Notes
So the marathon did not go to plan. I am not sure what the temp was at the start but by mile 2 I saw a 69-degree reading from one of the banks in the loop. I thought I went out conservative enough but in hindsight it would have been better had I went out even slower.
I felt like I was holding back and in good shape until mile 10 when I began to transition into race mode. But the splits don't lie. I hit the half at 1:38'30, which I felt was right on target but now I am not sure. I hit the 15 mile mark at 1:52:22 (behind 3:15 pace by 30''). But by that point the weather had gotten pretty hot - I noticed it at 13.1 but other runners afterwards said they felt it around mile 7. I may have just been in denial about it and intentionally ignoring it.
After 15: I thought about a few different courses of action before deciding that I did not want to use my fall marathon on a day like this. I then shut it down and took it in easy in a very slow run pace. My hope was to live to race another day this season. As it got hotter, I slowed and felt like I made the right decision. I saw a temperature around mile 19 that read 83-degrees. I actually walked and ran between 19-23 but ran it in from 23 onwards. By the finish, I would guess it was over 83. One of the reasons I slowed up is at around 20 miles, I started to feel like my left calf and my right quad were going to cramp. I was very diligent with my fueling and hydration so I was a bit surprised with that (never had this problem before). So I really took it easy figuring that finishing without cramping would be preferable to not finishing because of leg cramps.
I suppose that I would feel worse if I felt like I was to blame. But it was the weather. Most of the marathoners I spoke with following the race shared my story exactly. All systems go until 13.1 and a walk-run collapse (of course this could also be that we all went out too fast). It was just a terribly hot day to marathon. And I feel like I made a safe choice in that I might still be able to give this race a shot this season before the training cycle re-starts.
My Splits were as follows (LT & I previously agreed on 7:25 or slower for the first 10 miles):
1) 7'29" (too fast)
2) 7'38" (touch too fast)
3) 7'21" (too fast)
4) 7'28"
5) 7'25"
6) 7'22" (too fast)
7) 7'18" (too fast)
8) 7'22" (too fast)
9) 7'20" (too fast)
10) 7'17" (too fast)
11) 7'15"
12) 7'18"
13) 6'49"
14) 7'26"
15) 7'41"
--- Re-looking at the splits: I went out too fast, which did not help after the 13.1 marker. It might not have mattered though given the heat but had it been perfect conditions, I set myself up for a tough race. It's hard to know.
I think I will do better without any splits written on my bib until 15 (then 20 and 23). The early splits (even if they don't matter) still give me too much to think about. I need to relax more in the beginning.
After the decision to shut it down:
16) 11'06"
17) 9'49"
18) 10'40"
19) 8'56"
20) 10'14"
21) 10'35"
22) 9'28"
23) 10'16"
24) 9'27"
25) 9'34"
26) 9'54"
.2) 8'53"
Time to reflect, recover, and retool to prepare for what comes next....