Steamtown Marathon - RunMarathon


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Scranton, Pennsylvania
United States
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

The was the first marathon so I really was not sure what to do before the race. I prepare liked I usually do for a 5k where I really don't or eat much before the race. This turned out to be a bad idea.
Event warmup:

Did some stretching before the race in the gym
Run
  • 00m
  • 26.2 miles
  •  min/mile
Comments:

Well here is the deal, if though I am embarassed to say, I did not finished. I decided to blog it on BT because I thought it was a good learning experince for me and could help someone else to not make the same mistake I did.

So here is my story:
Three weeks before the race I was on one of my long runs and I somehow injuried my knee. That night I did all the right things, like put ice on it, and take advil. Two days after I did the long run, I went out with a group of friends on our regular tueday run. During the run I discovered that I was still having pain (not extreme) and decided that I needed to take some time off. So over the next two weeks I only did three slow runs and nothing over 6 miles. I thought this would be a good tamper, but also I was scared because I thought I might not have trained enough to take that much time off. I did do some swimming during tampering and after the two weeks my knee did feel better.

So fast foward to race day.............
I got there a good hour before the race and did some light stretching and met some new people from all over the U.S. Every single person gave me the same advice: DONT GO OUT TO FAST. So before the race I decided that I would not go faster than a 8 min mile pace.

So it is 8 am and a cannon goes off starting the race. The first mile I felt really good and my time was 8:08. I thought to myself, "Wow, that is not a bad time, I can pick up the pace a little". So the next, few miles which were primary down hill I increased my pace every mile. By the time I hit the 8 mile mark I felt good, and did not have any knee problems. At the 10 mile mark I was a little under a 8 min mile pace with a 1 hour 17 mins time. At that time I decided to slow the pace down and try and leave some energy. During the first 13 miles I only grabbed 2 waters/gateraides (another bad idea).

Mile 13 hits and I really not paying attention, and I trip on a manhole cover (It had to be with my left leg that I injuried). At first I felt a little twinge in my knee but then a shotting pain down the leg. I decide that I should stop for a min and try and see if I could walk it off. After about a mile of walking the knee problem got worse and the ball of my feet were killing me!!!! I attempted to try and run numerous times but the pain was so bad I could barely stand it. I decided that I would walk until the next view point and just have my Fiance Nadine take me home. Well, I thought that the view point was at mile 16 but could not remember. So, I continued to walk/jog/run mile after mile. I found out after the race that Nadine thought she missed me and went to the finish line. So here I was at mile 18 wondering where the hell my fiance is, and I decided that I would try and finish the race. So I started to do a light jog. I figured I could at least run every other mile. So mile 18 went by ok, with a 10 min/mile pace. I walk about half of mile 19 and ran mile 19.5 to mile 20. At mile 20 there was a gradual incline, so I decided I should walk it to be safe. When I started walking the hill, I started to cramp up in my calves and thighs. The calves were so tight I could barely walk. I stopped and tried to stretch but the lack of fluids had taken it tool. My muscles in my arms started to cramp up and I knew that was not good. I got to the water stop before mile 21 and decided to stop. The cramping muscle were so bad I could barely stand. I took the bus back to the finish line and I was severely dissapointed.

So on the bus back, there were 4 other people who did not finish the race. All of them were saying how "this is my last marathon, I am ever doing one again". Then some one asked me if I would run one again. My response "hell yeah".


What would you do differently?:

1. Eat before the race- even if it is some thing small

2. Go out slower and dont look for a specific time just try and finish

3. Train more- I dont believe I had enough core training in before the race.

4. Hydra more during the race- This isn't a 5K and I need to rehydrate otherwise I will cramp up.

5. watch out for pot holes...haha
Post race
Warm down:

Tried to stretch.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Read above

Event comments:

It was a great race... I just did not prepare. I would recommend it to anyone for a marathon.




Last updated: 2007-10-09 12:00 AM
Running
00:00:00 | 26.2 miles |  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Bad
Course: The course is mostly down hill, but has some rolls hills through the middle of the course and some larger up hills towards the end of the course (between mile 23 and 26).
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Bad
Mental exertion [1-5] 1
Physical exertion [1-5] 1
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5