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Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon - RunMarathon


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Albany, Georgia
United States
60F / 16C
Overcast
Total Time = 3h 47m 16s
Overall Rank = 127/370
Age Group = 30-34 F
Age Group Rank = 6/23
Pre-race routine:

Drove into Albany on Friday night, ate fast food dinner on the road (poor choice that would haunt me throughout the race but options were limited due to having to be at expo by 9), arriving at the expo at a little after 8. I picked up race number, bought some GU and a lube stick and then headed to hotel. Saturday morning I woke at five, got dressed and then headed over to the breakfast. I was really disappointed the hotel didn't have oatmeal, as oatmeal is always my pre-race meal. I ate a little cereal, a bit of scrambled eggs and some grits (these choices would also haunt me all race). I drove over to the race start and was one of the first cars in the lot. I crawled in the back of the van and snoozed a bit while waiting for race start.
Event warmup:

I jogged from car to port-a-potties at the starting area back to the car. It was only 200-300 yards away.
Run
  • 3h 47m 16s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 08m 40s  min/mile
Comments:

I got in the starting line-up right before the National Anthem played. This was a small race (about 800 runners for both the half and full marathons) so I was able to position myself close to the timing mats. I positioned myself somewhere in the middle of the runners and it only took me about 5-6 seconds to cross the mats. I didn't really have a race plan going into the race. I was undecided pretty much even as the race was unfolding. In the back of my mind, I was worried because I needed to be on a cross country flight the day after the run and I didn't want that to be too painful and I also had visions of injuring myself and screwing up my bigger goal this year - Ironman. But also in the back of my mind was wanting to prove I could still go sub 3:40 even with what I felt was inconsistent training for this race. I was easily clipping away the early miles and thought the scenery in the early miles was great. I talked to a few runners but never found the right runner to stick with. By mile four I started having some intestinal distress and took my first port-a-potty break. I had no problem resuming my pace, and actually picked up the pace so I could get back to the runners that dropped me when I stopped. Somewhere around the time I took my first GU and started alternating between gatorade and water (mile 6 or so), I realized my stomach was going to be a problem for longer than the one stop I took. I hit my second port-a-potty stop by mile 7. Again, after the stop I'd have no problem getting back into motion and stomach would be settled for a mile or so. I think it was somewhere around mile 8 that a woman standing on the side of the run course was saying something about better scenery coming up and that got me excited until I realized the better scenery she was referring to was neighborhood after neighborhood after neighborhood. Running a race through neighborhoods is boring to me so I was upset that was my better scenery and I spent way to much mental energy complaining to myself about the scenery. I kept trucking along through the neighborhoods but as each house went by I was mentally losing the battle to stay focused and on race pace. Every time we'd come to a turn I was hoping that we'd be turning onto a street that would bring me out of the neighborhoods and I'd get even more mental after making the turn and realizing it was just more of the same. By mile 16, my mental game was lost and I was focusing only on my boredom, the aches and pains of running marathons, and my stomach that just wouldn't let up. Somewhere later in the race we came to a section that went around a park that would have been great scenery if I wasn't already mentally over this run. I made another port-a-potty stop at about mile 21 and seriously debated turning in my chip. I got over myself enough to leave the stall, grab some water at the aid station and get on with the race - it was a slow getting on but at least I got on with it. The last 5 miles of the race were difficult as my legs started cramping along with my stomach. I don't think I even realized I was still going to go sub 4 as I thought my pace had dropped to a turtle's pace and my breaks were longer than the actually proved to be. I got extremely frustrated over the last mile of the course because the GPS was making it clear that it thought this race was longer than 26.2 and I wanted nothing to do with running a step farther than 26.2. I crossed the finish line upset that I let the mental aspect of running defeat me. I was bitter about the race course, bitter about my stomach, bitter about my lack of a race plan, bitter about a lot of things - but I was very happy that I was no longer running.
What would you do differently?:

Not eat fast food the night before. Not depart from my usual pre-race meal. Go into the race with a better plan and less brain chatter.
Post race
Warm down:

I walked, and walked, and walked. I was trying to shake off the lower leg cramping. Once I realized walking wasn't helping I laid down on my back and raised my legs in the air trying to drain some blood and fluids out of them. I ate a banana and drank a little bit of water and made it back to the hotel in time to shower and check out.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Mental weakness. Stomach issues.

Event comments:

This race is well put on. It is very organized with lots of aid stations, volunteers and traffic control. It is a flat course. If you like flat courses and smaller races, this marathon is a great one to consider doing. There were some other events going on in town that weekend, including a Georgia Cup race. I drove in with only enough time to pick up race number and left as soon as I felt I could stand sitting in the car for the 3.5 hour ride back to Atlanta so I never really checked out the town or the events. As much as I didn't enjoy this race, I would consider doing this race again if I wasn't going solo. It is definitely a flat, "easy" course and with the right attitude and support it could be a great course to try and break or set some PRs.




Last updated: 2008-02-04 12:00 AM
Running
03:47:16 | 26.2 miles | 08m 40s  min/mile
Age Group: 6/23
Overall: 127/370
Performance: Below average
10 Mile: 1:21:37 Half: 1:47:49 20 Mile: 2:46:42
Course: A flat course starting in "downtown" Albany and winding through lots of neighborhoods.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 1
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2008-03-12 3:56 PM

Extreme Veteran
597
500252525
Atlanta, GA
Subject: Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon


2008-03-12 4:40 PM
in reply to: #1268101

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Master
1249
100010010025
Atlanta, GA
Subject: RE: Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon
Leslie, great race.  I think the fact that you know what your issues were just makes it a worthwhile race(I know, easy for me to say).  Great job!
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