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North Carolina Marathon - RunMarathon


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High Point, North Carolina
United States
Foster Friends of North Carolina
75F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 07m 45s
Overall Rank = 102/301
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 7/20
Pre-race routine:

Woke up about 4:30 and got out of bed around 5:00. Ate a couple of bagel thins with peanut butter and honey and sipped a gatorade. Got dressed and drove to the race site to meet up with our training group.
Event warmup:

I had 26.2 miles and a hot day to get myself warm so nothing.
Run
  • 4h 07m 45s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 28s  min/mile
Comments:

Well I always have a goal in mind when I start a race but today was one of those days that I should have tossed it out before the start. I wanted to go sub 4 and I thought I had a pretty decent shot at it but the weather was about to send me a rude awakening. We spent all winter training for this in temperatures that rarely made it out of the 30's. Plenty of ice and snow to go along with it! And what do we get on race day? A temperature that exceeded averages by 20 degrees. It finally topped out at 81 but luckily I was done before that.

I started off dead on my planned pace and hit the half way point just 7 seconds per mile under where I wanted to be. I could feel my quads were getting tight but hoped that they wouldn't ever get to the point of interfering with my running. Just past mile 18 I felt my right quad get really tight and knew that a cramp was fast approaching so I stopped to stretch it out. Uh oh! When I went to stretch both my calf and quad cramped at the exact same time. I started walking immediately to get the to loosen back up.

I was thinking to myself that I still had a shot at my goal at point. But the cramping was always ready to hit me again. I kept up a run walk from that point on. I would stop running when I felt one coming and start again when I thought I could go for a while. It was a long 8 miles to the finish. I watched my average pace drop off second by second and by mile 22 I knew that with the cramping I wasn't going to make the 4 hour mark no matter how hard I pushed at the end. No amount of Infinit and water could ease the cramps so I finished as strong as I could without totally trashing myself and knew that I had left anything on the course. It was disappointing to not meet my goal but considering the conditions and the effect it had on everyone else I was still proud of the way I raced.
What would you do differently?:

Cut the pace waaayyy back! Granted I probably wouldn't have had a better time but I think I would have definitely felt better in the later miles. Work on hydration although I truthfully don't know what I would do differently.
Post race
Warm down:

Crossed the finish line, got my medal, got a wet towel. Walked back to the car and got my chocolate milk and walked back the the finish. My lefts hurt worse than I can ever remember at that point. After walking around for about 15 minutes I started to stretch and that felt so much better. Waited for my wife and the rest of our running group to finish and went home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Running volume. Temperature. Experience.

Event comments:

I'll be back, next year, perhaps. I have something to prove on this course and I'm not planning on letting it get the last laugh!




Last updated: 2009-11-24 12:00 AM
Running
04:07:45 | 26.2 miles | 09m 28s  min/mile
Age Group: 7/20
Overall: 102/301
Performance: Below average
Course: Rolling course through High Point and out to Colfax and back. Not a whole lot of flat out there. Around 1275' of total climb on the course.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

{postbutton}
2010-03-21 12:37 PM

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Veteran
300
100100100
Colfax, NC
Subject: North Carolina Marathon


2010-03-21 1:54 PM
in reply to: #2738494

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Veteran
271
1001002525
Greensboro,NC
Subject: RE: North Carolina Marathon
Great race on what ended up being a hot day-especially if you were doing the marathon. I thought temperatures were perfect for the 1/2. Also, that is a hilly course so another reason to be proud of your time.

John
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