Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blowtheir own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares willdrop off like autumn leaves. - john muir
...will update this content later
I had a few goals for this race, but the most important pair of goals was:
1.) dont get hurt
2.)beat my last years marine corps time (2009, 4:24* injured finish).
<<a lil' background info on me. I'm 40y.o, and for the past couple of years i've been trying to run more. good exercise, love the endorphins, time to think, etc... i entered in some races and learned how slow i was, so i tried longer distances learned i was prone to injury. i always hurt myself. came to a head during the '09 marine corps
marathon. needed 6weeks of PT to recover. a friend said 'try my coach' - which brought me to Eric - (the hawk). now i'm up to 60+mpw, injury free, two 50km ultras under my belt. getting a little faster.
this '10 marine corps was a chance to maybe 'hit the marathon distance out of the park perhaps? but my 2010 goal is the JFK50-miler, gotta keep my head on the prize... but really 'excelling at the marathon' -no-no calm down.>>
***the macro look at my performance:
1.) not hurt! i feel great. interesting blisters in new places. i seem to chase those around my feet. i'll figure that out someday. i plan to tape feet smartly in jfk50.
2.) 'time' is relative. me and 10 other finisher clocked this marathon at 26.46 miles. i put a tag at the the 26.2 mark so i'd know and that was 3:38 a 46min improvement on last year's. official time 3:43, 41 min improvement
'great success'. i felt so strong and light on my feet even when tired. i knew the training had made me into someone very capable.
***the micro thingys were killing me. anyone that's ran a long race like this knows, just a seam in your sock, tiny pebble can kill your mood - i had a few such annoying things, some very much my fault.
1.) (sorry, kinda crude): a 2.5minute pee break on a tree 55mins in to the race. it was kiiiiiilling me that other dudes were 'wham bam' i went through 3 neighboring 'pee buddies'. down to restin heart rate. but i was on the steepest hill of the race, so i retook many many spots when i jumped back into the race, and felt so much better. maybe not too big of a hit in time.
2.) i carried a bottle in a hand-holder. i found i take many spots in a race at water stops. i figured i'd discard this bottle when it was empty or bothering me. so i took my cheapest bottle. big mistake. i never carry just water, it was accelerade, chia, some gel in there. went to take my first swig a mile 2.5ish. the spout was clogged. i was so pissed. i tried beating on it, i stopped to unscrew it and try to blow it out. nothing worked. now i'm carrying it AND stopping at hydrating at water stops. eventually i stopped, unscrewed and drank rescrewed and continued running. maybe 20-30secs per big swig. i also found i don't know how to drink from cups. this sounds silly, but twice i really choked myself. i mean people slaping me on the back, that kind of choking! lost minutes over this, but the real damage was to my mood.
3.) cramps - (related to 2). when i stopped or slowed or maneuvered to get a drink at water stops, i had three separate times when i'd get a top-of-the-foot cramp. it was agonizing, and only happened when braking. instead of 1-2 walking steps, it was more like 50-60. i had never felt anything like that, and running really helped, but slowing (or side stepping walkers) would trigger it again. very strange.
4.) my race strategy. i think i went out too fast. this is the age-old story, getting lost in the crowd and caught up in the excitement. i did this, but to a very minor degree. i planned to have avg HR of 164 for 20 miles, then over 170 for the final 6.2 (6.46 i guess). my first 20-miles was 166 (not too bad), but it’s clear after 2hours I was turning it up a bit too much. the last 6.2 i couldn't get my HR close to 170 avg speed under 7mph-daaamnation. I’m sure my mood wasn't helping follow the plan.
!!!i don't want to make it sound like i was really upset or anything, I was having fun, even waved my arms to get the crowds to cheer if they seemed tired. i gave high-5s to anyone very young, and commented on their costumes. i ran with some great people and gave pacing info to those that asked (when they saw i was wearing a garmin watch). good race, it even seemed ‘smaller’ this year, if that makes any sense. Kinda like going back to the camp you went to as a kid. but i need to plan a little better in future. but hey, i'm new at this! Thanks Eric for helping me "settle the ole' score" revisiting my 1st marathon!
