First and Last
Damn the heat!!! Damn the rookie mistakes!!! Damn the marathon!! I think this will be my first and last I'll ever do. I started out too damn fast and suffered the rest of the way. First off, if you're gonna plan a race, make sure there are enough porto-potties for everyone!!! I waited an hour to pee. I did get some comedy out of it thought. An old lady, whom I assumed didn't speak English or was pretending like she didn't, tried to cut in front of the line and pissed off a few people. She stood there like they weren't there complaining. Then someone explained to her, in Spanish, to get in line and she had no reason to cut, she wasn't racing. The other comedy bit was when I was 2nd to go, some guy busted out of the potty, grabbed a shirt on the fence and took care of business. Well, that's what he probably did.
At the starting line, some dude got up on the bus stop shelter and started talking. I only heard him because he had two people holding speakers up. He mentioned he was a firefighter and started talking about how people died doing the marathon. Oh, cool! An announcement about not pushing it and stopping when you can't go on. NOPE!! He started to go on about how we need to all repent.. Blah Blah Blah.. I shouted, "Shut up!" a couple of times.. Then the pack started to move and me and 20,000+ friends started our journey. My plan was 11:30min/mile pace for first 10, 11:15 10-18, 11 the last 8.
First 10 miles were cool.. I was doing the first 3 miles at 11:30.. uphill!!! Should have backed off then.. then the next 6 or so downhill, I was hitting 10:30.. Then I looked at my heart rate.. 180!!! Oh man.. so I started to back it down and took a few walk breaks and hit 13 miles at about 2hr 45min (winners finished by now).. Cool time.. then I started running again, heart rate was still at 180... Dammit!! Slowed down.. then I did the run 5 min/walk 1 min deal. At mile 18, I cramped real bad, was forced to walk, with major pain... Ended up walking the rest of the way. I almost quit near St@ples center. My friend lives 2 blocks from it and I thought about heading over, but I finished the race with a horrible time (for me) of 6hr 30min. I got really down on myself for not finishing near my goal, but everyone is cheering me up and I feel better.
Other things I saw:
People handing out beers and bloody mary's!!! Wish I found them at mile 20, not 7.
2 guys doing the race on crutches
Barefoot runners
Super old, hunched over dude that I passed early then he passed me
A bunch of kids beating me to the finish line
Camelbaks.. DAMMIT!! I own one!! Why didn't I use it?
Mexican hot dogs after the race.. mmmm... smelled good but I didn't think I could keep them down
I'm really debating on getting revenge next year, but we'll see. The marathon isn't as much fun triathlon. I definitely do more half marathons but now the focus is on tri's and the half ironman near the end of the year... Only 13 miles of running for that.
Swell's a comin on Friday and I'll probably hit Sunse+. Saturday, I'm supposed to surf with one of my friend's from college, but we'll see how that goes. Hopefully, I still have the paddle strength to surf 3 days in a row.
LATER!!!
At the starting line, some dude got up on the bus stop shelter and started talking. I only heard him because he had two people holding speakers up. He mentioned he was a firefighter and started talking about how people died doing the marathon. Oh, cool! An announcement about not pushing it and stopping when you can't go on. NOPE!! He started to go on about how we need to all repent.. Blah Blah Blah.. I shouted, "Shut up!" a couple of times.. Then the pack started to move and me and 20,000+ friends started our journey. My plan was 11:30min/mile pace for first 10, 11:15 10-18, 11 the last 8.
First 10 miles were cool.. I was doing the first 3 miles at 11:30.. uphill!!! Should have backed off then.. then the next 6 or so downhill, I was hitting 10:30.. Then I looked at my heart rate.. 180!!! Oh man.. so I started to back it down and took a few walk breaks and hit 13 miles at about 2hr 45min (winners finished by now).. Cool time.. then I started running again, heart rate was still at 180... Dammit!! Slowed down.. then I did the run 5 min/walk 1 min deal. At mile 18, I cramped real bad, was forced to walk, with major pain... Ended up walking the rest of the way. I almost quit near St@ples center. My friend lives 2 blocks from it and I thought about heading over, but I finished the race with a horrible time (for me) of 6hr 30min. I got really down on myself for not finishing near my goal, but everyone is cheering me up and I feel better.
Other things I saw:
People handing out beers and bloody mary's!!! Wish I found them at mile 20, not 7.
2 guys doing the race on crutches
Barefoot runners
Super old, hunched over dude that I passed early then he passed me
A bunch of kids beating me to the finish line
Camelbaks.. DAMMIT!! I own one!! Why didn't I use it?
Mexican hot dogs after the race.. mmmm... smelled good but I didn't think I could keep them down
I'm really debating on getting revenge next year, but we'll see. The marathon isn't as much fun triathlon. I definitely do more half marathons but now the focus is on tri's and the half ironman near the end of the year... Only 13 miles of running for that.
Swell's a comin on Friday and I'll probably hit Sunse+. Saturday, I'm supposed to surf with one of my friend's from college, but we'll see how that goes. Hopefully, I still have the paddle strength to surf 3 days in a row.
LATER!!!
posted by BeanCountingSurfer at 11:26 AM
3 Comments:
congratulations! - do you know how few people can run even 10 miles? I've never made it past 5! My wife trained with the Leukemia Society's Team in Training for her marathon. Good tips and a good plan for each run leading up to the big day - I think they did two 18 milers and a 20 leading up to the big day.
Brotha, you did well!! You finished. And guess what? You'll be back next year. I used to sould just like you, swearing up and down I wouldn't do another marathon. Then I'd be right back the next year. You have much to be proud of. Racing tip: next year, look for and drink the free beer!
Just discovered your blog. I like it!
This post reminded me of not-so-fond memories of my marathon and marathon training. Funny tales here.
And don't worry, it took me an hour longer than you to finish. Everybody was amazed..."How can one possibly exercise for THAT LONG!?!" Yeah, I was pretty bummed too. But finishing is an accomplishment that less than 1% of the world's population can claim!
Which marathon did you do?
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