2008 was a good year of sport for me. I PR’d at a lot of different distances at the age of 39. I felt I could succeed at anything in endurance sports. After completing Ironman Arizona at the end of 2008, I thought I’d use that fitness and train for the Colorado Marathon in Fort Collins on May 3rd, 2009. I’ve never ran a marathon I was capable of for a variety of reasons so this would be the time. Well, the offseason came, I gained some pounds and forgot to do a marathon training program. I thought of pulling out but my friend Jim Webber talked me into it. He’s an experienced guy who can run a sub 3 marathon in his sleep so his advice to run using my base fitness (I had been spending a LOT of time on the bike) got me to the starting line.
Pre-Race Goal
I did not have any time goals. I knew that my muscular fitness wasn’t in the same league with my aerobic fitness at this point in the season. With that in mind, I wanted to take it easier on the early downhill miles to save my legs. If I executed this plan, I would consider this race a success.
Pre-Race
As usual, I ate pasta the night before and the morning of the race. I ate my meal about 3 hours prior to the 6:15 start time. I had a banana about 1 hour prior to start time, sipping G2 the whole time. I had slept well the night before so I was ready.
The Race
It was 37 degrees at the start line but no wind and no precipitation. PERFECT! The gun went off with the typical pushing and shoving. I stayed to the outside of those folks and things mellowed out at the ½ mile mark. I started taking the tangents due to the curvy roads. At that point, I was focused on staying relaxed and not being in racing mode. I came through the first mile in 6:55. Felt easy and I was on my way. The next 3 miles were just stupid. There was a downhill that just triggered my “don’t give away free speed” mantra. I would pay for this later. I didn’t bomb the downhill but I could tell by the effort I was giving that I would be paying for this later. My best laid plans, ruined by a rookie mistake in the first 25 minutes of the race. Ugggggg……. At mile 6, I realized that you don’t need to drink quite as much on a cold day. I stopped and relieved myself. This actually helped. By stopping, it calmed me down and the next couple of miles were smooth and relaxed. I knew I was in trouble at mile 8. My left quad started to get sore. Already??!! You have got to be kidding me. It didn’t get any worse right away so at least it wasn’t something that would stop me. At mile 11, I was stopping again to do some business. Note to self…check the weather report for temperature the day before and drink accordingly. I came through the ½ marathon point in 1:30:42. About then, my right calf starting to get sore. Then my right quad, left calf, butt….etc. My lower half was just hurting. Stopped to pee again at mile 16. From miles 14 to about 22, I had slowed down by over 20 seconds a mile. My legs would barely bend at mile 22. Fortunately, a couple of people were ahead of me that I could chase so I focused on form and held it together. I finished the 2nd half of the marathon in 1:37:18 for an overall finishing time of 3:08:00.
Mile Splits
1. 6:55 7. 6:50 12. 6:52 17. 7:12 22. 7:23 last .2-1:21
2. 6:37 8. 6:47 13. 7:03 18. 7:12 23. 7:24
3. 6:42 9. 6:41 14. 6:59 19. 7:47 24. 7:39
Pre-Race Goal
I did not have any time goals. I knew that my muscular fitness wasn’t in the same league with my aerobic fitness at this point in the season. With that in mind, I wanted to take it easier on the early downhill miles to save my legs. If I executed this plan, I would consider this race a success.
Pre-Race
As usual, I ate pasta the night before and the morning of the race. I ate my meal about 3 hours prior to the 6:15 start time. I had a banana about 1 hour prior to start time, sipping G2 the whole time. I had slept well the night before so I was ready.
The Race
It was 37 degrees at the start line but no wind and no precipitation. PERFECT! The gun went off with the typical pushing and shoving. I stayed to the outside of those folks and things mellowed out at the ½ mile mark. I started taking the tangents due to the curvy roads. At that point, I was focused on staying relaxed and not being in racing mode. I came through the first mile in 6:55. Felt easy and I was on my way. The next 3 miles were just stupid. There was a downhill that just triggered my “don’t give away free speed” mantra. I would pay for this later. I didn’t bomb the downhill but I could tell by the effort I was giving that I would be paying for this later. My best laid plans, ruined by a rookie mistake in the first 25 minutes of the race. Ugggggg……. At mile 6, I realized that you don’t need to drink quite as much on a cold day. I stopped and relieved myself. This actually helped. By stopping, it calmed me down and the next couple of miles were smooth and relaxed. I knew I was in trouble at mile 8. My left quad started to get sore. Already??!! You have got to be kidding me. It didn’t get any worse right away so at least it wasn’t something that would stop me. At mile 11, I was stopping again to do some business. Note to self…check the weather report for temperature the day before and drink accordingly. I came through the ½ marathon point in 1:30:42. About then, my right calf starting to get sore. Then my right quad, left calf, butt….etc. My lower half was just hurting. Stopped to pee again at mile 16. From miles 14 to about 22, I had slowed down by over 20 seconds a mile. My legs would barely bend at mile 22. Fortunately, a couple of people were ahead of me that I could chase so I focused on form and held it together. I finished the 2nd half of the marathon in 1:37:18 for an overall finishing time of 3:08:00.
Mile Splits
1. 6:55 7. 6:50 12. 6:52 17. 7:12 22. 7:23 last .2-1:21
2. 6:37 8. 6:47 13. 7:03 18. 7:12 23. 7:24
3. 6:42 9. 6:41 14. 6:59 19. 7:47 24. 7:39
4. 6:38 10. 6:53 15. 7:03 20. 7:25 25. 7:45
5. 6:47 11. 7:24-pee 16. 7:51-pee 21. 7:15 26: 7:49
6. 7:55-pee stop
5. 6:47 11. 7:24-pee 16. 7:51-pee 21. 7:15 26: 7:49
6. 7:55-pee stop
Summary
Overall, the race was a big disappointment. I’m fine with the time since I didn’t have a goal and I didn’t train specifically for this event. I’m just disappointed in my execution of the race. I didn’t do what I intended early on by slowing my of my pace and it did EXACTLY what I knew it would. I won’t let this one go for a while. The anger will fuel me so I guess that’s the only good thing to come from it. It sure wasn’t the sore legs!!
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