18 Mile Run - RunOther

My plan for this run was to start and keep 9 minute miles from start to finish. This was based on the pace and effort of my first half marathon 2 weeks prior, which I finished tired at 8:31 pace. I thought that 9:00 was a pace that I could keep for the longer distance, which was completely new territory for me.

Well, my body told me otherwise when my legs started moving. I hit the first mile at 8:31, and stayed in the 8:20s until mile 5. Then I picked up the pace even more and started doing low 8:00s, and held that for quite a while. I was a little concerned going this fast but I felt good and went with it.

There were spectators all through Beach Haven, Brant Beach and Ship Bottom. Water stations started at mile 2 and continued every mile or so. Every few miles there would also be someone with a hose spraying us down, and I ran through every one of those. There were timing mats at mile 9 and 12, and after mile 9 the stations started having gatorade and orange slices. I only took the warm gatorade once and almost puked, and I didn't even try the oranges - I stuck with the stuff that I had brought with me.

I started with my first gel at mile 1, and had another every 3 miles all the way to the end, which I think worked pretty well to sustain my energy level.

At mile 8, in Ship Bottom, we ran past my house where my family had set up. I spotted them, waved, and then ran up the sidewalk and gave my wife and kids high-5s as I went by. They seem surprised to see me earlier than I had told them to expect me. At this point, I was running 8:03 pace, the fastest I went all day.

I kept my fast pace through Surf City and kept passing people through mile 13 or so. From that point on, the field had thinned out quite a bit and I wasn't really passing anyone (or getting passed). Also, once we passed Surf City and went into North Beach, a much more "private" area of the island (not many stores, lots of private lanes with no public beach access), the spectators more or less disappeared. The race got much lonelier.

At mile 15, I was feeling my energy level dwindling and I slowed my pace first to 8:10 and then to 8:20 - where I held until the end, picking it up slightly in the last mile. During the last mile in Barnegat Light, spectators appeared again en-masse, screaming their heads off for every runner that went by, which picked me up a bit. At this point I felt tired but extremely happy with my effort so far, running at a faster pace than my half-marathon 2 weeks before and much faster than my target pace, and also happy realizing that even if I had to slow down, I would finish the race.

Seeing the dunes at the end of the boulevard solidified it for me. I picked up the pace a bit more and ran to the finish. I saw my family right before the finish line, smiled and waved at them, threw my arms up and crossed the line with a smile.

After the finish line I was flanked by 2 girls that stayed with me for several steps to make sure I was ok. Then someone else took my chip, gave me water and pointed out the massage area, where I was happy to put my name on the list.

I then went to the food table, where I didn't really see anything I wanted to eat but took some cookies for the kids. I then went to my family and hang out for a few minutes, then went back and got my massage. Afterwards we took off, opting not to go back to St. Francis for the after-race buffet.

As we were leaving, my wife told me that I looked a lot more drained than I did during any of my sprint tris this summer. I felt that way as well, this was a longer race and I left more on the course.

Nothing.

My running ability was my only limiting factor. I hope I can run this race again next year and improve on my time - but as it is, I'm extremely happy and proud of my performance.


A top notch race. I'm definitely returning next year.