1003: we did it!

15 months ago - I set a goal to be in simultaneous (eg. same week) sub 3-hour marathon and 1000lb powerlifting shape. In December, I went for it.

Marathon (CIM): 2:56:xx

Splits: 1:29/1:27

Plan: Stick with the 3-hour pacer until the halfway mark. Based on my training, 2:55 could have been a stretch A goal - but this was assuming I run 15 seconds/mile faster than my training paces (my first marathon I ran ~10 seconds/mile faster). That seemed risky, especially since my main goal was to break 3 hours/meet 1003 bar.

Race: Stuck with 3-hour pacer until mile 3, when I split off to get more space. Had a stretch from miles 6-8 where I slowed down/wasn't feeling great, but otherwise went according to plan. I was feeling pretty good at mile 19-20, I was conservative about pushing it given my main goal (3 hours) and rising temps. I closed with three sub 6:30 miles and crossed the finish line with a bit of “what if” — but this presented a new unexpected opportunity for later in the day.

Lifts: 1010lb (week of) / 1000lb (day of)

Lifts: 220 bench / 365 squat / 425 deadlift (6 days before marathon)

Per 1003 rule, I needed to hit lifts within a calendar week of the marathon. I scheduled it for the Monday prior. The gym was a bit crowded, I was rushed on time (not enough rest), did not have exact target weights and screwed up getting video. I left happy I hit 1000lb mark, but there was room for improvement on the 1RM set/setting (see learnings below).
Bonus lift (day of): Post-marathon — traveled home, hit the ice bath and ate a huge meal. I was surprised how good I felt — and at 5PM, on a true whim, decided to try to see if I could hit 1000lb on same day. This was an unintentional consequence of maybe leaving some in the tank that morning. The setting was also better - and I knew my exact targets. I got it done (220/365/415). It was not pretty: the squat was near parallel but not powerlifting legal, and deadlift was ugly and I consider myself lucky to not have injured myself. Will put some vids up later.

Running

Daniels 2Q (modified 41-55mpw). I had run this plan 1.5X before (1X for first marathon, 0.5 times between marathon). Big fan of the flexibility on non-Q days. Some modifications/details:

Added ~5E miles per week (I averaged ~55 for the plan)
Started at Week 17 (cut the first week out)
Workout mods: shortened the workouts during 2-week period with extreme humidity, and occasionally swapped for the 55-70mpw workouts when it cooled down
1X per week: strides and ~10 minutes of A-skips, B-skips, C-skips

My M/T/I paces across 17 week cycle:

I ran the peak M workout (14 mile at M pace) at 7:02 pace (details here). My paces didn’t dramatically improve during the cycle, despite it also coinciding with cooler temps. So I was a little disappointed until race day. I do wonder if 10-15 seconds faster on race day means I'm not training hard enough (eg. maybe need some running buddies) or if the credit can go to the supershoes.

A couple other points for the data nerds:

My cadence has slowly crept up (was ~160 a year ago, now is ~170)! Maybe from the strides or A-Skip/B-Skip/C-skips.
My Garmin VO2 max estimate was 59 before my first marathon (3:01) and 58 before this one (2:56).

Lifting

For the first 11 weeks, I did a simple 3x5 (rotating between Plan 1 and Plan 2). For the final 6 weeks, I picked up a program off TNation, repeating 2X per week for Squat/Deadlift/Bench. The heavy triples/doubles gave me confidence in my Deadlift and Bench, but I didn’t see much growth on my squat.

Key auxiliary movements were kettlebell bench press (improved stability, helped break a mini-plateau) and couch stretch (hip flexor tightness was a major issue in the past). Over the course of the 17 weeks, I would estimate I added ~10lb to my squat, 15lb to my bench and 20lb to my deadlift.

I didn't test 1RM throughout, but here were my lifting numbers when I did a 3x5. Workouts where I did more/less than 5 reps are not included:

Random Thoughts on CIM

For 1st timers, be prepared for crowded pace groups. The 3-hour pace group was tight. I’d only run one much smaller marathon before. It’s hard for me imagine running a marathon with 5X as many people.
Line up early. Line to get on buses from Folsom was extremely long. If you arrived at 5:30am (bus leaving time), you didn’t board until after 6:30am.
Which side is the water on!? I tried to run tangents, but I mostly ran on the left side, as this is where my partner was cheering from. There was always water on the right side, but not always on the left. The water stations on the left side were after the right side, so it was a bit of a gamble as to whether to stay on the left (and miss the water) or spend a few meters to run to the right. Do they post this ahead of time?
Spectator Tips: You can’t easily cross from North to South, so you have to pick which side of the course to cheer from. It seemed most people were suggesting the North Side, but If you’re staying in Folsom, getting to the North side in the morning is quite hard (you need to drive towards Sacramento and backtrack). My partner watched from the South Side. I made a list of spectator spots — and she ended up actually seeing me 5 times (she got a good workout in ensuring as well). I made a Google Maps list to help her navigate to “watch spots” at mile 3, 6, 10, 19, 26 — can share over DM.

Some other thoughts on 1003

No injuries. For the second marathon block in a row. No proof this was due to keeping up lifting, but I'll claim it :). I got sick once and took a week off for that.
It's in the Deadlift. After a year of heavy dual training - it's quite clear the squat is harder to maintain.
Soreness. After 2-3 weeks of dual training, the soreness subsides. And if you take a few weeks off from lifting, expect it to return with vengeance for your next workout. Consistent with my first round, the 2-day after soreness is as bad (or worse) then day.
Your 1RM setting matters. My initial lifting performance (1 week prior) was suboptimal — gym was a bit crowded, was rushed on time and I hit too many warmup sets/did not rest enough. My post-marathon lift setup was perfect: friend gave me a nice trap slap before hitting my squat. It was maybe the most I’ve grinded through a squat, ever.

Diet & Sleep

Diet: Did not track macros or carefully watch what I ate. Probably room for an unlock here! Supplemented with 50g protein shake & creatine each day. No other supplements. Lots of snacks.
Sleep: 7-8 hours/night. I don't do any fancy tracking.

What’s next for me? I’m not sure. I think either more trail running, or rebuilding my squat/deadlift with tighter form, to allow for future strength gains.