Richmond Marathon - 3:02:52

I decided at the last minute to go ahead and run the silly marathon. I don't know why. My back was bothering me worse than ever last week when I decided to actually do it. Probably the worst preparation a fellow could muster in the run-up to it. I did have 2 long runs. One promising and one a bit disappointing. Well...it is what it is. 35-45 miles a week and you get what you get.

John and Michael were going to run. They had it all setup so all I had to do was pretty much throw some clothes in a bag and jump in the car. We had a swell time hanging out with them and Zoya and Melissa (who both had problems that caused them to become spectators instead of racers). 0

My orthotics pretty much disintegrated in my shoes last week. Running in the broken ones seemed to be hurting me more than running in nothing. I'll have to get on ordering new ones. That had my hips, back, and right hamstring bothering me. Not sure what possessed me to pull the trigger on doing it...but I'm glad I did.

I decided to wear my racing flats, because I figured if I wasn't running with orthotics I might as well have light shoes. Either way it'd be a departure from what I was used to. Maybe that's why I cramped, maybe I should have taken electrolytes, maybe I should have done more long runs. Started taking GU's at mile 8 instead of 10....Who knows...

My plan was to go at between 2:55-3:05 pace and see how it felt. Then I figured I'd drop out around mile 18. Looking at the map it appeared the decision needed to be made at mile 16 or you might as well keep running because you'd have to run a good deal back anyways if you waited until 18. I figured I'd see how it was going and make the decision then.

Here's the splits.

1) 6:29
2) 6:30
3) 6:31
4) 6:34
5) 6:36
6) 6:40
7) 6:22 downhill
8) 6:40
9) 6:41
10)6:56 hilly
11)6:48 hilly
12)6:52 hilly
13)6:37
13.1 chip time was 1:27:00 on the dot.
14)6:30
15)6:36 uphill (too hard?)
16)6:42
17)6:45
18)6:52
19)6:49
20)7:00 (heavy)
21)7:02
22)7:20 long water stop
23)8:19 pee break
24)7:18 tried speeding up and started cramping
25)8:10 cramp fiesta
26)didn't get
26.2) 11:03 lots of walking

I went out a little faster than I planned, but it was a false flat downhill first couple of miles leading into some hills. Once I got through the mile I backed off little by little letting folks go, but I was still not slowing enough. It took until mile 5 before I was at the pace that I figured I should run. I was feeling sore hips and some pain in my back on the up and downhills, but it didn't seem to be slowing me down and I just hoped it'd go away as I went.

Mile 7 was a significant downhill that's why the time was faster. I wanted to take a GU around mile 8 but I missed the sign and didn't realize it until I was right on the water stop. I didn't want to stop to take the GU and I didn't want to take it without water so I just carried on until the next opportunity. I should have been watching my time I suppose to see that the 8 was approaching and looked for it a bit closer.

At mile 9 1/2ish I took a GU. Ooof...to early...wait until you see the 10mile marker because the water stops were passed the marker and I spent about 2minutes with gopped up mouth. Gotta have water for the GU's. I didn't make that mistake again. The water stop slowed me a little plus I was hitting the hills. So mile 10-12 were slower. I didn't see those hills on the course profile so their size took me a bit off guard. They weren't big, but I'm not that strong right now so I felt the effort to stay with the folks I was with and backed it down.

I had a bit of a bad stretch there and actually figured 16 miles was going to be it. I felt at 11 miles (as far as leg heaviness) like I would normally like to feel at around mile 17 or 18. So things weren't looking good. Once I got passed the hills I started feeling good again (and might have gone a bit to hard for a bit). Plus I suppose the GU started to kick in.

At mile 16 I was feeling so good that the hill over the next couple didn't really register with me. I'd decided to finish this sucker so I let my mind drift and 3 miles went by without me thinking much about it. That got me to 20 where I could tell I was slowing somewhat, but I wasn't really laboring. Just heavy legs. I had thoughts that I was in uncharted territory (having not done a real long run since like 2004) and that any time things could go to hell in a handbasket, but I just kept on keeping on.

At mile 23 I had to stop to pee. What that says I'm not sure, but I didn't' feel I could wait until the end. When I got going again, surprised that the handbasket hadn't arrived for my descent into hell, I gave thoughts to speeding up. My legs were heavy, but my breathing and heart rate seemed fine. I really thought I could dig a bit and gut out 3 miles. I saw that my 2:54 was out the window but the math told me 2:55 was right there waiting for me.

I sped up for about 200 meters....not much, just really gradual. As soon as I did I felt twinges. I cooled it down. Ok, so I'll just roll with 7:20's...no biggie...that's 2:55 high's or 2:56 low's then. Then they came. I took a few skip steps occasionally as my legs locked. I walked a few feet and calmed myself here and there and made myself try running again as quickly as possible each time. Trying not to walk more than a few steps to calm the situation.

That worked for mile 25 and I Zombied it in 8:10. Then that last 1.2 I just couldn't seem to get it done. I never really gave up on sub 3, I just did what I could do. Then when it was clear I wouldn't make it and my legs weren't having it...I walked. The last 1/2 mile was humiliating...right in front of the crowd...with me walking in dejectedly knowing that anything more than that and I'd be writhing on the ground in the zombie leg lock dance.

I tried to give it a go around the corner and Zoya joined me to help me run it in. That made me really smile. Then Melissa joined in. It's amazing how good it feels to see loved one's after a few hours of solitude. I actually remember going through the tracking stations at 10k, 1/2, and 20miles..knowing that folks were out on the interwebs tracking my progress and cheering for me. It lifted me. Even if I was delusional and nobody was actually following. The thought that maybe a few were seemed to give me a bit more strength.

In that last stretch after the barriers (where Z and Mel had to stop) I didn't care much as the crowd tried to get me going. I knew I'd end up a spectacle on the ground if I did more than walk. So walk I did. I figured it didn't make a darned diddly at that point if I ran 3:00.00 or 3:09.59. Those 10 minutes are irrelevant. Yes...A Boston Qualifier. But anything over 3hours and in my mind I'm just a jogger. I had a swell time jogging. But I won't do another until I'm sticking to a pace around (as feeble as it may be) at least 6:20's. I'm glad I got out there. I had fun. It was a great training run....but I want to race marathons...not just finish them.

So that means I'm on the right track. I worked myself slowly up to 45miles a week. I need to just keep on building. Next raise will be slowly up to 65 and then another test of some kind. Then I'll see what's next. I was telling John that so far I have no desire whatsoever to run a fast 5k or 10k. I would need to get faster and do those if I wanted to race a good marathon. But I have zero desire. Maybe it'll come...or maybe I'm destined for Ultra's. Time will tell. Either way I'll accomplish nothing if I don't get in the 65 to 85 miles per week range. So I'll take the winter to work on that.

Congrats to John for a 15minute PR. Michael ran a good race as well, but I don't know how that compared to his normal times. He didn't turn gray at the finish and I got some blackmail photos of John massaging him (and the bottle of Jergans lotion somehow disappeared!) Traveling and racing with good friends is something I definitely need to continue :-)