Notes
NCR Marathon
The Plan:
The plan was to run the first half in 90 minutes, or ideally a little under, with the most consistent pacing I could manage. Then negative split the second half however much I can, keeping in mind to leave some energy for the infamous last 10k.
What Happened:
Let's dig in to what actually unfolded.
Miles 0-8: For the first 8 miles, I stayed very relaxed and my splits were consistently in the range of 6:46-7:09. The first issue was that it felt like I was running more like a 6:45-6:50 average pace. This is a genuine source of confusion for me at the moment. I passed maybe 2 or 3 people during this segment I think.
Miles 9-Turnaround (just shy of 14): As I said, I suddenly develop a sharp but also bruise-like pain in my right foot. Right where that "knob" is on the outside of your foot before the pinky toe, is my best way of describing the location. This was obviously discouraging, so I told myself dropping out is ok but only if it gets to the point where my form is significantly inefficient and the injury feels serious. If I'm going out, I'm going out actually injured. These miles still hover around 6:55 ish for the average, exacerbating the mental irritation I was already experiencing. I think this was the worst part of the race mentally. I did manage to pass maybe one or two more people this segment.
Post Turnaround-19: After the turnaround I shake off some of the negativity/fear and catch a second wind. The pain in my foot subsides slightly for miles 14 and 15, or maybe it was just my anger. Miles 14 and 15 were much quicker and this was honestly my favorite part of the race, I felt great for once and I was rollin. Then I slowed a bit but kept her steady through mile 19. Let's look at the splits, my watch was very close and sometimes dead on with the mile markers this race.
14-19: 6:41, 6:19, 6:32, 6:46, 6:53, 6:37.
Miles 20-22: My quads are starting to develop that shitty, painful fatigue, but it's not nearly as bad as it was during the Salisbury marathon (in April recall). My foot is hurting kind of badly now as well. I kept having thoughts about dropping out. I played the game of make it to the next road crossing. Since each time the trail intersected a road there were volunteers etc. so it would make sense to drop out there. This worked and kept me in the race. Miles 20-22 were, respectively, 6:58, 6:56, 7:07.
The Rest: After mile 22 I am in agony between my quads and my foot. But the good news is, the pain in my quads was again not like it was during the Salisbury, and for the first time, I never once stopped to walk! I did still kind of eat shit though and I would like to avoid this happening as badly next time. I passed one more person during this last stretch. Let's see the splits for 23-finish:
7:21, 7:18, 8:20, 8:02, not sure what the last 0.2 was but Strava has 6:55 pace.
The finish line: Upon crossing the finish line I immediately feel horrible. Not only did my legs hurt but so did a lot of core and back muscles. I feel very nauseas and have the spins like I had been drinking too much. I laid down on the ground off to the side but had myself propped up on my elbow. Volunteers are asking me if I need medical and if I need anything. They were extremely kind and brought me a blanket, pretzels, water, and a banana. After maybe 5-10 minutes of this hell, I start to feel better and then I leave with my family.
When I got home, I stepped on the scale before hopping in the shower. It read 129, so that's minus 5 or 6 pounds. I think dehydration may have been part of my issue. I had gels around miles 7 ish, 13 ish, and 18 ish. It takes me a good 5 or 10 minutes to actually get the entire gel down. And I had a cup of water at probably ever other station, but definitely not every station, which is probably what I should have done. But I hate taking water while running, it's so awkward. I honestly don't like taking in gels either. My stomach doesn't like any of it, especially after 2 hours. I think this is something I need to work on going forward.
I'm not convinced that I would have cracked 3 even without the foot issue, to be honest. I still felt too shitty after mile 22, and there was that strange issue of 6:50 pace feeling faster than it normally does during the first half. I'm pretty confused at this point. I don't understand what's wrong. I'm wondering if my genetics are not that great for the marathon, meaning my short distance times may always have poor translation. Maybe I need to break 17 for the 5k to be comfortably under 3 for the marathon. I don't know what else to think besides needing more experience/maturity.
This is a bittersweet ending to competitive running for the year. I'd be lying if I said I'm not a little disappointed, but I'm happy to have a new PR and lessons learned. I don't know what my plans are for the spring yet. I need time to think about it. For now, I am going to take a good 4 or 5 days to let my legs completely rest. Then use an elliptical and stationary bike the next few days before starting to run again. As flavio said, maybe my foot issue will go away during this time.
Thanks to all for tracking and showing support. Let me know if we'd like to discuss any of the highlighted issues.