Notes
My plan was to either run 10-14 miles at marathon pace or run a full marathon time trial. I felt good through the first half so decided to keep going. My course was out and back twice. Going out was against the wind and coming back was with it. The course is mainly flat though going out was primarily downhill and coming back was primarily uphill. I had a few miles in the first 7 that were a bit fast, but I did not want to do any braking and I did have the wind at my back and was going downhill.
By mile 15 I was starting to tire but was hopeful I could hold it together to the turnaround and have something left for the last 10k, hoping to hang on and break 2:40. I fell apart starting around 18 and especially the last 10k as against the wind and uphill was tough.
Weather was a okay - slight wind (blowing the opposite direction that I would have liked) and warmer than I would have liked (55 at the start). Perhaps had I stopped at 10-14 and attempted this next weekend (when predicted temperature is 40 with wind in the opposite direction), I could have run 2:38 or so. But I didn't want to do another taper week with no guarantee that the ab would be better. With the ab injury and the fitness lost over the last few weeks (and this being a time trial) 2:35 was probably not realistic. I do think I was in 2:35 flat shape had the Milwaukee Marathon happened.
My shoes worked great, though I'm expecting to be pretty sore in the calves over the next several days. My abs were a bit painful, but nothing that I couldn't handle. Sneezing after this time trial was painful.
For nutrition I carried a bottle of Maurten 320 and finished it around 13. I had a Maurten gel at 17. I had electrolyte pills at 3, 6, 10, 12, 15, and 17. I had a caffeine pill at 13 and before starting. Prior to starting I also took two acetaminophens and a caffeinated gel, and drank 16.9 oz beet juice starting around 4:30.
I'm happy to have completed this though it was slower than I hoped. It's now 8 straight years that I've run sub 2:45 for the marathon distance.
First Half: 1:18:15
Second Half: 1:23:56