I am pleased with how things turned out. I was hoping to get into the 3:20s. But I had a PR by almost 18 minutes and the race went pretty smooth overall. I was going to start with the 3:30 pace group, but when I heard how hot it was at the start (the hottest start ever), I adjusted and started back closer to the 3:40 group. I started with Tracy C., and Cindy S., and Phaedra from my running group.
During the race (about mile 9), my Garmin stopped working and my prescription sunglasses fell off my head/hat and broke. I could only laugh. Here are the breakdowns based on what data I do have:
Mile 1: 8:54 I got to the start line 1:23 after the gun. I took it pretty easy and tried to avoid zigzagging to get around people.
Mile 2: 8:36 More of the same
Mile 3: 8:10 Trying to get up a little closer to my goal pace. But I knew there was some downhill coming to make up a little time. Still taking it pretty easy. I took some gel and one cup of gatorade. I should have taken in more liquids. Craig G. told me he took 5 cups of liquid at all the stations. I took off my gloves here, starting to sweat already.
Mile 4: 8:01 Started feeling good, but knew it was going to be a hot one.
Mile 5: 7:59 Pretty good pace. Took some more gel and another cup of gatorade. Again, I should have hydrated more.
Mile 6: 7:37 I started to pick it up here a little bit. Maybe a little too fast?
Mile 7: 7:37 Keeping the pace consistent. This is right around my Boston qualifying pace. Another gel and gatorade. I felt really good in here and felt like I could have a good day.
Mile 8: 8:52 Took it easy on Veyo. It really didn't feel too challenging compared to all the hills we trained on this year. This felt like a really comfortable pace.
Mile 9: 8:24 Held back a little here. This is where my garmin started beeping and driving me nuts. Apparently, I needed to delete some older runs. But no matter what I did, I couldn't get it to stop beeping. I went back and deleted some runs, but it just kept going. It only kept data for the first 9 miles. But I stopped it at 10.77 (at which point I was at 1:29:19), which was about right on pace for a 3:35. I turned it off, took it off my wrist and put it in my pocket. It was actually a little bit liberating to be honest.
13.1 My gun time was 1:49:15, so my chip time would have been 1:47:52. Again, this is just a few seconds off a 3:35:00. I was feeling strong at this point. I knew the downhill was coming and I was confident I could get a 3:35. I even had thoughts of turning it on the downhill and trying for a 3:30. But I wasn't ready to push it yet. At this point I was taking one gatorade and one water at each aid station with some hammer gel. I should have taken more.
I felt really good between 13 and 17. I don't know my times but I must have been in the 7:30-7:45 range. I drank a water and gatorade with some gel at each stop and I ran through all the stops. I knew I had a PR in the bag, but I really thought that a sub 3:35 and possibly a 3:30 was doable.
At Mile 18 the heat started to set in and my legs started to feel heavier. I was feeling better than I had ever felt in a marathon at mile 18, but I was still hurting. I think I was slowing down to 8:15s - 8:30s from mile 18-20.
Mile 20: The clock had me at 2:45:35 here. I thought that all I had to do was a 50 minute 10k to get a 3:35 (easier said than done of course for those last 6.2 of a marathon). I walked through the mile 19 aid station, but only so I could drink more. I took a gatorade and 2 waters, but didn't take any more gel. I probably should have kept taking the gel even just for the psychological lift.
Mile 21: I did not intend to walk through this aid station, but I ended up taking about a one minute walk. The body started to break down the mind at this point as it so often does.
Mile 23: 5k to go and I'm still fighting through the pain. I kept my mantra going in my mind and tried to make sure I was breathing. I took a way too long walking break through the aid station. Tracy C. passed me here and told me to "come on." I said, "no, you go ahead." I felt like a wuss ... lol.
Mile 24: I started to pick it up a little bit here. And I was determined to not stop at any more aid stations. I started breathing and fighting through the pain. Miriam was in this area with cold sponges. They felt great .... Thanks Mir.
Mile 25: I see Drew and Shelah about here (who are both excellent runners more in the 3:10-3:15 range than the 3:40 range). Drew started telling me how bad of a day he was having and going all negative. I told him to shut up, and that I was still going for a sub 3:40 and couldn't have any negativity. He stopped talking, but ran with me. lol. At 25.5, he asked me if I had a surge in me. I said no, but you go ahead. He said he didn't have one either. I ran through the aid station without taking anything.
Finish: I got to the finish line, but was too tired to be happy. I wasn't really aware of any of my surroundings. It was surreal. I saw a guy in camo and he went to give me a high five and I fell into him and collapsed. He picked me up and had a medical volunteer look at me. She said something about not liking the look in my eyes and she took me to the medical tent. They sat me on a bed and took my vitals. I had to do everything I could to not black out. I heard something about my blood pressure being fine and they brought me some gatorade and water. I guzzled those down and stayed down for a while. I was obviously dehydrated. This was a good lesson. I must drink more, especially on the hot days. Eventually, I was able to get up and make my way over to the RunAmok tent. I ate two popsicles and rested with my friends.
Tracy C., who I thought had finished way before I did, had collapsed right at mile 26. She stayed there for about 5 minutes and was able to make it across the finish line at about 3:44. Her Garmin had stopped, and had her finishing at 3:39. She could not account for the five minutes and couldn't believe that she had been out of it for that long. Another girl in our group was running her first marathon. She blacked out at mile 24. She ended up spending the night in the hospital. We had several in our group get PRs and others crashed and burned. I felt fortunate that while I did not have the banner day I had hoped for, I had by far my best marathon. An 18 minute PR is nothing to sneeze at and I am grateful that I had a relatively good day (all things considered).
I met all my running goals for this year. Last year on the Monday after St. George, I pulled out a calendar and put my goal race times for all my scheduled races. For St. George, I had a "sub 3:40:00." I beat it by 1 second. I also got PRs in the half marathon, the 10k and the 5k. I still want to get to Boston and I still have a lot of work to do. But I am getting there. I think this year I want to make sure I don't get injured. I need to know when to back off and when to push it. I need to sleep more and be more consistent in running in the morning. I want to get up to running 10 miles per day this year 6 days per week. The only way that will happen is if I get to bed earlier and get up earlier. I have been eating pretty well, but I need to really focus on my nutrition, and I also want to get stronger.
I'm going to take a couple of weeks off. I'm going to make my goals and set my schedule. I appreciate the support I've gotten this year from my fellow RunAmoks (my running group) and from the blog. I've learned a lot just by reading everybody's blogs. Flatlander and Mark P. have been especially motivating and encouraging. | 