All right, we stationed ourselves in between the 3:30 pace group and the 3:40 pace group. Our goal was to hold 3:35 pace for the majority of the race, and that would give her 5 minutes of fluff to work with.

The start was rather crowded, as you could imagine, and we tried to ease into our run. The first mile ticked off at 8:00 flat. It felt super easy, and we knew that we needed to back off a little. However, the second and third miles passed in 7:52 and 7:46, respectively. In our defense, the third mile has a big downhill, so it was rather easy, right? At about mile 1.5 my ITBS flared up for the first time. It was minor and it went away, but I thought that was too early for the knee pain. At this point, I stripped off my sweatshirt and left it for the homeless, so I was left running in shorts, a tank, thermal hat and thin gloves. Gotta have gloves to run when it's cold.

We kept saying that we needed to back off. We agreed to try to run at 8:20 pace, because we were so far ahead of our goal. About this time, the 3:30 pace group passed us from behind, and I said, where did they come from? The good news was that we settled in, and people were passing us. That's what we wanted to see.

Mile 4 was 8:04, so we slowed down a little. I took my first gel at about this point, and I had been drinking a cup of water and a cup of powerade at each aid station.

Mile 5 through 8 were pretty uneventful. The times were 8:11, 8:13, 8:10 and 8:08. By mile 9, we finally slowed down and ran 8:20. Oh yeah, I should mention that at mile 7 or so, my knee was really hurting. I thought that if it kept up, I might not be able to make it, but after 7, the downhill to the lake kicked up, and my knee pain went mostly away.

In mile 10, my SIL stopped to go potty. Only after the race did I discover that she went Number 2! Hah. I am so glad that I got that out of the way before the race. I walked ahead and took a gel, and stretched my IT Band a little waiting for her to catch up. Mile 10 was 9:11.

Mile 11 was right on target at 8:20, but I knew that I wasn't going to make it much longer without a potty break of my own. I stopped at the end of mile 12 to go, and it turned into a 9:28 mile, including the break. My schedule of a cup of water and a cup of powerade was too much, so I cut back to a swallow of each.

She did not walk to wait for me, so I kicked it in and ran about a half a mile in 3:30 or so to catch her. Mile 13 for me was 7:34. This put us at 1:47:23 through 13 miles, which equated to a 3:36:25 pace. Seriously, at this point, I thought I could run all day at this pace. It was just so easy. Most of my long runs were at 7:45 - 8:00 pace, so this was a total stroll to me. Meanwhile, Kristi, the one who was trying to qualify for Boston, was not feeling her best. She had taken out a gel at mile 10, but tossed it after I told her not to take it since she felt queasy. She still didn't feel great, so I told her to cut out the powerade and drink only water until her stomach was right.

Mile 14 was 8:10, Mile 15 was a litte slower in 8:38 and I am not really sure why. Mile 16 was back on pace at 8:12. I took my third GU at about this point, and I have to tell you that I began to feel a little fatigued. However, I did not feel like I was going to crash, I only felt like I was laboring a little. "These are the dark miles", I told myself. Keep on going and we'll make it to the line on time.

At the end of 18, I had to pee again. Kristi did not stop, and I did not want her to. I expected to catch up with her after my break. Mile 18 was 9:06 for me, which included the break. I got out of the port-a-potty, and walked a step or two while I tied my drawstring, then tried to run but was met with searing pain in my knee. Where did this come from? I had to struggle for a hundred yards or so before it was minimized, but it was the worst pain I have had with this injury.

After the break, I spotted Kristi ahead - she was wearing a lime green outfit, so she stood out. However, I noticed that I was not going to catch her so quickly this time. Mile 19 passed quickly - 7:49 - but I was still behind her at the end of it. The good news was that her husband joined her just before the end of 19 and he was going to pace her in for the rest of the way.

Miles 20 and 21 are the most difficult on the course. They start with the "Dolly Parton Hills", which is a steep but short uphill, with a little dip, and then another up hill. The aid station is manned by guys in dresses and blond wigs along with two huge pink baloons in their dresses. Good comedy. However, at the base of those hills, I knew I was in trouble. At this point, I knew the rest of the race was going to be a battle. Some one there was cheering "you're almost there!" I pointed to them and said, "Stop saying that. We are not close." That is a pet peeve of mine. If you are going to cheer at a marathon, you need to know what to say at mile 19 and "you're almost there" is not it. At all.

After the DP Hills, I paced my BIL and SIL, and I was 15 seconds behind. You turn to go up a long, steady climb ~130 ft of gain in about 1.2 miles. Along that climb, they just got further and further away. And although the pain wasn't completely here yet, I knew it was in the mail.

Mile 20 was 8:45 and mile 21 was 9:02. Uh-oh.

The end of 21 is the peak, and the rest of the course is down hill. Just at the beginning of 22, the 3:40 group caught up with me. OK, I had a new plan. I would hang on to the 3:40 group and if I caught up with Kristi and Brent, I would run ahead and warn them to pick it up! I hung on as best I could for the rest of that mile and checked in at 8:19 for the mile. At the end of 22, I was right with the 3:40 group still.

However, I was toasted. Wasted. Crashed. Blown up. Out of gas. That was the extent of the race that my training prepared me. I had to walk at the 22 mile marker and I resolved to walk/run on in. Everything hurt at this point, and it was not that my knee was bothering me. The first muscles to cramp were my lats. You read that right. At 22, though, almost everything was hurting. I walked for 30 seconds or so, and managed to struggle to a 10:00 mile 23.

Now, with a touch more than a 5K left, everyone is passing me. Old men, kiddos, the stupid fresh relay people, three women chatting about Christmas shopping, a three-legged squirrel bounded ahead of me (Thanks, Tom). I was dying out there. 24 and 25 featured about a minute of walking, and their times were 11:23 and 11:14.

Now I had 1.2 to go, and I still could not run the rest of the way in. I was completely devoid of energy. What's worse, a couple of times when I started to run, my ITBS flared up, and I had to walk some more. I walked what felt like a majority of the lonely last mile. It was funny how few specatators I noticed in the first 2.5 miles of the last 3.2. I will note two people, though. One was an extremely pregant women at about 1.5 mile until the finish. I asked her "how much longer?" But she thought I was talking about the race - that's the last thing I wanted to think about at that point. The other was a girl at the mile 25 aid station. She yelled something like "Hey cutie!" and of course my ego caused me to turn and look. She made eye contact and I smiled and waved and plodded along. Yeah, I still got it...

Okay, coming down the finish stretch and I am notice that the 3:50 gang is catching me. This cannot do, so I dig deep and start jogging. However, I have to walk again at about 300 yards from the finish. I see Brent there, and he says, "Two turns and you're there!" So I start running again. I am in some delirous pain here, folks. As I see the finish line, I think, "yes. The pain is about to end." However, about five steps from the line, both hamstrings cramp up. AHHHAHHAHHHH! I have to walk across the line. That bites. Final 1.2 was in 13:25, which is 11:11 pace.

I finished still ahead of the 3:50 group in 3:49:50. But remember that I was "on pace" for 3:40 at mile 22. Over the last 4.2, I gained nearly 10 minutes.

Train more. But you have to not get injured to do that.

In truth, I did enough training for a 22 mile race.

I don't think that I could have run the first 18 miles any easier. So my pace was okay, I beleive, but my mileage base just was not there.

The next time I do a marathon, I'll train better for it. I am glad that I finished this race, and proud that I finished better than 4 hours. However, I am frustrated that I could not find the will to finish better over the last four mile. I found that energy in Ironman Arizona, but that was on a full training base.

Ice for the knee, drank tons of powerade and walked/shuffled to the car.

Here was another low for the day. I could not sit in my car! Every time I tried to slide my leg under the steering wheel, it would cramp up! Fortheloveofpete, how am I supposed to drive home?


ITBS. Bottom line is that I am mad at my knee for getting injured.

However, I am looking forward to next season, and I will likely do another marathon next year, because I am not doing a full Ironman.