Drove up to the race the day before, arrived in Albany, NY at approx 4:15pm and picked up stuff at race expo. Walked around town looking for food but really didn't find anything so we decided to go to the next town over where we were staying at. Settled on ihop and then splitting a large cheese pizza after. Pretty great carbo load. Race day: I was worried I might not be able to break 3, but felt confident that I had the ability to. The weather temp at the start was ~45F but quickly warmed up to ~65C by race end. Went without a shirt which was good but resulted in horrible chaffing under the arms which i knew might happen but after 7 miles of sweat the vaseline and body glide alternative (this other running lube stuff) completely was gone. I guess body glide is better! Still hurts two days later. I also got the onset of a blister around mile 8 on my little toe but it didn't get any worse which was fortunate. I took in liquid at every aid station as much as i could. I sometimes grabbed two drinks cause the cups are worthless until liquid only fills a third of them. They rest just splashes out. I carried 3 bags of shot blocks and 2 gu's in my hand which was a little annoying but the pocket is not an option. I lost one gu early but still had a total of 700 calories plus i took almost all gatorade at the aid stations. I also had to stop to poop just after the half marathon point but it was worth the 20 sec or so i lost. Listed below are approx splits: Haynes and i decided to not warm up but start off slow.
6:48
6:52 (was surprised how slow this mile was and was a little concerned)
6:33 (unexpected but some downhills) left ankle was bothering me as it often does. it was the inner part, but the outer one is also known to hurt-a little concerned!
6:34
6:41(loosened up, ankle pain gone)
6:56 (ran with a group of people who were trying to hit sub 3) they were not concerned with going out in 1:30...because of the downhill at the end. I freaked out a bit when i saw this and told Haynes I was going to speed up a bit cause the pace was far too easy and weak)
6:48 (good pace again on the flats)
6:49
6:46
6:51
6:44
6:50 (starting to think about pooping)
6:54
half in 1:28:47
7:02 (includes poop stop in the bushes, pretty gross)
6:34 (course starts to have a nice sloping downhill for the next 4 miles)
6:53
6:35
6:36
6:51(off the bike path i think and on the roads)
6:43 (at this point i new i was going to break 3)
6:49 (felt like haynes wanted to push it)
6:54 (the hardest mile for me mentally, warming up and legs starting to feel every tiny uphill) luckily that was only inclines of 5 or so feet!
6:48
6:54 (felt like haynes was starting to hurt more than me which made me feel stronger)
6:52
6:48
1:30 last 0.2 miles total 2:57:53 (including a photo finish victory over haynes cause he didn't have the vision not to hit a half marathoner who was finishing). overall a really awesome experience! No complaints about the weather, the volunteers at the aid stations were great. I was really fortunate to be able to run with Haynes the whole time and feed off of his pace. Made it actually kind of fun. I also enjoyed that there were under 600 people. Finished with no aches or pains.
Not planning on doing a road marathon anytime soon. Not until i think i can go under 2:50. Don't think that will be next year...maybe more realistic is going under 1:20 in a half marathon, although also doesn't seem realistic right now, but it won't hurt the body to try unlike the marathon. I was luckily able to achieve all 4 of my running goals for the year. The sub 5 min mile, the sub 18min 5k, the sub 30min 5 mile, and the sub 3hr marathon. Not bad. I owe my improvement to Haynes and his teaching me about how to train properly. i almost forgot to mention that my goal of overtaking haynes and beating him in the marathon also came true despite having the same time...
I asked one of my old running friends the question: if we didn't ever age and could continue running and building up miles indefinitely...could someone without as much talent like a 2:55 marathoner ever run a 2:10 marathon with a 100 years of training in peak physical condition without aging? Or is there an absolute threshold that each person can't cross no matter what? I think there must be a limit but we don't live long enough i guess to reach it.
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