Rocket City Marathon

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Rocket City Marathon - Run


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Huntsville, Alabama
United States
Huntsville Track Club
70F / 21C
Overcast
 		Total Time = 4h 17m 43s
Overall Rank = 513/1145
Age Group = 25-29 M
Age Group Rank = 28/43
Pre-race routine:

Got a small breakfast of a muffin and juice. Started hydrating as soon as I woke up.
Event warmup:

Walked from hotel to race start, walked around park for about 10 minutes. Then stretched for about 10 minutes.
Run
  • 4h 17m 43s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 49s  min/mile
Comments:

Worked really hard in the beginning to pace myself. Since this was my first marathon, I had no idea what was reasonable to expect in terms of fatigue. I started out like normal, passing lots of people and just running at a comfortable pace, but when I was about to pass the 4:10 pace group I decided that I was running too fast, so I ran with them for as long as I could. I've never run with a pace group before, but this was key. I ran with the group (without walking) until mile 22! Definitely the farthest I had ever run! At that point my body was exhausted, but I forced myself to run for at least half mile spurts with as little walking as possible through the end.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe start with a pace group? And plan to stick with them no matter what. Really though I far surpassed my expectations and goals for this race, so I can't complain...
Post race
Warm down:

Tried not to die. Had to work really hard to get my breathing under control, and I basically was just walking around aimlessly trying to get my legs to stop being angry.

Event comments:

First marathon done. I would do this race again.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2012-09-18 12:00 AM
Running
04:17:43 | 26.2 miles | 09m 49s  min/mile
Age Group: 28/43
Overall: 5013/1145
Performance: Good
Course: Really liked the course. Running through the neighborhoods was nice, and I felt like I saw a lot of Huntsville throughout the course. It was also ridiculously flat (well not completely, but compared to Nashville...).
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2012-12-19 8:45 AM

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Nashville, TN
Subject: Rocket City Marathon

2012-12-19 9:11 AM
in reply to: #4540900


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Subject: RE: Rocket City Marathon
Congratulations on your first marathon.  I had this one on my radar.  I ran my first marathon Dec 1 (St Jude Memphis).  I will definitely run another and this may be the one.  I did really like St Jude as well.  Not as flat as I expected but far from the hills of middle TN.  I recommend St Jude - more people than Rocket City but no where near as crowded as Country Music Half/Full.  It also supports a great cause.
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