Freescale Austin Marathon - RunMarathon


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Austin, Texas
United States
The Austin Marathon Foundation, Inc.
33F / 1C
Overcast
Total Time = 4h 19m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 3 am and had a bagel and some OJ. Went back to bed until 5:30. Had a gel and some Gatorade before leaving the house.
Event warmup:

Ran about 10 minutes and did a solid warm-up and stretch.
Run
  • 4h 19m
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 53s  min/mile
Comments:

The weather sucked. We had some freezing rain overnight and the whole race was overcast and in the low 30's. I was not looking forward to racing my first marathon in those conditions.

The start was pretty cool. The very front of the start corral was blocked off for the elite runners AND for the Distance Challenge runners. So there I was right up with the guys that were going to win the race. I felt like such a poser.

When the gun went off, I started out too fast, especially considering how lazy I had been in the prior 2 weeks. I was okay temperature-wise until about mile 16. I started to fade then and so my HR dropped and I cooled down. From 18 to 23 or so, I was freezing. I really wanted to run through to the finish from there and about 2.5 miles from the finish, the 4:15 pace group came by me. I latched on to them like a life-line and let them drag me through the line. They were on pace, by the way, despite my 4:19 finish. Remember, I started at the very front of the 10,000 or so people. They started well back. The 4-minute gap is how long it took them to actually cross the start line after the gun went off.
What would you do differently?:

See the limiter section for this.
Post race
Warm down:

The finisher's area was great. They handed out mylar blankets and those things work amazingly well. The Distance Challenge had a private area with sandwiches, chili, fruit, water, and even wine and beer. I had a bowl of chili and that really hit the spot after the cold. They were supposed to have free massages for the DC finishers, but apparently only one of the masseuses showed up, so no massage. I got the marathon finisher's medal and shirt. I like the fact that the finisher's shirt is a race shirt, not a t-shirt. I also got the DC medal and the DC finisher's award. It's a very cool Mizuno race top and makes the whole DC worthwhile:

http://www.austindistancechallenge.com/newscolumn.asp?id=20

It has the DC logo on the front and the back says Austin Distance Challenge Finisher. It's slick.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I really feel like I could have run this in the 3:45-3:50 range. I was just lazy. I didn't run at all the last 2 weeks and so my legs were tight and my joints weren't up to the pounding. I also started out too fast, especially given the lack of training. I think my nutrition and hydration were pretty good.

Event comments:

This is a really great race, despite my own experience. There were plenty of volunteers and well-stocked water stops and the post-race spread was really good. They had the same stuff outside that I had in the DC finisher's area, I just didn't have to wait on line! The delay in the start time was due to the freezing rain we had overnight, so they pushed back the start time by 30 minutes. It wasn't due to the organizers. It was hard to enjoy the rest of the finish area because it was just so cold.




Last updated: 2006-02-20 12:00 AM
Running
04:19:00 | 26.2 miles | 09m 53s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance:
Horrible splits. The site is down right now so I don't have specifics.
Course: Nice course, overall.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Bad
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4