Shamrock Marathon - RunMarathon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Virginia Beach, Virginia
United States
Shamrock Sportsfest
65F / 18C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 4h 22m 59s
Overall Rank = 1637/3159
Age Group = M 35-39
Age Group Rank = 206/321
Pre-race routine:

1st Marathon!!
0600 - Woke up
0615 - 1/2 Bagel
0620 - Shower
0635 - Bathroom
Drank a cup of coffee in the hotel room and took 1 600mg Ibuprofen before walking about 8-10 blocks to the starting line. It was really cold standing around before the race. We started at 0815
Event warmup:

Walked down the starting line shaking out my legs on the way and occasional high knees, etc. Not really a warmup, just nervous energy.
Run
  • 4h 22m 53s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 10m 02s  min/mile
Comments:

I felt really good up to about mile 15 or so. Relaxed, enjoying the race route, the excitement of my firs marathon. I may have gone out a little fast, but not extremely (crossed 13.1 at 1:54). I was shooting for a 4hr finish so I guess I went out at a good pace. I started wearing out and began getting calf and quad cramps at about mile 19. I slowed way down after this and just couldn't continue to run without one muscle or another seizing up on me. I think if I could have prevented the cramps I would have come in under 4hrs.
Hydrated at every water/gatorade stop except for the first one. Consumed 7 Gu's (one before the race, 6 during).
What would you do differently?:

I'm not sure. I need to find a way to prevent the muscle cramps so I can keep running instead of requiring walk breaks.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked down the shoot, got lots of food, had some stew and sat on the beach and stretched out for a few minutes. Ate a rack of ribs at Ruby Tuesdays before riding 4 hours home in the car.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Leg Cramps!

Event comments:

This was my first marathon, so I don't have a great base of knowledge on how these things are supposed to be run, but I thought the support before, during, and after the race was phenomenal. Tons of volunteers with tons of stuff (water, gatorade, shirts, post-race food and activities).




Last updated: 2010-12-18 12:00 AM
Running
04:22:53 | 26.2 miles | 10m 02s  min/mile
Age Group: 206/321
Overall: 1637/3159
Performance: Good
Course: Flat, pleasant. There weren't many places along the route that didn't have support (fans cheering, DJ's setup, etc). Unfortunately, between about mile 17-23 was pretty sparse.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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] 3