Pheidippides’s BodyBlog

Yesterday, after 14 weeks of training and many more months of anticipation, I finally completed my first marathon.  My goal had been to run it in 3 hours, 20 minutes, which is the time needed to qualify for the Boston Marathon for my age group.

I finished in 3:20:00.  I hit my goal with no time to spare.  That’s "chip" time, meaning the time it took me to get from the starting line to the finish line.  Since I was stuck back a ways in the crowd, I didn’t get past the start line until 50 to 60 seconds after the gun went off.

It was cold (40 degrees), damp, and gray yesterday — perfect marathon weather.  No wind.  I was a bit nervous about the cold beforehand, but decided to suck it up and dress light — shorts, sleeveless top, light gloves, and a thin running cap.  I took a fuel belt with three gels, but didn’t carry water.  The aid stations were well stocked so there was no need.

My plan had been to run with the 3:20 pace group, but, having started back from the finish line, I had to spend the first two miles catching up to it.  I stayed with it roughly for the next twenty miles.

The first half of the race was fine.  I reached 13.1 miles in 1:39:17, under my race goal time by 43 seconds.  The crowds were fantastic, enthusiastic and often quite large all the way.  At 17 miles I ran by my neighborhood and my wife, kids, and a good friend were there to cheer me on.

After that I found it getting a bit more difficult to keep up with the pace group, but I was still well under the pace needed to reach 3:20.  In fact, through the first 24 miles I consistently maintaineda  pace of 7:30 to 7:42, averaging about 7:35.

At 24 miles, I finally hit the wall.  I didn’t feel terrible, but I just couldn’t move as fast.  The pace group was disappearing ahead of me.  I knew I had a little cushion to give, but I was worried I would use it all up.

Finally, the California State Capitol Building loomed on the left, and I knew the finish was just minutes away.  I kept looking at my watch.  It was going to be close.  Turned left, then one more left right after that, then picked up the pace (I can’t say I sprinted) on the final short straightaway, and across the finish line, with Jennifer and the kids there (they’d driven downtown) to greet me.

Up to this point, despite the onset of considerable muscle fatigue the last two miles, I’d felt O.K.  It hadn’t felt cold to me while I was running.  That changed about two seconds after the finish.  I was drenched with sweat,  and totally spent, and it was no more than 45 degrees, so I instantly turned cold.  My muscles ached everywhere, even my upper body.  While some other finishers seemed to be enjoying the aftermath and milling about the capitol, I just wanted to go home.

A few hours later, fortified by tons of food and beer, and lying like a happy slug watching football with my twin boys, I felt much better.  Sore, but content.  I qualified for Boston, but I doubt I’ll go.  It’s hard right now to imagine jumping right back into another marathon training program,  and, besides, I’m more interested in focusing on shorter, faster races in 2009.  Who knows.  For the time being I’m just going to enjoy having completed my first marathon and meeting one of my goals for the year.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 9:58 am and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.