Race Report - Five Points of Life Marathon 2011

It is not often, at least in my running career, that a race goes so well that I am taken completely by surprise.   This time, it did.  This was one of the best races of my life, where I was able to push myself and sustain an effort with not only willpower but a body that cooperated and worked hard.  I've had my share of "just surviving" in races, or racing to finish (first marathon, 50-miler), but this was really fun.

To set the stage, I had been training not only with my usual running partners but my brother-in-law Joe, who lives geographically close but far enough away that I don't see him all that often.  We had one good run together and trained in spirit otherwise .  He and his family made the trip down for the race, and in addition to enjoying their company for the weekend we had a nice dinner with friends the night before.  Was I wrong to partake of a fabulous Fat Tire the night before a marathon?  As it turns out, no. It was utterly the right thing to do.

Those of you who read this blog will know that my training was interrupted by a knee injury, but that I got a bit of speed training and several good long runs in -- in fact one of those long runs was nearly the best long training run I've ever had.  It is kind of cool to think back to 9 or 10 years ago when I started running seriously, at how utterly daunting and exhausting a 20 or 22 mile run was.  Although I run more slowly now I think I have an easier time on these runs.  Anyway, the training felt a little haphazard (cobbled together from "moonbeams and flatus" as I heard a fairly crusty old anesthesiologist say today) -- a little speedwork, a few long runs, and a lot of ice and ibuprofen!

Race day dawned pleasantly cool but not chilly, with forecast mostly sunny and heating up to the mid 70's.  Not ideal but not terrible either.  Joe had been up for a while, eating breakfast and having coffee, and we got ready (lubed up, nipple band-aids, etc.) and drove over to the start.  I had no idea what to expect from the run, hoping for anything but a repeat performance of my last marathon. I used the port-a-let, wished Joe good luck, and took my place in the starting corral, oddly enough placed in front of the much larger half-marathon group who would be running faster and overtaking us quickly.  The only two pacers were 3:10 (hah!) and 3:40, neither of whom I expected to see again.

After the usual announcements, national anthem, and start, we were off.  I felt pretty good, having gotten adequate sleep and pre-hydrated for the last few days (beer excepted).  The first mile I ran in 9:00 or so, probably pushing harder than I intended -- I have found in the last few years that I really do need time to warm up, a concept that I scoffed at repeatedly in earlier years -- but knowing that I would need to run a 9:00 pace average to run the race under 4 hours.  I had a little conversation with myself, acknowledging the advice I got (and followed) before  previous races: "do not work at all during the first half", but decided to ignore that advice and push it a little.   So I ran the next several miles in increasing speed, from 8:40s down to 8:30s, passing the hilly section near my home and waving to my family on the side of the road.  I was feeling better and better, and rather than get tired my body warmed up and caught up to the pace.  I could almost feel my heart rate slow and efficiency improve as I ran down though downtown and the UF campus.  Several times I saw friends cheering me on, which helped tremendously.

At some point between miles 7 and 8 and really got into the zone, running with people going at faster paces (8:20! 8:10!), increasing my speed until I was putting the brakes on frequently.   I remember running by the bat house and smelling the guano, looping through the stadium and all of the sudden being at mile 10 and 11.  It was interesting to get constant pace feedback from a watch during the race, and I think it helped me run faster.  By the time I reached the half marathon finish, I was cruising, clocking about a 7:55 for mile 13.  I was happy, but working, and expecting everything to fall apart soon.  I told myself that if I could just hold out until mile 15 before real performance degradation set in, that I could do all right.

The race designers put a lot of though into the first half -- with 1000 people running the half marathon and only about 250 running the full, that makes sense.  But turning left when most are turning right to a much more lonesome and much less scenic course is tough.  The support continued to be fantastic, from the police to the water/gatorade stations.  I ran out the Depot Road rail trail, clocking another sub-8 minute mile for mile 14, and started feeling the heat.  We ran through the east side of town, and at mile 17 turned onto Williston


Finally I hit the last mile knowing I would finish strong, and hit the finish line with a smile on my face.  Again I saw a few friends, had some food, got the car, and we headed home.  Great race.

TIME:  3:44:13 (my watch) / 3:44:25 (official time) - average pace ~ 8:3e4
PLACE (mens 35-39): 3rd

Nutrition:  2 packs of Clif Shot blocks (new discovery for me!)
Water and Gatorade at almost every rest stop, with two additional bottles provided by family/friends at miles 5 & 20.

A post-race barbecue marked the end of a really nice run, and finding out later that day that I had placed made it even better.


Splits:


1-00:09:00
2-00:08:49
3-00:08:34
4-00:08:33
5-00:08:32
6-00:08:30
7-00:08:41
8-00:08:35
9-00:08:24
10-00:08:19
11-00:08:20
12-00:07:55
13-00:07:57
14-00:08:02
15-00:08:21
16-00:08:23
17-00:08:11
18-00:08:14
19-00:08:27
20-00:08:30
21-00:08:39
22-00:08:45
23-00:08:31
24-00:08:38
25-00:08:47
26-00:08:38