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Des Moines Marathon - RunMarathon

View Member's Race Log View other race reports

Des Moines, Iowa
United States
IMT Des Moines Marathon
45F / 7C
Sunny

Total Time = 6h 09m 32s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 30-35
Age Group Rank = 535/597

Pre-race routine:

Was woken up early at 0300 due to my child being sick with a cough and a fever. Stayed up with him, could not go back to sleep hearing him cough. I finally did get up and got dressed in my ususal compression under garments followed by my faviorate running shorts and singlet. Ate a Cliff Bar with a 12 oz can of V8. Got to the race with about an hour to spare. Was amazed on how easy it was to find a parking spot and how close it was to the start/finish area.

Event warmup:

The fancy hotel at the start gate was kind enough to open its doors and allow us to stand inside to stay warm. I sat in there and chatted with some people for close to 40 minutes. With 20 minutes or so to the race start I made my way to the start area and was doing toe taps and lunges. By the time the race started I was good and warmed up dispite the cool air and wind blowing.

Run

2h 06m 26s
26.2 miles
04m 50s min/mile

Comments:

I really need to work on my hills more. I thought I was well prepaired but I soon learned that I was no where close to being ready. I also would have like to go slower for the first half so that I would have had more energy for the second half giving me a negative split.

What would you do differently?:

Drink less. I drank all the fluids in the cups at each station. I should have only had half of the fluid at each stop. Hearing and feeling the fluid sloshing around in my belly in the second half did not halp matters any.

Post race

Warm down:

Hobbeled around the finish area. My feet were swollen and my legs were cramping and in pain. I walked over to the food, ate while walking to the nearest beanch where I promptly collapsed. I did some simple stretches that did not require me to get up off the beanch.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

To much fluids, not enough hill practice.

Event comments:

Being that this was my first marathon I am happy the way it went. I had orginally wanted to finish in about 5:30 so I only went 30 minutes past my target time. I will be back next year to beat my standing time.

Last updated: 2011-10-19 12:00 AM

Running
02:06:26 \| 26.2 miles \| 04m 50s min/mile
Age Group:	0/597
Overall:	0/
Performance:	Good
Course:	The first four miles flew by, it was like I blinked and I was at the 4 mile mark. We ran through downtown Des Moines with thick cheering crowds on each side of the streets. As we split from the half marathon people the hill portion began. I thought I was ready for the hills, but boy or boy was I wrong! I was able to power up the first hill, muscled my way up the second hill and steady lost steam after that. Of course I was able to cruse down the hills with no problem. The hills were not only steep but very long and winding. After I concured the hills it was falt for most of the rest. We ran one loop in the historic Drake stadium which was an aweinspiring event for me. I was running on the same gound in the same lane that some of the states and nations top runners have been on. After clearing the staduim it was just a few short miles to the half way point. As I passed the mat and read my time I was supprised that even with the four miles of killer hills I did my fasted half marathon time! As I cleared mile 14 I hit my wall. I was able to muscle my way to mile 16 at which point I was picked up by a pace team. I stayed with them for a few miles before I slowed down to do walk/jog intervals. As I did each interval my walk times got longer, my jog times got shorter and slower. By the time I hit mile 23 I knew I was so close but I just had nothing left in me. I saw my son and mom standing a few hundrend yards away and summoned the streangth to run to them. I stopped for a few minutes to talk to them before setting out again. After 3/4 mile I truly thought that I had nothing left to give. I could barly lift up my feet let alone swing them forward for movement. A guy on a bike started to offer words of encouragement and I got jogging again. I realized how slow I was moving when a man and woman passed me, who were walking!!!! The picked me up and with their encouragement I was able to keep up with them for the last two miles. I asked my body for the last bit of energy I had left to run the last 0.2 miles across the finish line. Hearing my name called over the loud speaker and the crowd cheering as he announced that it was my first marathon suddenly made it worth every painful and hard fought step of the way.
Keeping cool	Good	Drinking	Too much

Post race
Weight change:	%
Overall:	Average
Mental exertion [1-5]	5
Physical exertion [1-5]	5
Good race?	Yes

Evaluation
Course challenge	Too hard
Organized?	Yes
Events on-time?	Yes
Lots of volunteers?	Yes
Plenty of drinks?	Yes
Post race activities:	Average
Race evaluation [1-5]	5