Breaking2

Like most of the running world (and even much of the non-running world!), I was intrigued by Nike's Breaking2 project.  It's hard to fathom anyone running 4:34 pace for 26.2 miles straight -- most people, myself included, can't even run 1 mile anywhere near that pace!  Watching history being made with Kipchoge's near-miss of 2:00:25 was pretty inspiring.  Many complained that it wasn't a "real race," but it wasn't supposed to be.  It was a time trial under optimal conditions to see if the barrier could be broken (and to sell some Nike products).

My favorite take-away was:  Challenge your limits.  Breaking 4 minutes in the mile was something that for years no one had done and many thought impossible, but now over 2,000 people have done it!  Will the 2 hour barrier in the marathon be this way some day?  A 26 second miss -- 1 measly second per mile -- indicates that a sub-2:00 is coming under optimal conditions.  It seems that it's only a matter of time before the barrier is broken on a record legal course.

Although Nike had many scientists involved in this project, plus years of research and work poured into it, I have opinions on what they should have done differently based on...my opinion (hah!):

• Negative split.  It's the only way to run a marathon (in my opinion, but I know this opinion is correct!), and stats on our current world records support it.  Kipchoge was ahead of pace at the 10K and half.  His first 10K should have been his slowest, followed by a first half of maybe 60:19 and a second half of 59:40.  He barely fell off pace at the end, and I think with a slightly slower start he wouldn't have fallen off at all.  I once read that for every 5 seconds/mile you go out too fast in a marathon, you lose at least 10-15 seconds/mile at the end, and I believe this 100%. 
• Run a point-to-point course.  I always always lose rhythm turning, and they ran 17 laps.  Even though they said the turns were gradual, that's a lot of turning and also opportunities to miss tangents!  I noticed they were not hugging the inside line at all times due to the position in the arrowhead drafting formation.  When running point-to-point, you can just laser focus ahead and run, and you don't have to worry about hitting tangents.
• Make that a course with gentle net downhill.  It's not record-legal anyway, so why not run a gentle downhill?  In my opinion, courses like the Revel races are quad pounders/injuries waiting to happen, but a marathon course with a drop of maybe 600-800 feet seems, well, like common sense if you're trying to get every advantage you can.  It's one of the reasons why I'm going to CIM for my next marathon (it has almost 500 feet net drop; about the most allowable for an OTQ).
• Run it on a day with tailwind.  That point-to-point downhill course can only be improved with a tailwind!  Again, it's not record-legal anyway so why not?!
• Run it in 40* degree weather.  54* seemed too warm to me, and I can't believe Kipchoge ran in arm warmers or even a singlet (this has to be because Nike made him).  That would have been a sports bra marathon for me!
• Make the pace car perfect.  Surely with today's technology, a car could be programmed to hit splits exactly as intended, helping with the negative split issue.

Since watching the event with my husband, I've taken to telling him that I'm embarking on the Breaking2:45 Project.  We'll see how many times I can use that phrase between now and December (spoiler:  people may tire of it)!  I am also dying to have a pace car drive my exact intended pace with a light beam that I can just follow, but since that seems unlikely I hope I can tuck in at the back of the pace pack at CIM, and perhaps they'll run in an arrow formation.

In case you missed it, you can watch the full Breaking2 event here.

Challenge your limits!