Tomorrow I run the McKirdy Micro Marathon – Breaking 3!
Only one more sleep until the McKirdy Micro Marathon. ‘Micro’ meaning small field, not a shorter race distance, if you were wondering. On March 29th, I will be running my 15th marathon in White Plains, New York at a state park north of New York City. It’s a 2.94 mile looped course and virtually flat with a total of 13 feet of elevation gain throughout the race.
The race organizers are treating the race like an elite race: everyone gets their personal bottles; there is a tangent line marked on the path for us to follow; there are pacers for 3:00, 2:50, and 2:40; you will get DQed if you use headphones; and some shoes (with too much stack height) are illegal. It’s a small race of 225 people, and everyone did need to qualify for the race by running a 3:15 or faster in a previous marathon (or VDOT equivalent).
This race is a very unique race put on by James McKirdy–founder and head coach at McKirdy Running. I’ve known about his coaching team over the years through social media. The first race he put on was at the end of 2023 as a last-chance qualifier for the 2024 Olympic Trials. I guess it was successful enough that he decided to host another micro marathon in 2025, which he has is calling Breaking 3 for those trying to break 3 hours in the marathon. I have run a sub-3 marathon, but this race is also designed for those trying to break other barriers such as 2:50 and 2:40 in the marathon. I won’t be doing either of those, but I signed up for the race know there will be a competitive field to run fast with a lot of other people.
I’ve never run a race like this at all, but I am hoping the small field will have a ‘we’re in this together’ feel, and I’ll be able to connect in a special way with other runners. I know a few others who are running–one person I’ve met in real life and others I’ve connected with through Instagram.
My training went really well, despite a lot of bitter cold days this winter. January and February were colder than usual, so I had to do a lot of treadmill miles. (But to be expected living in Minnesota and training for a spring marathon.) Luckily I was still able to get outdoors for a hard effort workout a few times each month, which gave me confidence I was continuing to build fitness.
One weekend I did a 21 mile workout and did some race day simulation. Since the looped course is 2.94 miles, I found a route around my house of 2.99 miles and ran the loop 7 times, so I could practice grabbing my bottles off a table. I set up a table at the end of my driveway and staged five water bottles on the table to practice grabbing a water bottle each time I looped by on my route. I purchased basic sports-top water bottles off Amazon, and then used duct tape to tape my gels to the outside of the bottles. I positioned the duct tape at the top of the gel package, so that as I tore the gel off the bottle, the duct tape opened the gel’s package. Inside my bottles, I had water with Skratch Labs Hydration Sports Mix. I experimented with a pipe cleaner looped on the top of the water bottle on a later long run, but I never ended up needing the handle. I also used double-stick tape wrapped around the outside of the water as a way for the bottle to stick to my hand and ensure a secure grab. I didn’t feel like I needed the double-stick tape, nor was it very sticky, but I might still use in on race day just as a precautionary measure. I was happy with how smooth this went for me. I was able to grab all of my bottles and only knocked one over.
I spent the last 20 weeks since the Indy Marathon focused on this race. I ran 1020 miles, which averages out to 51 miles per week. I topped out at 73 miles with most weeks between 60 and 70 miles, which is quite a bit less than many of my other marathons where I ran 80 – 100 miles a week. But I am more fit than I ever have been, so I can’t complain. My coach, Nichole, has done a great job balancing my workouts and improving my speed. I only missed one double run (when I was feeling run-down from low iron) and had to push off my long run by a couple of days. Otherwise I did all my workouts.
I am so grateful for what I’ve accomplished these past 4+ months. No matter what happens tomorrow, I know I’ve already won because I am healthy, happy, and blessed to be able to do this.
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