DNF - Eugene Marathon. 18.74 miles in 2:17:20
My first marathon DNF. It's hard to put so much time and effort into preparing only to fall short on the day. That's part of the allure of the marathon, no doubt. Everything on the line in one big race. If it was easy we wouldn't do it.
In short, it wasn't my knee injury that did me in. My legs just gave out. The first 9 or 10 miles went well, but starting in the 11th I fell off pace. By mile 14 I felt like I'd already gone 24. My quads were aching, especially in areas where I have had problems before.
I managed to hang on all the way until 18.75 miles. I was going to drop at mile 16 if I saw my wife at that spot. There is a bridge to get back across the river there, and less than a mile to the finish area. However, she wasn't there and I didn't have enough presence of mind to drop out anyway, especially with all the crowds around, cheering. So, I kept going. As I got slower my knees began to hurt, but not in the injured area I've been dealing with the last couple weeks. By mile 18 I was really wishing I had stopped earlier, but I was trapped on the wrong side of the river. I thought about walking back but couldn't fathom the idea. Finally, at 18.75 I came upon another bridge. I knew if I kept going I risked doing more significant damage to my knees. I was already reduced to stopping to stretch, running for a 1/4 mile, then stopping again. I decided finishing on Hayward Field was important enough to keep going. By cutting across there I was saving myself 4 miles of walking.
That walk across the bridge was the hardest walk I ever made. I stopped four or five times along the way, trying to decide if I really wanted to leave the race behind, and almost went back each time. In the end I knew it was the right decision, even though I didn't like the decision.
As for the race, it was perfect conditions. 48 and cloudy, no wind or rain. The sun came out later, but it didn't warm much until at least 11. Meb was the starter, and he mentioned that conditions like this don't come that often, so take advantage.
The marathon asked people to park at one of four nearby locations and take a shuttle to the race. As a result, they didn't have enough shuttles from the headquarters hotel, and there was plenty of parking near the starting area. As it was, I got to the race 15 minutes before it started, and there was a large crowd still waiting to get on other shuttles after me. I decided I didn't have time to visit the bathrooms. As it turned out I could've made it, but I ended up not needing to go. My pre-race diet and hydration strategy worked perfectly.
We start the first 1/2 mile or so uphill. The pace was slow and I was in a crowd. I was also stuck behind the 3:05 pace group, which was going out a little fast. I thought about IJR and RattleTrap during these miles and prayed for them. I figured IJR was at least 16 miles into his race by then.
It took about 3 miles to fully get out of the crowd and to a place where I could mostly run my own pace. The first 9 miles is a loop around south Eugene that then passes right by the starting line on the way out to the Willamette River. It is the most hilly part of the course, and there were two hills that were significant. Nothing like Big Sur, but enough to let you know you were running up. Both of them were about 1/2 mile long and they were both followed immediately by a downhill run.
During the 5th and 6th miles I met a nice guy from Tulsa who was running his first marathon in 7 years. I asked about OKC and he said it was too windy. Those miles flew by and were my two fastest. Felt good. In the 9th mile we ran uphill for about .6 miles and I was at 7:35 pace at the top, but back down to 7:00 by the end of that mile thanks to the downhill. In the 12th mile I was feeling pretty crummy. I decided if my body forced me to slow below 7/mile I might just back off for a few miles and see if I could still have a strong last 6. Unfortunately, each mile I got slower, hurt more and my knees started to ache. After the 1/2 way mark (in 1:30:56), I knew that I only needed to run a 1:44 to get a BQ. I think I decided I just needed to run under 8:10 to do that. The next mile was an 8:10, followed by a 9:08. I thought I had an 8:45 in there somewhere, but maybe that was the 9:08, midway through.
The 3 1/2 mile walk back was miserable. I walked along the course from mile 23-24. At first there weren't many runners going by me. The winning time was 2:20. By the time I got to mile 24, though, I knew that my running self, if I had stayed on pace, would've just passed my walking self. I got tired of walking through aid stations and cheer zones, so I got off the course after that and made my way back to the school. It was sunny, but still about 50, and I was pretty cold, and was getting slower and slower. I started to limp a little as my right knee become more aggravated. I wasn't sure where my wife would be, since I was 30 minutes past due by the time I got to the school. Thankfully, she was still where we had agreed to meet, which was the first place I looked. It was a very tearful morning, and I couldn't wait to get out of there. Once I got to the hotel room and laid down on the bed and was fine, emotionally, and was fine the rest of the day. If you read this far, you're nuts, but thanks.
Splits: 7:02 - 6:54 - 6:53 - 6:56 - 6:43 - 6:47 - 6:48 - 6:49 - 7:00 - 6:56 - 6:53 - 7:05 - 7:26 - 7:35 - 7:42 - 15:43 - 9:08 - 9:41 (pace for .75)
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