Race prep: I had carb
loaded well the day before. As always, I drank most of them - 3 bottles of
Gatorade Pro Prime, Gatorade G2, spaghetti twice, etc. I had
to get up a 4 am for the 6 am start. As
soon as I woke I had some liquid carbs that I had premixed the night before. I
drank all of it. I then drank another
pre-made bottle 5-10 minutes before the start.
I was pretty confident that my fuel stores were close to max. At this
point I am totally sold on the Aussie carb load plan – I have used it twice and
had two great marathons.
The race started at a
local high school. The school was open
which was nice. Runners could go in and
use the restrooms, stretch, talk, etc.
I went for a quick jog – maybe a half mile or so just to warm up. I then went back to the car to get my fuel
belt. I stood there a while deciding
whether or not I should wear it. I had
it all stocked up and ready to go, but I also had all my Gu’s in my Race Ready
short pockets. So I was good to go fuel
wise. It was not hot so at the last
moment I decided to ditch the belt and run unencumbered. It was a good decision. I made it to the starting line with 2 minutes
to spare. Fortunately, with only 200
marathoners, the start was not crowded and I lined right up front. No timing chips for this race – it was all
done by hand with officials along the course to mark the bib numbers.
The Race: I could not
have hoped for better weather. It was 50
degrees and cloudy at the start with a slight breeze. The wind was just enough to keep me cool but
not strong enough to slow me down. The
race began in Storm Lake, a beautiful Iowa town, and ended in Marathon, a small
town with a population of 244. When I
picked up my packet the night before they made a joke about how at the end of
the race the runners would outnumber the population of Marathon. The course was very fast – there were some
minor rollers – but for the most part it was pretty flat.
My strategy was to go out 20-30 seconds slower than MGP for
the first couple miles. That got thrown
out the window at the gun, though; about five of us took off at a 6:40
pace. I slowed considerably to get it
under control. At that point I aimed to
keep my average pace around 7:10-7:15 pace.
I felt good there. I did not pay
attention to splits during the race but ran by feel and kept an eye on the average
pace window of my watch. Water was every 2.5 miles and I took 2 full cups at
every stop and ran with them while I drank.
I took a Gu every 5 miles and that worked well for me.
I had to take a port-a-potty break a mile 13 and I did not
pause my watch. My mile time for that
mile was 7:33 – not sure how I made that stop so fast. Fortunately, the half marathoners were bused
to the halfway point and they started an hour later than the full. By mile 15-16 I started to pass some of those
runners. That was a big mental boost
because for most of the race it was me, the cows and the cornfields. I never hit a wall though the last 4 miles
were a mental test, of course. I just
kept thinking of all of the hard work and traveling all the way up here – I wasn’t
going to stop. I picked up that pace a
bit. Around mile 24 I knew I could pass
one runner that was ahead of me the entire race. I had closed on him over the miles and now he
started to slow down. I got him a
25. I had no idea where the finish line
was but I could see the small town of Marathon approaching. I turned a corner and saw that I could break
3:08. I couldn’t believe it. I picked up here – I ran the last .26 miles
at a 6:19 pace. Crossing the finish line
was awesome. I had to catch my breath
but this was the best I felt after any previous marathons.
They support at the finish was great. They had ice water and Gatorade, of course, and
had pancakes and eggs for the runners in the local community center.
I don’t think it has sunk in yet as to what I
accomplished. I am pretty sure I will be
Boston bound next year. Splits: 7:09, 7:14, 7:15, 7:07, 7:06, 7:12, 7:12, 7:14, 7:11, 7:13, 7:05, 7:05, 7:33 (potty break), 6:55, 7:02, 6:58, 7:14, 7:03, 7:09, 7:11, 7:04, 7:09, 7:16, 7:07, 6:56, 7:06, .27 @ 6:19 pace.
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