I had gone into this race with a goal of 3:25, and thoughts that if I felt good around 18-20 I'd try to shave a few minutes off of that. My training in the last 12 weeks was pretty solid, hitting all of my key workouts. But the Miami Marathon was only 7 weeks ago and this would be my 3rd marathon in 20 weeks so I was a bit concerned with fatigue.

The gun went off and I was off and running. The first 5-6 miles were headed southbound so the pretty steady wind would be at our backs. I tucked in behind a pace group and figured that I would use the group as my wind shield. Normally I don't like running with the pace groups because you are always "in the crowd" and never really get any clear running room, but today I figured it could help me out. Those first 5 miles went fairly well, but then again usually do... the race doesn't start until mile 20 anyway! First 5 down in an average of 7:49.

At about the 5.5 mile mark we made a hard 180 turn and started headed north. This is when the wind pretty much slammed you in the face and never let up. Winds today were about mid-teens, steady, and out of the north, so the next 13 miles or so would be all into the wind. I was still feeling pretty strong and was keeping my pace pretty well. I was still managing to strike a balance between staying tucked in the group for shelter but giving myself enough room to run without worrying about every step. As we approached the mile 6ish water stop I decided to take my first gel. I had planned on doing a gel every 4-5 miles but, for some reason my stomach felt full and I didn't want to risk getting cramps or worse so I held off. Miles 6-10 were again pretty uneventful except for the introduction of the wind. Next 5 mile down in an average pace of 7:41

About the 10 mile mark the course turned onto the boardwalk and we got a true taste of the wind. The hotels and such had provided some shelter when we were on the roads, but now on the boardwalk it as rough. We ran north on the boardwalk for just about 1.5 miles and then made our way back on the street. It was in this stretch that I started to feel like it wasn't going to be a good day. My stomach still felt full, and I couldn't figure out why so I kept on putting off gels and Gatorade. I knew it wasn't a good idea but I was fearing a dreaded GI incident so went with the lesser of two evils. This on top of the fact that I was really just about all done with the wind, mentally I had about reached my limit and I still had a solid 5-6 miles straight into it. I held my pace, but was seriously questioning if this was going to be a good race or not. Miles 11- 15 down in an average pace of 7:42 (13.1 = 1:42:10).

At mile 16 the course turns slightly northwest as you head out of town. This is the loneliest stretch of the race, the road is just a highway through the woods for 3 miles and then you turn into Fort Story for 3 miles as you head back into town. There are very few spectators, if any, and not much to do except let your mind play tricks on you as the pain starts to set in. I knew that I was starting to breakdown at this point... my legs were starting to hurt and right quad was giving me a bit of a fit. I was finding it hard to hold my pace and I was still not taking in the proper nutrition. By mile 20 my quad was killing me and I had to stop to do some stretching, this was the beginning of the run-walk-stretch routine that I would do for the rest of the race. Miles 16-20, or as I like to call them, the beginning of the end, came in at an average of 8:10 per mile.

Mile 21-26.2 was really just an exercise of finishing the race. We didn't make our way out of Ft. Story until about the 22.5 point so after the breakdown I had in the previous segment, I still had to endure a couple of miles of isolation, which didn't make things any better. I had pretty much mentally check out of the race... I hurt, I was all done with the wind, and I knew that my goal was long gone so I just went about limping in to the finish. My run-walk-stretch routine became more frequent and my mile times reflected it. This last leg wound up coming in at an average pace of 10:07.

Not too much really, I finished and just kept walking straight back to the hotel because I was cold and wanted to get a shower and change to make it back in time for my wife to finish. I stretched out some in the hotel, showered, and walked back to the finish area.


Well I think that there were a few things that hindered my performance. 1) I'm pretty sure I was carrying a lot of fatigue with me as this was my 3rd marathon in 20 weeks; 2) the feeling that I was super full prevented me from taking in gels and liquid, this was a bad idea I knew I wasn't full but put off nutrition anyway; and 3) honestly the last few miles when my goal time was out of sight I just kinda gave up, I was cold the wind was demoralizing and I honestly just said effe-it.