Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon - RunMarathon


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Virginia Beach, Virginia
United States
Shamrock Sportsfest
65F / 18C
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 13m 13s
Overall Rank = 945/2639
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 112/227
Pre-race routine:

Breakfast of "Kellogg's Smart Start" and a banana. Had breakfast around 5:30 for and 8:00 start so I tried to have a reasonably large breakfast.
Event warmup:

Jogged down to port-a-jon down by the half start (about 8 blocks) and back. Stretched then went to find the pace group. Ended up standing around at the start for about 15 minutes trying to stay warm.
Run
  • 4h 13m 13s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 40s  min/mile
Comments:

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.
What would you do differently?:

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...
Post race
Warm down:

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.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

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.

Event comments:

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.




Last updated: 2009-07-27 12:00 AM
Running
04:13:13 | 26.2 miles | 09m 40s  min/mile
Age Group: 112/227
Overall: 945/2639
Performance: Below average
Official Splits: 7 miles : 1:04:24 (09:12/mile) 13.1 miles : 2:00:00 (09:10/mile) 18.1 miles : 2:45:51 (09:10/mile) 26.2 miles : 4:13:13 (09:40/mile) Haven't downloaded HR or lap info from HRM but it will only tell the same story as the official splits.
Course: Very flat. Sort of a double out and back. Started going south down Atlantic Ave to Rudee Inlet (only real hill) then back up Atlantic Ave to Ft. Story/Cape Henry Lighthouse and back down Atlantic and finish on boardwalk.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4