Notes
Harrisburg Marathon.
Pretty confusing course that had you winding around Harrisburg and and coming back over parts of the course that you already ran on. It then had a long out and back (similar to the Philly Marathon) in the second half. The hills were comparable with the Philly Marathon, I'd say. There was a WNW headwind that was blasting you in the face on the out part, but then it became a tailwind after the turnaround point at about mile 18.5. The sun started to heat things up and that caused side stitch issues for me. I really needed an enduralyte at mile 24 but couldn't find my last one (it must have dropped out when I pulled something else out of my shorts pocket. And there was no aid station after about mile 22.8, and I needed some fluids.
The last mile was practically a death march. As soon as I rounded a turn to go up a hill after mile 25 but quads felt like they just gave up, hence the slow last mile. I managed to give a hard push as I rounded the last corner and caught sight of the finish line and barely came in under 3 hours (which was my goal), but it was way too close and not the way I like to race. I didn't feel in control that last 10K and didn't feel like I finished strong. I just barely held on. I had a feeling that some of those early miles were a bit too fast, and I should have exercised more restraint. But I don't know if that would have prevented my demise in the last 10K.
One thing I did not like about this race were the plastic cups that were used for the water and gatorade. You can't crimp the mouth of a plastic cup to more easily get the fluid into your mouth. As such, half of every cup of fluid was spilling all over my face and shirt and going down the wrong pipe in my throat.
I felt like I carb loaded well. I ate almost 2 pounds of pasta the day before (and a pound on Friday). I also had 2 rice balls and was hydrating pretty well, I thought.
During the race, I had 5 enduralytes (at miles 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20) and 3 gels (at miles 9, 17, and 24). I was also drinking at most aid stations (a combination of both water and gatorade).
This was my second attempt at breaking 3 hours. I tried earlier this year at the Boston Marathon but didn't even come close.