That was a great finish! Tucson's elite runners all slipped into the realm of irrelevant. Looks like Sellers finished a PR or 2:36 but out of the top 10, Lagat just finished in 2:18 and it looks like Abdi dropped at 21. Not that surprising about Sellers tbh, she had a stars-alignment for Boston, and Lagat looks like he lost the pack and just started running slower and slower. I have a friend running in the pack and he's cruising at mile 19, having run his fastest two miles of the race at 16 and 19. Like me, only got in 8 weeks of a training cycle, so I'm hoping he's got a big reserve left.
My week was:
M - 8E
T - 7 w 3x1T/2 rest
W - 3
T - 3
F - off
S - 26.2 race - downhill marathon (-5000') in 2:40:11
S - 3 later?
Saturday race. Started off auspicious because the parking lot to the busses was single file for 15 minute wait and so I didn't get onto the bus until 4:45 (last bus was supposed to leave @4:45). Then the bus drove 15mph ALL THE WAY to the top (speed limit is 35 and start time was 6:30 for the race). When I asked her if there was some way we could communicate with race officials she said no, that she wasn't going to go any faster, and that her only concern was making it back to Oklahoma alive. I mean, FFS, this person should not be a professional bus driver. As it was, our bus was clogging the route for the busses behind us (while she was bright-lighting all the oncoming traffic without dimming--seriously, find a new career!) so over half the race arrived at 6:25. They delayed the start by 10 minutes but that also meant over half the participant had to use the porta-potties exactly at that moment. I got about 5 minutes of running up and down a hill in before they called us to the start. I was tying my shoes when the National Anthem cut in about halfway through, and all of the sudden it was ready-set-go and I scrambled to start my watch (before it could get a GPS fix).
One guy took off up the hill (there's a long uphill to start, with a quick down over mile 2, and then mile 3-4 are uphill) and I followed him and then quickly slowed down and thought about my race plan. Take it easy. I had put together the splits for 6.55, 13.1, 19.65, and 25.2 I would need to break 2:40 and written them on my forearm. I was going to give myself 6 minutes of slop at the top that the hills would eat up in the first 4 miles, then run 5:50s all the way to mile 25, where it flattens out, and then timed it out for 6:30 pace to the finish. I also planned to walk through all the aid stations so I could actually drink the water instead of just spill it over my face and tongue by trying to drink and run. At this point I had my hat on with a buff around it and over my ears, a pair of arm sleeves, and convertible gloves. It was chilly but not cold. I was going to have to shed it all but I didn't want to lose them, so I always had in my mind tossing them under a memorable landmark and coming back after the race to get them. Clothes tossed on the ground or discarded at aid stations would be donated and I wanted to keep these.
As I slowed down after getting out, some guy came up and quickly passed me, then another, more slowly, and another. I passed one on the downhill, he saying his target was to break 3:00. The next guy I slowly caught by mile 4, he also saying he wanted to break 3:00. This was the top of the hilly section. I was so relieved to be at the top. I really didn't feel that great. I ran the first two miles a little bit fast and my calves were already tight. I figured the lack of warmup and stretching wasn't great but I wasn't about to stop right there and spend several minutes stretching.
1 : 6:57 (+106 ft)
2: 5:47 (-230 )
3: 8:21 (+288)
4: 7:55 (146)
From there down it was 99% downhill. I was in third. I could see a guy in front of me about 80 seconds but I told myself to not worry about him and just try to feel smooth and let it roll. I didn't feel bad, but I didn't feel a groove. I had run this 4 times in training and always just felt so good from the get-go, so I was a little concerned. I hit the aid stations and grabbed water, walking through, and putting my cup in the garbage (pet peeve for people who throw theirs on the ground, though I also understand that they usually don't put the trash cans far enough down the course). I was taking Gu every 45 minutes. I had 3 of them bouncing around in a loose pocket in the back of my shorts. It was kind of annoying so I took my buff off and stuffed it in there to help keep the pocket full and minimize the bouncing. Kinda worked. I hit the 6.55 timer at 43:49 (my target had been 44:38). It was nice running downhill and splitting sub-6s and I didn't want to overdo it but it felt a little bit like work, which I didn't appreciate.
5: 5:57 (-249)
6: 5:48 (-289)
7: 5:56 (-284)
8: 5:42 (-243)
9: 5:57 (-184)
10: 5:41 (-270)
By mile 10 I was seeing the guy in front of me for long stretches and started counting the gap. 80 seconds one mile, 70 seconds another. It wasn't perfect way to time but I thought maybe I was gaining on him, and then spotting him 5-10 seconds at each aid station. By mile 12 I started to feel a groove. It seemed like the gap was closing to under a minute to #2 but I figured if he dies he'll come back. I was getting warm so I rolled my arm-sleeves off in a ball and tossed them over the guardrail next to a sign and immediately forgot what the sign had said. Later, when I would drive up the mountain to get it, I drove way past the point and then drove down slowly, re-living the race to figure out where it was. Miles were finally starting to click off without feeling like work, though I was still aware that my right calf was pretty tight. I hit the half-marathon timer in 1:20:46, whereas my target had been 1:22. Rolled through this canyon and over this huge vista and up the last little hill where I would hit my first 6+ in many miles:
11: 5:49 (-254)
12: 5:33 (-316)
13: 5:46 (-233)
14: 5:38 (-272)
15: 5:52 (-229)
16: 6:14 (-179)
I came off the hill and around into another valley. The guy I had been tailing suddenly seemed much further away. He would disappear over the next few miles as our races took different tracks. Remember the #1 guy that disappeared in the beginning? I don't know what happened to him but I never saw him after mile 2, whereas this guy was in my sights for about 20 miles. They would finish less than a minute apart, but over 6 minutes ahead of me.
At this point I was becoming more acutely aware that my legs were taking a beating. I had 10 miles to go. My quads didn't hurt, which was my big worry, but my calves were starting to feel like rocks, plus my glutes and hamstrings were letting themselves know they were there. I passed a highway sign that said "Elevation 5000'" and I reassured myself that I still had over 2000' to drop. All I needed to do was keep moving my legs and the gravity would take me there. The miles were clicking off, but more painfully. I ditched my gloves next to another sign and ate my last Gu. I stopped for maybe 10 seconds at an aid station to stretch my right calf while I finished a cup of water. I hit the 3/4 mark in 1:58:44. The time I had written on my forearm was almost unreadable but it had once said 2:00:47.
17: 5:47 (-329)
18: 5:43 (-295)
19: 5:47 (-248)
20: 5:43 (-266)
21: 6:09 (-301)
I started passing the half marathon walkers. I was running over my training grounds, 5 miles from my house. I had run these roads a dozen or more times in the past two months. I knew every turn, every line, everywhere I'd stopped on the side of the road to relieve myself. As I passed one HM walker she said, "Good job! There's two in front of you!" Me: "Thanks." Me (inside): "no $hit!". By this point it was really beginning to get hard. I wanted to hit all the tangents but there were walkers everywhere. With headphones. Lined up side by side across the road. I hate that. One time I went by a woman on your right after yelling "On your right!" and of course, which side does she jump? So I ran through the desert for a bit. People I know have walked and run up the mountain and are cheering me on. Our favorite race photographer. I love him, and his photos are great. I gave him the 3-2-1 countdown and took a leap. He shook his head as he had stopped photographing. I put my hand up again and gave the 3-2-1. This time he was ready and got it, though you'll see it was out-of-focus. "Next year!" he told me later. We joked that it cost me 12 seconds.
22: 5:55 (-249)
23: 5:57 (-302)
24: 5:59 (-270)
Those three miles were were I'd run a 15:56 5K mid-run 8 weeks ago and had decided to sign up for this marathon. Never had it hurt this bad. I knew I had banked some time to break 2:40 but this was tough. I hit the "flat" and my sister is out there screaming her head off. I just had to stop to relieve some pain. I walked for 5 seconds and then shuffled back into my run. It seemed to help.
25: 6:52 (-153)
One mile. A couple more stints of walking. Nothing in particular was hurting but at the same time everything was hurting so bad. Walking felt so good, but I was almost there. I ran the last half mile, giving it a good push at the finish. So many friends were there. It was an amazing surprise. My wife, my mom, my sister, a bunch of friends. Amazing to finish in front of them all.
26: 7:27 (-34)
My watch beeped 26 miles as I crossed the finish. I had been surprised at the start so the GPS didn't initialize and probably got the first mile wrong, so strava doesn't know I ran a full mary :-)
Final time: 2:40:11
I know I walked (or jumped?) those 12 seconds off down the stretch but it's still mind boggling to run 2:40. I know it's not a real PR but my old PR is 3:07. I guess now I have to run a real marathon to get a real PR.
https://i.imgur.com/cJfHGuK.jpg