Training 10/8 - 10/14 and Baltimore Marathon

Monday - Boatman Hill/Oakland with dogs, 4 mi, 36:56, 9:14/mi

Evening: Weights, upper lean #1 (chest, shoulders, triceps), PT & Wobble, 36 min

Tuesday - Tripp 10K, 6.1 mi, 45:51, 7:31/mi

Wednesday - Rest

Thursday - MKT, 6.6 mi, 53:55, 8:10/mi

Friday - Rest

Saturday - Baltimore Marathon

I arrived at my hotel in Baltimore about 4 pm on Friday afternoon and headed over to the Expo. It was a little confusing picking up the race packet, chip, and shirt since we had to go to 3 separate places that were really far apart. I guess the idea was to get everyone to pass all of the booths. I bought some plain flavored GU for the marathon. I ended up buying 6 since it was the same price as 5. Also, purchased a shirt for Hugh. There were also lots of Under Armour wear since that is the marathon's sponsor but too expensive for me to buy anything. By the time I finished I was ready to eat dinner.

I was planning to eat at Roly Poly but they were closed and every other place I tried nearby so kept walking until finally I found a place called Milton's Grill that looked good. I was starving by now and even though it was a little late I had the Salmon, baked sweet potato, and fries. I was still hungry so had a brownie sundae for dessert. The food, atmosphere and service was really good but more time and money than I intended to spend on dinner.

I headed back to the hotel and decided to go a different way and missed my street in the dark so was walking around trying to get back hoping that I wasn't walking into any bad neighborhoods. Eventually made it but did more walking than I intended to do. I got back to the room and got everything ready to go and went to bed.

I got up at 5:30 after not sleeping well and planned to leave by 6:30 with the marathon starting at 8. I had my pre-race shake and 2 bananas I had purchased on my long walk the night before. I felt wiped out so had some coffee and that seemed to wake me up. It also seemed to get everything moving so several trips to the bathroom before I decided I was ready. I had to be checked out of my room by noon so rather than risk rushing back I had them hold my large bag and checked a smaller bag at the marathon start headquarters. I was just a little worried leaving my bag at the hotel since the desk attendant couldn't open the room they normally lock the bags into.

I ended up arriving at the race headquarters to check my bag at about 6:40 and no waiting at all. I used the bathroom again and then headed over to the start. Still not many people around so I sat down and waited. Then went back to use the bathroom in the stadium. I was impressed no waiting at the bathrooms. No one was lining up in the street to start until about 7:45. I kept on my extra long sleeve shirt. It was about 52F and I was a little chilly. I lined up with the 3:00 pacers which were right behind the few elites running in circles with the special pink numbers.

After a short speech from the mayor and star spangled banner the wheel chair racers started. Then a few minutes later I was running. I didn't feel great but decided to try to stay with the 3 hr pacers. It felt like they were running too fast, but we hit the first mile in 6:59 so not too fast. I tried to keep the pace comfortable but felt like I was pushing it. Legs just didn't feel great yet. I did seem to fly through the water stations compared to other runners and would get ahead of them. I passed a couple of the 3 hr pacers so figured I must be doing okay. The first couple miles was slightly up hill and after mile 4 mostly downhill, and then the course flattened out but still varied some.

Mile 5 was all down and fast at 6:16 and by mile 7, I was feeling good and all miles to this point were under 7 min. Miles 8 - 14 were fairly flat and all under 7 min and still passing a few runners and more 3 hours pacers. I'm thinking these might have been people trying to run in 3 hours but not sure since I never did see them again. I passed the guy dressed as the Dunkin Donut at about mile 10.

I hit 13.1 in 1:28:12, but knew the latter part of the course had some hills but didn't know how much it would slow me down. I had a slight cushion but still was not confident that I could run under 3 hours.

At mile 15 - 20 the course goes mostly up, down a little at 20 -21, and then up again to 22. Most of these miles were over 7 minutes. These hills slowed me down but I was passing other runners so felt good. I thought maybe if the last 4 miles were mostly downhill I might be able to make up a little time.

I didn't feel like I was getting enough water even though I was drinking at every station which was every 2 - 3 miles. At mile 17 a woman that was not part of the water stops offered bottled water so I took one from her. I drank about 3/4 and then dumped the rest down my back. The crowd support along the course was pretty good most of the way with a lot of people at the half. We were also running with relay runners. Half marathoners started at at the 13 mile point so they were not a factor which made the marathon feel smaller.

After conquering the hilly stretch, I had 4 miles to go and some downhill so I was feeling better but took a couple miles to get my speed back. Once I got it back, another slight hill to slow me down again and then a mile to the finish. I sprinted hard to the finish and ran the last mile in 6:57.

Finished in 3:02:07 placing 61st of 2542 and 11th of 312 in male ages 35 - 39. Even though a sub-3 would have been nice, I couldn't be disappointed in this strong finish. I didn't feel like I slowed down more than other runners since I was still passing people in the last mile. The latter hills were definitely a factor since I had speed on downhills and flat.

I felt good at the end, had a bar, water and banana. Picked up my bag and then tried to get more info on my results but their system was down for some reason. I decided to look for a place to eat on the way back to my hotel and the only place I can find open is McDonalds which really didn't appeal to me but I felt like I needed some protein.

I went back to my hotel, gathered my bag and then headed off to DC. My left ankle was a little sore this morning (Sunday), but once I walked around, everything felt much better. Muscle soreness didn't hit until this afternoon after walking around all day.

Splits:

1-6:59, 2-6:52, 3-6:46, 4-6:38, 5-6:16, 6-6:40, 7-6:32, 8-6:25, 9-6:40, 10-6:33, 11-6:51, 12-6:40, 13-6:30, 13.1 - overall time 1:28:12, 14-6:55, 15-7:41, 16-7:11, 17-6:57, 18-6:47, 19-7:12, 20-7:49, 21-7:00, 22-7:37, 23-7:33, 24-6:43, 25-7:56, 26-6:57, 26.2-1:19, 6:57 overall pace

Sunday - Rest (actually walked quite a few miles around DC)

Running: 42.9

Weights: 36 min

YTD Running: 2094.6

October 21-Rock Bridge Revenge
October 27-The Amazing 5K Race 22nd Annual Bulldog 5K Run (Kirksville)