Napa Valley Marathon - RunMarathon


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Napa, California
United States
55F / 13C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 3h 10m 17s
Overall Rank = 89/1735
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 17/163
Pre-race routine:

My sister lives about 10 minutes from the race start so I really got to sleep in! Hot shower, coffee and breakfast then a short drive to the start.
Event warmup:

I made sure I stretched my IT Bands and calves well but did very little of anything else. It was a beautiful morning and there were a lot of smiles around the start line.
Run
  • 3h 10m 17s
  • 26.1 miles
  • 07m 17s  min/mile
Comments:

I met some great people on the course that drug me most of the way. I did a good job the first 23 miles on hitting my pace and keeping my nose out of the wind. I had a gel at mile 14 from the aid station then missed both 18 and 22 where I had planned to get them. It probably contributed to the wheels coming off at 23. It did get hotter toward the end and found the entire pack I was with fell off pace. I was passing runners the last 3 miles but knew I was slowing down. I felt liked I just survived the last 3 miles but I came in 5 minutes under my goal time. I am very happy with the race and that it was a BQ!!
What would you do differently?:

Maybe carry my own gels? I like to keep it simple and live off the course but I didn't have a backup plan. I believe they were there, I just missed them. I was just moving too well to stop :)
Post race
Warm down:

Thank goodness for the rub down at the end. It got me loose enough to stretch and not cry. Walking helped a little too but there was pain.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not quite sure but it may have been nutrition / heat?

Event comments:

Great course, smaller race of 2300 (which I love), beautiful venue and weather.




Last updated: 2010-03-09 12:00 AM
Running
03:10:17 | 26.1 miles | 07m 17s  min/mile
Age Group: 17/163
Overall: 89/1735
Performance: Good
Course: Race was mostly on the Silverado Trail from Calistoga to Napa. Very pretty green run at the base of some foothills through the wineries. First 20 miles were rolling hills then it leveled out the last six. First 13 miles were completely closed to traffic. The last 13 they had the north bound lanes open. I did notice a lot of slope in the road but a beautiful course. The slope hurts bad IT Bands like mine.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
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