Notes
From the Pig's website:
6.8 Mile:
0:56:25 (pace: 8:15 , rank: 586 )
Half (13.1 Mile):
1:45:20 (pace: 8:03 , rank: 489 )
19.7 Mile:
2:37:09 (pace: 7:59 , rank: 363 )
25.2 Mile:
3:20:57 (pace: 7:59 , rank: 268 )
Last Half:
1:43:00 (pace: 7:52 , rank: 185 )
Last Mile:
0:07:22 (rank: 127 )
net time:
3:28:19
pace:
7:58 (based on net time)
60F @ start, 70F @ finish. HUMID.
I'm grateful my parents came with my to take my limping self back to the hotel (though, as I write this later, I'm feeling way better and thank the ice bath I took in the hotel). It was a rough training cycle, this time around (he said, only having been through two cycles). Overtraining syndrome reduced my training for a month and a half and bummed me out, but I'm lucky to have good friends that were supportive all the way (RunDMC, my running group, in particular--specific people like Monica, Alex, Andy, and good old Dr. O'Connor, too).
I am so glad I do the hill training I do (I live in the highest point in the state). I am, further, glad I decided to run by effort/HR. Target average HR was 178. Actual average HR was 178. Woo! That's what my body was ready to give today. This was a PR by 11 minutes and 16 seconds. Oddly enough, I can run by feel and hit a target HR but NOT a target pace--so I didn't have to look at my Garmin very often.
There were SO MANY people there. My other two marathons have had less than 100 (Elyria) and less than 500 (ORRRC) people running the full.
This was a whole 'nother world. I was more than a little dazzled by it at least a few times. I can see why people like "city" marathons now. It's a very different experience. The crowd support was nothing short of phenomenal the whole way. I never took my headphones out of the pocket in my shorts--the entertainment was fantastic, the cheering was wonderful, and I gave roughly 327 high fives to volunteers and crowd members (I tried to count, really, but the number got too high).
A Cliff's notes of fun, terrible, and interesting race events:
1. I was told by at least six different people that I have good running form. One in particular commented that I was "just gliding" up a hill. As we went down it, he commented "You don't even bounce!" I didn't tell anyone my secret--run without any cushioning and you HAVE to run well.
2. Similarly, I heard at over half the water stations that I have an awesome beard. This one I knew before the race.
3. I finally had a cramp during a race. More correctly, my right hamstring SEIZED UP. Severely. As in, I couldn't even unbend my knee. The muscle locked. The good news? This happened at 26.1 miles. I suffered through it and refused to slow down. I can do anything for .1 miles. I might have screamed a bad word very, very loudly, though.
4. I splashed no Gatorade in my eyes THIS TIME--the volunteers at the Pig identify their water correctly.
5. My last mile was my best mile. Mile one was 8:02. Final mile was 7:22.
6. Running hills is awesome. Most people don't know this. You give to the hill going up, take from it going down. Never confuse the two, and you'll love them.
7. PowerGel can spoil. One of mine tasted...very spoiled. Nasty.
8. People with sprinklers and hoses are awesome.
9. Aid station volunteers dressed like Blues Brothers are awesome. Yes, really. It was at mile 23 or so, so I thought I might have been hallucinating. One of the guys from my running group mentioned it, too, so I'm confident it really happened.
10. "If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon." (Emil Zatopek)
It was a great run today! In a nutshell, first half in 1:45:20, second half in about 1:43. Nice, solid negative split