When Good Marathons Go Bad. My Race Report

I want to start this blog by saying a couple things. #1 is that I know that I finished above the top 25% of people in the matathon. I know a lot of people have said things along the lines that they would be happy with a 3:40 marathon, or "that's a great time", and things of that nature. And to that I say, with no disrespect intended to people, that you are way off base when you look at it that way. I would be happy with a 3:40 marathon, if I had been training for a 3:40 or a 3:45 or something in that time frame. But I had trained and expected a 3:05-3:08. Those who run 4 hour marathons, imagine going out and posting a 4:40 and tell me that you wouldn't be disappointed. #2 is that at this very moment, I still have no clue as to why this happened. Overtraining, under nourishment, distractions? None of those seem to be any better or worse than the marathon I did in Phoenix. I felt better and stronger throughout my training. 3 weeks ago, I ran a harder than hell half marathon that I came within 29 seconds of a PR. Logically, I have no reason as to why I could lose that much over that little amount of time. I'll think about it over the next few days, but right now, it's a mystery.

The race kicked off at 6:15 am. It was about 32 degrees at the start and the sun was coming up. I actaully was walking from the port a potty when the gun went off, but it was chip timed, so no biggie. Probably about 90% of the race participants started before I got to the starting line. The downhills on the first couple miles changed my starting pace some, but it actually felt very easy with the hills. I carried my own water and gels, and had recruited some help at mile 17 to take my water bottle and give me a G2 and another gel pack, so I was hoping not to have to mess with stations and just be able to run. By mile 7, I knew I was in trouble though. In my first marathon, the pace was easy to keep, untill about mile 20. This time, I was feeling it and having to work to try and keep the mile times around where I needed them. By mile 10, I was doing the math in my head. I figured that if I could hold the pace until I popped out of the canyon at 17.5 then I only had less than 9 miles to go. And I could let my mile times creep upwards of 8:20 because of the time I saved during the first couple of miles and the wiggle room I had given myself at the end. I knew I would be hurting and that the times would go up, but I never could have expected what came. Right before I came out of the canyon, my stomach cramped for a minute, it didn't stay, but it was long enough to break my rhythm. After getting my G2, and I'll say I put on a great show in front of my friend, even though I was dying, I straightened up and found the strength to at least not look like a train wreck in progress, I walked through the subsequent water station and drank all 20 ounces of it. Right around 19.5, my calves started to cramp up really bad, and that was it. It shut me down almost instantly. I stopped dead in my tracks and I still had a long ways to go. At this point it became a walk/run to the finish. With me having to stop and walk every 1/4 mile or so. I could hold a 9:30 pace or so while running, I just couldn't run very long. The course is designed so that I essentaly had to finish, or else I would have probably walked. If I had different people waiting for me at the finish line too. But for a couple of them, it was their first time to watch me race, and when the time clock said 3:10:59, they were going to be worried enough without me walking all the way in, or not showing up for a while.

I came across the finish line at 3:40:55, a far cry from the 3:07 I was looking for.

The mile times:
1. 7:53
2. 7:28
3. 7:20
4. 7:23
5: 6:55
6. 6:58
7. 7:03
8. 6:59
9. 7:04
10. 6:55
11. 7:11
12. 7:08
13. 7:14
14. 7:12
15. 7:19
16. 7:26
17. 7:36 Exit of the canyon and end of most of the downhill stuff
18. 7:44
19. 8:35
20. 9:03
21. 10:08
22. 11:20
23. 12:28
24. 10:22
25. 10:50
26. 11:45
.23 2:22

As I was coming in, I was pretty much alone, and the crowd support was very thin through most of the race, but the last .4 or so people were everywhere, and the entry to Old Town rivaled PF Chang in PHX with the number of people that lined the finish gates though. They announced my name and everything, and people cheered, but I felt disgust for what had happened and just wanted to get across the finish line and put this mess behind me.

So, I have been thinking today that I might recover from this for a few days, start with some light running later in the week and just try to maintain myself and stay fit. On Memorial Day, run the Bolder Boulder, then turn around the next weekend and run the Steamboat Marathon that is about an hour and a half drive away from me. I'm not 100% sold on that yet, but it's in my thought process.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and support people, I know it didn't go the way I wanted it to, but there's always another day.