The Cowtown Marathon - RunMarathon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Fort Worth, Texas
United States
The Cowtown
40F / 4C
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 23m 56s
Overall Rank = 628/1479
Age Group = 60-64
Age Group Rank = 1/8
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 4 AM. Ate my normal training breakfast of 2 fried eggs, 1 blueberry bagel with PB and strawberry jelly and a cup of half caff coffee. Got dressed, got in car and drove Carol and I to the Will Rogers Coliseum. Attended the church service. Drank a bottle of Heed/Perpetuem mix for the calories. Got all my things together. Stood in line with Carol for the inside restroom. While we were in line, I confessed to Carol that I really just wanted to bolt out of there and not race. I really had butterflies in my stomach and they would not line up in formation.

Saw Marcy Webster (dodgersmom) on our way to bag check. Went to bag check and checked bags. Walked out to Corral 3 and waited for the start. They were playing the Rocky song, which I later heard on my IPOD shuffle just exactly when I needed it. Kept thinking I needed to pee. Once the race started, I wouldn't think about that again until the finish line.
Event warmup:

None. I decided that I didn't want to start out too fast, so I didn't warm up. I figured that my slow start would be enough warmup and would help to keep me at my planned pace.
Run
  • 4h 23m 56s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 10m 04s  min/mile
Comments:

The training was definitely harder than the race.

The weather was absolutely perfect. A few windy sections, but I just drafted behind the big people. The Hanson adanced training was the right preparation. Race day plan was executed almost to perfection, both mentally and physically. Nutrition was spot on. The first 25 miles were a piece of cake. I thanked every volunteer and policeman I could get close to. I waved at all of the spectators and encouraged cheering. I was not sure if I would do another marathon, so I really decided to enjoy the heck out of this one!

I saw Carol at around mi 12 or 13. She really encouraged me and told me I was ahead of schedule, which at that point was true.

I ran all of the first 25 miles except for two times when I stopped at the water station to refill my amphipod. I did start to run slower at about mile 19 than I had planned. It didn't feel slower, but the Garmin said it was.

At mile 26, I began to feel like I was done. It became harder and harder to keep going. I thought of my Ironman friends and pushed on, walking when I felt it absolutely necessary. I remembered that my training was specifically done under the "cumulative fatigue" theory and that the last 1.2 miles would bring back that training feeling. I really struggled for the last 1/2 mile. Lots of people running by encouraged me. I thought about all those people that I had sent tracking info too and I knew they were keeping track. When I had .2 mile to go, I looked at a guy running near me and said "I have two minutes to qualify for Boston and I need you to lead me across the finish line". He was absolutely awesome. He kept telling me to relax, that I had this. I gave him a big hug at the end. After I got my individual race photo taken, I insisted we get one together.

Had some slight pain in the left knee towards the end. Not normal for me. I decided it must be from running on the right side of the road more than usual. Although, every time I thought about it, I moved to the crown of the road.

Stiff and a little achy in the legs at the finish. Ice bath that night took care of it.

Nutrition on the course:

Clif Shot Citrus Gel at mi 4.5
Honey Stinger Gel at mi 10
Tri-berry GU Gel at mi 18
Dates and tootsie rolls in between
1/6 of a banana at water stop
1/4 orange at another water stop

IPOD Shuffle Music:
Songs from Rocky
Songs from Flashdance
Songs from Top Gun
Def Leppard
Beach Boys
The Who
Nightwish
Steven Curtis Chapman
What would you do differently?:

I really don't think there is anything to do differently.
Post race
Warm down:

I just kept walking. Through the chute, over to the food area. They had lots of bars, yogurt, oranges. I had some chocolate blue bell ice cream ;-).

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Age, experience, training? I trained my butt off for this race. I am ecstatic at the way everything fell into place. I'm not sure at this age that I could really go much faster at that distance. Next time I'll do more hill training because my next marathon will be a little hillier.

Event comments:

I don't really have any other marathons to compare this to. I thought everything went very smoothly, including packet pickup. I like that this was not a huge race. Spectators were very supportive and entertainment along the course was pretty cool!

I never could find the recovery drinks at the end, like Core Power, Muscle Milk, etc. Someone said there was chocolate milk, but I missed it.

Finisher shirt is beautiful, red and long-sleeved.




Last updated: 2012-10-18 12:00 AM
Running
04:23:56 | 26.2 miles | 10m 04s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/8
Overall: 628/1479
Performance: Good
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/277535528 Splits: 10:03, 9:45, 9:45, 9:35, 9:44. 9:39, 9:39, 9:45, 9:49, 9:48, 9:47, 9:45, 9:39, 9:38, 10:03, 9:42, 10:04, 9:59, 9:54, 10:03, 10:04, 10:08, 10:10, 10:14, 10:25, 11:39, 10:46
Course: I thoroughly enjoyed the loop course. The first 6 or 7 miles were slightly downhill. Between mile 8 and 9, there was a long gradual hill. Since I live and train in Austin and was warmed up, it wasn't a problem. The course went through downtown and then through residential neighborhoods. The scenery was beautiful. Everything was paved until around mile 25.5. Then we went through a little park on crushed limestone that felt wonderful on our tired feet. Someone said there were hills at the end, but I guess I didn't really think they were notable.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
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