A much more reasonable goal was 2:03:33 (9:26 pace), just a smidge faster than the 9:37 pace I ran at H&H and seemingly very doable. According to McRun, that would put me running a half marathon at a pace that would predict a 4:20 marathon, exactly where I wanted to be 20 weeks from Marine Corps. (I don't know that progress is necessarily linear, but the idea of shaving a minute/week off the predicted time seemed like a reasonable approach to working toward the 4-hour goal.)
Still, after talking with my coach and praying about it, I felt like should go for it. I reviewed all the things that could help me run better on race day than I had in training, and coincidentally came up with 13 factors that might make it possible:
1. Being stronger from runs
2. Being down 10 pounds!
3. Being better adapted to the Texas heat after running in it for a few weeks
4. Being on a flatter course than I train on
5. Being rested from tapering this week
6. A new strategy of fat-loading followed by carbo-loading
7. Having an energy gel before I started (as well as 3 during the run)
8. Having a small bottle of water to give me more control over my hydration
9. Getting extra zip from my Zipfizz after not having caffeine for a week
10. Race day adrenaline
11. Having people I care about believe in me and waiting at the finish line
12. What I like to call the "triumph of the human spirit"
13. If at all possible, a miracle from the Almighty. :)
Plus, I reasoned that even if I couldn't hold the pace, I could probably still hit 2:03:33 and/or at least PR...
Mom & I got up at 4:30, left the house at 5:15, and arrived at 5:45, an hour before the official start time...which was then pushed back an hour because of lightening and thunderstorms. We waited in a parking garage, and I bemoaned the futility of my caffeine ingestion at 5:45 (suggested an hour before race time) and started to get a bit hungry! At least I had the foresight to get a good picture BEFORE the race started, figuring I wouldn't look nearly this good after!
Coach had given me a warmup plan, which I did my best to approximate once we got the warning that the race would start in 10 minutes, but there was no way to execute exactly as planned.
We stood in the rain as the national anthem was sung, remembering the Wounded Warriors and why we were all here...
Then the horn sounded, and we were off!
Mile 1 - I felt okay, except for a little pain in my side, and I was holding the pace I needed to break the 2-hour barrier.
Mile 2 - The rain was still coming down, and parts of the course were under water. A guy ran into me as we were coming down a muddy, grassy hill, and I was lucky that I stayed on my feet.
Mile 3 - Still had the pain in my side, but I tried to make up the seconds I lost in the mud on mile 2.
Mile 4 - My heart rate had already climbed to around 190, and I could feel the wheels starting to come off.
Mile 5 - Nausea set in, and I knew I was in trouble. My pace had slowed but my HR had not. I started to let go of the sub-2 goal and pushed myself to try to keep going so I could maybe at least PR.
Mile 6 - By the halfway point, even a PR seemed out of reach. My new goal was simply to finish.
Mile 7 - I decided if I was going to be out here anyway, I ought to get something out of it and at least try to run smart. I started to view the race as a training run and thought if I could back off and recover for the next 3 miles, I might be able to pick up the pace for the last 3 and find some value in that.
Mile 8 - 9 - I skipped my planned GU (and did so again at mile 12) because I didn't think I could keep it down. At one point, pain in my side slowed me to a hobble. Tears were stinging my eyes, but I held them back and pressed on...and did so despite my music cutting out on me. Thankfully, I had thought to put my phone in a ziploc before putting it in the holder on my belt, but Siri kept interrupting the music, and then eventually there was none. I think my headphones died in the rain!
Mile 10 - Time to pick up the pace. And I did. Until I came to the flood. The entire course was covered in water, and there was no going around it, only through it. I plunged my feet into ankle-deep water and prayed not to get debilitating blisters the last 3 miles. As my shoes filled with water, I just had to let go and try to embrace the experience.
Mile 11 - 12 - After the flood, I completely lost motivation to kill myself out there. I just tried to go slow and steady and make it to the finish line. I resisted temptation to walk except thru the aid stations, and the race had simply become running as best I could from one station to the next.
Mile 13 - Once I passed Mile 12, I decided to turn it up, to the extent that such was possible, and I did finish the last 1.2 faster than the ones before it...though considerably behind the pace at which I'd started the day. And no, 1.2 is not a typo. Because we had to weave around so much standing water, it made for a long course. Tough on a day when I was so ready to be DONE.
One bright spot was hearing my Mom cheering for me as I crossed the finish line and getting to see her & my aunt as soon as I was done. Unfortunately, I was kinda dazed and struggled to form coherent sentences. I couldn't hear out of my left ear and felt like I was in a state of emergency. I remained calm but made a bee line for the car, stopping only to grab my medal and a bottle of water on the way.
Thankfully, it's a finishers medal. Not a "had a great race" medal. Additional prizes aside, it's the same medal received by person who crossed the finish line first...and the person who crossed last.
After completely blowing up, my time today was 2:20:50 - significantly worse than Heels & Hills or even Cowtown. (My average pace today was more than a minute slower than what I ran a month ago, even though I'm in better shape now!) Guess that's what happens when you swing for the fences and miss! But as awful as it was from start to finish, I am glad that it happened--and happened today (not in October)--because I learned 2 things:
1. Given how badly I self-destructed trying to run 9:09 for 13.1, I have a lot of work to do if I'm going to hold the same pace for twice the distance.
2. Enjoying the experience is more important than running a 4-hour marathon.
Massage in the morning, and back to work on Tuesday!
Next up: Too Hot to Handle 15K on 07/14
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