Notes
My buddy from work and I walked to the shuttles around 5:30 a.m. It was cool and windy (low 50s, I'd guess) and still was by the time they dropped me off at the marathon start about 30 minutes later (with still more than an hour until the start at 7:20). My long-sleeved tech shirt and gloves didn't do much good, but I knew I would warm up once we got started. I ate a GU about half an hour before the start and lined up toward the back of Corral A (thinking that would help me go out slow). I had my watch ad pace band on my left wrist and my phone with Runkeeper on my right arm (I turned it on as we got started, but kept the sound turned off). They let the elites go and started Corral A about 30 seconds later.
Apparently, lining up toward the back of the corral did not have the intended effect. The first 6 or 7 miles were on back streets through subdivisions in and around Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. Neighborhood streets are where I do most of my training runs so there was a familiarity to it. Goal pace was 8:34, but I was way, way ahead of that. I know the splits that Runkeeper has aren't quite right, but there are a bunch of 7:30s and 7:40s in there. Not good. I told myself several times "You need to slow down NOW," but I guess my body just didn't respond like I needed it to. I got through mile 5 in under 40 minutes which would have been great in a half marathon, but here, not so much.
Running around the Wright Brothers Memorial around mile 8 was pretty neat and there was a good crowd out there too. There was a trail portion of a few miles around miles 10-13 that was also a nice change of pace from the roads (and some folks who apparently drove all the way from Ohio to volunteer an aid station stocked with bananas and banana bread). It ran near Jockey's Ridge State Park which (I think) is billed as the tallest sand dune on the eastern seaboard. It was a little hilly, but the variety was nice compared to what I knew was coming later. By the halfway point I was 10-11 minutes ahead of goal pace. At that point, although I wasn't feeling it yet, I had a pretty good idea that the second half of the race was not going to be nearly as fun as the first half.
I made it through about mile 17 or 18 before I started to feel bad. My left hamstring felt a little funny; it wasn't painful, really, but it didn't feel quite right either. I had been walking at most of the aid stations up to that point (to make sure I ate the gels and got some liquid in), but now I was walking at aid stations to also take a break from running. From about 19-23 I had to slow down a lot and even walked a bit in between aid stations (and I had those nagging thoughts about stopping), but I kept moving (albeit considerably slower that my goal pace).
Going by what Runkeeper has, miles 21-24 went 9:22, 10:29, 10:38, and 10:10. Those miles were also mostly run along the side of US-158 and by this time the sun was out. It wasn't hot, but this part of the course was the most monotonous and also probably the windiest. The Washington-Baum Memorial Bridge sits right around Mile 23-24 and it was a beast. I didn't stop, but I did walk part of it.
The crowds picked up around mile 25 or so and I think that helped me pick up the pace a little right at the end. Runkeeper had miles 25 and 26 at 9:07 and 9:00. At the finish I was focused on powering through the finish line and only glanced at the clock long enough to see that it was 3:4X:XX, so I was pretty sure that I met my goal. Now that I think about it, I don't remember what time I had on my wristwatch when I stopped it (and I didn't remember to stop Runkeeper until I was through the chute and sitting down).
Race staff loaded me up with my medal, a visor, water, Gatorade, and some coconut water/orange juice thing I had never tried before. I didn't see any benches so I sat down on the curb to get some fluids in me before meeting up with my friend from work. I didn't think I was going to be able to get up again from the curb, but somehow I managed. At that point, my whole leg felt like I was trying to stretch to touch my toes, not a pleasant feeling. The ball of my right foot also had some sharp pain. Text message from the race said my time was 3:42:11 (chip time later posted as 3:41:50).
I limped over to meet my friend and he insisted that I eat something. Fortunately, it was only after we met up that I felt a little light-headed. I just took a knee, figuring that it was much better to pass out from that height than from a standing position. That, fortunately, passed relatively quickly, and we found a spot to sit down where I managed to get down part of a hamburger bun (they were serving pulled pork, but I didn't know how my stomach would handle that at that point). I limped back to my friend's car (which he had mercifully driven over from our hotel after he finished the half marathon) and got/fell in to go back to the hotel and shower before heading back home.
The folks at Outer Banks Sporting Events put on a good race and I very well might go back next year. Next time (and I almost can't believe I'm already thinking about a next time) I hope I can learn from this race and stick to my goal pace. I think that will both make for a better time and a more pleasant experience.
I almost forgot about the side stitches. I haven't had any for the better part of a year, but in those tough miles from 18-24 they came and went. That certainly didn't make things easier, but I told myself not to stop or slow down because that wouldn't make them go away.