I tried to stay off the pavement as much as possible. I ran on the shoulder, this was a little easier on the left knee.

My legs were screaming. I could barely stand, and it hurt too much to sit. I found a railing to prop myself up and tried to walk it off. It took about 30 - 45 minutes before I could walk to my car.


My hamstring has been nagging me again and it started up on mile 3. It hurt to extend and lift my left leg, this shortened my stride quite a bit.
I thought about pushing hard and trying and ignore the pain, but my main goal was to finish and not have to walk, so I decided to slow down and try to enjoy the run.





Well I now know what it means to run with your heart. This was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. Harder than any half Ironman or century ride. The pain I endured was intense, and the mental effort that was required was huge.
I felt like my fueling plan was good. The first two hours I drank from my 24 oz bottle of infinite (~300 kcal) and supplimented that with water from the aid stations. I snacked on 3 powerbar gel bursts every 10 minutes, this amounted to about 360 kcal per hour plus another 150 from fluid, that's about 500 an hour. Once I reached mile 18, I drank two 22 oz bottles of gatorade endurance and had two GU "Roctanes" for the remaining 8 miles
My aerobic capacity felt really good, I was able to hold several conversations with people along the way and I never really felt out of breath.
My legs were definitely hurting though. My left hamstring and knee were acting up. I really had to be cognizant of my left leg. There were times I would land on it just right and it would almost give out. I've had reconstructive knee surgery on the leg about 10 years ago and they had to remove some cartilage. I could feel the bone on bone thing going on in the later stage of the run.
My friends, Greg and Missy were a huge help. Greg waited for me at mile 18 to run me into the finish. I'm not sure if I could have ran the whole way if it weren't for him taking my mind off of the pain. He also really inspired me to run hard the last couple of miles, laying down challenges along the way which motivated me even more.
Even though I didn't reach my goal time, I was happy with the fact that I didn't have to walk and that I finished my first marathon.





Lap Data
Lap Time Distance Pace/Speed AHR MHR
1 09m 02s 1.00 miles 09m 02s /mile 146 160
2 08m 42s 1.00 miles 08m 42s /mile 151 157
3 08m 31s 1.00 miles 08m 31s /mile 151 156
4 09m 17s 1.00 miles 09m 17s /mile 151 156
5 09m 26s 1.00 miles 09m 26s /mile 150 155
6 09m 22s 1.00 miles 09m 22s /mile 151 155
7 09m 28s 1.00 miles 09m 28s /mile 152 158
8 09m 26s 1.00 miles 09m 26s /mile 151 156
9 09m 47s 1.00 miles 09m 47s /mile 153 158
10 08m 52s 1.00 miles 08m 52s /mile 158 164
11 09m 31s 1.00 miles 09m 31s /mile 154 158
12 09m 46s 1.00 miles 09m 46s /mile 154 159
13 09m 39s 1.00 miles 09m 39s /mile 154 158
14 10m 15s 1.00 miles 10m 15s /mile 152 157
15 09m 19s 1.00 miles 09m 19s /mile 159 162
16 10m 09s 1.00 miles 10m 09s /mile 157 163
17 09m 53s 1.00 miles 09m 53s /mile 160 164
18 11m 15s 1.00 miles 11m 15s /mile 153 164
19 10m 14s 1.00 miles 10m 14s /mile 156 166
20 09m 51s 1.00 miles 09m 51s /mile 160 168
21 10m 13s 1.00 miles 10m 13s /mile 159 163
22 10m 42s 1.00 miles 10m 42s /mile 158 162
23 10m 48s 1.00 miles 10m 48s /mile 157 160
24 10m 51s 1.00 miles 10m 51s /mile 157 160
25 11m 11s 1.00 miles 11m 11s /mile 156 158
26 09m 34s 1.00 miles 09m 34s /mile 164 172
27 03m 43s 0.46 miles 08m 05s /mile 175 182