See the activity on RunSaturday| Type: | Run - Race |
| Duration: | 4:26:32 |
| Distance: | 26.41 mi |
4:26:28
Far from my best. Far from my worst.
On a day when the male WINNER came in at 2:30:20, the female WINNER came in at 3:00:23, and nobody in my large posse hit their goal time (some came closer than others!) , I’ll TAKE it.
After 5 miles in the crazy-high humidity and surprisingly hot and getting consistently hotter temps, I realized that it was going to be a tough day. But I held strong though Mile 16.
It was a struggle to do so, but I kept my 9:05/mile (sub-4!) pace. At that point (Mile 16), I knew I couldn’t hold it any longer, so I decided to dial it back, relying on keeping a lower heart rate (which was WAY jacked-up at that point…) , thinking that doing so would keep me comfortably under a 9:24/mile pace which, combined with the time I had already “banked” with so many 9:05 miles, would put me safely UNDER a PR of 4:11:00. Sounded good...
Until Mile 19. At that point, I started cramping up. It started with a twinge in one calf, which I ignored. Convinced myself that I stepped off a curb awkwardly or “tweaked” it somehow… Then both calves cramped. Then my quads… I have never cramped that badly, that early. And I thought I could still maintain a decent pace. I Gatoraded, I Gel’d, I salt-capped, and I GU Chomped. (I had been doing that per my regular schedule anyway!) Nothin. It wasn’t touching it. The humidity (94% at race start!) and the rising temps took much more out of me (and everybody else, I would soon find out!) than I realized. With the initial “blast” of humidity (which did taper as the day went on…) combined with the rising heat, it “snuck up on” me. I truly didn’t see (or feel!) it coming until it was too late. In hindsight, I’m not sure what I would have done to prevent it… There’s only so much Gatorade you can drink…
From Mile 19 and beyond, it became “just finish.” I hated resigning to this, and had a mile or so of rage, disappointment, and fleeting thoughts of walking it back in and giving up. “Just finish” was never in any of the plans. But that’s where I was. Damn.
Over the next few miles, I made peace with the thought. Several “segments” with Josh (who was also having a lot of trouble!) and meet-up at Mile 21 with Krista , and Mile 23 with Suzanne, Jordan, Grace, and Drew (who ran WITH ME for about a ¼ mile…how FUN!) , helped this. A PR was out of the question, and matching last year’s Illinois Marathon time (4:24:00) was doubtful. Finishing STRONG was not.
The final few miles, I ran, shuffled, lunged, and fumbled my way forward. And I finished the last ½ mile with the most sustained, strong pace of the last 6 miles.
Although I was disappointed with WHEN I finished, I was happy with HOW. And I was happy to BE finished.
Other Notes:
To the “band” at mile 3.25 (Main Street , across from Collins Gas Station) : There’s “good” Dylan and there’s BAD Dylan. Just sayin.
Best on-course band: Mile 9.4 (Pavilion across from Organic Gardens in Meadowbrook Park) Nice work, dudes! When all runners within ear-shot are singing along, JOB WELL DONE!
Best shirt sighting: (And I will own one as soon as I can find one!) “OUR sport is YOUR sport’s punishment.”
Awesome seeing my Wolfram(work) peeps at the Mile 24 aid station. FUN!
Speaking of aid stations… We had to wait (come to a complete stop!) at the first 3 water stations for the guys to fill cups. Bad. Foul. Inexcusable.
I’ve never heard so many ambulance sirens so early in a race. We started hearing them at Mile 3, and heard them pretty much constantly all race. There were 22 official “ER” trips , and that does not count all of the on-course aid and assistance that was given without actual ER trips. Wow.
I was shocked at how many people (DOZENS!) with “fast” pace tags (4:00, 3:50, 3:30!) I “passed” during the later miles. Dudes (and gals!) were in BAD shape. Made me feel much better about my “revised” goal!
The “finish” of this race is truly top-notch. Not only can all of the SPECTATORS see racers finish (usually impossible for mid to large-sized marathons!) , but the racers can line the “chute” and cheer on their friends and fellow runners! It was very cool coming down the chute and seeing Mark, Lori, and Mike. It was also fun to cheer on Dave, Josh, and other runners after I finished. VERY cool!
I’m glad that I remembered to push water and EAT after the finish. Last year I opted for the “go straight home and lay on the bathroom floor route” , which made for a long afternoon! After meeting up with everybody, I took a few minutes to eat, drink, and chill out (ie, suppress the vomit reflex!) by myself for a few minutes in the West stands before re-entering the finish chute scene. I was glad I did! (As was everybody down there, I’m sure!)
Photos (Flickr) : http://tinyurl.com/2c5kj6w
Final Thoughts:
What a fantastic race. I love love LOVE the fact that this is in my town. I saw SO MANY (too many to list!) people along the course, at the aid stations, etc. We also had an amazingly fun group of rowdy peeps at our house (which was DIRECTLY on the RACE COURSE) !!! How fun! We had a BLAST pre-planning, meeting-up with, and celebrating with my amazing group of family / friends. What hoot! There was talk of running the “relay” or the “half” next year…but…truth be told, as long as the well-organized, top-notch, A-tier MARATHON is in my town…I’ma prolly run it. When is 2011 registration?
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