RUN: 26.2 in 4 hr 6 mins 5 secs
Overall: 712th out of 2078
Gender: 139th out of 710
Age division 30-34: 25th out of 119
Finally, it's over. 16 weeks of training all funneled down into this one morning. Just wait until Sept, when 36 weeks will funnel into one day!
Here's the race report:
After many nights of being short on sleep, I got 2 good ones in before the race. I woke up 1.5 hrs before the race (not counting the times I woke up earlier for a bathroom break) and had a banana, orange, and some raisins with my coffee. That's it. No egg, no protein, and no fat. All my training runs had these foods but not the race. I only realized that later. Also, I didn't have a full glass of water, just a few sips of cytomax. Only realized that later too.
The weather was clear, sunny, low wind, and around 50-55 at the start. I packed 4-5 gels and my fuel belt with 1 water and 3 cytomax flasks. I wore my Craft tri shorts and the green top with the pockets. We left the house 30 mins before the gun and DH dropped me off at Union Station. Quick bio-break there, then off to the start corrals. New this year were barricades herding us into the middle of the street, instead of giving us the entire width. This made it all the harder to advance further into the corrals, and I stopped around the 4:15 pace bunny. We waited about 15 minutes at a stand still before the crowd started advancing forward. I was calm, ready to roll, and my stomach was growling. Of all things.
I'll break the race into segments for the race report.
Miles 1-6: 54:23
The first 6 miles were mildly hilly, looping out to the AB Brewery then back to near the start. I was moving a bit faster than I should have been, holding a sub-9 pace. But when you feel good, the weather is fine, the crowds are yelling, and you are surrounded by other runners--it's easy to get carried away. I had a few moments after a hill climb that I reeled in the pace to keep the HR down, but I'd pick it up again soon enough. I had a gel around mile 6. In my training I took a gel every 5 miles, but the water stations were every 2 miles on the even numbers. This threw me off schedule a bit, but wasn't a problem.
Mile 1: 8:47 minute/mile; 150 average bpm
Mile 2: 8:51 145
Mile 3: 9:04 150
Mile 4: 8:43 150
Mile 5: 8:36 154
Mile 6: 8:55 156
Miles 6-13: 1:57:29
Mile 6 was full of crowds cheering, and I sailed right through. We turned onto Olive where the hills are slow and long. Again, I was still cruising along and knew I was moving faster than expected. The crowds were heavy in this area since spectators could catch all the racers just after the the half marathoners turned off around mile 10. The halfers split off, then silence. No cheering, less talking amongst runners. Makes sense, since 12.5K people did the 13.1 race and only 2K or so the 26.2 version. We entered Forest Park and took in the steeper hills of the park. But this was familiar ground, so I could anticipate the course. But the hills were getting to my left metatarsals. No numbness, just pain, but it would come and go between miles. The pain was moderate and intermittent. But it was distracting. I took another gel around mile 12 and kept sipping the cytomax from my flasks. I came to mile 13 in what was almost my half marathon race time--a sign that I was moving a bit faster than planned. But I was optimistic about a sub-4hr race.
Mile 7: 8:39 157
Mile 8: 8:40 162
Mile 9: 8:39 160
Mile 10: 8:46 165
Mile 11: 8:48 160
Mile 12: 9:13 162
Miles 13-20: 3:04:45
Mile 13 passed the visitor's center of the park and continued out towards Clayton. Last year I took a bio-break in FP, and thought I should this time too. So around mile 15, a quick stop. It was refreshing to stop moving for a bit, I'd been running through the water stations at a slow jog. It was about this time that my stomach started sloshing. Was I drinking too much? I didn't think so, but somewhere between the pace, heat, and amount I was consuming my stomach thought I was. I slowed down as I approached the rolling hills of Clayton. Up and down, up and down, few if any flats. They say the marathon starts around mile 15, and for me it was true. It was around mile 16 that I started to slow down in an attempt to let my stomach absorb some fluids. But I felt good going through mile 20, aside from some hip tightness and a mild headache. The headache was a sign of possible dehydration. At mile 20, I realized I was beating the times from my training runs. Slow down!
Mile 13: 9:03 157
Mile 14: 8:44 164
Mile 15: 10:06 162 (bio-break)
Mile 16: 9:27 163
Mile 17: 9:40 160
Mile 18: 9:09 163
Mile 19: 9:16 167
Mile 20: 9:02 166
Mile 21-26.2: 4:06:02
The mile 21 mile marker had my friends at it, they grouped up to give out water and Gatorade. The cheering, support, and familiar faces, and another gel carried me through at a great pace. Then it started to slow again. Soon after, I walked a bit to let my HR come down. Around this time, I realized I could feel a blister in the toes of my left foot. But I could only feel it while walking. The answer? Keep running! Mile 22 had me losing some mental focus, there were some hills in this mile that I wanted to walk through but kept pushing. Mile 23 was the start of the downfall. My heart was pounding and the headache was more persistent. If I walked I would feel a bit dizzy, so I kept running. But I started walking more here. Mile 24 was even worse. I was cold, I was hot, then I was cold again. Goosebumps! I wanted a long sleeved shirt! More walking to bring the HR down. I reached a point around 24.5 that I didn't to keep going and I didn't want to quit. I yearned for a bed and a blanket and a nap. Mile 25 was hard, with more walking and more dizziness. I was never in danger of falling, it was more of a whirly feeling. Keep going, keep pushing. I passed runners treated by medics, runners puking, runners sitting along the side of the street unable to continue. At this point, it was the death march for many runners who were reduced to walking only. I was alternating jogging and walking, but struggling. My focus wandered and I kept thinking about going to bed. Mile 26--the last mile! I found some more energy near the finish line and held a better pace. My legs were shaky and I was running on fumes at the finish line.
Mile 21: 9:01 171
Mile 22: 9:45 169
Mile 23: 9:39 173
Mile 24: 9:44 170
Mile 25: 10:59 170
Mile 26: 11:14 165
Final segment: 9:25 174
As seen towards the end, my average HR rocketed up from the goal rate of 150 to 170 by the finish. Way too high. I crossed the finish line, grabbed a Mylar to keep warm, got my medal, and started walking. I was evaluated my the med staff but didn't feel the need to stay, so they let me go with a quick once-over. Then I started walking. If I stopped, my legs got a creepy tight feeling. Grabbed water, banana, Gatorade, and started towards the exit where DH and I planned to meet.
When I found him, the dizziness was still there. Walking was painful--the bottoms of my feet were hurting, likely due to foot swelling in the shoes. My legs were heavy, tight, and burning. On the way to the car, I stopped to sit for a few minutes, as the car just seemed to be miles away. Funny how I was able to run 26.2 miles but once across the finish line I couldn't run another step.
Recovery was Recoverite (new strawberry flavor = yuck), water, bananas, water, Ensure, water, raisins, water, you get the idea. Lots of water, I was very dehydrated. Here I am hours later and I still haven't balanced out the water equation. My muscles are likely swelling and retaining water, too. I took an ice bath, then a cold shower, then worked on stretching. I actually had to go to work a few hours later, and by then I was feeling much better. I'm able to walk, do stairs, and I'm mentally recovered. But it doesn't take much to elevate the HR, but that's normal.
What would I do different? 1) Drink more water the morning of. Although hydrated in the week before for some reason I didn't drink much that morning. 2) Practice drinking water on the run. 3) Hold the goal pace, as hard as it may be. I may have gone out too fast.
So in summary, once again I fell apart after mile 21, only this year I made it to mile 23 before losing focus and control. I took 20 minutes off my 2008 time and I'm very happy with that, even though it wasn't the sub-4 I was hoping for. I don't regret the training and biking I did in the week prior, as this wasn't an A race and I feel as if all sports need to keep advancing. I'm somewhat nervous about the IMWI run now, knowing how hard this was. But I have all summer to address that race and now I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do.
Overall: 712th out of 2078
Gender: 139th out of 710
Age division 30-34: 25th out of 119
Finally, it's over. 16 weeks of training all funneled down into this one morning. Just wait until Sept, when 36 weeks will funnel into one day!
Here's the race report:
After many nights of being short on sleep, I got 2 good ones in before the race. I woke up 1.5 hrs before the race (not counting the times I woke up earlier for a bathroom break) and had a banana, orange, and some raisins with my coffee. That's it. No egg, no protein, and no fat. All my training runs had these foods but not the race. I only realized that later. Also, I didn't have a full glass of water, just a few sips of cytomax. Only realized that later too.
The weather was clear, sunny, low wind, and around 50-55 at the start. I packed 4-5 gels and my fuel belt with 1 water and 3 cytomax flasks. I wore my Craft tri shorts and the green top with the pockets. We left the house 30 mins before the gun and DH dropped me off at Union Station. Quick bio-break there, then off to the start corrals. New this year were barricades herding us into the middle of the street, instead of giving us the entire width. This made it all the harder to advance further into the corrals, and I stopped around the 4:15 pace bunny. We waited about 15 minutes at a stand still before the crowd started advancing forward. I was calm, ready to roll, and my stomach was growling. Of all things.
I'll break the race into segments for the race report.
Miles 1-6: 54:23
The first 6 miles were mildly hilly, looping out to the AB Brewery then back to near the start. I was moving a bit faster than I should have been, holding a sub-9 pace. But when you feel good, the weather is fine, the crowds are yelling, and you are surrounded by other runners--it's easy to get carried away. I had a few moments after a hill climb that I reeled in the pace to keep the HR down, but I'd pick it up again soon enough. I had a gel around mile 6. In my training I took a gel every 5 miles, but the water stations were every 2 miles on the even numbers. This threw me off schedule a bit, but wasn't a problem.
Mile 1: 8:47 minute/mile; 150 average bpm
Mile 2: 8:51 145
Mile 3: 9:04 150
Mile 4: 8:43 150
Mile 5: 8:36 154
Mile 6: 8:55 156
Miles 6-13: 1:57:29
Mile 6 was full of crowds cheering, and I sailed right through. We turned onto Olive where the hills are slow and long. Again, I was still cruising along and knew I was moving faster than expected. The crowds were heavy in this area since spectators could catch all the racers just after the the half marathoners turned off around mile 10. The halfers split off, then silence. No cheering, less talking amongst runners. Makes sense, since 12.5K people did the 13.1 race and only 2K or so the 26.2 version. We entered Forest Park and took in the steeper hills of the park. But this was familiar ground, so I could anticipate the course. But the hills were getting to my left metatarsals. No numbness, just pain, but it would come and go between miles. The pain was moderate and intermittent. But it was distracting. I took another gel around mile 12 and kept sipping the cytomax from my flasks. I came to mile 13 in what was almost my half marathon race time--a sign that I was moving a bit faster than planned. But I was optimistic about a sub-4hr race.
Mile 7: 8:39 157
Mile 8: 8:40 162
Mile 9: 8:39 160
Mile 10: 8:46 165
Mile 11: 8:48 160
Mile 12: 9:13 162
Miles 13-20: 3:04:45
Mile 13 passed the visitor's center of the park and continued out towards Clayton. Last year I took a bio-break in FP, and thought I should this time too. So around mile 15, a quick stop. It was refreshing to stop moving for a bit, I'd been running through the water stations at a slow jog. It was about this time that my stomach started sloshing. Was I drinking too much? I didn't think so, but somewhere between the pace, heat, and amount I was consuming my stomach thought I was. I slowed down as I approached the rolling hills of Clayton. Up and down, up and down, few if any flats. They say the marathon starts around mile 15, and for me it was true. It was around mile 16 that I started to slow down in an attempt to let my stomach absorb some fluids. But I felt good going through mile 20, aside from some hip tightness and a mild headache. The headache was a sign of possible dehydration. At mile 20, I realized I was beating the times from my training runs. Slow down!
Mile 13: 9:03 157
Mile 14: 8:44 164
Mile 15: 10:06 162 (bio-break)
Mile 16: 9:27 163
Mile 17: 9:40 160
Mile 18: 9:09 163
Mile 19: 9:16 167
Mile 20: 9:02 166
Mile 21-26.2: 4:06:02
The mile 21 mile marker had my friends at it, they grouped up to give out water and Gatorade. The cheering, support, and familiar faces, and another gel carried me through at a great pace. Then it started to slow again. Soon after, I walked a bit to let my HR come down. Around this time, I realized I could feel a blister in the toes of my left foot. But I could only feel it while walking. The answer? Keep running! Mile 22 had me losing some mental focus, there were some hills in this mile that I wanted to walk through but kept pushing. Mile 23 was the start of the downfall. My heart was pounding and the headache was more persistent. If I walked I would feel a bit dizzy, so I kept running. But I started walking more here. Mile 24 was even worse. I was cold, I was hot, then I was cold again. Goosebumps! I wanted a long sleeved shirt! More walking to bring the HR down. I reached a point around 24.5 that I didn't to keep going and I didn't want to quit. I yearned for a bed and a blanket and a nap. Mile 25 was hard, with more walking and more dizziness. I was never in danger of falling, it was more of a whirly feeling. Keep going, keep pushing. I passed runners treated by medics, runners puking, runners sitting along the side of the street unable to continue. At this point, it was the death march for many runners who were reduced to walking only. I was alternating jogging and walking, but struggling. My focus wandered and I kept thinking about going to bed. Mile 26--the last mile! I found some more energy near the finish line and held a better pace. My legs were shaky and I was running on fumes at the finish line.
Mile 21: 9:01 171
Mile 22: 9:45 169
Mile 23: 9:39 173
Mile 24: 9:44 170
Mile 25: 10:59 170
Mile 26: 11:14 165
Final segment: 9:25 174
As seen towards the end, my average HR rocketed up from the goal rate of 150 to 170 by the finish. Way too high. I crossed the finish line, grabbed a Mylar to keep warm, got my medal, and started walking. I was evaluated my the med staff but didn't feel the need to stay, so they let me go with a quick once-over. Then I started walking. If I stopped, my legs got a creepy tight feeling. Grabbed water, banana, Gatorade, and started towards the exit where DH and I planned to meet.
When I found him, the dizziness was still there. Walking was painful--the bottoms of my feet were hurting, likely due to foot swelling in the shoes. My legs were heavy, tight, and burning. On the way to the car, I stopped to sit for a few minutes, as the car just seemed to be miles away. Funny how I was able to run 26.2 miles but once across the finish line I couldn't run another step.
Recovery was Recoverite (new strawberry flavor = yuck), water, bananas, water, Ensure, water, raisins, water, you get the idea. Lots of water, I was very dehydrated. Here I am hours later and I still haven't balanced out the water equation. My muscles are likely swelling and retaining water, too. I took an ice bath, then a cold shower, then worked on stretching. I actually had to go to work a few hours later, and by then I was feeling much better. I'm able to walk, do stairs, and I'm mentally recovered. But it doesn't take much to elevate the HR, but that's normal.
What would I do different? 1) Drink more water the morning of. Although hydrated in the week before for some reason I didn't drink much that morning. 2) Practice drinking water on the run. 3) Hold the goal pace, as hard as it may be. I may have gone out too fast.
So in summary, once again I fell apart after mile 21, only this year I made it to mile 23 before losing focus and control. I took 20 minutes off my 2008 time and I'm very happy with that, even though it wasn't the sub-4 I was hoping for. I don't regret the training and biking I did in the week prior, as this wasn't an A race and I feel as if all sports need to keep advancing. I'm somewhat nervous about the IMWI run now, knowing how hard this was. But I have all summer to address that race and now I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do.
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