Notes
Going through training for this one I had it in my head that my endurance was way better and I could finish around 3 ½ hours(8:00 m/m). I followed the Hanson’s plan with mileage a little lower than the book’s advanced version. I ran a 1hr 35min half marathon during training. This was a 4 minute PR and made me start to dream of going for 3 hours and 25 minutes, which would be a BQ for me. As I got close to race day I was pretty sore and feeling exhausted, so I went the other direction. I planned to run the first 20 miles for a 3hr 35min finish(8:12 m/m), and then see if I could speed up a bit at the end. My main goal was to avoid another large positive split.
My two adult sons were running the half marathon, which started one hour after the marathon but has the same start and finish area(more on that later). My wife and daughter-in-law came along and said they would see me at the start, finish, and on the marathon course somewhere between miles 13-18. Race day conditions were fantastic. At the starting line I found a 3:30 and a 3:40 pace groups. I placed myself between the two and thought that if everything went well, the 3:30 sign would very steadily, but very slowly, pull away from me.
Lap paces from my Garmin set to auto-lap at 1.01 mile intervals:
1-5: 8:11, 8:01, 8:02, 8:09, 8:03
-I knew I was running faster than the 8:12 average I was looking to start at; but I also had it in the back of my mind that I had set a soft goal. Rather than fighting it, I decided to try maintain this slightly faster pace to the finish line.
6-10: 8:09, 7:57, 8:04, 7:58, 8:08
-So far I was feeling completely relaxed and I was really enjoying the race. Dropping below 8 m/m a couple of times during the first half was definitely unintentional.
11-15: 7:58, 8:02, 8:05, 8:09, 8:08
-Passed the 13.1 mark at exactly 1:46:00; which I knew was about a minute and a half ahead of plan, but I felt great.
16-20: 8:01, 8:03, 8:02, 8:08, 8:09
-Miles 12-20 were really satisfying. A lot of this section is on a paved rec. trail alongside a river. I held my pace without having to think about it much, almost like running on a treadmill, and was enjoying the scenery. Saw my wife and DIL just after mile 16; which was nice and took my mind off the fatigue that was definitely setting in.
21-25: 7:59, 7:51, 8:16, 8:04, 8:15
-After mile 20 I still felt pretty good(completely different than my first two marathons), so I decided to try speed up just a little bit. The experience of passing people at this point was fantastic - compared to slowing down dramatically and just holding on for dear life. I probably got carried away. Mile 22 was faster than I intended and it felt like it took a lot out of me. It may have ended up costing me some time overall. The rest of the race was pretty difficult; which, I guess, is how the end of a marathon should be.
26-27: 8:10? (just a guess: watch auto-paused the two times I went through the stadium tunnel)
-The half and full courses come back together with about a mile to go. Because of the one hour start difference, the course was packed with 2 ½ hour paced half-marathoners and required a lot of back and forth for me to pass them and still try hold my pace. The GB marathon features a lap around Lambeau Field(inside the stadium) during the last mile. One woman a ways in front of me stopped and turned around to take a picture. I may have yelled at her. Shortly after this I spotted my whole family up in the stands. They were all smiling, cheering and clapping like they were at an NFL game instead of watching a bunch of hobby joggers. That seemed really cool and gave me the attitude adjustment I needed. Left the stadium and had one last short uphill section in the parking lot before the finish line. Still really crowded, but at this point it was all kind of a blur.
Finished at 3:32:35 with a 35 second positive split. It wasn’t a BQ, it wasn’t even sub 3:30; but I felt like I had probably given it everything I had on that particular day. I was happy with completing my third marathon, the comparatively small 35 second positive split, and a 19 minute PR. I spent a while walking around trying(and failing) to get my legs to feel normal again. I gave up on that thought and sat down and had a couple of beers and brats with the family (yah, I am from Wisconsin). My wife drove on the way home so I could take a nap. It was a good day.