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Sedona Marathon - RunMarathon


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Sedona, Arizona
United States
45F / 7C
Overcast
Total Time = 4h 02m 28s
Overall Rank = 41/147
Age Group = M25-29
Age Group Rank = 2/7
Pre-race routine:

Woke up around 6, had a blueberry bagel and some milk. Drank a bottle of gatorade and a package of shot blocks. Met up with the group I was there with at 6:30 and we headed down to park. It was chilly out, so I had a sweat shirt and sweat pants on over my tights, shorts and long sleeve tech shirt.
Event warmup:

No warm up since it was a marathon and I figured I'd get a chance to warm up by taking it easy to start with. Did a little stretching, but just the usual I'd do before since I was planning on starting with 9:30min/miles.
Run
  • 4h 02m 28s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 15s  min/mile
Comments:

I think I kept on target pretty well. The 10minute miles were because of the hills on the way back, but I'm sure I could do better if I actually ran hills occasionally. Based on the Garmin, the time I spent stopped in the port-a-johns was the 2:30 difference between my time and going sub 4, which is kind of a kick in the butt when I look back at it. I guess that's my fault for not emptying out before the race and drinking that gatorade at 6:30am.

I felt the worst around miles 15,16, & 17, but that's relative. I didn't feel horrible, but there does have to be a point were you don't feel the best during a 4hour race. Everyone talks about mile 20 being the point where the race within the race starts. This is where I started seeing a lot of people starting to walk and really slow down. I was feeling awesome at this point so I started picking up the pace knowing that I was bordering a sub 4 time. Considering my last 3.1 miles was done in 27minutes and consisted of the last mile being pure uphill I know I was feeling great (my most recent 5k PB is 22:00 minutes).

The course was definitely hilly!
What would you do differently?:

Since this was my first marathon I didn't know what to expect. Especially with how everyone hyped up this mile 20 thing. For my first time I think I attacked it the best I could. I waited until mile 14 before taking in anything with caffeine, I could probably move that up to mile 11 or 12 instead so that the caffeine has time to kick in a little earlier. I probably could have used it for those hills that started at mile 13 on the way back.
Post race
Warm down:

kept walking, kept moving... tried easy short jogs for 30 feet at a time. Got a massage! which was one of the best I've had in a long time.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Having never done a marathon and not knowing how much reserve to retain for the last 10k.

Having not run hills at all during the past year.

Event comments:

I haven't done another marathon, but I've done half marathons and HIMs. This race was very well organized and had great aid stations. The aid stations were more like buffet lines... at least 1 port-a-john at each aid station, then you had cups with water, then heed, then vitamin water, then organized piles of Hammer gels. Each aid station was set up identical, so you knew exactly what to reach for before you even got to the station.

I spoke with a guy after finishing while in line for a massage that had run 27 marathons in 27 states so far (he's working on the 50 in 50). So I asked him how the difficulty of this race ranks with the other 26 he's done. He said it's definitely one of the hardest... which is exactly what I wanted for my first marathon... it should make all the others seem easier... plus, it shouldn't be hard to beat my time on the next one :)




Last updated: 2010-01-05 12:00 AM
Running
04:02:28 | 26.2 miles | 09m 15s  min/mile
Age Group: 2/7
Overall: 41/147
Performance: Good
paces by mile: 9:06, 9:10, 9:52, 9:09, 9:11 (stopped at a port-a-john), 8:43, 9:22, 8:39, 8:42, 9:09, 8:38, 8:58 (stopped at a port-a-john), 8:11, 9:14, 10:01, 10:16, 10:23, 9:48, 10:30, 10:01, 8:43, 8:50, 9:40, 8:41, 8:11, 9:10, 8:05(last .2) average HR was 155, max was 163
Course: The course was hilly, to the point that there wasn't any flat portions. 40% of the race was on a hard packed dirt fire-road through a national forest. Being Sedona with their redrock/sandstone the footing was good, but constantly changing from the sandstone sticking up out of the dirt pack. The other 60% was on pavement that was in great condition. Overall there was 1800 feet of elevation gain and was an out and back course. The turn around point was at the lowest elevation of the race which made for a killer long drawn out uphill for nearly 4 miles following mile 13. The last mile of course was a long drawn out uphill as well.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
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] 5

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2010-02-09 10:54 AM

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