Time of day 5:15 PM
Distance 26.22 mi
Shoe Supernova Sequence 5 (ASN)
Comments 3rd marathon experience, this being the one I was least physically prepared for and certainly feeling the most pain afterwards. After my Boston fluke, the goal was to get through Lehigh with a solid qualifying time, hopefully under the 20 min barrier. Great success despite averaging 40mpw in the months leading up. I envy the Rochester crew, being able to put up some solid performances with less consistency/marathon experience. I cant say that I would be able to do the same; I knew that in order to get under 2:45 I would need a moderate baseline to get through 20 without passing out. Major props to Joseph for accommodating the pre-marathon preparations and follow through to get all of us to Boston next spring.
Race went off comfortably in beautiful conditions. A couple of relay runners took it out, I was determined to fall back and let the anxious ones realize their mistake halfway. I was tucked into a nice pack with Ben, with a few runners way ahead. By the time we hit the first transition zone, we realized we were in fact the lead pack, from there I made an effort to chill behind the leaders and not encourage any pace increase, being ahead of schedule early on.
We narrowed down to 4 runners by 10K, clicking off between 5:55-6:15. I didnt check any mile splits and focused on my rhythm and heart rate to keep relaxed. Based on the reactions of my group when passing a mile mark I knew we were not accurately measured. (I did enjoy hearing we clicked off a 4:44 mile at one point).
Stayed conversational, our group made formal introductions with small talk around 10 miles. I could sense Ben was ready to break off and feeling good, but wasnt sure about the other two. I did my best to slow pace, by dragging behind, knowing that we were just over tempo, hoping that either Ben or I could bide our time until the final 10K. My efforts didn't influence the others and I figured I may as well hang on as long as I could; I will likely never be in the position to win a marathon many times in my career. Around halfway (approx 1:20 mid), one of the group members dropped and was never to be seen again. I fell off the pace, choking down a GU and gargling gatorade, reeled Ben and the others back by 14. Started to feel smooth again and hung on to about 18 miles before my pain started setting in. Considering I was a couple mins ahead of my pre-race strategy at the half, I knew pain was coming, but it will be helpful to acclimate to the fight, since next spring I will be moving much faster.
20-finish was a death march. Mile markers appeared to never come, hills became mountains, half marathoners walking along the path became obstacles I had difficulty weaving around. Apparently, Amy was cheering with a GU in hand around 20...I dont recall seeing or hearing her at all. I was officially an apparition in my own mind. I missed a water stop in this mile range, closing my hand before grabbing the cup and unable to open a fist before the next cups. At the last gatorade stand, I was able to make the grab, but poured half into my right eye. Now I was blind. I didnt think I was going to make it, but around 23 I started to relax and get my wind back. The last Gu I took around 18 was kicking in.
I could see the finish tents around the bend and my legs/motivation picked up. I heard Ben's name announced as the winner and likely could have seen the finish had I looked to my left. Made the final turn up to the bridge and down to the finish, kicking hard to get under 2:45. Safely under the qualifier. Stood around holding a tree branch until my head stopped spinning, begged every passerby for gatorade, sat in the medical tent and dumped over-concentrated gatorade down my throat until I was feeling self-aware again.
3RD place overall, happy with the result. This was a great test to see where I currently stand at the marathon distance. Ideally I would like to hold that pace and feel good at 20 to negative split. Sub 2:35 is certainly on the brain...Need to stay healthy and double my mileage.
40-50 mpw = 2:44, 70-80 mpw = 2:30 low.
Approx: 5 Mile Splits (Likely innaccurate and meaningless)
30:40
30:35
29:47
31:11
34:11
8:00 (1.219)
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