Oct 28, 2007 3:22 PM
USMC - First Marathon Race Report (Long)
This was my first marathon and I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day in Washington DC to do it.
I picked up my bib from another runner who was backing out so unfortunately, it won't show up under my own name. Since it is not like I was BQ'ing, I'm not sure it matters.
I had some pretty simple goals:
1. Finish (CHECK)
2. Keep my running partner company and at a managed pace as long as possible (CHECK)
3. Finish in under 4:15 (CLOSE)
4. Finish strong/negative split (SORT OF)
I didn't decide to do this race until about a week out. One of my office mates who hasn't trained even as well as I have was signed up and I offered to keep him company if he could get me a bib. Craigslist and $30 later, I was in.
I took the metro down to the Pentagon stop to get to the start of the race. Don't think I was prepared for the crowds. I linked up with my running partner, George, and by the time we had walked through the bag drop (actually ate a Crispy Creme Jelly Donut that they had one of the tents, saw some other people eating them and they looked really fast
) it was very close to race time.
Very hard to make my way up even to the 4:30 pace corral. We hopped the little fence and stood there but was very pleasantly surprised when it took only about 10 minutes to get to the starting line and was able to get to my target pace pretty easily.
All these splits are from my Garmin. My official splits are quite a bit slower since I neglected to turn off the "auto pause" feature.
MILE 1 - 9:52
Very hard to keep my pace down for the warm up, even with the crowds.
Felt good. Crowd was dense but didn't hold us up at all. The official first mile marker was off, probably by about a minute. It lined up better by mile 2.
Mile 2 - 9:38
Still fighting off the urge to run faster with the enthusiastic crowds. This mile had a fair bit of climbing through Rosslyn. Crowd support was awesome and I ended up holding George back quite a bit.
Mile 3 - 9:53
Little bit more climbing but not much. Declines started here.
Mile 4 - 9:01
Faster than I wanted but cruised down a gorgeous downhill into the woods. Banked a little time here.
Mile 5 - 10:11 - OFFICIAL 5 mile split 49:24
Slowed significantly with the water stop in this mile just before the Key Bridge. Got a glimpse of the front runners as we turned left into Georgetown. They were definitely running a different race
Mile 6 - 9:50
Steepest and most determined climb of the race. Maintained a strong pace without a water break. Average heart rate climbed to 158 on this mile. Had some trouble bringing it back down afterwards.
Mile 7 - 9:07
Another nice downhill stretch in the woods. Had to part for a wheelchair racer. Bit of extra excitement. Took my first Goo pack here.
Mile 8 - 9:15
Flattened out. Little crowd support on this mile. At this point, I felt we were going to start to turn some faster miles than our target. George was feeling good and pushing the pace.
Mile 9 - 9:50
Mostly flat back to the Key Bridge and entering into Georgetown. The split reflects walking through the water station but we're still tracking well.
Mile 10 - 9:11 - OFFICIAL split 1:37:12
Feeling very strong. Great crowd support on the elevated road and then around to the first food (orange slices) down to the Watergate hotel.
Mile 11 - 9:46
Faster than the split indicates. Included a water stop and got to see my wife and daughters just before the Lincoln memorial. Amazing crowds through here.
Mile 12 - 9:25
Very wide street with a nice view of the White House and the Washington Monument. I run in this area regularly so I was more concentrated on the race than the sights at this point
Mile 13 - 9:34 - OFFICIAL HM SPLIT 2:07:39
Down past the Smithsonian and up to the Capitol Building. Starting to feel my knees and feet a bit. Still strong.
Mile 14 - 9:27
Hoped to see my family again here but missed them. Picked up two Cliff Shots here and ate one of them. Pretty clear that we're pushing a bit faster than the target pace. George starting to show some signs of wear.
Mile 15 - 10:05 - OFFICIAL SPLIT 2:26:30
Walked through the water stop on this leg. Starting to really feel it. Still maintaining a good pace though. Nice view of the Jefferson Memorial but I didn't even glance in that direction
Mile 16 - 9:38
Past Jefferson and onto the dreaded Haines Point. I ran this on Tuesday (before I had a bib) so it was familiar. Nice tailwind and was able to maintain pace. I'm now into distance I hadn't run even in training (long run was just short of 16).
Mile 17 - 9:54
At this point George cramped up and we stretched and walked about a minute. I told him we would continue this way with a 1 minute walk per mile. Seemed like a plan
Mile 18 - 10:11 - OFFICIAL SPLIT 2:56:45
Another minute of walking but closer to a 9:30 pace the rest of the time. Still tracking OK. George obviously hurting.
Mile 19 - 10:41
Bit longer walking stretch and a strong headwind. Took 2 tylenol offered at the aid station. Got my bib marked with a red marker. Made me feel dirty
Mile 20 - 10:10
Finished Haines point down through some of the loudest fan support and up a ramp to the bridge. I hate this bridge from the 10 miler. George cramps up and he tells me to go on. This time I do.
Mile 21 - 9:14
I ramped up my pace on the bridge and decided to try and push my pace since I got this far and felt pretty strong. Ate one more Goo.
Mile 22 - 9:40 - OFFICIAL TIME 3:37:05
Off the bridge and into Crystal City. Walked through the water stop but maintained pace otherwise. Thought I might see my family in this mile but didn't see them at all in Crystal City. They were there, just missed them.
Mile 23 - 9:22
Really starting to push to the finish. Saw a guy face down on the pavement. Turns out that my family was right there with him but I saw the guy face down instead of my family. Strange
Mile 24 - 9:14
Through the Pentagon parking lot and up a slight grade back to Route 110. Feeling the pull of the finish and running hard. Heart rate up to 168 (91% of my max)
Mile 25 - 8:58
Very proud of these last couple of miles. Passing lots of people. Tried to stay with one very fast runner but couldn't quite do it. This pace included walking through the water stop.
Mile 26 - 8:53
Where the heck is the darn turnaround. Terrible decision to make the course this way. Seemed to go on forever and my sprint to the finish was losing steam.
From the turnaround I linked up with a young guy pushing the pace and he and I sprinted up the hill to the end.
Official Finish Time - 4:16:54. Just past my goal but I am thrilled with the result. Probably could improve this substantially with some better training (especially long runs) and going out just a bit faster in the first half. Almost even splits and considering the slower miles with the walk breaks, would have been negative.
------------------
My Running Log[/URL" target="_blank">
My User Profile[/URL" target="_blank">
I picked up my bib from another runner who was backing out so unfortunately, it won't show up under my own name. Since it is not like I was BQ'ing, I'm not sure it matters.
I had some pretty simple goals:
1. Finish (CHECK)
2. Keep my running partner company and at a managed pace as long as possible (CHECK)
3. Finish in under 4:15 (CLOSE)
4. Finish strong/negative split (SORT OF)
I didn't decide to do this race until about a week out. One of my office mates who hasn't trained even as well as I have was signed up and I offered to keep him company if he could get me a bib. Craigslist and $30 later, I was in.
I took the metro down to the Pentagon stop to get to the start of the race. Don't think I was prepared for the crowds. I linked up with my running partner, George, and by the time we had walked through the bag drop (actually ate a Crispy Creme Jelly Donut that they had one of the tents, saw some other people eating them and they looked really fast
) it was very close to race time. Very hard to make my way up even to the 4:30 pace corral. We hopped the little fence and stood there but was very pleasantly surprised when it took only about 10 minutes to get to the starting line and was able to get to my target pace pretty easily.
All these splits are from my Garmin. My official splits are quite a bit slower since I neglected to turn off the "auto pause" feature.
MILE 1 - 9:52
Very hard to keep my pace down for the warm up, even with the crowds.
Felt good. Crowd was dense but didn't hold us up at all. The official first mile marker was off, probably by about a minute. It lined up better by mile 2.
Mile 2 - 9:38
Still fighting off the urge to run faster with the enthusiastic crowds. This mile had a fair bit of climbing through Rosslyn. Crowd support was awesome and I ended up holding George back quite a bit.
Mile 3 - 9:53
Little bit more climbing but not much. Declines started here.
Mile 4 - 9:01
Faster than I wanted but cruised down a gorgeous downhill into the woods. Banked a little time here.
Mile 5 - 10:11 - OFFICIAL 5 mile split 49:24
Slowed significantly with the water stop in this mile just before the Key Bridge. Got a glimpse of the front runners as we turned left into Georgetown. They were definitely running a different race
Mile 6 - 9:50
Steepest and most determined climb of the race. Maintained a strong pace without a water break. Average heart rate climbed to 158 on this mile. Had some trouble bringing it back down afterwards.
Mile 7 - 9:07
Another nice downhill stretch in the woods. Had to part for a wheelchair racer. Bit of extra excitement. Took my first Goo pack here.
Mile 8 - 9:15
Flattened out. Little crowd support on this mile. At this point, I felt we were going to start to turn some faster miles than our target. George was feeling good and pushing the pace.
Mile 9 - 9:50
Mostly flat back to the Key Bridge and entering into Georgetown. The split reflects walking through the water station but we're still tracking well.
Mile 10 - 9:11 - OFFICIAL split 1:37:12
Feeling very strong. Great crowd support on the elevated road and then around to the first food (orange slices) down to the Watergate hotel.
Mile 11 - 9:46
Faster than the split indicates. Included a water stop and got to see my wife and daughters just before the Lincoln memorial. Amazing crowds through here.
Mile 12 - 9:25
Very wide street with a nice view of the White House and the Washington Monument. I run in this area regularly so I was more concentrated on the race than the sights at this point
Mile 13 - 9:34 - OFFICIAL HM SPLIT 2:07:39
Down past the Smithsonian and up to the Capitol Building. Starting to feel my knees and feet a bit. Still strong.
Mile 14 - 9:27
Hoped to see my family again here but missed them. Picked up two Cliff Shots here and ate one of them. Pretty clear that we're pushing a bit faster than the target pace. George starting to show some signs of wear.
Mile 15 - 10:05 - OFFICIAL SPLIT 2:26:30
Walked through the water stop on this leg. Starting to really feel it. Still maintaining a good pace though. Nice view of the Jefferson Memorial but I didn't even glance in that direction
Mile 16 - 9:38
Past Jefferson and onto the dreaded Haines Point. I ran this on Tuesday (before I had a bib) so it was familiar. Nice tailwind and was able to maintain pace. I'm now into distance I hadn't run even in training (long run was just short of 16).
Mile 17 - 9:54
At this point George cramped up and we stretched and walked about a minute. I told him we would continue this way with a 1 minute walk per mile. Seemed like a plan
Mile 18 - 10:11 - OFFICIAL SPLIT 2:56:45
Another minute of walking but closer to a 9:30 pace the rest of the time. Still tracking OK. George obviously hurting.
Mile 19 - 10:41
Bit longer walking stretch and a strong headwind. Took 2 tylenol offered at the aid station. Got my bib marked with a red marker. Made me feel dirty
Mile 20 - 10:10
Finished Haines point down through some of the loudest fan support and up a ramp to the bridge. I hate this bridge from the 10 miler. George cramps up and he tells me to go on. This time I do.
Mile 21 - 9:14
I ramped up my pace on the bridge and decided to try and push my pace since I got this far and felt pretty strong. Ate one more Goo.
Mile 22 - 9:40 - OFFICIAL TIME 3:37:05
Off the bridge and into Crystal City. Walked through the water stop but maintained pace otherwise. Thought I might see my family in this mile but didn't see them at all in Crystal City. They were there, just missed them.
Mile 23 - 9:22
Really starting to push to the finish. Saw a guy face down on the pavement. Turns out that my family was right there with him but I saw the guy face down instead of my family. Strange
Mile 24 - 9:14
Through the Pentagon parking lot and up a slight grade back to Route 110. Feeling the pull of the finish and running hard. Heart rate up to 168 (91% of my max)
Mile 25 - 8:58
Very proud of these last couple of miles. Passing lots of people. Tried to stay with one very fast runner but couldn't quite do it. This pace included walking through the water stop.
Mile 26 - 8:53
Where the heck is the darn turnaround. Terrible decision to make the course this way. Seemed to go on forever and my sprint to the finish was losing steam.
From the turnaround I linked up with a young guy pushing the pace and he and I sprinted up the hill to the end.
Official Finish Time - 4:16:54. Just past my goal but I am thrilled with the result. Probably could improve this substantially with some better training (especially long runs) and going out just a bit faster in the first half. Almost even splits and considering the slower miles with the walk breaks, would have been negative.
------------------
My Running Log[/URL" target="_blank">
My User Profile[/URL" target="_blank">
