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Thunder Road Marathon - RunMarathon


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Charlotte, North Carolina
United States
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = 23/1046
Age Group = 1-24
Age Group Rank = 2/
Run
  • 3h 02m 40s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 06m 58s  min/mile
Comments:

Where to start, where to start....ok. So the gun goes off and I see the 3 hr. pace group. I think, "awesome...I will just hang with them." And I did so...there was two pacers who did an aweseome job of keeping pace. They were full of conversation and funny stuff to say which made the first 13 miles great. They talked about everything while encouraging us, making sure we were making the turns right, and even would grab extra cups of water to make sure everyone got their hydration in. I just kinda stayed quiet and listened to "running talk" for the first 13 miles. I think I did pretty were with staying hydrated, I took cups of water and powerade and took a few sips at almost every station. The first 13 miles were cake....I wasn't hurting at all. My hammies got a little tight but thats it. I knew the pain was going to come but I was not prepared for what was going to happen later. Also, an unfortunate thing was that the pacers dropped off at the half mark and we were expecting another pacer to jump on where they dropped. However, we saw noone....our flying group of guys quickly dwindled and I was in no mans land. I came across half at about 1:29:45 feeling AWESOME. Cake walk. So here is where I made a bit of a mistake...since it was kinda every man for ourselves after the pacers suddenly dissapeared....I think I got a little exciting thinking that the next 13 would maybe fly by like the first. So there was this kid from New Orleans who was the last of our group of 3 hour guys (which started out at maybe 20), I kinda wanted to get away from him for some reason so I picked it up a bit. And man, I just started realing people in....I think a dropped 4-5 miles at about 6:30-6:45. So I'm at about mile 18 or 19 and it kind starts to hit me....I'd been running with this one older dude for a couple miles and I can tell that he still has alot left in him and that I was just trying to hang on.....and I still had 45 miles at least left of running!! it was at about mile 20 that I started to get a little scared....my pace started to slow...my legs started to tighten up and it felt like each mile was CREEPING by. That dude I was running with gapped me by probably a half mile with a two mile stretch and i was just doing everything I could to hang on by about mile 23.5. There were some great fans out there which helped at points but mostly it was just sheer fear of COMPLETELY BONKING that kept me going. I still wanted my race to be respectable and I definately didn't want to have to drop out! I was one of those guys who you hear about whose "wheels just fell off." Ha! It was incredible....the feeling of my legs was completely foreign to me. Also...at times i felt like I was going to "have an accident" which was just adding to the pain. Not fun! But one piece of consolation was that I did pass a couple guys during those last couple miles.... i don't know how cuz it felt like I was running like 10 min mile pace....one guy was just shuffling and another was walking...so I was like, "ok...I didn't completely fall off the wagon...I can still make a successful race out of this." I then get to about 24.5 or 25 and guess who passes me....the 3 hour pacer that I NEVER saw. He seemed like he was flying when he passed me....I must have been way under 3 hour pace...it was those 6:30's coming back to haunt me. Maybe if I would have seen him and just ran a sollid pace things would have been a little better but.....who knows.....I may have died just as hard just from farther back. Then with a little bit more than a mile to go some dude flys by me and says..."ya! Fleet Feet Ithaca New York right here baby!" I thought he was like "reppin" himself and flaunting that he was from NY and passing me....but then it clicked a little later that I was wearing a Fleet Feet shirt from a store in Rochester. NY. He was being nice! Not insulting the snail whose legs fell off! ha! My brain was DEFINATELY not functioning properly. I noticed this from about mile 15 on...I could hardly do simple math trying to figure out paces and stuff....I need a GARMIN!! Maybe that would have let me know how much I really did pick it up there for those few miles. But anyways....With a little less than a mile to go I get s surge of adrenaline and start picking it up a bit....I felt pretty hardcore...I was like limping with my eyes barely open...grimacing in pain...asking God for help.....and still truckin. It was an amazing experience....I came across the finish line...bent at the waist and not sure if my legs were going to hold me up. Wow...this feeling was like nothing I'd ever felt....painful yet aweseom! I then started to realize that none of those guys from the three hour group passed me...even tho I bonked the last few miles. I saw my time was 3:02 something....my official race time on the results page put me at 3:00:14 which I know is wrong....so I am going with 3:02:40 as my official race time. Overall...I'm pretty pleased with that....I qualified for Boston....I didn't COMPLETELY die at the end.....I had an aweomse....and now feel like I want to do more. I know with the right training and stuff...I could someday get down around 2:45. I really only trainged for 10 weeks and my highest weekly mileage was 60 and I only had 1 week of that. So again, overall, I'm excited about running and marathons....I loved those first 13 miles of relaxed comraderie...just being out there with these guys and knowing that the pain was coming but not thinking about it in the moment. The race course was great....although VERY hilly....great tour of Charlotte....fans were great....aid stations were great....loved it. This being my first marathon...I think it went about as well as it could have. I learned a TON and will be ALOT more prepared for the next one. Boston here I come! ;)
Post race



Last updated: 2008-11-05 12:00 AM
Running
03:02:40 | 26.2 miles | 06m 58s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/1046
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2008-12-14 12:05 PM

Veteran
109
100
Bend, OR
Subject: Thunder Road Marathon


2008-12-14 3:35 PM
in reply to: #1853239

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Expert
919
500100100100100
Greenville, SC
Subject: RE: Thunder Road Marathon

CONGRATS!!! Great race.... Get some rest.... And then.... BOSTON!!!

2008-12-14 7:10 PM
in reply to: #1853239

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Member
39
25
Charlotte, NC
Subject: RE: Thunder Road Marathon
WOW!  You slammed it.  I knew you would.  Dude!  I could NEVER run that fast, but I understand all those feelings you had.  WTG on a great race....you could do 2:45 very easy on a flat marathon course.
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