Harrisburg Marathon - RunMarathon


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Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
United States
East Shore YMCA
45F / 7C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 28m
Overall Rank = 296/1550
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 39/149
Pre-race routine:

Woke at 5:30 and drank a bottle of Perpeteum (250 cal). Walk to Dunkin for some coffee. Almond butter and oatmeal bread at 6:30. Met up with my friend at 7:15 am in lobby of the Hilton. Lots of displaced NYC marathoners in town which added to a great vibe. People couldn't have been happier to be there. Hung out for 15' and then walked to the race site for bag check and numerous visits to the Porta John. Staging area for runners was undercover with large space heaters which kept things very comfortable. Ate my banana and head to the start line around 8:15 am to find the 3:25 pace group.
Event warmup:

Dynamic stretching for 5 mins in the parking lot
Run
  • 3h 28m
  • 26.2 miles
  • 07m 56s  min/mile
Comments:

This was an extra tough slog for me. I had set a goal of sub 3:30 and went out with the 3:25 pace group. At mile 3 I hopped a sidewalk and when I landed I could feel my prirformis in my left hip scream. I was having some discomfort before, but this was pain. All those bad thoughts set in. DNF? At mile 6 I saw the wife and handed here my sleeves and screamed to her my hip was killing me.

The course zig-zagged from 6-8 and then went straight out along the river. I was able to settle in with the pave group, but I could feel the hip. I really like running with a pace group - takes all the thinking out of it. At about mile 14 the hi pain went away, but then I started having some groin pain and hip discomfort in the other leg. I had done something with my stride to compensate for the PF and its impact was being felt.

Stayed with the group until mile 19 when the hills became steep. I saw them pull away and let them go and just kept focusing on my own pace. The hills were brutal.

After the hills we ran up and down an overpass and at mile 21 it was deja vu all over again - a stabbing cramp in my quad. I stumbled and almost dropped. Ate salt tabs (which I had been taking all day) and hit some chews. Other than that one stumble, I never stopped and ran those last 5 miles in the 8:15 range - much better than last year's walk home.

I didn't look at my elapsed time until mile 25 - at which point I knew I'd go sub 3:30!
What would you do differently?:

Not sure. The pace group went out faster than I would have thought, but I don't think that was the problem.
Post race
Warm down:

Wobbled to my wife. Changed out of wet clothes, put on compression socks ate and drank for a while and waited for my buddy to finish the race.

Donuts were excellent!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

This was my second marathon and I PR'd it by 20 minutes. Can't really ask for anything more. I have 2 years to take off 3 minutes if I want to BQ at 45. I ran more this year than ever before and stayed mostly healthy throughout. Very satisfied with where I am.

Event comments:

Great organization and post race setup (food was excellent). Organizers went above and beyond to accomodate the NYC marathoners.




Last updated: 2012-07-08 12:00 AM
Running
03:28:00 | 26.2 miles | 07m 56s  min/mile
Age Group: 296/149
Overall: 39/1550
Performance: Good
HR average 164 bpm 1 7:33.5 1.00 7:33 2 7:51.3 1.00 7:51 3 7:48.6 1.00 7:49 4 7:35.4 1.00 7:35 5 8:12.7 1.00 8:13 6 7:19.7 1.00 7:20 7 7:27.0 1.00 7:27 8 7:52.3 1.00 7:52 9 7:47.2 1.00 7:47 10 7:41.2 1.00 7:41 11 7:47.0 1.00 7:47 12 7:47.1 1.00 7:47 13 7:48.1 1.00 7:48 14 7:35.8 1.00 7:36 15 7:43.5 1.00 7:43 16 7:43.7 1.00 7:44 17 7:41.0 1.00 7:41 18 7:40.4 1.00 7:40 19 8:00.1 1.00 8:00 20 8:07.2 1.00 8:07 21 8:21.2 1.00 8:21 22 8:16.1 1.00 8:16 23 8:11.8 1.00 8:12 24 8:18.8 1.00 8:19 25 8:16.6 1.00 8:17 26 8:10.5 1.00 8:11 27 3:41.2 0.45 8:09
Course: Course was clearly set up for 700 runners and not the 1500 who showed up. Very crowded for the first 10 miles, but things then opened up. The course terrain was mostly pavement but there were a number of trail patches which varied from gravel to course rocks. The firts 10 miles were scenic, then went to residential, then industrial, then into paved hills through a park. By and large mostly flat, but at mile 19-21 the hills attacked. First major hill was .75M of what felt like a mountain. After that the next 1.25M were marked by short, but sharp declines and uphills. 21-26 was a repeat of the out.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
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] 4