First of all, congrats to Paul for an incredible race on home soil. I think he may have another OTQ in him.
Let me also say that this marathon is gorgeous, flat, well managed. It was the perfect marathon and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good, unaided time.
The forecast was for temps between 25-27 at the start. We caught a bit of a break in that it was 31. There was a breeze out of the north and clear skies. I also learned that because Indy is on the very western edge of EDT, the sun didn't rise until after 8am. That was weird running the first mile or so in mostly darkness. Kind of like SGM I guess.
The first almost 7 miles of the race is shared with half marathoners. The great news about that is we had a pack for a lot longer than we would have had if the two races had been split. My plan was to run a 2:10:30-2:11:00 first half and there were plenty of half marathoners running that same pace. This was particularly helpful for Miles 2-5 which were mostly into the breeze that was coming out of the north. The pack helped mitigate the wind resistance and the wind chill. Thanks guys. Great to be short.
Paul and Jeff bolted from the pack around 5M or so. I was focused on running my race. Unfortunately, that meant going it completely alone from about mile 5 until about Mile 11 when I caught Jeff. Miles 9, 10 and much of 11 were along a long, flat straightaway. I could tell that I was reeling Jeff in for most of the time. When I caught, we chatted briefly and he stayed with me for what seemed like 1/2 mile or so, and the I was alone again. Until right after the half when I caught one of the Kenyans. We hung together through the 30k mark which was great because that was 6 miles or so of someone pushing me from behind.
At the 30k mark, I grabbed my next to last water bottle poured down about 8 ounces and then threw off my long sleeve shirt. Felt great as the sunshine was out in full force. Still 34 degrees, but the sunshine helped a lot. At this point I had gapped the Kenyan hard. I had discovered in our six miles together that this was his first marathon. Unfortunately, I would not remain ahead of him for long. As I crossed through 20 all alone, felt fine all things considered. I was giving back a few seconds but nothing catastrophic. I was still on pace to break 2:22. Same after mile 21.
By the Mile 22 marker things, were not feeling so fine. My wife was stationed there to give me one last special fluids bottle which I took. The watch said 5:46. Slipping, but remarkebly still on pace...by the slimmest of margins. Then it all fell apart. I simply ran out of gas. Most of my problems in the past have been with hydration. But thanks to cool temps and really good hydration, this was not my issue today. Mine was one of energy. I had taken two GUs but a third would have probably helped some.
The final four miles were a death march. To make it worse, the final four miles are shared with the halfers...so I had every opportunity to use all the roadkills to cobble together whatever mental and physical energy I needed to take me home. But there was nothing left. It was like pushing the gas pedal of a car in neutral. If my daughter was at the finish line being eaten by a bear, I would not have been able to run any faster.
Incredibly frustrating after months of really hard work. I am pretty realistic, i think, about my capabilities. I don't think I have an OTQ in me. 2:19 on an unaided course just isn't within my reach. That's fine.
But I do feel like a 2:22 is which makes the end of today's race really frustrating. In the final four miles, I gave back 4:00.
The good news is that I didn't bonk until 4 to go. Usually I bonk with 6-8 to go. Progress.
The bad news is that I have to regroup and figure out how to conquer that final 5-6k. I'm looking at everything including some much needed dietary focus. This will help get me to a leaner race weight and just be better for me. I also need to look at doing some progressions deeper into my long runs. It probably means running a few 24 milers with the final 10 being at MP. I'll sit down with my coach and figure it out. As disappointing as the last four miles were, the first 22 were great, so I'm not ready to give up just yet.
2:22 or bust.
| Mile 1 |
5:17 |
5:17 |
|
| Mile 2 |
5:26 |
10:43:00 |
|
| Mile 3 |
5:16 |
15:59:00 |
|
| Mile 4 |
5:20 |
21:19:00 |
|
| Mile 5 |
5:18 |
26:37:00 |
|
| Mile 6 |
5:25 |
32:02:00 |
|
| Mile 7 |
5:20 |
37:22:00 |
|
| Mile 8 |
5:27 |
42:49:00 |
|
| Mile 9 |
5:26 |
48:15:00 |
|
| Mile 10 |
5:23 |
53:38:00 |
|
| Mile 11 |
5:25 |
59:03:00 |
|
| Mile 12 |
5:22 |
1:04:25 |
|
| Mile 13 |
5:25 |
1:09:50 |
|
| Mile 14 |
5:26 |
1:15:16 |
|
| Mile 15 |
5:28 |
1:20:44 |
|
| Mile 16 |
5:26 |
1:26:10 |
|
| Mile 17 |
5:30 |
1:31:40 |
|
| Mile 18 |
5:27 |
1:37:07 |
|
| Mile 19 |
5:21 |
1:42:28 |
5:23 |
| Mile 20 |
5:30 |
1:47:58 |
5:23 |
| Mile 21 |
5:30 |
1:53:28 |
5:24 |
| Mile 22 |
5:46 |
1:59:14 |
5:25 |
| Mile 23 |
6:05 |
2:05:19 |
Off Pace |
| Mile 24 |
6:16 |
2:11:35 |
Off Pace |
| Mile 25 |
6:22 |
2:17:57 |
Off Pace |
| Mile 26 |
6:39 |
2:24:36 |
Off Pace |
| Finish |
1:25 |
2:26:01 |
Off Pace |
| |
|
|
|
| 1st Half |
1:10:29 |
5:22 |
|
| 2nd Half |
1:15:33 |
5:45 |
|
| Final 10k |
37:59:00 |
6:06 |
|
| Final 5k |
19:45 |
6:21 |
|
| 