Forums >Running 101>Reevaluating goals for first marathon
Plus this
Marathons are stupid.
No matter how bad it hurts or light headed you are, you only get to back off if you pass out.
I am fuller bodied than Dopplebock
some call me Tim
Well, gee, that does sound tempting. I'm not kidding. Pain and I are buddies, it's just that I only know lactic-nightmare and climb-the-ladder-oxygen-debt. I don't really know the other guy.
I will definitely be resurrecting this thread with a report the evening of May 25th.
Sorry to hear about your stupid race mikeymike.... that's puzzling. Thankfully Buffalo is a *very* flat course.
ME WEBLARG
As promised, a report.
Based on a couple of good M paced runs that were comfortable later on in training, I decided to kind of play it by ear on race day, keeping the 3hr pace group in sight where I could catch them if I was capable of putting together some 6:30s in the last 10k. Race day dawned perfect: Partly cloudy, 50 degrees, manageable humidity and wind in the single digits even on the waterfront.
In the end, I ran 3:05:40. Out in 1:30:16, and returned in 1:35:26. After a first mile at 7 flat and keeping it easy, I stayed 400 yards off the 3hr pace group and when that pace continued to be comfortable, I decided to catch them. I ran with them till the half(nice guys), after which there's a gentle 1 mile incline and I elected to let them go a bit to keep things comfortable. I made some efforts to catch them after that and got close, but by mile 20 it was clear that I was *not* gonna have a hammer to drop. Nutrition and hydration were fine and form was still good, but quads were stiffening up and keeping pace was impossible, so I worked within my limitations. Around mile 23, a couple of guys from my running club came and ran me in and kept me from dropping off too much. I had a little surge left in the last quarter mile, but it's clear that sub-3 was just not in me. I still got a BQ out of it and am happy that bonking was never even a remote possibility.
Thanks everyone for your advice. It really caused me to reevaluate my goals, and more importantly form an intelligent plan to adjust on the fly and before I got into a bad spot.
Now I can't walk.