Daily Note

Woke up at 5:30 AM, had coffee and a piece of toast with peanut butter. Short walk with the pups to loosen up the legs. Got to the race at about 7:20, did a mile jog, some dynamic stretching and dropped bags off at 7:40. The bag drop was about a half mile from the start/finish area, so dropped the bags pretty early for how chilly it was (40s and light rain) and of course it started raining fairly hard at 8. By the time I got into my corral at 8:15, the rain had lightened and wasn't feeling quite as cold. Race goes off and the rain stopped, virtually perfect race conditions (low 40s and minimal sun).

The race goes off and I ended up getting pulled into a quicker pace than planned by the multitude of 10k runners who started in my section. I came through 1k about 7 seconds faster than the plan (oops) but decided to run by feel as I was feeling really relaxed. Stayed feeling relaxed through 5k, popped a gu at 6k, and kept feeling really smooth through 10k (40:47). At around 11k I made a decision to fully lean into the quicker pace by latching onto a group that was about 10 meters ahead of me and running just a hair quicker. Stayed with this group till about 13k (popped another gu at 12k), and it started to break up, with me and two others emerging. Felt really strong through 15k (20:06), despite the quick pace, but again...I was embracing this shit! I told myself that I wanted to take chances with this race, as I believed in my fitness. Really happy I stuck to those guns. Popped a 3rd gu at 18k. Started clicking off some quicker miles as we hit 20k (20:00). The guys with me were struggling just slightly more than me, so I decided to keep the pace honest and ended up breaking them just past the turn around (somewhere around 1:25:30). I saw that time and was ecstatic, I thought 2:50 was a real possibility with how I was feeling. Got some gatorade and grabbed another gel around the halfway.

The 6:20s/6:1Xs start rolling here as I'm really focused on racing. I constantly had my eyes on the group/person in front of me and can happily say that 0 marathon runners passed me after 10k, and I passed well over 20. Started to get a little bit of discomfort with the effort at around 28k (popped a 4th gu around 30k). My hamstrings had been tight since 15k, but other than that had been feeling super strong. Well I didn't let the pace slip an my penultimate split (the 5k to get to 35k was my fastest @ 19:29...6:13 pace let's effing go!). Got some gatorade right around 35k. I was definitely starting to get tired and was leaning into the pain in my hamstrings. Popped a gu at 22 miles and I just focused on each subsequent kilometer and was slowly approaching the end. I was losing the ability to do math, as I looked at 22.2 to see what I would need to run to break 2:50 and I thought I would barely go under at my current pace.

Kept rolling and getting a lot of encouragement from the crowd (I really like when the bibs have names on them. Got so many cheers for Alex today). At times during the last 3 miles I thought I would bonk. I was exhausted, my hamstrings were just straight pain, and my breathing was finally becoming labored. I got through the 25th mile, which was the worst for me by far, and then realized how quickly I could run if I kept at it. Really put everything I had into the last half mile and ended up closing the last 4.5 in 6:22 pace for a official finish time of 2:48:34.

Walking was extremely difficult after and I tried to take a nap when I got home, but the pain in my hamstrings was too annoying to let me sleep lol. Overall I am ecstatic about the result. I thought low 2:50s (I even secretly thought 2:50 flat) was in reach on a very good day. Well, I had a great day today and took chances with the pace early on and it paid off.

I never want to run a marathon again. Ask me again in a week and I may change my mind.