DK Silicon Valley Marathon - RunMarathon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
San Jose, California
United States
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 32m 9s
Overall Rank = 89/761
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 16/100
Pre-race routine:

The usual breakfast consisting of: bagel, coffee, banana and about 22oz water from wake up to start of race.
Event warmup:

I got to the venue about 45 min prier to the start of the race. I hit the potapotty before the lines got long, then found an alcove in a building seeking shelter from a cold breeze. 10 min. before the start I did some stretching then toed the line. They played the National Anthem which I think is a nice touch. Then Dean Karnazes said a few words and we were off.
Run
  • 3h 32m 9s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 08m 06s  min/mile
Comments:

So this was my first run only race. Everything to this point has been a triathlon. My original reason for doing this race was to get a marathon under my belt with plans to do a full Ironman in 2011. My goal of Ironman has not changed(I signed up for Vineman this morning) I will not discount this accomplishment. I will not look at this race as a stepping stone, but a success. That being said on to the meat and potatoes. The Gun goes off, everyone lurches forward and comes to a stop, I found some humor in this. It took a minute to get going but once it did I heard the sound of a thousand running shoes tapping the pavement, very soft and soothing sounding. At this time of the morning there was no other sound. There was a lot of jockeying for but nothing like a swim start. After about four miles things started to loosen up and I found my stride. I did not see a mile marker till mile 5 so that is when I started tracking my pace and immediately noticed two thing, my time per mile was about 13 seconds slow and my heart rate was about 15BPM to fast. My effort seemed right. I wanted to slow the HR and speed up the pace but it doesn't work that way so I kept the same pace and concentrated on breathing. I picked up a little time from miles 8-13. At that point I met up with a guy named Chris he asked my goal time (3:30) him too, go figure so we decided to pace the rest of the way in. Saw Dad, Joyce, Don and Dads Friend Greg gave them all high five's. So having Chris to pace off was great. I might allowed my self to slow to a more comfortable pace with out him. We pushed on, then he started cramping, he was going to slow but I talked him into pushing on. I hope I helped him as much as he helped me. The miles kept flying by and we were passing about 5 people per mile. I kept up on nutrition and hydration. My hips at my groin started to ache around mile 23 I knew this was coming as I felt this on all my long runs. This was not going to slow me down. We continued to pass people and that fueled the fire. We picked up the pace even more and sprinted the last 1/3 mile to the finish. I did cross the finish line first but his overall time was faster. Thanks Chris
What would you do differently?:

I should have started closer to the front to avoid the slow start.
Post race
Warm down:

Dad, Joyce and Don were at the finish line to welcome me. Thank you to my super sherpas for feeding me, the comfy bed, and transportation. You guys are great.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I did have some injuries that caused me to miss a few key runs.

Event comments:

This is a well run race from packet pickup to sweat suit check in. Not too much glitz and glamor. Bring your own nutrition. water was plentiful.




Last updated: 2010-09-01 12:00 AM
Running
03:32:09 | 26.2 miles | 08m 06s  min/mile
Age Group: 16/100
Overall: 89/761
Performance: Good
avg hr 164 peak hr 185
Course: overall pretty flat lots of overpasses and bridges. One hill at mile 13 very short
Keeping cool Good 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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4