In my debut marathon in Hartford, all was going well until somewhere between mile 21 and 22, as indicated by my 10K, 10M and 20M pace splits, 8:25, 8:20 and 8:12, respectively. I finished in 3:50:21 (8:48 pace). It took me nearly an hour to cover the last five miles and change. Every muscle in my legs cramped. Fatigue.
The marathon is a great event, and I can't wait to run another one. Let's do this soon.
Congratulations to Dan! He ran a phenomenal race, squeaking in under 3:30:00. This guy is a true talent.
5 comments:
Congratulations to both of you on very good marathon debuts. Don't be too disappointed, Ryan, with struggling through the last 5-6 miles. I've heard from other marathoners (and experienced it last year) that the last 10K is the hardest part of the race (particularly for new marathoners). I'm sure you will learn from this experience and only get faster. I have learned this year that the HALF marathon is a better idea!!
Thanks, Geoff. I hope that you are feeling better today and that you recover quickly. I also felt strong through 13.1 and might try a half next.
Dan, do you remember when we were having a conversation about the guys you ran with once at Mansfield Hollow and I said that I thought I recognized one of them coming back behind the leaders? Well, it wasn't one of those guys that I recognized, it was Marc Robaczynski, the winner of this year's Race Around the Lake. He came in 12th place yesterday with a 2:41:17 (6:10). He's 33.
I was just looking through the results and saw Marc's name. Fast dude. That is the guy I recognized also.
I think Geoff is right on about the last 10K being difficult for everyone, even for really fast runners.
Thanks for the kind remarks. I am very please with my time, but "true talent" is a bit of a stretch. Talking with Nick A (co-founder of the EcoHusky 5000) last night, I found out he ran his first road marathon Eugene, OR last spring. I looked up his time. If he had been running Hartford this year he would have finished in the top 10! That's puts "talent" into perspective. He also mentioned he hit the wall toward the end.
Dan, honestly, I don't think "true talent" is a stretch. Being privy to your training volume and intensity, I'd have to say that your performance yesterday was exceptional. In training for the Hartford Marathon, I put in about 75 more miles than you did and bonked. Imagine what you could accomplish by running double the mileage. Your body could surely handle it. I'm sure Nick put in a whole hell of a lot more miles than you did leading up to your respective debut marathons.
Post a Comment