Not the best running day for me (actually, one of the worst!). I'm still very upset about my performance and probably more upset about the fact that I have no idea what went wrong. My friend is still here and leaving tomorrow, so I will wait until then to do a full race report. Also, it will be easier to write when the emotions have calmed down. :-)
Monday: OK, here's the full report. It was a beautiful day with perfect running weather (about 45 degrees at the start). The race has grown tremendously since I last ran it two years ago. The lines for the shuttles to the start were very long, so we didn't get to the start area until 20 minutes before the race started. Once we checked our gear, we had to line up in the corrals (I started in corral 3, not corral 1, even though I had an "elite" number-oh, the irony!). So, no warm-up, no stretching, and no time for a snack or water. I wasn't too worried, because marathon pace is usually slow enough to not get injured. Looking back, though, this was out of the ordinary. I have always jogged enough to at least break a sweat and stretch before a marathon. Maybe this was a contributing factor to my catastrophic race???
My goal was to shoot for 3:54 or better (a PR), sub 9:00 pace throughout, or just under 4:00 (9:09 pace) as my fallback goal. From the very beginning, I felt fine, but not great. Mile 1 was 9:06. I wasn't too worried because it was VERY crowded. Also, Frank Shorter, Khalid Khannouchi, and Bernard (forgot last name), and our governor saw us off. They were up on the arch over the start line. It was very cool!
Miles 2 and 3 were 9:12 and 9:14. Water stations were very crowded and probably slowed me down a bit. I felt a little worried, though, because I was slowing down already. I saw friends (spectators) at mile 1.5, so that was fun. The crowd was fun too, as were the bands.
Miles 4-6 were 8:58, 9:04, and 8:58. I crossed the 10K mark less than a minute off 3:54 pace. I was starting to feel better and enjoy myself more. The course was still very crowded but had thinned out enough to where I was comfortable.
Miles 7-9: 9:05, 8:59, and 9:03. There was a slight uphill, followed by a slight downhill at mile 8. At that point, the course is going through a beautiful upscale neighborhood with TONS of spectators. I felt great at that point, but still not able to go faster. At that point, I adjusted my goal to just breaking 4 hours.
Mile 10 was 9:09 with a long, very slight uphill. Miles 11 and 12 were 9:19 and 9:00. At this point, I was starting to get a little concerned. I felt OK, but I wasn't running as fast as I had expected and was a little worried about keeping up this pace later in the race. Mile 13 was 9:05, and I crossed the halfway point at 1:59:22, still on pace.
Near the halfway point, I saw someone out of the corner of my eye and though to myself, "That looks like my dad." It was my dad! And my sister and her husband! They hadn't told me they were coming to watch-I wasn't expecting to see them until the finish! What a great surprise. I cried a little bit after I passed them.
Then, bad things started to happen. Inexplicably, I just started getting slower and slower. One other thing I forgot to mention: I took a Gu every 4 miles and drank a sports drink every time an aid station had it, which was often. Earlier in the race, though, I had been more thirsty than normal. By the time I got to each aid station (almost 1 per mile), I was thirsty. This has never happened, and I'm not sure why it happened this time. I hydrated well in the days before the race, or so I thought. With all the gu and sports drink, I should have been taking in plenty of fuel.
Anyway, I digress. Miles 14-17 were 9:22, 9:25, 10:30, and 11:09. By this time, I was feeling horrible. I hadn't hit the wall, but obviously my pace had slowed way down. I was very worried because I had a long way to go. I have never started feeling bad that early in a marathon. I had a little pity party in my head (not good, I know). After I passed the mile 17 mile marker, I stopped to stretch, and I completely broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. Since so much of running is mental, I know this probably contributed to my poor performance. I finally got control of myself and started running again (it was probably about a minute). The stretching helped for a little while.
Things just got worse from there. Every step hurt worse than the last. Miles 18-20 were 12:28, 10:41, and 12:05. My family was at mile 20 (again, unexpectedly), and I had another meltdown when I saw them (and having another one now as I write...). My sister saw my distress and ran with me for a minute. She was very encouraging and said all the right things, but they were not much help at that point. She reminded me that I would still beat her marathon time by a good hour plus-ha!. She is the best sister ever.
After that, the only thing that kept me going was seeing my husband and family and friend at the finish. I also have never dropped out of a race and knew I would regret it forever if I did. The t-shirt is cool, and I wanted to be able to wear it. :-)
The remaining miles were the most brutal I have ever "run." I walked through all the aid stations. I took my last gu at about 20 or 21 miles. My stomach started to feel a little full, and I wasn't so thirsty anymore (weird???). Miles 21-26 were 10:43, 11:25, 13:00, 13:42 (overpass), 13:16, and 11:47. The 4:15 pace group passed me, and I tried to keep up, but I couldn't. As I got to 25, I thought I would try and break 4:30. I ran the last .2 at 9:47 pace, and according to Garmin, got down to 6:36. I sprinted to the finish, but not in time to beat 4:30.
I think I saw my dad near the finish, but I'm not sure. As soon as I crossed the finish line, the floodgates burst, and I was a mess. I'm really embarrassed about it now, because the whole world saw me bawling. At least I was wearing sunglasses. :) I skipped the picture at the end (me and the medal). Some well-wishers tried to give me some tips, but I just felt insulted (bad attitude, I know). I guess no one would have ever know it was my 4th marathon, though, by the way I was carrying on.
Interestingly, my husband also started feeling bad at mile 14. We did't run any of the race together. He finished way ahead of me, but 10-15 slower than expected.
So now the questions begin: what happened to me?!?! I know my training wasn't perfect, but I ran more miles consistently than ever before. My last 20-miler happened without a hitch and no soreness. Thinking about it now, there were some little things (some of which I have already mentioned) that, combined, might have created the perfect storm of a horrible race. One important thing to mention is that I NEVER WALKED, except through aid stations. And the brief stretching stop at mile 17. I never "hit" the wall. It was more of a gradual deterioration. I have hit the wall only once before, to where I could not run another step. If I felt so bad, why didn't I hit the wall? And how was I able to sprint to the finish? Based on my training and recent race times, I really don't think I went out too fast.
Some of the things I did differently were: a 2-week taper (last 2 marathons were 4-week tapers), less time at the start (see above), and sushi for dinner the night before (normal dinner the night before a long run, but this was the first time I had it the night before a marathon. Not enough carbs in the rice?). Also, the previous work week was very intense. I didn't work super-long hours, but the week was mentally taxing. I got plenty of sleep, though, until Friday night (restless sleep for 6 hours) and Saturday night (just under 7 hours). I loved having my friend and her husband and 17-month old daughter stay with us, but maybe the routine upheaval was too much for my husband and me. I ate a lot of good carbs last week, too. Normally, before a marathon, I spend a LOT of time mentally preparing for the race. With the crazy work week and friends in town, it just didn't happen this time. Another consideration: I am 8 pounds heavier now than I was in my last two marathons. I weigh more than I would like, but I am not overweight. In isolation, these seem like little things, certainly not enough to be 30 minutes off my goal.
I'm still really emotional today. I got to work, my boss asked me how it went, and I melted down again! Luckily, I work with very great, supportive people, and my boss handled the meltdown very well. It's a small and close-knit enough office that everyone knows everything about each other.
If anyone is still reading this race report that turned into a novel (ha!), I would love to hear constructive criticism and opinions of what went wrong here. I need to pick up the pieces, learn from this experience, and move on. Boston 2009 is calling my name, and I need to be there! Thanks to everyone who left me encouraging comments yesterday! They really helped. |