I choose the Illinois Marathon for my spring 2014 race. I did the I-Challange which is a 5K on Friday night, Full Marathon on Saturday AM.
Miles 1-6: Pacing was good, right around 7:40 which was my goal. HR was in check, below 160 and things felt great.
Miles 6-11 - Looking back over my data my HR jumped on a small hill at about 6.5 to the mid 160s, and never recovered. Still not a danger zone, but much closer to bad news. I still felt pretty good for this portion of the race, though there was a 2 mile section through a park that I did not enjoy very much. My nutrition and fluid intake was good, but I did notice that the sun and quickly warming temps were starting to drain me a bit.
At mile 11.5 another small hill, and another small jump in HR that did not recover. I was now upper 160's which would become lower 170s just after the half. I had not checked my HR at this point in the race, maybe if I had I would have backed off a bit.
HM: 1:39:54, 7:37 average pace at this point, right where my race band wanted me to be for a 3:20. Looking back, perhaps I should have started a bit slower, closer to 7:40 for the first half. I began to feel the race at this point.
Miles 13-17: Probably the worst part of the race. I did not realize where my HR was, but I really began to struggle. Just past the 15 mile marker, I bonked, decided to try to walk for 30 seconds. When I checked my HR I realized what had happened. I ran/walked the next couple miles, but was unable to get myself back to a comfortable running zone. The wall had come and kicked my ass! Just past 17 the 3:25 pace group (my BQ) went by me and when I was unable to pick it back up and run with them, my race was over.
Miles 18-22 - After pouting for a bit, I grabbed an ice cold beer from a guy supporting the race in his front yard, enjoyed the libation, and figured I would just run/walk my way to the finish and just try to keep it under 4:00. I was enjoying myself. Found fellow "bonker" and we chatted our way between water stations, ran when we could, walked when we had to and talked about what we would eat to replace all the calories we were burning.
Mile 22-Finish: The Illinois Marathon has first time marathon participants wear a "my first marathon" bib on their backs. About mile 22 there was a young woman walking with her head drooping and looking dejected. I tapped her on her back as I ran by and said, "let's get this done!" She took out her ear buds, and started running with me. She told me she just wanted to finish under four hours, but was really struggling. I knew we had a sub-4 if we just kept a steady run/walk pace for the last 4 miles. There is a hill at mile 24 and when we crested it we looked at eachother, and I said, let's run this thing in. It was wonderful to see her excitement as we crossed at 3:52.
Top 24% overall and top 28% in 45-50 Age Group is not so shabby for a "bad" race!. I think it was the clear and sunny skies and warmer temperatures were much warmer than what I trained in and caused me to bonk. Even without hitting my goal time, I had a great marathon and running weekend. I was able to re-connect with a college friend, run a really fun 5K with a friend and neighbor, with a fun under the lights finish at the 50 yard line of Memorial Stadium. I also got to run with my Ragnar teammate from last year, for the first 7 miles of the marathon (her half marathon) where we paced it perfectly. The tears running down her cheeks and a big hug for me at the finish made my missing out on a BQ much easier to stomach. I am disappointed I did not hit my Boston Qualifying time, but realize how blessed I am to get the opportunity to run with such great people, finished the race healthy, and will get a chance to hit that BQ in my next marathon!
