Race Report: 2009 NJ Marathon - Part 2

After 36 hrs (longest I've had to wait for chip results), it's official. My BQ effort was 3:14:24.

Some final thoughts about yesterday's race, in no particular order:

• How much did my non-running workouts help? The crunches, biking, push-ups, pull-ups, light weights, etc?
  
  
• I ran a negative in a marathon for the first time (1:38:21 & 1:36:03)! I'm really proud about this, but I didn't try to do it. I just tried to keep the foot on the pedal and hang on for as long as I could from mile 10.
  
  
• Significantly less training mileage than last year's NYC marathon, yet I feel that's almost inconsequential because...
  
  
• ...of the smarter salt and fluid intake. I was confident in my running ability but not my hydrating strategy. In ALL my other marathons, I'd start with the gels at about mile 6. This time I started at mile 4 and took every 3.5 to 4 miles, drinking lots of water along the way. There were water stations where I took Gatorade at the front, guzzled it, and took water at the end of the station. This was in addition to the small Poland Spring water bottle that I mixed with lots of salt.
  
  
• Also can't discount that the flat course made the pacing significantly easier. Although it rained, in my mind that wasn't going to prevent me from my goal time.
  
  
• Next on my running checklist? Get faster in the shorter races. Have the Queens Biathlon in two weeks. It'll be a nice change of pace to get back on my bike. Now if I can only find a free body of water to swim.
  
  
• Personal rewards - my wife said I should buy a new "super suit" for myself if I BQ'd. I'm heading to Jackrabbit this weekend to pick it up :-)

And I think that's about it. I titled this blog "Boston or Die Trying." I thought of going into blogging hibernation now that I've accomplished that but I've also enjoyed chronicling these little goals. Maybe I want my kids to read these some day. In any case, for now, it's good-bye spring marathon training, hello summer fun!

Race Report: 2009 NJ Marathon

The official results are not up yet, but according to my Garmin, I legged a 3:14:23 marathon. Good enough to qualify for Boston. WOOHOO! Here's how my day went...

Woke up at about 5:40AM to get ready, get dressed. Thankfully, my friend and my wife agreed to drop me off when I had originally planned on driving. Pre-race morning was cool and wet, with sporadic light rain. Left the house with the following ammunition:

• small bottle of water with 20 pinches of salt - easier for salt intake than salt packets
  
• 6 Roctane Gu gels - 4x the sodium than other gels
  
• 2 emergency energy table samples (did not use)

As I noted in my previous blogs, I needed to hydrate more intelligently and take in more salt to have a chance at Boston, thus the salty water and the Roctane Gu.

Was dropped off at the hotel for baggage check where I met up with Ansky. After I dropped off my bags, I made my way outside the hotel to the starting line on the boardwalk, but halfway there, I was told that the start was delayed 15 minutes. A shuttle bus took its load towards the wrong town. I headed out 15 minutes later, and was told it was delayed another 15 minutes.

The race finally started at 8AM. I made a decision to start in the pack instead of being towards the front. It would force me to start off slower. It was much slower than I wanted - 8:49. Crap. Too much traffic and weaving. Needed to speed up some, but not too much yet. My plan was to settle into the race pace after about 10k, which was anything sub 7:20. I also knew with my slow start and anticipating a slower last few miles, that I would have to run a few miles at around 7:00. The following is my mental breakdown of the race. Complete splits are here.

• Miles 1-5: Go easy, letting my legs, body and mind ease into the pace. This part of the race was very enjoyable as I enjoyed the camaraderie around me and the sights. As the race started, there was a light drizzle.
  
  
• Miles 6-10: Start to pick up pace and get into the race at sub 7:20. I averaged this set at about 7:17. At this point, I was thinking I could keep this up forever. I was feeling pretty good, but experience has taught me that won't last in a marathon.
  
  
• Miles 11-15: Pushed my pace a little faster but stayed comfortable. Fastest mile in this set was m14 @ 6:57 followed by m15 @ 7:01. It looks like I did about a 7:07 average in this set. Obviously, I was still feeling pretty solid.
  
  
• Miles 16-20: Around mile 18-20 is when I typically start worrying about the wall, but I was hoping my game plan of taking in lots of salt and a little more fluid than before would help me through. I was especially more mindful of it since miles 13-17 averaged about 7:03. Around this section I remember thinking, "RUN STUPID." Run as if I had no idea about my past shortcomings trying to qualify for Boston. So I did. Managed to average about 7:06 in this block, with 6:59 being my fastest. Also felt blisters under my right foot from the moisture, which at this point had become a light steady rain.
  
  
• Miles 20-25: In my mind, I was going to qualify for Boston TODAY. I was surprisingly still feeling pretty sprite, until I hit mile 22. The splits reflect that. "Pain be damned and screw the blisters " I thought. I just tried to keep the same effort as my legs felt heavier. After the feel good energy left, it was all grit. The same effort was now giving me 7:25 miles. Mile 25 was 7:42! Legs were stiffening and signaling cramps if I continued much longer.
  
  
• 1.2 miles: That stretch along the boardwalk was taking forever! Was I going to qualify for Boston? Oh yeah baby. My stop watch read 3:14:23 as I crossed the finish. As soon as I stopped running, I felt my legs stiffen up bad, making walking harder than running. But alas, pain never felt so good. I was glad to finally have reach a goal that had eluded me for years.
  

More thoughts coming tomorrow. It's time for bed.