2012 Goal of Sub 4:00 Marathon (Read 4210 times)

Wing


Joggaholic

    Sounded like a busy weekend. Congrats to all the marathoners!

      60deg and 90% humidity at the start - 65deg and 60% humidity at the end. 

      Still managed sub-3:37(unofficially) Totally at a loss for words, more to follow Big grin

       

      Thanks again everyone and may you 5/6 marathoners have a great day.

      This was my first marathon. Not sure yet if it will be my last Dead

      Official Time 3:36:51 which I am thrilled with.

       

      In lieu of a race report, here are some random impressions/thoughts

       

      - really happy with a negative split and roughly 8:07 pace for the last 10k. (If interested you can check my log for splits)

      - very small race with ~95 finishers for the marathon, but very well run with the exception of no time clock and no food at the finish....what is up with that?

      - the River Towns marathon has a diverse course with rolling hills (no big hills) town/river road/trail/backwoods trailer park scenery - yes you read that correctly

      - the course crosses a rail road track at grade twice (~2 miles apart) in each direction (it's an out and back) - on the way back a freight train came just after I passed the first crossing - I nervously watched until the final car passed shortly before I got to the second crossing...word had it that no runners were actually delayed by the train, but that was a close call.

      - my garmin died at mile 25 - fortunately my brother in-law's did not - however he left his watch on for the drive home, so if the charts from the race look weird to you, that's why

      - After mile 4 we passed ~15 runners, and we were not passed (except briefly by one runner, but we crushed him on the final hill)....those 50+ mile weeks really paid off

      - I ran this entire race with my brother in-law which was awesome.  He lead me home the last 1.5 miles. In the last 30 yards, to my surprise, I had the strength to out-kick him, but it just wouldn't have been right after he did all that work. So as I passed him I grabbed his arm and we crossed the line together (officially he beat me by 0.2 seconds) . Cheesy? Yes. But I wouldn't trade that experience for....well maybe for a sub-3 Joking . Nah.

      - Our wives and infants (who were wearing, unbeknownst to us, onesies that said "Go Dad Go" on the front and "Team Dad" on the back) along with my in-laws traveled several hours to the race. My brother also came 4 hours from the opposite direction with his wife and 5 kids. They made signs, ran short stretches with us, met us at 5 different spots on the course and cheered like crazy for us. This meant so much to us. It really does help.

      - I hope to post some pictures of the kids, the course, and our crazed looking cheesy finish.


      fake it till you make it

         Great race impressions!

         

        - Our wives and infants (who were wearing, unbeknownst to us, onesies that said "Go Dad Go" on the front and "Team Dad" on the back) along with my in-laws traveled several hours to the race. My brother also came 4 hours from the opposite direction with his wife and 5 kids. They made signs, ran short stretches with us, met us at 5 different spots on the course and cheered like crazy for us. This meant so much to us. It really does help.

         This is awesome.  

         

         

        I hurt my calf quite badly yesterday on an easy run. Was devastated. Had to work a night shift last night which didn't help it get any less sore.  Went to an awesome PT here in town and left feeling like maybe there is still hope for this weekend, though still too early to tell.  Sore from the pt work, can't tell yet how the underlying injury is doing.  Crummy timing, makes obsessing over the weekend forecast less entertaining.

            If they had ended the marathon at mile 18, I would have been in good shape.  Unfortunately, after that the heat was unbearable and my body (which doesn't do well in the heat) shutdown.  I think by 9:45 (about three hours into the race) it was 80+. 

           

            I guess I can be proud that I completed the hottest Flying Pig marathon on record, but I don't do moral victories well at all.  I think the part that stings the most is that I was the better prepared for this marathon than any of the previous 3.  And, the thing that killed me was completely out of my control, the weather.

           

            Well, time to get faster and better, with a better base, over the summer.  I'll try again at the Pig next year.

           

               Mark

          Turbolegs


            Sorry for the brief hiatus folks ... nevertheless, couldnt have returned to see a better set of messages and accomplishments on the group !! What a weekend !!

             

            Awaldvogel / David .. you guys nailed it and how !! We now have a 3-person team (along with Stadjak) on the thread who can now take a legit shot at bringing down the 3:30 mark !!

             

            NJPhil .. at 4:01:58 .. you will be back for more .. good job at toughing it out ..

             

            Kimberly .. 3:44 is awesome .. inspiring to know you decided to leave the pace group behind .. thats gutsy.

             

            Larry .. tough luck man .. and great race report. Sure you are gonna have a strong shot at it later down the year .. so which one is it going to be?

             

            Judy .. 1st AG !!!!! And sub-4 ! Whats more to say? Smile

             

            Have a good well deserved restful week.

            I dont sweat. I ooze liquid awesome.

            LedLincoln


            not bad for mile 25

              So I swore off marathons a few days ago.....

               

              but, damnit, I looked at the age group results and noticed that if I had been in the AG that I'll be in next year (moving from Old Codger to Really Old Codger), I would have had a nice 3rd place trophy.  Maybe I'll be back after all.  I'm so shallow.

              vegefrog


                I like to browse this thread, as I am hoping to join the discussion closer to my next Marathon (December 2012).

                 

                What a great bunch of races you guys had! Congrats and I just wanted to say that I'm very inspired. I have also been stalking your logs and making notes to myself about your training Smile

                 

                WTG!!!!

                 

                 

                edited to say:

                Actually...I'm so inspired that I would like to be added to the list of hopefuls...

                 

                I'll be running the Kiawah Marathon, December 8th 2012.

                 

                http://www.kiawahresort.com/recreation/kiawah-island-marathon/


                fake it till you make it

                  Done.

                   

                  3:30:54.  

                   

                  After the events of the last week, amazed I could do it.  

                   

                  Gathering some thoughts and downloading numbers then will be back with details.

                  Turbolegs


                    Done.

                     

                    3:30:54.  

                     

                    After the events of the last week, amazed I could do it.  

                     

                    Gathering some thoughts and downloading numbers then will be back with details.

                     

                     

                    WHAT A SUPERB RESULT !!!!!!

                    I dont sweat. I ooze liquid awesome.


                    fake it till you make it

                      Here goes:

                      Race thoughts:

                      -Hurt my calf -6 days before race.  Couple sessions of PT later and one painful (albeit slightly less painful than the one before) run and my goal was to just gut this one out until I couldn’t run anymore and had to quit.

                      -Race morning was nearly perfect weather.  40ish at start, barely any wind, and sunny.

                      -Calf got tight and a little painful around mile 5.  I thought I was headed for doom, and it did get a little more painful for a while, then magically the pain disappeared by mile 16. Incredible.

                      -Passed two runners from my team before mile 18, one of whom could easily outrun me by a good 10 minutes on this course but was having a bad day.  I always wonder what the hell to say when passing friends in this condition- sure do empathize with how they are feeling.

                      -I ran with 2 folks heading for a 3:28 finish. I  held on to them until mile 22, at mile 23 I hit the wall.  Its like a switched flipped

                      -Oh, that’s what the wall is.  Wow,  that sucked.  I was even mentally yelling F-bombs at the sun for being so bright and happy in the sky.

                      -Kept trying to do the math at this point and getting confused.  If I walk it in can I still BQ? Being .2 off on my garmin was not helping fuzzy brain math at this point.

                      -Saw & heard my running group teammates at the finish. Felt awesome to high-five them and celebrate a BQ with a  friend.  Team friends leap-frogged water stops and cheered us on many times on what would otherwise be an incredibly lonely race.

                      - 2nd in age group, 8/98 women.  11 months till I have to run another marathon (Boston!).  5 days until my next race (a one mile, might be a hobble). 

                      vegefrog


                        Impressive, VERY impressive!!!

                         

                        Congrats on a great race! Good luck on your mile race Smile

                        runnerclay


                        Consistently Slow

                          Impressive, VERY impressive!!!

                           

                          Congrats on a great race! Good luck on your mile race Smile

                          +1

                          Run until the trail runs out.

                           SCHEDULE 2016--

                           The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff

                          unsolicited chatter

                          http://bkclay.blogspot.com/

                          LedLincoln


                          not bad for mile 25

                            Jen, that's amazing!  Great work.  Must have been the cussing that did the trick. Smile

                             

                            You may have to start thinking about joining the sub-3:30 group, too.


                            fake it till you make it

                              Jen, that's amazing!  Great work.  Must have been the cussing that did the trick. Smile

                               

                              You may have to start thinking about joining the sub-3:30 group, too.

                               Cussing is a big part of my training & racing technique.  

                              And I can't join sub-3:30 group, because that would mean I'm considering another marathon and I can't even think about that until I figure out how to walk again. Ouch.

                               

                               

                              Good luck to jasonbrogan on your race this weekend!

                                Great job, Jen!