New Mexico Marathon RR (Read 877 times)

New Mexico Marathon RR, or how not to prepare for a marathon. The New Mexico Marathon is a really nice, small race. The course circles the north side of Albuquerque and ends up in the Old Town. It has good support, with water and Gatorade every two miles, and good traffic control by APD and Bernalillo County Sheriff's Deputies. The finishers medal was a nice handmade pottery-type medallion and the shirt was one of the best I've seen, a longsleeved red tech T with a cool design. Chip timing is used, with a start and finish timing mat, but no splits. It is a Boston qualifier, which was irrelevant to me, and wouldn't really be a good choice for a BQ attempt anyway, due to the hills and altitude. It's not a particularly easy course. It climbs gradually along the Sandia front for 8 miles, then turns west and descends 1100 feet for 6 miles into the valley. The remainder of the course is basically flat, along the Rio Grande to Old Town. The altitude can be a factor--the start is at 5700 ft, climbing to 6100 ft at mile 8, descending to 5000 ft for the last half of the race, all of that descent from mile 8 to 14. Anyone wanting to run a race in New Mexico, or wanting to visit New Mexico and throw in a race, would do well to run the New Mexico Marathon. I recommend it. I had not planned on running this race but had the opportunity to do some job-related training in the area which ended the day before the race, and since I hadn't run a marathon in New Mexico yet, I couldn't pass on the opportunity. How convenient! The only problem? I haven't exactly been running much. In fact, I have totaled 36 miles in the three weeks since the Crater Lake Marathon and I've never seen a marathon training plan that recommends 12 miles per week. Still, I figured that 10 marathons since January counted for something, and I boarded the 4:15 bus for the 5:30 start. Four portajohns for 290 runners is not enough. That's what I thought as I waited in line, then finally gave up and found a convenient tree. After the National Anthem we were off in the dark, although Tramway Boulevard is partially lit. I ran the 8-mile gradual climb fairly hard, as Orion and Venus gradually disappeared in the dawn light over the Sandia Range, it was a beautiful sight. At mile 6 a truck came past going back toward the start, coning off the race route. Better late than never, I guess. The only problem I had at that point was a hot spot in my right instep, which was really starting to bother me as I ran. I was running 9-10 minutes per mile, due to the combination of the climb and the altitude. Finally I passed the mile-8 summit as the sun was hitting the valley, and it was a really beautiful sight, with a dozen or so hot-air balloons rising over the valley. The course turned west and headed sharply downhill for the next 6 miles and I continued to push the pace, running sub-8-minute miles downhill, which were not as easy as they should have been had I been training. We finally hit the bottom at the halfway point and I ducked into a portajohn there (this was the start line of the half-marathon). I then sat down on the curb and tried to adjust my shoe to alleviate the hot spot. Every time I leaned forward to adjust the shoe, I got a cramp in my abs. So I leaned back, stretched it out and repeated. Finally I got the shoe off and back on, although it didn't help the hot spot, which was becoming painful. I hadn't had problems with these shoes (Asics 2120) on shorter runs. That stop cost me about 4 minutes, but I was still looking at 1:53 when I resumed running. Surely, a 3:50 race was in the bag! Well, not so much. The last 12 miles were flat and rather boring, along suburban two-lane then along the Rio Grande bike path, which isn't as scenic as it sounds. Around mile 16 the course ran through deep sand. Well, not really, but it started to feel that way to me. It was all asphalt but at that point my lack of endurance caught up with me and my energy started to give out. The last 10 miles were just awful, I was reduced to shuffling along at a "survival" pace of 10:30-11:00/mile, with occasional walk breaks, and stopping a number of times to try to alleviate the pain in my foot, all in vain, as runners passed me. The hot spot had turned into a nasty blister and that caused a very sore achilles tendon as I favored that foot. Finally, I saw the finish line and got more choked up than usual, after all it had been quite an ordeal, entirely my own fault (well, except for the shoe). I finally finished in 4:10:54. So my splits were 1:52/2:19. Yikes! Not exactly even splits, but about what I deserved. Still, it's a really good race, and I recommend it. All the support you need is there and crowding is never a problem.

Nice report. Congratulations on finishing another marathon and when not expecting to even run one!

Well done! SPECTACULAR medal! Is it wooden? What was the race fee?

The fee was $58, not including the shirt, which was $20, but worth it, IMHO. The medal is clay pottery, hand-painted. Pretty nice, and unique!

Here ya go. It's a high-quality tech material. Also shown is the B side of the medal, hand-signed by the artist. I believe it was a local artist, of which there are plenty in the area. Half marathoners got one (medal) just like it, only blue. The shirt for the half was a nice shortsleeve blue T. Just for the record, it wasn't all laziness in the week prior. I was in class from sunrise to sunset and running in the dark was not an option, unless I wanted to explain myself to the Border Patrol.

I suppose we can let you slide, this time.

Thank you, O Mississippi, you are kind and merciful!

Still, I figured that 10 marathons since January counted for something

Holy ****! 10? If I can slog through one and finish in 4:10 I'll be happy, the fact it's a "disappointment" is a testament to your training. Nice job overcoming the day's adversity, and nice report.

Thank you, O Mississippi, you are kind and merciful!

I try.

Legs are fine, the darned blister is still a pain.

I'm really hoping that taping any of the usual suspect spots will help prevent me from getting any really bad blisters during Sunday's marathon. Do you have any suggestions?

You deserve an award just for attempting this race! The first half sounded really cool with the twilight and the balloons. Great job getting to the finish line! Congrats!