Whew! First of all, those folks who told me no matter how good I feel to keep the pace slower the first half of the race, you were so right. The weather was perfect and I was feeling great. I was shooting for 8:00/splits (finishing ~3:30:00). I hit the first mile marker at 8:02. Unfortunately, I ran 10 of the next 14 miles doing sub-8:00 splits. The game plan was to complete the first half around 1:47:00. I came charging through a little over 1:43:00.
Miles 16 and 17 weren't bad, but by then, there was no stopping the damage. Miles 22 and 23 were the first miles I did above 9:00, clocking a 9:04 and 9:01 respectively. Mile 25 was the ugliest of the race and I got through 26 because I could see the finish line.
In terms of logistics other than pacing, I ditched the ski cap at mile 3 and unloaded the sweatshirt at mile 4. I kept the gloves on until mile 22 when my hands started feeling really steamy. I took gels at miles 6, 13 and 19. I wanted to take the second gel around 12, but there wasn't any water at that marker. In retrospect, the last couple of miles might not have been so bad if I had taken a gel at 23, but that is just speculation.
My finishing time was 3:37:30, which is respectable for a first marathon. It was definitely a learning experience, and I can only wonder what could have been had I stuck to the game plan.
The finish was great. Karen, Emily and Maggie were on the track infield yelling and my spinning buddy Kelly (who had run the half-marathon) was on the sideline cheering for me 100 yards from the finish. After I hit the final curve of the track, I sprinted to the finish line. The picture to the right is one Karen snapped of me finishing.
My quads are still killing me. Living in a 2-story house has it's disadvantages after a marathon. They are starting to feel better now. I'm going to try and get a massage tonight or Thursday night. Many of my friends have called or e-mailed to congratulate me. I even got a round of applause from my spinning class this morning. Overall, it was a terrific experience and I look forward to running another one soon.
UPDATE
The splits on the MorionBased website are a bit out of whack, partly because I lost GPS signals a couple of times under the tree canopy. For posterity, I have listed below the mile splits as recorded by my watch when I passed the mile markers. Also included is the average heart rate for every mile, and the heart rate at the end of the mile. Miles 5 and 6 are loopy because mile marker 5 was placed in the incorrect position, making that mile much shorter and mile 6 significantly longer.
| Heart Rate | |||
| Mile | Pace | Average | HR @ lap-end |
| 1 | 8:02 | 159 | 165 |
| 2 | 7:36 | 166 | 164 |
| 3 | 7:40 | 165 | 164 |
| 4 | 7:53 | 166 | 165 |
| 5 | 7:33 | 167 | 167 |
| 6 | 7:02 | 164 | 165 |
| 7 | 8:47 | 165 | 163 |
| 8 | 8:08 | 162 | 164 |
| 9 | 7:51 | 165 | 164 |
| 10 | 7:57 | 164 | 163 |
| 11 | 8:05 | 164 | 164 |
| 12 | 8:04 | 164 | 165 |
| 13 | 8:07 | 164 | 165 |
| 14 | 7:41 | 164 | 167 |
| 15 | 7:54 | 166 | 163 |
| 16 | 8:09 | 163 | 160 |
| 17 | 8:11 | 163 | 165 |
| 18 | 8:29 | 159 | 158 |
| 19 | 8:31 | 163 | 163 |
| 20 | 8:32 | 159 | 162 |
| 21 | 8:39 | 160 | 159 |
| 22 | 9:04 | 159 | 157 |
| 23 | 9:01 | 157 | 157 |
| 24 | 9:28 | 155 | 154 |
| 25 | 9:47 | 155 | 156 |
| 26 | 9:29 | 156 | 159 |
| Finish | 2:02 | 150 | 162 |
Finally, I forgot to mention that I attribute much of the success in my first marathon to guidance, advice, and motivation I received from my terrific training partners James Cardozo and Mike McLamb and my spin buddies Kelly Brown, Vanessa Goodrum and Greg Yarborough. Most of all, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my wife and family for putting up with all of my training (often at inconvienent times) and goofy nutritional requirements. Thanks guys.
8:56 PM
