Notes
Official time 3:17:58. 3.5min PR! lol
Wheels fell off after the half. Still parsing through what happened but it was a fun day out there! I high-fived Meb Keflezighi twice! #neverwashingmylefthandagain
Weather: 64 to 68degrees steadily increasing. 50% humidity. cloudy for first hour and last hour, but I remember sun in between. Wind was 12mph coming from the south. I actually felt it more in terms of temperature than in terms of effort.
Race report: I felt great through the half - the pace went out a little too quick but I decided to hang with Coach Jack and Aliza as I presumed they knew how best to run the course. At mile 12 I slowed up coming out of the loop behind Oak Ledge. Then I coasted downhill to try and make up the 25m on Jack. After the half my perceived effort suddenly spiked, I thought I could feel my heart rate spiking too but I did not see any evidence of it in the data. I slowed up going North on Pine to try and recover some, and also took Battery Hill very slow, but my legs never felt good again. Going up Battery I felt too tired for only having gone 15. At the top of battery I tried to raise the pace, but through the whole park and onto North Ave I felt detached and tired.
First quad cramp twinge came at mile 16ish. I was able to avoid fully cramping for the whole race but it was only by slowing my pace significantly. I would go very slow, then slowly try to bring my pace back up and then would spasm and walk it off. As the marathon ended I was start-stopping my way in, and I just had to deal with the embarrassment as it came. Getting motivational urges from people whizzing by is not fun for me.
Nutritionally I felt good. Got 800cal in of gels and also drank gatorade often. Occasionally I felt bloated by my stomach was basically fine the whole race. Hydration after the half was good. I was not getting enough liquid down early on in the race though, mainly due to difficulty with getting enough at the aid stations.
Finished the run with really good energy levels, I wanted to put more out there on the course but couldn't
Late in the race I craved salt. I had to use the pickle juice at mile 16 so I didn't have any of that to enjoy later in the race. For the future I'll have to consider better electrolyte options. Also consider hiding a pickle juice along the route. Maybe at mile 22.
My thoughts on my mental state are that I was not in the right place. I felt detached from the race for most of the race. I was not as nervous for the start as I have been for other marathons. Maybe it was because my job was simply to run with Jack, not to do anything else. When things started to go wrong I gave up too quickly. I don't think I could have run much faster, but I also didn't have an attitude of perseverance.