The Race Log 11/23/08

Distance: 13.11 miles
Time: 1:52:39
Pace: 8:35/mile
Weight: 197lbs
Terrain: Gently rolling asphalt trails and streets, and a longish uphill section at midpoint
Temperature: Cold and breezy
Gear: Long-sleeved Adidas Climacool shirt, Gobbler Grind Running Cap, Adidas long training pants over Adidas running shorts, Nike Air Zoom Vomero Shoes
Race Number: 945
Hydration: Water, Powerade
Fuel: Bananas, yogurt, chocolate milk (all after race)
Medical: Tight hamstrings, minor left heel pain for first two miles
Recovery: Stretches, Aleve
Shoe Mile Count: 111.64 miles
Days until Marathon: 56

For a full synopsis of the race experience, you can see the previous post. In terms of the nuts and bolts, the story is as follows...

I started at an easyish pace, content to let people pass me (although the sheer numbers that were doing so actually caused me to look behind at one point just to check I wasn't suddenly at the back of the pack). There were a great number of people on a thankfully wide road, and I was shoved and bumped a number of times before the crowd began to thin and I felt safer.

My left heel was the main concern over the first couple of miles, but I felt confident it would fade as I got deeper into the race. It's an ailment I've had to deal with more or less all the way through my training, so I know the pattern, and sure enough by about the 5k mark, it had loosened up sufficiently to where I no longer noticed it. Other than that, I had to be a little careful on the hills at the mid-point because my hammies were tight, but I don't think I slowed appreciably during these segments, because it seemed here like nowhere before or after, I was passing a lot of runners having a much harder time with the inclines than me.

I was about 9 seconds behind my target pace after mile 2 (I missed the mile 1 marker), and about 8 seconds behind after mile 3, which was right where I was aiming for, but what I didn't plan on was speeding up so much afterwards. By mile 4 I was 20 seconds ahead of my pace goal, and by about mile 8 I was several minutes up. My finish time of 1:52:39 was a full 7:21 faster than my 2:00 target, and my pace identical to what I ran in the KC marathon relay segment of last month. I really felt pretty comfortable until the last mile when I did start to feel it, but while I would probably have had to slow down had the race been longer, I am confident I could have run for several more miles before the tank would have been completely empty.

That being said, I realized that if I'm tiring at mile 12, I'm still a way off being ready for a 26.2 mile event, and there will be plenty of work to do over the next 8 weeks. On the other hand, the fact I was able to maintain an 8:35 pace for 13.1 miles makes me realize how far I've come from where I was just a few weeks ago when I started this crazy trip.

Everything is sore now, particularly my calves, but nothing feels "hurt", just tired. This is good, because, despite this being my longest run of any kind, let alone in a race setting, I'll only have a week to savor it before I run even further (15 miles next weekend). Whose idea was this again?