Notes
Salisbury Marathon Race Report:
1M Pace: 7:15
5K Split: 21:20
5M Split: 34:21
10M Split: 1:08:01
Half Marathon: 1:29:48
15M Split: 1:43:03
20M Split: 2:17:41
Finish: 2:59:27
I'll first note that I am not nearly as sore as I normally am. Every marathon I've done before this one, I had to descend stairs by leaning on the railing and lowering one leg at a time, and I wasn't walking normally. This time going down stairs still sucks but it's not that bad. My quads are not nearly as beat up. Let's get into it.
Breakfast: One 16 oz bottle of water with a stick of LMNT (lemon habanero), a few cups of coffee, one Maruten Solid 225, and a peanut butter sandwich made with one slice of Dave's bread and organic peanut butter.
Mile 1: This was actually really key. I had the following conversation with myself after checking my watch: "Alright let's address the elephant right now. You tend to be a negative Nancy during marathons, and you need to work on your mid race head space. On top of that the weather is far from ideal and the mile markers are clearly going to be well ahead of when the watch beeps (and BOY were they, probably by 150 meters or so). What will checking the watch do for you? Nothing positive probably, so we are going to run this race darkwave style. Let's shoot for no watch checking until at least mile 20. Let's even consider just letting the time at the finish be a surprise. Let's focus on execution. In particular, not eating shit the last few miles. And taking water at every, or almost every station."
I did finally crack and check the watch at 2:55:XX in. Why did I cave then? Stay tuned.
Miles 2-12: These pretty much felt as consistent as my splits were. I fought some heavy wind miles 3-6 as expected. Passed a few people. Had some caffeinated Cliff Bloks between miles 7 and 8.5 ish. Also somewhere around 8 there were some wind gusts and rain that together pelted me a bit. My response, literally out loud: "Bring it the fuck on!" I took the advice of RP, Andy, Mark, and maybe a couple others. Don't let the wind get to you mentally, and don't fight it. When strong winds hit, I told myself I'm getting a short break in effort and it's keeping me cool. There was a pack of 4 in front of me I came close to catching, but eventually they pulled away. Oh well.
Miles: 13-18: Lots of wind. Especially miles 15-18. Around the half way point, I start to feel some fatigue both in my quads and overall. Got passed just at the half way mark as well. You've got to be kidding me. I've felt better at mile 16 on training runs than I do at this moment. This is bullshit. Fuck this sport. It must be nice for people who have fucking talent. Que the other me: "This is the exact shit I was just talking about. This isn't THAT bad. Get some more Cliff Bloks and water in you, hold steady until mile 20, and see how we feel then. Can you handle that?" Roger that. Started to feel better around 17, but the wind is pretty punishing.
Miles 19-23: Mile 19 is where you make a turn so the wind is no longer a head wind, and in fact was more like a tailwind, finally! And so I caught a second wind. I literally felt better at 19 than I did at 13 and by a good bit. Obviously felt better mentally as a result. I catch up to someone, we chat briefly. He says he's out of gas. I offer some Cliff Bloks because I know I won't finish all 3 sleeves. He passed on the offer and wished me good luck. There is some cool looking but also intimidating lightning not too far in the distance and then some rain kicks in, soaking my feet eventually. But it also cooled me off.
This stretch was fantastic. I was rollin. My strides were long and powerful and I had a great rhythm. I have NEVER felt like this at this point in a marathon. Is THIS what it feels like to have a good marathon?
Miles 23-Finish: Right around mile 23 my calves shit the bed. It's not horrible but it's bad. Well this is interesting, it has always been my quads but for once it's something else. Maybe it was in my head but my feet being wet and hence heavier seemed to make each push off more painful for my calves. I think to myself, you basically have a sitcom left. An episode of Seinfeld. Come on, you can handle that. I start to recite my mantras, which I've never tried before but this race I picked two. One from David Goggins: "WHO'S GONNA CARRY THE BOATS, AND THE LOGS!!!???" The other from Jay-Z, "World can't hold me, too much ambition." Say what you want, I think it helped.
A little after mile 25 I catch the guy who passed me at the half way mark. As I pass him, he shouts out "Hey man you're gonna be under 3!" WWHAAT? Is he serious? After all this I might STILL have a shot? No fucking way. What do I do? Do I check the watch? It must be close. I can't take it anymore. And this is where I broke and looked. A quick glance... 2:55:XX ... THIS IS GOING TO BE CLOSE, HOLY SHIT! I'm nauseas, have a side stitch, and my calves are shot. I'm not sure what I have left. I just need to hang on! Where is mile 26? It can't be far.
And then there it was. Just had to make the last turn to the finishing stretch. Waiting at the bottom of that stretch was my very excited girlfriend. What I didn't know was that the tracking app malfunctioned, most likely due to weather, and so from her perspective, and my parents perspective, something may have gone horribly wrong a long time ago. I can't believe this is happening. Through the finish I go. Everything hurts like shit obviously. I lean over the railing for a minute trying not to get sick. My girlfriend pointed out there were Coke cans behind me, so I grabbed one because those always settle my stomach. It worked.
We then meet up with the guy from mile 19. He got a PR actually. We now follow each other on Strava. Off to the beer stand we go. I symbolically salute the 3 hour barrier, "To a worthy opponent, cheers."