I ran the Full Marathon at the Orange County Marathon today and the plan called for me to run it @IM Pace. This translates to an 8:00 MPM Pace and would have given me a projected 3:30 Finish Time.

I ran the first half in 1:43:xx and was just a couple of minutes ahead of pace. This was a bit unnerving for me since I had taken in some pretty good hills on the first half and ran a couple of the downhills way too fast for my goal.

At the end of mile 14, I stopped at the Loo to drop the kids off at the pool. I have this routine down cold and was in and out pretty quickly and seemed to catch up to the group I was running with again pretty quickly.

Not long after the Loo was the Mile 15 Marker and I clocked an 8:10 for that mile. Heck, I will take it since I did have a stop in there. Then before I know it, I am at mile 16 and my watch split showed, much to my horror, A 6:38 Minute Mile

I thought maybe the MM was out of place and I asked someone with a garmin what he thought. He said it seemed to be off a bit but when I asked him his pace, he said a ~7:00 MPM and I was passing him eek:

I missed MM 17 and hit the next one in 14:20 and then a 6:05. Something was definitely wrong with the MM but I was definitely not running my target pace. No way I ran a 6:05 mile at this point in the marathon when my 5k PR is not even at that pace.

As I continued to run, I blew past so many folks, some who had passed me earlier in the first half, and by mile 18, I was running like a "dog with a bone in his teeth". Then I was running alone with only a couple of folks way ahead of me and I was catching up to them fast. (Now i was racing )

In the last 3 miles we were heading into the jaws of a steady Hot Dry Wind but I was not going to let this slow me down much. With so many runners wilting in the heat and the wind, I was blowing past everyone. I made up a lot of placement on the field in the last 10k. I passed my final runner right at the finish line.

The whole last half, I was getting lots of comments from runners and spectators for how strong I was running and I never felt bad. (Until I stopped in the finisher's chute when I gagged on some G'Ade)

Some stats that I am sure of:

Finish Chip Time: 3:21:42
First Half: 1:43:00
Second Half: 1:38:42

AG Place 13th
Overall: 68th

3rd fastest marathon (Missed 2nd fastest by 1 minute)

And... I now have a BQ for 2012. My time is between 5 and 10 minutes faster than the standard so I can register early. (I think on Friday rather than Monday) I am not going to even think about Boston until after IMCdA in the end of June.

As a tuneup race, I guess it was a success. I did ~14 miles @ IM Pace and more importantly, got a good read on my current fitness; in spite of the fact that I sandbagged the first half of the race. I don't trust some of the splits but I do trust my time for the second half.

The real test is going to be how many days of recovery is required. I was really putting on the damage late in the race but I feel pretty good. My plan was to train through it but I might need a day or two to recover. I have a ride planned for tomorrow (Commute to Work) and we will see how creaky I am.

I want to give a big thanks to IRFB for his encouragement throughout the day. He was riding from point to point on the course on a Mtn Bike cheering for some of his runners and he took every opportunity to cheer me on as well. (Thanks Man, I owe you one)

Also have an awesome run and lunch with IRFB, 395Guy and 261. I suspect that our little training run on Friday (On the Course) paid some huge dividends on race day because I got to see and feel what was coming. (Part of the course in Newport Beach was reworked this year)

Run my target pace and maybe wear a garmin since the MM were obviously out of place.