Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank Marathon - Run


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Detroit, Michigan
United States
Detroit Free Press / Flagstar Bank
40F / 4C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 3h 56m 21s
Overall Rank = ?/?
Age Group = male 35-40
Age Group Rank = 0/?
Pre-race routine:

Woke up, gt myself together and headed out. The weather when I left Atlanta was 85 degrees. This morning it was 40 degrees. That was quite the drop and took some getting used to. I dressed in a long sleeve shirt, shorts, and my running visor. My outfit met the conditions and was good throughout the day. The forcast for the last week called for rain along with the cold. Thankfully, the skies were clear. No Rain.
Event warmup:

No warm up. Just tried to keep warm.
Run
  • 3h 56m 21s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 01s  min/mile
Comments:

I ran a good race for me. My half split was 1:57. My finish time of 3:56 indicates I carried an almost identicle pace in the second half. My right leg was tight from mile 10 and was giving me issues, but a adjustment to my stide with greater emphasis on using my left to push off harder seemed to do the trick. I also used a new (to me) mental technique to get me through the race. I used to approach Marathons as 'you feel good to a point, then you feel bad, and there is no getting better until it's over'. This time I went in knowing that there are highs and lows in a race, and that if I ran through the lows, the highs would return. That technique is perfect, or at least it was for me during this race. I had about 3 lows that I had to run through. I recognized that they were temporary, ran through them, then back to feeling good.
What would you do differently?:

nothing. I had a good race. Not my PR, but is my second best out of nine.
Post race
Warm down:

Enjoy walking around on the Turf of Ford Field.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

mileage per week is too low to gain significant speed over distance.

Event comments:

This race gets a 5 from me. The Organizers in Detroit have hit a home run. I highly recommend this race.




Last updated: 2005-10-24 12:00 AM
Running
03:56:21 | 26.2 miles | 09m 01s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/?
Overall: 0/?
Performance: Good
Course: Outstanding Course. Bridge to Canada was awesome, tunnel back to the US was cool as well. Mostly Flat, but there were some slight hills. I needed those to break up the flat. The Belle Isle loop was 7 miles the last time I ran Detroit. Now, it has been reduced to 3. That was a important change and played significantly into the feel of the race. Almost a brilliant move and bold as well. Imagine being a race director and cutting off 5 miles of the city island where there were no traffic concerns. Well, they took the not so obvious path and in the process improved the race dramatically.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
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] 5