Hi gang!
Just checking in with my first marathon race report. It was a beautiful day out here in the east, temps were a bit chilly in the morning-mid 30's had everyone's teeth chattering but as the sun rose the temps gradually warmed and any spot in the sun was quite comfy. My plan was to qualify for the Boston-pretty lofty for a first but what the heck, go for it!
I spied the 3:20 pace setter (my qualifying time for Boston) and settled in behind him for the gun. The first couple of miles were pretty tight-some 7000 participnats in the marathon, 1/2 and 5k so the going was slow. Gradually the crowd thined and we settled into to our 7:30-7:40 pace. As it turned out I was feeling so good I picked up the pace and ended catching the 3:15 pace group around mile 6 or 7. I continued to run with them until I started feeling a little tired at mile 18. That's when things started going south. No sweat I initially thought, I'll just back off a little and keep ahead of the 3;20 folks and everything will be A O.K.
Well at mile 21 I was officially spent and struggling to run. If I slowed to walk my calfs would cramp and I would hobble a couple of steps and shuffle on. If I trieed to speed up-well there was no way! It was somewhere between mile 21 and 22 that the 3:20 pace group passed me and I was hurting too much to care. The end of the race was a struggle to deal with the pain and maintain at least a 9:30 or so pace but alas I was victorious and crossed the finish line at 3:30:48!
I hobbled over to the message tent and had them work my calfs for a while. Their probing fingers had me yelping and jumping around on their table so she iced it down and worked it some more. After the pain subsided somewhat I left the tent and started to enjoy the fact that I just finised my first marathon with a respectable (in my mind anyway) time. The day was beautiful, the course flat and fast and the organization perfect!
Another great day!
Todd
