Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon - RunMarathon

Ran with a pace group. Felt REALLY good through the first half and even up through the water stop at 16 miles. Overall I was having trouble getting water. It was so crowded at the water stops I would have to stop and walk to get a drink but the the pace leaders keep moving. I would try to catch up slowly without really sprinting to back to the pace group. For the most part this was OK but after the half I was having trouble catching up. It didn't help that after the half we were squeezed into a single lane because of the half traffic coming back in the opposite direction. I was behind the pace leaders at the 16 mile water stop andat this point I started to fall back. Fell back more at the water stop before 18 miles and just couldn't catch up with the pace leaders. After pacing 19 miles I had lost the pace group and really started falling apart. I was having trouble holding my pace and the run degenerated into a "run to the next water stop". I would walk trough the water stops and it was getting harder and harder to get going again. My quads had started to feel heavy around 16-17 miles and by now they were really cramped and it was difficult to start running after the water stop. By 20-21 I had completely fallen apart.

Plan was to stick with the pace group through 16 (water stop made a logical waypoint) which should have been easy based on how I felt in training runs. Then concentrate on making it to 20, buckle down to 23 (same water stop as 16 but on the exit from Ft. Story), then try to dig it out to the end.

I didn't stick to the plan. Why? See notes below under limits...

Drank and eat. Wandered around the finish corral until I was cooled down enough to talk with family. Stretched then had lunch at Subway and had a nap in the car.


I think there were two issued. First, overall fitness. I wanted to be down to 190lbs but am still at 205. I got a little carried way trying to restart my weight lose during half way through training and felt that training was suffered so I stopped trying to actively loose weight. Also, I don't feel like I really had good long runs. This was partly due to the crappy weather we've had this winter but also due to mental limits.

The second issue, lack of experience which I think played significant role as a mental limiter. I let the race get way from me once I lost the pace group (you could even say I let the pace group get away from me). During a lot of my longer (and harder) training runs I would let meself slack off when I got tired. I think this carried over to the race. I think I should spend time racing in the 5-10k and 10M - Half range to gain more experience before taking on another marathon. I think doing the short races will teach me to "get comfortable with discomfort" while the 10M - Half range will help me learn to balance sticking with my race plan will adjusting to what the course throws at me.


Overall a very good race. Very crowded but field felt slower overall than Baltimore. What may because the half started an hour earlier and runs the back half. Therefore (unlike Baltimore) you the two raced don't merge.

Only thing I didn't like was how the course was squeezed into a single lane at several parts. The made it difficult to keep up with the pace group because people kept trying to move up and stay with the pace leaders. Obviously I've never run with a pace group again but it felt like the people never thinned out.