I ran the Surf City Marathon on February 7th. My intention and training leading up was to qualify for the Boston Marathon. At my age (40) this requires a 3:20 or better. My previous best was 3:59. That time was completed because my coach said to run a 4:00 hour for my first marathon (I have done others now in Ironman). So I really did not ‘race’ it the first time.
My best half is a 1:32 run at a very fast San Jose course this year. My half times have dropped over the past year from 1:57 to 1:32. I even did a 1:39 at Ironman 70.3 World Championships this year. And I drank a lot. So I thought I was capable of a 3:20.
The big question was (and always is) run hard or pace myself? Run 7:00 minute miles or the required 7:40? Well I decided at the line to run hard and if I blow up, I blow up. I did forget my salt pills.
I ran hard from the start, drinking was more difficult. In San Jose I did not drink at all, because I know I can run 1:30 without food or water in the right temperature. But this was longer so I had to start early. The course does not use Gatorade, and right off the bat I did not like the other brand. But it did not upset my stomach.
At the half way point I was at 1:33, just a minute off my best half. At about mile 18 or so the times started coming back to me. My body would not respond. I felt like I was running fast, the times were not agreeing though. I just kept telling myself “fight” and “pump your arms”.
I ended up finishing in 3:18, around 80th place and 13th in my class. Out of 2400 people. It’s really strange starting a marathon in the very front! But very cool.
During the run, I wondered why I do this to myself. Now just 2 days later, I think I can go faster. I think the course layout was worth a loss of 2 minutes, and lack of salt and maybe more training 2-5 minutes. Overall I had a good experience.
I can run.
Splits:
7:08, 6:55,6:55, 7:04, 6:46, 7:01, 7:01, 7:15, 7:32, 7:01, 7:11, 7:19, 7:27, 7:39, 7:37, 7:47, 7:51, 7:49, 8:03, 8:12, 8:11, 7:59, 8:10, 8:20, 8:11
