Monday, November 19, 2007

Ouch!

I got my butt kicked at my first-ever full marathon. Let's see, where do I start...Many things happened that got me a little unraveled mentally, so perhaps I should start there...None of this, by the way, is an apologia for my performance. I believe, per my earlier post on this, that I under trained.

• My Garmin 305 GPS watch gave me a "low battery" warning as soon as I turned it on at the starting line. It died by mile 9 and I had no idea what my splits were after that. I was way under par by the half marathon checkpoint.
• My Clif Bar pace team gal was all over the map at the beginning of the race. I was striving to hang at 10:18 per mile, and she was doing 10:40s then 9:30s just to try to find her groove. I fell off the pace team by mile 4. It was just too sporadic and had me running too fast.
• Those that were there will attest to the blustery conditions, light rain, and chilly wind. It made it tougher than I had anticipated.
• My longest training run was 17 miles. I think I was prepared to "mentally" surrender at mile 20, and that's essentially what I did.

I'd like to thank my wife and father-in-law, as well as my neighbors for hanging out in the rain in Manayunk awaiting my delayed arrival. Had they not been there, I'm not sure how things would have gone. I basically walked the last 6, pushing here and there to a light jog. The 5:30 pace team started to catch up to me on the way back, and I thought, "Jeez, I can't let these guys beat me," so I started to pace with them as far as I could. They were doing a combo of walking and running, and that was exactly what I needed at that moment.

My father in law ran/walked with me the entire last 6 miles. His participation as a "bandit" was probably the sole reason I made it to the end. My biggest thanks is to him.

I just ran the Philly Distance Run in 2:03. I think any runner will agree that a 5:33 is not an acceptable time given my accomplishments in the half marathon. There's no way I'm settling for my time. I couldn't walk last night, but I can walk today.

As soon as the registration opens up for the Philadelphia Marathon, 2008, I'll register again. Look for a 4:30 or below next year.

My son took some movies of my approach to mile 20 in Manayunk. He's 5, by the way, so the camera shake comes with the territory. Enjoy, and thanks to everyone for all their support. Keep your eyes peeled for my best running year ever. 2008 is my year.

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