Found I had to hold myself back at the start. Tried to keep my pace slower than 8:47 min/mile. Got below this on mile 2 and 4 (8:40 & 8:35), so walked after these 2 miles. Took a gel at every 5 miles with water at the aid stations before and after the gel miles. Goal was to keep my pace between 8:47 and 10:04 for the full course. Did a great job up to mile 17. This is where I started taking longer walk breaks at the aid stations and during gel miles. There was great jockstrapping from mile 17 to 23. A guy was encouraging his girlfriend who I just happened to be running in front of. He'd cheer on all the runners as he waited for his girlfriend to run by, then drive up to the next spectator station and do it all again. Same thing happened with 2 women who were supporting their friends/family. Starting at about mile 17 they yelled '505, great smile!' They'd be at the next spectator station and yell '505, you're still smiling!' That went on for the next couple stations. Amazing how far a little support goes. Thanks to all jockstrappers everywhere. It makes a difference.

Major shufflefest started at mile 21. Never really hit the 'wall,' my body was just undertrained due to...well, undertraining (see below). :)

Train more. Due to emphasis on tri training and a BUSY summer (kids' soccer and vacation), didn't get my 2 20-milers in. Longest run was 16 miles...heh.

Main goal of this race was to test out long-distance nutrition strategy (>3 hours) in prep for next spring's half ironman. Nutrition plan was perfect! No cramping (1st time in a marathon). No other issues, although I may switch to a ShotBlock strategy. I could not look at another gel by the end of the marathon.

Too much water. Had to take 2 pee breaks. I need to get serious about weighing in before and after long runs to calculate water loss.

And regardless of all the flack I get for eating Egg McMuffins as a pre-race meal, Egg McMuffins rock! Adjusting slightly for pre-marathon (no Canadian bacon or cheese), it's the perfect amount of calories and the right balance of carbs, protein and fat. :)

Ate a SnakPak vanilla pudding and drank lots of water. Picked up my marathon finisher jacket and found Jason, Nicole and the kids (my ride back to the race start).


Poor training.


Great end of season race. Always pretty reasonable temps for marathoning.

Crushed rock trails started to really annoy me. Had to plan ahead as far as where to run (looking for best hard surface and avoiding sandy spots). Had to empty shoes out 3 times.

Nice flat course.