Word to the wise: this post will contain some TMI, but, to be honest, if one is really being truthful about a marathon, it will likely include some TMI. Not the worst TMI I can think of. Not even by far. But, just a word of warning in case you have problems hearing about mucous.
I ran my third marathon today. My hope had been to finish in under 4:30, but my summer training was inconsistent due to scheduling changes, hot and humid weather (like in the 90s with 60% humidity hot), allergies, and lack of dedication. I pulled it back together at the end of August, but still toyed with the idea of bagging this race due to my allergies as I have spent much of the months of September and October coughing every sixth step when I run. Anyway, I have considered that until my allergies improve (I'm doing the injections), a fall marathon might be unrealistic, but since I've been a bit faster and have very recently been better managing my allergies, decided to go for it. Last week, however, I developed a chest cold, but felt fine other than increased coughing and I was looking forward to the race.
I pre-fueled and pre-hydrated well yesterday and went to bed early. It took me a while to fall asleep, I was awaken by the dog at 3:00 a.m. (because she also has a cold and had a coughing fit), and never went back to sleep, but I wasn't worried because I felt good and had good energy for this race. When I got up in the morning, I discovered that my Garmin had not been properly charged and was at 0% battery. I charged it in the car as I drove to the race. I got to the race just in time, ran to the portapotty, listened to the national antham ("Oh, say can you pee") while there, got out, and raced to as close as I could get to my pace group. My goal was sub 4:30, so I ran with the 4:25 pacers.
Gun.
I take off. They use smart pacing with the first few miles slower than race pace, slower pace on up hills, and faster pace on down hills. I felt GREAT the first four miles. Then, I felt good for the next four. And, then we split from the half-marathoners and headed up a hill. A four-mile hill (mostly). It was around mile 12 that I fell behind my pace group. I hit the portapotty at mile 13 (since I wasn't going to hit 4:25 anyway, I might as well be a tad more comfortable). I was going okay until about mile 18. Then, around mile 22, I was passed by the 4:30 pace group. Seeing that was demoralizing, so I stopped to walk for the first time. It was also then that my Garmin ran out of battery. And, my medicine wore off. It was then that I started coughing and, after several hours of suppressed coughing, each cough hurt. And, I walked a bit until mile 24. I refused to walk after then. I might run slowly, but I would not walk.
I crossed the finish line feeling stronger and better. I didn't hit my goal, but I gave it what I felt I had to give today. I kept seeing someone with a shirt that read, "when most people are asked if they have more to give, they answer 'yes'" and I kept thinking that I really didn't have all that much more to give today.
So, here are the splits:
Mile 2: 10:45
Mile 3: 10:35
Mile 4: 10:17
Mile 5: 9:45
Mile 6: 9:57
Mile 7: 9:37
Mile 8: 9:44
Mile 9: 9:55
Mile 10: 9:41
Mile 11: 9:53
Mile 12: 9:54
Mile 13: 10:01
Mile 14: 9:42
Mile 15: 10:09
Mile 16: 10:23
Mile 17: 11:23
Mile 18: 10:14
Mile 19: 10:06
Mile 20: 10:39
Mile 21: 10:32
Mile 22: 11:14
Mile 23: 11:54
first .32 of Mile 24 was at a pace of 11:40
and, that is when my Garmin ran out of juice. But, the average pace for the remaining 2.88 miles was at an average pace of 12:14. Looking at the time change, it would be easy to assume that part of my drop in pace was because I was less motivated without the awareness of my pace, but, that isn't the case. I wasn't as well trained as I should have been, my medication wore off, and my cough returned.
Okay, first let's review:
K is for Kansas. Olathe Marathon. April 10, 2010. 5:24:44 (pace: 12:24). Beautiful weather, mostly flat course, strong wind, IT band injury with pain ranging from a 4 to a 7 on a 10-point scale.
C is for California. San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon. June 6, 2010. 4:47:47 (pace 11:00). PR by 36:57 and pace drop of 1:24/mile. Beautiful course, hot weather, large field, no injury.
M is for Missouri. Kansas City Marathon. October 16, 2010. 4:35:25 (pace 10:31). PR by 12:22 and pace drop of 0:29/mile. Perfect weather, injury-free, chest-cold with lots of mucous, very hilly, weighing 10 lbs less (rule of thumb is that for each pound loss, pace will correspondingly drop 2 sec/mile).
The good news is that I feel fine. Sore and I have a cough, but otherwise fine. No blisters, no bruises. Some minor chaffing on my bra line and an unfortunate hot spot from the elastic in my undies. But, I fared better today than I did following the other two races.
The question in my mind now is whether I'll do the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa in five weeks. Several weeks ago, I decided that I would not sign up until after this race and, while running today, I decided to give myself a few days to decide. Right now, I am tired. Yes, I'm tired physically, but it is mentally that concerns me more. Part of me thinks it would be nice to spend a few months just running. Not training. Part of me would like to do that race. I'll give myself a few days to recover before I decide.
It was a good race, but I did not race it as well as I would have liked. I have more work to do (obviously). I see that I had a hard time with the hills. I feel as if I could have stayed with the 4:25 pace group had the race been less hilly. This means I need to do a better job of training on hills. Yes, I do a weekly hills interval workout, but I need to do more tempo running on hills. That is going to be added to my training. Tempo runs on hilly terrain. I did okay, but I can do better. I will do better.
Just a few pictures. None of them good. Breakfast Friday morning. Bagel with two egg with spinach scrambled. Gatorade.
Only in Kansas would Beef be a major race sponsor.
After packet pickup, I treated the kids to Fritz's.
They love getting their food by train.
Then, we went to the Crayola store.
Yeah, I know it is not the most flattering picture. It was a selfie in a hurry before a race.
1 comment:
I'm glad you survived fairly well, especially considering your cold. I continue to be impressed. I wanted to call you this morning to find out about your race, but I thought you'd either be sleeping or at church and didn't want to interrupt. We'll talk later. Love you!
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