First Marathon Report (Read 616 times)

In the second half, I just tried to run based on feel. I had a drop in energy at about 21.5 miles, and thought I was done for, but then somehow rebounded for the 23rd and 24th mile. The final 2 miles, were tough, with the legs just not wanting to move faster. I finished the race in 4:16:52. Now I only have to shave about 46 minutes off to qualify for Boston (need 3:30:59)!

A very smart performance. Congratulations on a fine day. There's something about the 20 mile point, and then 22 or 23 that creates mental (mood) changes. Sometimes at 20, I feel like I've conquered the monster yet other times, I feel like "sheeesh ... 6.2 more". Then, at 22-23, I always get an endorphen rush. As with you, the legs aren't always happy and cooperative, but we ride it out. You ran a smart race and I'm certain that with continued training, that BQ will be yours.

Dear Stephen, I've been looking forward to this report - perfect breakfast reading. All of your training, weight loss and commitment has paid off - you must feel like a million bucks! ALSO great inspiration for those of us looking forward to our first marathon. A

Thanks guys! In the words of Georg Costanza, "I'm busting, Jerry, I'm busting!". What's next? - a 10 miler in March and a half in May (targets below). As for my next marathon, at this point I am thinking Richmond again, but that could change...

Hey VA -congrats. Looks like we were running our first marathons at the same time, just in different locations. Nice job sticking to a fairly even pace - I need to learn how to do that! Are you as sore as I am? Everything south of my hips and north of the bottom of my heels is one huge country of soreness!

Thanks! Yea, I am pretty sore right now, mostly concentrated in my thighs.

Thanks Wingz! I received a request for more details… Was it how you expected or harder/easier? On Friday, the race offered a course tour, which I thought was pretty cool thing. I took the tour, which lasted two hours, but afterwards, I was a bit stressed out. Self-doubt was creeping in big time. The course looked hillier than I thought it would be, and I was thinking to my self, "What have I gotten myself into.", "This is insane." That evening, I had a serious headache and was really anxious. Note, I've put in a lot of miles, but most of them were on the "easy" side (just take a look at the pace of most of my runs). Also, I struggled with many of my longer long runs, only getting in one 20 miler (this was actually my best long run). On my last 20 miler in my scheduler, I bailed at 13 miles. So needless to say, I thought completing the marathon was going to be hard, and I feared the unknown of the last 6.2 miles. Now, no matter how bad my mind was messing with me, it didn’t stand a chance against reality. The course's hills were not a problem for me, I felt strong on them (I have some experience with hills around where I live). Also, I think my conservative pacing helped me a lot. I was feeling like a million bucks the first 21 miles. The “my legs don’t want to go any faster” feeling of the last 2 miles, was the same feeling I got at the end of my 20 mile training run. Note that my 20 mile training run was actually a race, and I actually ran it like a race and not a long run (this was not a well thought out plan, it just happened). In retrospect, I didn’t experience anything in my marathon that I hadn’t already experienced in my 20 mile race, including the soreness afterwards. This is something to consider if you have the opportunity to run a 20 mile race before your marathon. Note, although I would recommend running a half marathon before your first marathon, to give you a general idea of what to expect in terms of marathon finish time, it will only give you an inkling of how hard the marathon is. Note that for me, the McMillan predictor was optimistic by 10 minutes, when I use my last half marathon time to predict my marathon time. I am guessing that the better trained you are, the more accurate the prediction will be. How do you feel today? The main after affect is soreness in my thighs. I also have some soreness in my knees and some in my arms (lower bicep, from the holding the arms in the running position). What did you do for food and drink along the course? I had a bowl of raisin bran and 20 oz. Gatorade, 3 hours before race time. I had 3 Clif Shot Bloks 10 minutes before the race started (there are six in a pack, each blok is 30 calories). I had 1 Clif Shot Blok every 2 miles. I recommend these Clif Shot Bloks. The allow you to split up the portions like Sport Beans, but are not as sweet as Sport Beans (this is a good thing). I like the Cran-Razz flavor. I also ate orange slices, pretzels, and chocolate given out by the wonderful spectators. Btw, this breaks the rule about trying something different on race day, but I have a fairly strong stomach, and it was hard not to accept the generosity of these kind folks. I drank water exclusively. I took 2 Endurolyte pills during the race. This is under the recommended amount, but I wasn’t too worried about it since the temperature was cool.

Sorry we couldn't meet up, but great job on a well done race! Your consistency blows my mind. I, too, have no doubt that you will BQ

Congrats Stephen!! I am sorry we couldn't meet while you were in town- maybe at a another race sometime.

Congratulations, Stephen! Awesome job on an awesome race my running friend!