St. Jude Memphis Marathon - RunMarathon


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Memphis, Tennessee
United States
St. Jude Memphis Marathon
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 58m 30s
Overall Rank = 499/2626
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 103/301
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 5:30, showered, ate peanut butter toast and made short drive to race site. Ate a banana and sipped gatorade until 30 minutes prior to start.
Event warmup:

Light stretching and walking around.
Run
  • 3h 58m 30s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 06s  min/mile
Comments:

My per mile splits are attached as lap data. Started in corral 5 (8:55-9:10 pace). This race is self-select corrals. First few miles went pretty well. Did not have to dodge too many feet until course narrowed at Beale St. After Beale, I felt like I set the cruise control through about mile 18. I was dreading the half/full split that came around the 12.5 mile mark but I was feeling great and found a guy to talk with through the first mile after the split. Things starting getting more difficult by mile 19 - it was getting warmer and the cloud cover was gone. My pace fell off about 40-50 sec/mile over miles 22-24 then even more for miles 25-26. I pushed hard through the final 0.2. Being my first marathon, my initial goal was to just finish. During training, I began thinking that 4:00-4:10 was achievable prior to injuring my foot and hip. During training, I also PR'd the half marathon distance at 1:42:53. With the pain over the final training weeks and higher than expected temperatures, I went into race day thinking 4:10 was achievable and 4:00 if everything went well.

Needless to say, I am very happy with 3:58:30. I was on pace for about 3:53 through 21 miles but then dropped about 5 minutes over final 5 miles. This was partially due to injuries and weather but I also likely went out too hard the first half (1:56 split at the half point). I felt I may have over-hydrated as my stomach felt heavy the final 3-4 miles as well. I will definitely do another full and possibly make it St Jude again.
What would you do differently?:

Train more - more miles per week. Likely five runs per week instead of four. Being my first marathon, I wanted to make it to the start line injury free. I didn't fully succeed as I had some significant tendon/ligament pain in left foot and strains in right glutes.
Post race
Warm down:

Sat down immediately for five minutes, then up to stretch and walk around. Tried eating a bit.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

First marathon and hip/glute/foot pains were limiting me over final four miles. I was tired, hot and ready to be done.

Event comments:

Very well organized event. Being a St Jude fundraiser, I couldn't ask for much more. Great event for a great cause. I will be back. I thought post-race food was lacking but overall it did not detract from the event for me.




Last updated: 2012-12-05 12:00 AM
Running
03:58:30 | 26.2 miles | 09m 06s  min/mile
Age Group: 103/301
Overall: 499/2626
Performance: Good
Garmin date Lap Time Distance Time 1 8:51.5 1.00 8:51 2 8:46.7 1.00 8:47 3 9:04.0 1.00 9:04 4 8:39.4 1.00 8:39 5 8:50.3 1.00 8:50 6 8:47.8 1.00 8:48 7 8:42.4 1.00 8:42 8 8:56.9 1.00 8:57 9 8:42.4 1.00 8:43 10 8:44.4 1.00 8:44 11 8:45.0 1.00 8:45 12 8:52.0 1.00 8:52 13 8:51.8 1.00 8:52 14 8:49.3 1.00 8:49 15 8:44.8 1.00 8:45 16 8:51.3 1.00 8:51 17 8:49.2 1.00 8:49 18 8:49.8 1.00 8:50 19 9:11.7 1.00 9:12 20 9:07.8 1.00 9:08 21 8:49.5 1.00 8:50 22 9:40.2 1.00 9:40 23 9:49.4 1.00 9:49 24 9:39.8 1.00 9:40 25 10:10.6 1.00 10:11 26 10:26.2 1.00 10:26 27 2:58.9 0.36 8:16 Summary 3:58:33 26.36 9:03
Course: All throughout downtown Memphis
Keeping cool Average Drinking Too much
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
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