A few thoughts before the official race report: — I really liked this race, it was about the best podunk race I could imagine. Maybe 150 entrants, no one really fast, nothing special about the "expo" (it took maybe 90 seconds to register), no chip times, and brief post-race festivities (the awards maybe took 15 minutes). But they ran it well, had plentiful aid, all the turns and miles marked clearly, and a really nice course. — Beautiful weather, other than some headwind in a few spots (including the last 9 miles, but by then I didn't notice anymore). 60 or so by the end, clear skies, sun reflecting off the river we were on the whole time, fall leaves out; I'm making this sound like I had time to pay attention to the beauty. It's always nicer in retrospect, right?
— The race course starts, I'm not kidding, in the parking lot of the hotel everyone stays at. What a concept. No need for port-o-potties, I had a four-star pre-race and used my own private bathroom. I dropped my warm-ups off 8 minutes before the gun, on my bed. This is genius. On to the report: Dale and I started at the head of the pack, though it was tough to gauge the leaders because a lot of folks run this as 2- or 4-person relays. So those went out quickly. We stuck to our gameplan and ran really consistent miles (maybe 3 was quick, but there was a downhill), picking off many of the relays teams and other fast starts. We were in a great position headed out and consistently around 6:50-6:55, a sub-3 pace. I won't bore you with all the splits. You cross the first bridge and turn north at 9 or so, that's when we hit a headwind. It slowed us a bit, but we turned around at 11 (and change) and made up some of the ground. We were 45 seconds or so off pace, if I'm remembering right, at the 1/2. 1:29 and change, with the tailwind at our back. Felt pretty strong at that point, it had warmed up but we were still both in gloves. Between 16 and 17 you cross the last bridge and head back. This is where I hit a little bump. Dale pulled me across the bridge and I thought I could hang with him a few more miles, even though I was losing some steam. But when we left the bridge I mini-bonked. Not a true "game over" bonk, but I just lost my head of steam. He did his best to pull me along but by 17.5 I was slurring my steps. So I let him go and backed off, I think that mile was 7:22. At the aid station just past 18 I walked through, had two gatorades and a Gu. It was the fastest I've ever had a Gu, maybe took 15 seconds to finish. That's when I realized how much my body was craving energy; I was sapped. They had some M&Ms there that I wolfed, drank more Gatorade and water and started again. I hit another mid-7s mile, so I regained some energy and started to feel ok about finishing with a decent time (though sub-3 was gone). That plan worked for 2 more miles or so, but by 21 I was cramping badly. My hamstrings would ball up once a mile, at least, so I was stopping to quick-stretch too often. So those last five miles all had 1-2 minutes added to them, I was running pretty stiff-legged by 24 and just slugging it out. My goal kept dropping (I thought 3:05 was possible, then 3:10, then 3:15). I was just working to finish at a run at that point, and actually passed one guy who had moved past me at 25. I had a little kick, didn't quite get the two in front of me but seeing as I couldn't really bend at the knee, I won't cry about it. I was done, after replentishing (not a bad spread, even though it was mostly candy) my legs loosened up and I could walk/stretch it off. And under 3:15, that's not lousy.
To say I'm disappointed for not making that goal would be wrong. I helped Dale get under 3 (great race, my man -- if you don't know him go read his blog). I realized I'd only ran 3 marathons (and only finished two of them), so my body isn't quite used to finishing one off strong, no matter what my training has been. Obviously my diet prep left something to be desired, so there's another lesson learned. All in all, I had fun. It cleared my head, made all the running this summer worthwhile, and I'm happy to have done it. supernova red -- 43
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