![]() Run
Comments: i would not characterize myself as a cocky individual. however, from my past races, and my recent increase in running, that i was capable of around a 315 marathon...with slight hopes of a BQ. did i mention this was my first marathon?? haha (im young and stupid, give me a break!) even standing at the start, i wasn't sure how i was going to tackle the race. do i push it? do i cruise it? do i just survive? ended up going by feel so, the national anthem was sung, the countdown was over and the mass of people started moving towards a common goal 26.2 miles away, Napa, CA. instantly i felt amazing, the week of tapering and the aches and pains all melted away and i ran a nice 7:30 mile. a quick note, i PLANNED on going out slow, like 8 minutes slow. looking back, i should have stuck to my guns and ran the 1st 5k with an 8 minute average. but i didn't, i made the decision to push it, and shoot for a 3:08. oops the miles were going by pretty quickly early on, i did have a couple of miles where i had a random nose bleed (?!), which was more annoying than anything else, but i did notice that my heartrate was too high. i thought the heartrate was more from nerves than from effort tho, so i just kept pushing on with a good group of pacers. although, looking back, i see most of them ran sub 3, so add another oops to the tally! 10 miles down, and everything was gravy! only a couple of miles until the 1/2 way point, my split for the 1/2 was a PR, 1:33...haha again, oops! even after the 1/2 way point tho things were still at a good pace, although the 7s were turning into 718s, 7 28s and soon 7 30s. mile 18 was the killer. there is a hill that just beat me apart, and i was reduced to walking a little of it. that is when i knew i was in trouble, with 8 miles to go and very very tired legs. i wasn't physically outta breath, my legs were just shot. i never had to stop for cramps or to catch my breath, just to take in as much aid at the stations as i could. It was a sureal experience running past the 2-something mile markers, i kept thinking, 'holy shit ive gone a long way', which i guess is better then, 'damn ive got a long way to go'. my pace really fell off bad around 23-25, but i managed to keep moving, just at a 9 pace rather than 7 like before. mile marker 26 was a very welcome sight, couple more turns and the ordeal was over What would you do differently?: pace it evenly eat a little bit more (only grabbed 1 gu from the course...ate 2 packs of chomps and some oranges) start slow ![]() Post race
Warm down: sat. my. ass. down. What limited your ability to perform faster: pacing, stupidity Event comments: overall, great race, but some things needed some work: t-shirts only available in mens sizes (doesn't effect me) t-shirt design is a grape vine, not very macho + it was a tech long sleeve expo was ok, nothing special AWESOME free backpack or duffel for you to choose aide stations every 2-2.5 miles (barely enough) 10 minute free massage ++++ Last updated: 2009-12-21 12:00 AM
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United States
60F / 16C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 276/1735
Age Group = M20-24
Age Group Rank = 6/35
got up at 4, even tho i was awake at 3, and had a bagel with pb and banana. tried to get more sleep, but just layed in bed until 4 45, when we drove to the finish to catch the buses.
rode the bus from the finish to the start. beautiful morning, cool and brisk, but not a cloud in the sky...note to future racers, get in porta crapper line immediately once you get off busses, the lines only get worse