DJdavey was running the race as well and was looking to shoot for a sub 3 so we decided to stick together for the first half and play it by ear. Our training had been different in that he had been doing more of his longs at race pace or thereabouts while i was sticking with the recommended 30-60 seconds off of race pace by the cool runnings plan. This has worked for two other BQs so I thought that ratcheting it down a wee bit on the longs might help.

We worked our way up to the front as much as possible and started to work our way through the crowds which was ok in keeping us tethered in a bit that first mile. Plan for the first 5 was 34 mins which we nailed being just south of that. We thought we were 5 seconds over based on times of stopwatch and garmin vs mat so I loudly screamed at him with a thick German accent something about 5 seconds over not cutting it kind of to freak out the spectators and it did. One dudes wtf look was priceless.

We really just kept chirping along through the subdivisions and at times we were seeing 625-630 and i asked Dave if we really wanted to be there so we would reel it in a little to 640-645. felt really good through the half point and i thought we would have easy sailing as the forecast called for winds that would be at our backs. those decided however to change coming from the northeast, nailing runners from miles 16-22 along the river.

about mile 14 Dave started pressing pace a bit and I wasnt about to press hard at this point, especially since the forecasters were also wrong about it being overcast. nope, blue sunny skies and once you got out of the subdivisions, there was lots of open spaces to work on your tan. it wasnt that warm at this point but my history of meltdowns or dehydration issues more appropriately told me it was time to be cautious. i was still averaging around 6:51 per mile at 20 but this is when things started to unravel. I think its a combo of pace and hydration, though i took in fluids at just about every stop, hit up gels on schedule and took to salt tabs. Things got ugly after about 22 and started taking a few walk breaks. Cramps starting hitting in the groin and left hammy after mile 23. So yep, I blew me up real good it seems. Having no shot at sub 3, I just became concerned with getting my arse to the finish. There was little sense of urgency about hitting a PR at this point, almost like i threw in the towel a bit. I look at this in the aftermath as doing the smart thing as had i not managed things the way i did it could have been worse. So splashed some walking in there and splits got ugly but i knew that rolling the dice might yield something like this. Oh well, better luck next time (or better training)

splits
711,644,637,642,644
643,650,644,656,645
647,647,648,653,652
701,652,654,707,714
742,856,825,917,858
858 .25 @ 801 pace

havent had a blow up like that on a stand alone since vegas!


i think its time to move on to something that is a bit less obtuse vs the plan i am on. its been great in getting me to 3 for 3 in BQs but i think i am just going to have to step it up and focus training differently to get under 3 and beyond. i knew i was going to press pace relative to training and i am a skeptic that i am able to simply chop off 30 seconds from training pace on race day. i was also not a big fan of the 3 week taper as with this and boston 09 cycle i started feeling a bit stale after that 2nd week. i might be eyeballing some of the pfitz/douglas plans for more direction. i do think some of this was the sweating crap too but i think i managed to stuff in fluids that i could and take gels on a timely basis. maybe losing a few pounds would work for me too but that seriously cuts into my slugging power for kickball.

Got my medal and shirt and felt miserable. saw davey and congratulated him on his 302 and change and BQ. After some chocolate milks and a super stale bite of a bagel, i decided i couldnt hang and would just walk over to the car. holy crap was that a sufferfest. kept drinking water, had some endurox in the car and tried to sit down for the 2+ hour drive home. my left hip flexor was spasming like crazy and my right calf was firing off similary. sweet. ride was uneventful though my bitching about never doing another mary again during the last 3-4 miles suddenly became which one when and how to replace my plan.


i told davey when we were making the game plan and he was hoping to BQ first and foremost that a nice 305 sounded so much easier. i think the intensity on my longs lacked and a few minute PR would have been possible with a less aggressive race plan but what fun is that? so will be figuring out where to go from here.


Pretty decent race. course was ok. the area around the river was pretty boring. post race food was eh but they did have chocolate milk which is huge.