my HR below 140 (75% of max). Going faster than 9:00 took me above 140. The easy pace never really got faster :).
Almost no interruptions during the block. Outside a 5-day vacation (Hawaii, with the humidity heart rate went through the roof even on easy runs), I didn't get sick and had no injuries for 16 weeks. I know how fortunate I am - one month after the marathon, got COVID.
No injuries despite this being me going from 10 -> 50mpw in 2 months, and maintaining at 50+ for 18 weeks. No proof this was due to keeping up lifting, but I'll claim it :).

The Lifting

I kept it pretty simple. I hit legs 2X per week, 2 hours after the Q workout --- following the trope of "hard days hard": 3x5 Squat, 3x8 Bulgarian Split Squat, Rotated: 3x5 deadlift, 3x5 RDL. For upper body, I only hit 1.5X per week: 3x5 bench, 3x5 rows, 3x8 pull-ups. I posted my progression numbers on the same link as above. My downfall was mobility: hip flexors and shoulder flexibility. Ever couple weeks these would pop up, and I've have to scale back. I need to prioritize this for the next cycle. Here was my progress:

Challenges with Hybrid Training

Hip flexors: Never had any issues with hip flexors before, but as I progressed to 50mpw my hip flexors started locking up during heavy squats. The best solution I found was the couch stretch, which I did for minute on each leg, before/between squat sets.
Time: Each 2Q days was 4 hours of working out (2+ hours for running, 1+ hour for squatting, 1 hr for shower, stretch, etc.). Finding space for upper body/two-a-days on other days was pretty difficult.
Limited by # pairs of nice gym shorts / frequency of running the wash

Anyways, thank you to this group for introducing me to JD and inspiring me to actually go for 1003! Happy to answer any training questions - this was my first time following a running program and I gained a ton from this sub.

I also would love feedback on the 1003 challenge - in particular on developing an appropriate “points” system for 1003: I proposed 1 minute of marathon = 15 pounds of lifts. Getting more data points (eg. more submissions of marathon time, max lift and days between the two) would be helpful in developing an “equivalence” -- https://1003club.com. This sub was the inspiration for making it, thanks!