I sat at my computer last night confused, disappointed and not wanting to write a RR for San Diego. When I got up this morning I figured I had better got things off my chest.

So I ran the San Diego marathon this past Sunday (obviously). It was the culmination of a great training cycle that was full of excellent workouts and a build up of much more mileage than I have ever tried. I was also very pleased that my parents were able to make it to the race with me. It was the first time that they had ever seen me race, and their first experience spectating a marathon as well. It was very comforting to have my parents there with me. I didn't have the night before jitters (well not as bad as usual anyway), and they helped out a lot with getting me to the start, etc.

At the start I was easily the most prepared and comfortable I have ever been before a race. The race started in perfect conditions, misty

marine layer, that would stick around the entire day. The conditions were perfect. After the initial bottleneck at the start the course opened up by the second mile. The first few miles were slightly downhill and I took advantage by pacing just a bit under 7/mile. I felt great and the only slight pain was a little tightness in my stomach. I spent the first few miles massaging the area to prevent cramping later

on (never was a problem).

At about mile 6 or so the race turned north and started the slow climb that we would face for the next 6 or 7 miles. I managed to adapt my pace to keep an even effort. The uphill climb was not going to be a problem. We had the unique experience of running on a section of freeway, which provided some interesting slopes that changed rather quickly. This continued until we reached the summit at around mile 10 and then a steep and twisty downhill section was a welcome relief but put a bit of strain on the quads at the same time. After the twisting downhill the freeway leveled out and after about 2 more miles we were back on surface streets. Shortly thereafter I passed the halfway point in 1:34 and change. Since the first half was the hilly section I was planning on a slight negative split, so this time was very encouraging.

Starting at about mile 14 I mentally shifted into the 'go zone' section (as McMillan calls it...[Go Zone|http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=16091]) of the race. Knowing that during the next 12 miles it would be more difficult to maintain pace I had to put in a little more effort to keep it up. Everything was going perfectly through 20. I felt strong, on pace, and not over working myself. And then it hit me...

I call him Mr. 'The Wall' because he has my full respect. We tend to disagree about things. Like for instance I think that I should be able to race a full marathon without slowing or stopping and he completely disagrees. So yeah, starting at about mile 20 I hit the wall head on. At first I was just tired, but I managed to keep going at a little slower pace (around 7:40). Then at 21 I realized that my vision was impaired, and while it was fun hallucinating for a little while I found it to be a tad disruptive to my running. So I was forced to a walk, not even a

slow jog. Looking back I am fortunate that my parents were not waiting for me until after the 22 mile mark. If I had seen them while I was

walking I would have dropped out. Somewhere in that mile+ walk I forced myself to finish the stupid race. So the next 4 miles were a pathetic combination of slow running and a bit more walking...and I let Dean Karnezes beat me by about 30 seconds

So now the question is where do I go from here. My plan was to race SF in about 8 weeks, but I think I need to get my fueling strategy worked out before the next time I race. The nice thing about only running 20 miles of a marathon is that my recovery time should only be 2 weeks or so. My thought now is to run some solo marathons, or near marathons, just to test out different methods of fueling and find something that will last me through all 26.2. I know this doesn't sound like a very smart strategy to essentially run myself into oblivion, but I really don't know what else to do at this point. I have had no problems with 22 mile MGP training runs because the initial warm up miles prevent me from running out of glycogen before the 22 mile mark.

What do you loopers think? For the last race I used 3 gels, and figured that was enough. Am I not carbo-loading enough before the race (I ate around 300-325 grams of carbs the 3 days leading up to the race). I read somewhere that you should eat 8.5g per kg body weight. For me that would equate to over 500 g, but that seems absurd!! Also, what about other fueling methods beside gels. Is it easier to take in calories as a sports drink?

Oh well, the next few weeks are going to be a time of introspection and research. By the time I finish recovery I hope I have a strategy in place for the next few months. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

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