First off, congrats mainers, that is an incredible time, and 7th is an incredible place to get. Live up that break, you definately deserve it.

Well, Through some tough times I made it through the Honolulu Marathon with a goal time of sub 3:30:00, a gun time of 3:29:47, and a chip time of 3:29:33. My over all place was somewhere in the 500s, and my age division place was 11th ( 2nd of the people from hawaii.)


Heres a detailed report:
http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum8/HTML/009538.shtml[/URL" target="_blank">

Also, I would just like to thank everyone on this forum for the help they have given whether it was a question answered, or just a topic I read and learned from. If it wasnt for you I wouldnt have made my goal.


http://This message has been edited by eggnite (edited Dec-10-2006).

so here goes

background of being low mileage (40mpw) 16 min 5k/33 min 10k runner, longest previous race a half marathon, decided it was time to run a marathon.

gradually upped mileage to 55-60 mpw, threw in 4 20 plus mile runs, did lots of tempo runs, track sessions on Tuesdays and a race every 4 weeks or so. Ran a half marathon in 1.13.21 5 weeks out, tapered from three weeks out and was feeling in the best possible shape come race morning.

woke up at 4 on race morning. had my usual big bowl of cereal, quaffed down some water, had a bagel at 6 and left the house for town. parked up right near the start line. it was 6.30 and 15 degrees but didn't actually feel as cold as I thought it was going to.

nice and easy jog to warm up, gel and water at 7.30, gradually peeled off layers, ready to go at 8. about 20 degrees now, I was in shorts, vest with long sleeve top and gloves

settled into a nice and easy pace straight away. I already knew there were two other guys shooting for 6 min pace in the full and two for that pace in the half which was being run at the same time so we all settled in together and were joined by three or four others. So a nice group of 10 developed.

unfortunately I deleted the data from my watch before noting down my splits so can't do a mile by mile report but race generally went as follows

first ten miles or so we were nailing 6 minute pace and all running very comfortably. gradually people started dropping off the pace. i was happy to be in this group. we were running at a pace i felt i could maintain and it was nice to have company. i was alternating water and powerade every two miles and feeling good

we went through the half in 1.19.05. miles 11 to 13 had been uphill and i was just starting to feel I was in a race.couple of the group were now done, leaving five of us. all of a sudden I found myself alone! three guys seemed to hit the accelerator and one guy dropped back. i felt and hoped I was just maintaining the same pace i had been running. checked the watch at mile 14 and 15 and sure enough, although i was starting to feel it a little my pace was still around 6.05 or so. the guys up ahead must have been feeling good and gone for it. maybe i would catch up with them later?!

so here I was at mile 16.2 in 6th place at 1.38.00. as long as i could run the last ten at 6.10 pace i'd meet my 2.40 goal

it was a strange feeling all of a sudden running alone when we'd been in a group so long.it was at this point too that i really started to feel i was in a hard race and could tell i was going to find out a lot about myself over the next hour or so! i took on a gel and tried to concentrate on relaxing but maintaining a good pace. on guy came from nowhere and ran straight past me but i was also gaining on one of the guys ahead

i now had a friend of mine able to ride parts of the race alongside me on the course. we had moved out of the uptown area out into the suburbs and there were a lot less people around and a lot less 'scenery'. all i could do was focus on realxing and keeping on pace as much as i could.

mile 18 was downhill and i could feel a pain shooting down my left calf. this was the calf i had had problems with earlier in the year and the marathon was reminding me of it!! i was now a little concerned that this was going to cause me serious problems, but the pain seemed to subside. i tried to forget about it and would worry about my calf after the race!

at mile 20 I was at 2.01.30 so 6.05 pace overall. my splits were now slipping out to the 6.30 mark. the wall had gardually crept up on me and I had a long climb to go!

miles 20-24 were all about focussing on the task at hand and getting the most out of my body I could. it was great to have my friend near me. he would ride up ahead and tell the spectators (and the police marshals!!) my name so they would shout for me when i went past! I overtook 6th place man at this point. i could tell I was running slower and slower but kept telling myself I had trained so hard for this thing and i was going to do the best i darned could!

mile 25 had a really sharp hill in it. it was one of those you get to the top, turn the corner and there is still more to get up! i knew it was coming as i had driven the course. i was bending forwards into this hill dragging all i possibly could out of my body.

there was now one mile to go. it was slightly downhill followed by a rise up to the finish, i tried to stride out down the hill to finish strongly but my legs weren't having any of it! i was now running about a 7.30 pace!!

as i turned into the street where the race finished I could see the finishing line at last. my wife and daughters were standing at the corner and it was wonderful to see them! the announcer called my name and i just gave everything i could to the finishing line. 6th in 2.43.50.

i came to a complete stop and bent over, trying my hardest to resist the temptation to lie down in a heap! somene took my chip from me and draped one of those wonderful foil blankets around me. i hung around at the finish area for the next hour or so, walking around as much as possible, talking to people, eating bread and bananas and cheering in buddies of mine who were doing the race. i truly felt part of a great event and was on cloud nine.

what an experience! I had missed my 2.40 goal but didn't care. what right did i have anyway to expect a certain time in the marathon when i had never run one before?! anyway i had gone sub 2.45 which meant I had automatic 'championship entry' to the London Marathon for the next couple of years

on reflection I don't think I would have run the race any differently. you could say i went off at an unrealistic pace but it felt very easy and i think the psychological benefit of being in a group would have outweighed any advantage gained by running slower on my own behind the group.

from an energy point of view i feel i took on enough gels and water, etc. my legs just weren't ready to handle 26.2 miles of 6 minute pace running. i'm still a novice at this distance and only ran an average of about 55 mpw in my build up. now that my body is used to this mileage I would hope I could get up to 70 for my next marathon and do more 20 plus mile fast finish runs and maybe less races and less emphasis on track work. then the sub 2.40 will be a possibility! i will also pick a flat course next time! Charlotte is a very tough course!

so there you go. two days later and my legs are still very sore. am going to enjoy two weeks of doing nothing and not caring too much about what i eat, etc. and then it will be time to focus on the next goal. My UK friends want me to go over and do London in April. However, I devoted so much time and effort to this marathon that I think I'm going to focus on getting my times down in the shorter distances first and put the marathon on the back burner for a year or so.

thanks for listening and thanks to everyone else who has been posting on this thread. hearing the tales of Kudzu, Todd, Sportigrl, Andy Hass to name but a few every week was great and seemed to form part of my training schedules!

I'll keep in touch, just not on the Spring Marathon Trainers thread!!

Mainers

sounds like an option Todd!

Mainers, good race report. It's always interesting to see someone else's report of a race you ran also. I was in that nice pack for the first 9 miles, but for me the pace was a little too quick and I backed off at that point. I thought 11-13 was very difficult. My race was different from yours in that I struggled between between 15-21 but then I finished pretty well, I guess all those years of experience helped. Definately the hardest finishing stretch of any marathon I've run, I can't recall any with an uphill finish like that. All in all I think it was a pretty tough course, but fair. You could definately expect to run faster on a flatter course.

Just posting my time. I'm pretty sure I could have had the 3:10 without the head wind but it was a little too much for me. 3:18 and change. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit.

Here is my report

http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum8/HTML/009557.shtml[/URL" target="_blank">

For the short version:
Goal - To have fun and feel good enough to enjoy what vegas had to offer after the race.
Result - 2:55:XX ?? 29th out of maybe 5800-6000? Spent the rest of the day crusing the strip - Having fun, but that story will remain in Vegas.

Poorly managed race - Incorrect mile markers etc - Read here for my race review

http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum8/HTML/009556.shtml[/URL" target="_blank">

Nice Job Mainers, Eggnite and Tommy

I am starting my srping training on Monday

Mainers, on the negative side, if you had a friend riding with you, I don't think that's appropriate. Think of how you would feel if someone ahead of you was getting that.

BUT, it seems that your 1:13 predicts a lot faster than 2:40, so that's probably just a matter of focused marathon training. You had the dilemma of a small race: do I go at my pace and run alone or do I get into a pack that may be a bit fast? I think it was wise to run relaxed in the group, although you paid. But, again, I would bet that next time you'd be one of the guys picking it up or not slowing down.

I had some similar experiences in New York, particularly suffering late. I assume that you learn more from what went wrong than from what went right, especially in the training. I also think it's a good idea not to think of doing one in the spring.