Notes
Yikes ... look at my heart rate! Shows how hard I was working and how freaking hot/humid it was!!! It says only 61 but it popped up quick from there and it felt way hotter than that.
Well, I did not hit my goal but still a PR. And I'm actually pretty proud that I managed to hit this time. After about 1-2, I was mentally starting to go to the "well, maybe this is just a fun run" thought process - but then I pushed myself to stop thinking that way. I just told myself to just try for one mile at a decent pace and take it from there. One mile turned into 2 and so on.
The first mile was slow mainly due to the crowds. I tried to start a little further forward than I should have in the corral (and I was in Corral 3 of 21!), but at this type of race .... sooo many people started way further up than they should have. It was the worst in the first 1-2 miles, but I was literally dodging and ducking around people going a lot slower than me for the first 8-9 miles.
Once I had a few miles in at a better pace, I felt ok, like i coud at least hang on for a few more miles. I didnt feel great by any means, it was so humid. I was dripping already by mile 2. My mind kept jumping to "omg, I cant hold this for 10 more miles" and I kept reeling my brain back to "just focus on this mile."
I think I was the thirstiest in this race than any other I can remember. Partially because of the humidity, but I also think i didnt hydrate well enough (no, it wasnt from drinking -- I held off from any alcohol til Sunday night). My mouth was so dry that when i took my first Gu at mile 5, first it coated my whole mouth and then it felt like it sealed my mouth up like cement. I didnt even try to take my second one because I knew I wouldnt be able to swallow it. Luckily taking Gatorade was enough.
One thing that worked really well for me was I kept looking for people to pick off. I would try and find someone up ahead that didnt look like they were running as fast, and I'd focus on catching them. Then I'd find the next person. That worked really well because it gave me something to focus on besides my pace, or how thirsty I was, or how much further I had to go.
Another thing that worked well was in the last 6 miles, I kept telling myself to envision the last 6 miles of the marathon. I kept telling myself that I was at mile 20 and had 6 to go .... Kind of tried to use it as mental training for that. Seemed to work!