so many positives - red deer marathon report part i
Finish Time: 3:38:28 (a four minute PR)
Overall Placement: 37th out of 227
Placement Among Men: 30th out of 122
Placement Among Men in my Age Category (30-39 yrs): 13th out of 28
The finish time is 11 minutes slower than the pace I targeted (3:27 finish) and eight minutes slower than the time I expected would make me happy. But, ya know what? I’m ecstatic with this time. Why?
This course was brutally hilly. The hills were never-ending. They just kept coming and coming. But…
- I executed my/Andrew’s plan almost to perfection. I ran the first two miles nice and slow all the while watching huge numbers of half marathoners, and a large number of full marathoners pass me.
- At the three kilometer mark (1.86 miles), I started finding my race pace rhythm and felt awesome there. If not for the numerous hills I had to deal with, I’m pretty certain I would have ran that race at, or at least close to my target. However, as there were so many hills, it was difficult to hit pace. Enough about the hills.
- From 3k on, NOT ONE SOUL passed me.
- In fact, from 3k on, I passed runners continuously. I passed runners from that point right to the finish. It was the most powerful feeling in the world to pass runner after runner after runner. I passed them going up hills, going downhills and on the hard to find flat sections of the course (did I just mention hills again?).
- I stayed at the extreme edge of my aerobic zone throughout the race - except during the last kilometer of course.
- The wall: Things got really tough at around 35 kilometers/22 miles but I forged on. I slowed from this point forward all the while continuing to pass other runners. By the last few kilometers, I was struggling to keep under a 5:30 min/km (8:50 min/mile) but I held on and kept running to the finish.
It was a tremendous experience. Even though my time is not what I would have liked, I’m really pleased with it given the difficult course.
I’ve got no injuries and recovery is the best I’ve ever experienced.
Lydiard was good to me today. Thank you, Coach.
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One last thing: Wanna know how I fueled during the race? I had water. No gels. No powerbars. No gatorade. Just water.
Comment by Jon (was) in Michigan
Sunday May 20, 2007 @
Hmmmm. 4 minute PR on a hilly course after a long marathon hiatus? I’d say you totally kicked ass today, Mark. Nice job! Sounds like you are a little disappointed in your time, but given that you walked away from this without injuries, I think things are going to get even better from here. I’ll be interested so see how your recovery plan goes.