Notes
Halves
1st 1:19:35
2nd 1:19:55
3 mi splits
1-3 18:15.7 06:05.2
4-6 18:12.4 06:04.1
7-9 18:28.8 06:09.6
10-12 17:57.5 05:59.2
13-15 18:06.9 06:02.3
16-18 18:17.0 06:05.7
19-21 18:13.0 06:04.3
22-24 18:10.7 06:03.6
25-26.2 13:48.4 06:16.5
Had a kind of stressful pre-race. Everything went fine and on plan until we got into Philly, and then couldn't find any of the parking garages and lots. Drove around town for quite a while and found nothing. Finally at 6:15 I hopped out of the car and left my father to find somewhere to park on his own. The plan was for him to take my bag at the start, which worked, but barely. We reconnected, but barely. He had to park about 1.5 - 2 miles away, and I had to fight my way to the front of the corral after getting through the port-a-potty lines and getting changed to get my bag to him with about 5 minutes to spare. I didn't even get any warm-up in, and only very limited stretching. Still, once we reconnected I was able to relax for the last few minutes and get focused on the plan.
The primary goal for the race was to break 2:40, which has been a plan 2 1/2 years and several missed starts in the making. Secondary goal was to see how far under 2:40 I could get, with 6:00 pace (2:37 and change) the stretch goal. The plan for the race was to use the first mile or 2 to warm up, without falling too far off pace. I wanted to cover the first half in 1:19:30 to get on 2:39 pace, and then see what I had for the 2nd half. I had some hopes of picking it up over the 2nd half, but wanted to make sure I had some cushion on 2:40, so I could handle some slow down over the last few miles, and especially on the last somewhat uphill mile.
The race started uneventfully, and I started out around 6:20 pace, eventually finishing mile 1 at 6:15. The next mile marker was about .1 too long, and the following was about .1 too short by my watch. Accounting for this, it looks like I covered mile 2 in 6:02, which was just about perfect, and mile 3 in 5:49, which was a bit too aggressive. After mile 3 I settled into a pretty good rhythm, and got to mile 7 pretty much on target.
Miles 8 – 10 include the primary hills on the course, and my pace reflected this with an average of around 6:12. Around mile 9 or 10 is where I got the first hints that my stretch goal was going to be out of reach. Over this stretch my quads started getting sore. Not sure why this would start happening so early, but I knew it wasn’t going away.
Mile 11 has a pretty significant downhill, steeper than you would really want. I didn’t catch my split on this mile, but the average for 11 and 12 was 5:51. I think 12 was probably in the low 6’s, so 11 was probably at least in the low 5:40’s, again because of the downhill.
I locked back in on target for 13-16, staying between 6:01 and 6:03 pace, and hitting the half in 1:19:35, which was just about perfectly on plan. Only problem was my quads were really starting to bark. The stretch from 14-19 was mentally the toughest. I was very worried that my quads wouldn’t last, as there was still a long way to go. I started playing bad scenarios out in my head. Fortunately I had a good running partner over this stretch, and we went back and forth a little bit keeping the pace on track.
From 17-20 the pace slowly started creeping up with a 6:06 for 17, followed by 6:07 and 6:08. These were all slower than desired, and at mile 20 I knew that if I wanted to make it I would need to pick up the effort. Up to this point I had been trying to run the pace I wanted with as easy an effort as possible. At 20 I decided I needed to ramp up the effort, which I did with a 5:58 and 5:59 for 21 and 22. After that I started feeling a little more comfortable that I’d be able to hang on.
At this point my stride was starting to feel awkward and I just felt slow, but fortunately that didn’t show up in the pace. Miles 23 and 24 were 6:06 and 6:05, and I knew I had enough time in the bank now to give back around 45 seconds over the last 2 miles and still be under 2:40. My quads were very sore now, but not slowing me down too much, so I just kept chugging.
Mile 25 I felt the first real danger signs, as a muscle in my inner thigh started twinging, and then threatening to cramp. That changed my plan from giving it all I had over the last mile and a half, to just trying to keep an honest pace without hitting a full blown cramp. I knew I had the time to slow the pace if needed, but didn’t have the time to cramp. I got through 25 in 6:08, and then started the last uphill mile. It’s a relatively mild uphill, but it is mile 26, and I was on the verge of a cramp. The muscle twinge was getting worse, and had started to cause a few stumbles as it twinged more frequently. Still, the cramp held off through the top of the hill, and the end of mile 26, which I covered in 6:18. The last .2 seemed much too long, and my stride was turning into 10 good steps, one stumble as the twinge continued to threaten. Much prayer got me through the last part, the cramp never fully came, and I crossed the line with great relief in 2:39:30.
It felt so good to hit the sub 2:40. As I thought about the 2 ½ years and multiple DNS’s caused by events beyond my control during that period, I got a bit choked up. Every time I finish a marathon I’m always surprised by how emotional it is for me. There’s just something about all the work, all the effort in training and in the race that just makes the accomplishment so meaningful to me. I’ve worked very hard over the past few years in my training, but also in making sure that running didn’t interfere with my ability to be a good husband and father. To be able to get to where I am, and to know that the whole time I haven’t let this pursuit (obsession?) negatively effect my family makes me even prouder. I know I’m nowhere near elite, but at this stage of my life, I feel like I’ve gotten pretty close to all I can reasonably get out of what ability God has given me, and that is very meaningful to me too.
Overall, this was a very good day, and I'm very satisfied. Weather was great, only complaint was a bit of a headwind in some stretches, but nothing bad. I think I can still shave a few minutes if I can avoid the early quad issues. I'm eager to take another shot at a 2:37, but it's going to have to wait a year.