HITS Running Festival Omaha Marathon - Run


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Omaha, Nebraska
United States
HITS Endurance
60F / 16C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 3h 21m 26s
Overall Rank = 36/581
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 6/59
Pre-race routine:

Banana and ensure. Signed up for this race 3 days before hand since I figured I could at least complete it...
Event warmup:

Didn't do a warm up or stretch. A warm up may have helped but I assumed I'd run the first 1-2 miles slower and warm up that way but the first two miles ended up being my fastest, doh.
Run
  • 3h 21m 26s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 07m 41s  min/mile
Comments:

First two laps were low 7 min/miles. Way faster than I wanted to be but I started at the front this year, so I got caught up trying to keep up with everyone else. I told myself that I'd only do a half if things got bad. I felt fine at the break off point and kept going. At the 13.1 mile marker though, my right ankle hurt like hell. I had to limp on my left leg for 9 miles until it felt ok again. By then, I was already slowing down due to being out of energy.

This is the first marathon where I did not walk due to being tired. I only walked through some aid stations. I did have to walk 5 seconds at the finish line since two 1/2 marathoners were walking and taking the entire finish chute (was very small). Sort of anti-climatic finish for my PR.
What would you do differently?:

Drink more! Course had mainly water only aid stations, which seems insane. I needed some sugar drinks, that's for sure! I did manage to have 4 GUs but I was living off my 1,000 calorie breakfast + energy stores for this race.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around. Felt horrible. Felt worst after this race than IM. Not to say marathon was harder but I was already in a so-so state before the race and only got 4 hours of sleep the night before.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

IM 2 weeks before hand. Not having any sugar drinks during race.

Event comments:

PR'ed by 3 minutes, 2 weeks after a full IM, which is awesome. Felt pretty good about that. Aid stations need to be redone, that's for sure (needs more energy drinks.) Miles 15-24, I was alone. I couldn't see anyone in front of me or behind me. Was a pretty weird feeling being in a race. This is a smaller race (think 2K 1/2 + full racers on course) but I knew that going into it. Hoping I can keep my running fitness going and get a sub 3 hour marathon next year to guarantee entry to Boston. I'll see what happens. Hefty goal but if I aim high, I tend to at least make it further than if I didn't.




Last updated: 2014-09-27 12:00 AM
Running
03:21:26 | 26.2 miles | 07m 41s  min/mile
Age Group: 6/59
Overall: 36/581
Performance: Good
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/596125642 Average HR was 166, which is borderline Z4 for me. I did a full IM 2 weeks before this race and that messed up my HR for sure. I always assumed that you were supposed to do marathons in Z2 but I learned this year that I was dead wrong. Z3 is where you race at. Due to the IM, I raced via PE since my HR is really jacked up after a hard race for 1-2 weeks. If my HR was 170+ though, I'd slow down.
Course: Pretty flat but also pretty boring (a lot of it was on a bike trail). They switched it up this year since too many people complained of the hills. It's a good course to PR on but way more exciting marathon routes out there.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
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: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3