This is a post-dated race report, but it’s all I’ve got. Funny that back when I wrote this I was so focused on the miles themselves and not the actual event. I didn’t even think at the time to make notes about the huge expo, crowds, and all the great support I got. 😉

Finish time was 3:57:22. Very happy with this for a first marathon effort. Four hours was the goal, and I hit it. Having used the Hal Higdon beginner training program, it comes highly recommended!!! The furthest I’d ever run before I began training for this race was a 10k.

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Here’s the breakdown of what happened mile by mile:

  • Mile 1–9:24, Sort of what I expected at the start, made a mental note to NOT try to make all that time up early
  • Mile 2–9:00, About what I wanted to run for the first few miles, so I was really happy and comfortable
  • Mile 3–9:09, Some bottleneck slowed us down, but still no problem. Chris was nursing a hamstring injury. On this mile he tripped, got up and said, “Not my day” and stepped off the course. I felt really bad for him.
  • Mile 4–9:10, Same as above, but starting to worry a little about the pace–Inexperience.
  • Mile 5–8:29, Probably pressing too soon to make up time…I know that now anyway.
  • Mile 6–9:41, Jon stopped to use the restroom. I decided to take as much fluid as I could and wait on him. Hurt timewise, but I figured the extra fluid would pay off. If I’d only known!
  • Mile 7–8:20, Stupidly evened out the last mile to 9:00. Starting to worry a little because my splits are all over the place. I need to settle into a comfortable pace.
  • Mile 8–8:30, Didn’t slow down as much as I’d have liked, but at least I slowed down
  • Mile 9–8:42, THIS is the pace I want
  • Mile 10–8:22, What happened here? I don’t remember, but I think we spent a big part of this mile jumping ahead to try to find space to run.
  • Mile 11–8:45, Got it back.
  • Mile 12–8:56, Long water stop, so that was okay.
  • Mile 13–8:32, Settle down!!!
  • Halfway–1:56, On pace for 3:50, can run a couple of minutes faster on the 2nd half and make it perfectly.
  • Mile 14–8:35, Don’t pick it all up at once! Turned around to look for Jon. He was about 10 yards back, and when we caught eyes he pointed for me to go forward without him. Realized that I’d been the one doing all the talking  or the last few miles. I felt bad leaving him, but we’d decided before the race to meet at the beer if we got seperated…he had all my stuff in his car.
  • Mile 15–8:33, Okay, this is faster than I wanted to go, but I feel fine, right? Take your time with water at the next stop and keep it up!
  • Mile 16–8:59, No idea what was going on!
  • Mile 17–8:44, Settle down, you are going to RACE the last 10k.
  • Mile 18–8:59, Race starts in 2 miles. Eat a Gu, settle down.
  • Mile 19–8:57, Am I just resting for the final 10k, or am I slowing down? I can’t even tell.
  • Mile 20–9:10, Uh…I AM slowing down. Change of plans…I’ll race the last 5k instead of the last 10k.
  • Mile 21–9:22, Losing 10 seconds a mile. It’s going to hurt tomorrow whether you go or not, so GO, GO, GO!!!
  • Mile 22–9:10, See, you can do this!
  • Mile 23–9:30, Uh-oh…change of plans again…that’s okay, just race the last 1.2m instead of the last 5K.
  • Mile 24–10:08, Right calf wants to cramp really bad. I know I can go faster than this, but every time I speed up it gets right to the verge of cramp and I have to slow back down. Got lots of fluid and bananas and try to get this  fixed, but knew I didn’t have much time to go. Just then I saw a guy collapse and smack his head on the pavement. Don’t panic!
  • Mile 25–10:18, Bonified cramp…that’s what I get for pushing harder than I needed to. Ended up costing me more time because I had to stop and rub it out. Change of plans again–race the last .2 instead of the last 1.2…oh well.
  • Mile 26.2–11:47, I DID race the last .2m, and I’ve never hurt and felt so good at the same time in my life.

Made my way through the finisher area through the food and to the started circling around the beer looking for Jon/Sandra/Collin/Shawn. Saw Jon about 5 beers later as he finished about 30 minutes behind me. He grabbed a  beer, and we had to leave immediately so he could meet his family and give me my stuff since they were having lunch.