First and foremost, thanks be to God for giving me the strength and will to finish this race. In him all things are possible. The race was awesome. We could not have asked for a better day. I will recount as much of the race as I can remember.
Pre-Race: M and I got up about 5a, had a banana, and headed out into the cold night sky toward the downtown mall. It was slightly foggy and about 45 degrees and race time was 6:30a. I had woken up very early (around 4a) and not been able to fall back asleep, as is typical of me on race day, but felt pretty well rested with about 5.5 hours of sleep. We checked out the arena which held all the pre-race packet pickup, vendors, and bag drop where I dropped off my backpack. Headed outside for the start. M said a prayer for both of us while at the start then we were off.
Race Notes: Headed out at a pace faster than I had planned but not faster than I anticipated. It felt good but when I looked down and saw we were doing 8-8:15 miles I got a bit worried. This is a hilly marathon and thought there would be no chance at all for me to break 4 hours. I had planned on 4:20 with 4:10 being a good race and under 4:00 would have definitely been a surprise. The miles flashed along and was still feeling good at that pace. The first 13.1 is an out and back, which is nice because you get to see the leaders with the motorcade headed back in to town. Also nice to see some of my other friends running the race when we pass each other. The last 2-3 miles back to the finish line for the half marathoners is mostly downhill and they are all blasting to the finish line, so what better way to get ready for the pain and anguish of realizing you still have 13.1 to go than to blast with them (lessons learned). My 13.1 split was about 1:51.45. The half marathoners split off about 100 yds before the finish line, which is when you realize that about 3/4 of the field is done with their part of the race. It became somewhat lonely after that as the crowd and people to look at died way down. The second half of the marathon is comprised of 2 - 6.5 mile loops. In retrospect, this makes for a very difficult race psychologically. I was still feeling good and probably hitting 8:30-8:45 miles. At around mile 17.5 a guy comes flying by me. It might as well have been superman, but it wasn't. It was the race leader passing me on his second lap and looking as fresh as the morning dew. I jumped out of the way of his entourage of motorcycles and continued on. It started getting difficult coming back in on the first loop. I think I dropped my pace on the way to completing the first lap knowing that I was coming up on an aid station where I could hopefully refuel. This is about the point when I think to myself that I can break 4 hours if I can hold on til the end.
Here I am at mile 20 chucking one of my fuel bottles to M. Looking at this picture is the first time I realized I did not wear my sunglasses (which I usually run with) and that you cannot see my FCA visor. Bummer.
M ran with me for a couple hundred yards so I could steal some water from her leftover bottle then I was off for lap #2, let the suffering begin.
Lap #2 on this 6.5 mile loop is a little bit of a blur. I know my legs started cramping at around mile 22 or 23. It was from this point on where I start remember all the things people had told me about marathons. I had always heard (and shrugged off) that the last 6 miles feels like another half marathon. It did. The pain in that last 6 miles was not something I have ever felt. I think if I had run my original pace at about 9:30 miles, it would have been different. But as many of you know, raceday brings a whole new gear in to play. A gear that is not available to you at any other time than on raceday. The choice at hand is to use the gear or not. I decided fairly early on that this gear was feeling good and I was going to ride it for as long as I could knowing full well that I would have to deal with the pain that this gear would provide later in the race. The wheels fell off (along with the gear) at mile 24.5. At this point I see people walking, shuffling, running bowlegged. I am at about a 10 minute mile now and trudging along trying to goo myself to the end with my stomach in revolt. I am still trying to do the math in my head. I was pushing to try and beat that 4 hour mark. I checked my Garmin several times to check my time wondering if it was correct. I pass the last aid station which means about 500 yds to the finish. It was a long 500 yds. I hit the mat at 3:54.27 (chip time).
Me in the back heading up to the line.
Everyone says smile for the camera when you cross. Thats the best I could do.
I was happy with the time and am glad I ran the race the way I did, but I have been paying for it since I hit that mat which was around 36 hours ago. I am sure I will be recovering for the next week or so.
M had a great race also. She finished at 2:08 with it being a training race for her. All in all it was a great morning of running. Will include more tidbits later this week.
In front of the arena
Post race trying to get warm.
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