Notes
Have been fighting a cold the last three days. The concern has been that the cold would progress to bronchitis and affect my O2 uptake, or would progress to swine flu and quarantine me, or...this all might be pre-race jitters. Woke up this morning with noticable soreness in my pharynx, but the shower helped, and plenty of cranberry juice seemed helpful as well. Not sneezing, and not particularly runny nose.
Yesterday: Rode bike to expo and back, then rode again to pastathon. Ate fairly moderately. Concern that the 18+ miles on the bike would deplete some of the glycogen in my legs. Maybe pre-race jitters.
Race day: Got up at 4:30 am, showered, had breakfast at 5:00. Malted Meal, part of a yogurt, juice, water. Dressed in LI-COR shirt and blue running shorts, with long gym pants over the shorts. Taped feet carefully - all toes plus tops of feet. Didn't tie them tightly yet. Rode bike to campus.
Went to pee. Pre-race, saw Carol (+Scott), Ginger (+Bernie), Sean P., Todd. Did some stretching, tied shoes. They felt pretty good.
Lined up at the 9:00 mark. Sean Pieper started there with me (and finished shortly after me). After the starting gun, it was a leisurely eight-minute walk to the starting line.
From the starting line, I went into an easy jog to get the feel of my legs. Noticed that I was not breathing 2:2 for quite a while, and forced myself into it. Felt like I should have gone pee again, but feeling subsided after a while. Started passing people as my comfort level suggested. During the whole race it seemed as though I was passing lots of people and very few were passing me. Either my mind blocked out those passing me, or most people are over optimistic when they line up. I like to think it's the latter.
At the one mile mark the pace caller indicated that my pace was a good bit slower than 9:00, and I picked it up a bit. At the two mile mark my pace was still slow and since I felt good I felt okay to push just a little more. Increased stride a little, but nowhere near the danger zone for hamstring pulls. At the three mile and later points I no longer did the math to check my pace; just ran from there on as I felt it.
The Sheridan part of the run was nice - lots of fans, got my first water there. Bambi cheered for me on 48th street. :)
Hwy. 2 trail was of course familiar and of course narrow for the race. I knew that this was about the halfway point, but by this time, I was not noticing a lot of the mile markers. I did find myself wanting to pass, so I ran on the grass for part of it. Climb to Shopko was the first significant hill, and it didn't give me any problem. Looking at the Google map now, it's a bit frightening how much of the trail I tuned out, and have no memory of now. Maybe too preoccupied with passing people. The turn north on 20th was unfamiliar territory, as was Harrison, and I remember them somewhat better than other parts of the route. 20th was the major hill, but I still felt strong while others near me were slowing down. Paced with another strong runner for a while.
By 10th street I knew it was the home stretch, and I continued to push forward, feeling some tiredness in the legs (hip adductors in particular), but felt I still had some reserve. Just kept running. Made the right turn while the poor marathoners headed north around the stadium. On campus, hadn't realized that I would be running up the same walk I had entered on, and passed my faithful bike. Crossed the finish in what felt like strong form.
Took a bottle of water immediately and did quite a bit of walking around. As for the food tent, the orange segments tasted great, and apparently so did the Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips, based on my consumption of three bags. I took one bite of a doughnut hole and threw the rest away. Ate half a banana. Took a little cup of Pepsi just to see if it had some magical power. Maybe it helps to settle a queasy stomach, but my stomach was perfect, and the Pepsi tasted alright but not great. Water is the best.
I set quality at 9. The only thing that would have made it a 10 would be a faster time, and I didn't really work for a faster time. That's why the effort setting is at a gentle 7; it all seemed pretty easy.
I've learned that I'm competitive, but it has boundaries. I like placing well in the race, and I like passing a lot of people, but I don't seem to care to turn what is an enjoyable run into a painful run. I still feel like I wasn't really pushing my limits.