April 11, 2009 Champaign-Urbana, ILPlay By Play: This being my second marathon I was relieved to find that when the gun went off (rather the starter said "go") I had to slow down, relax and fall into an easy pace. This carried through the first 2 miles at 7:10 pace. I fell into a nice rhythm and just ran along. Here are my splits:
- 7:11 (slowest split)
- 7:09
- 7:02
- 6:58
- 6:53
- 7:07
- 6:59
- 6:58
- 6:47
- 6:57
- 6:49
- 6:55
- 6:35 Half Marathon passed in 1:31:36 My biggest fear was to just not have it when the gun went off. When you run a lot every day there is a lot of accumulated fatigue. I just don't run fast every day. So it is hard to know how you are doingin training. Every now and then you get a glimpse, but then it is gone. So after the start I looked at my Garmin and saw I was running 6:40 pace effortlessly, I knew it was looking like a good day. At 2 mile a friend BJ Vineyard passed me and I just let him go, I remember about 3 young fast guys passed me. I just tried to be patient. My PR for the one half marathon I have run was 1:31 and a second or 2, so I was OK with that. I felt like I was just cruising. I didn't wear a heart rate strap. I wish I had. I would have like to know how hard I was working.
- 6:27 (fastest split)
- 6:31
- 6:31
- 6:45
- 6:51
- 6:55
- 6:58
- 6:50
- 6:58
- 6:38
- 7:02
- 7:10
- 7:00
Finish time 3:01:47. Garmin says 26.44 miles. I tried to run the tangents aggressively. I got up on curbs to cut corners and ran the shortest route possible. That's how it's measured. These courses are always 26.4 miles or more. As the race progressed I knew I had to hustle and try to run 6:40's to have a chance at 3:00. I caught BJ and ran with him for about a mile and a half, but he was cramping and I was feeling absolutely nothing. When I felt the first fatigue of the day it worried me for a second until I realized I was running slightly uphill. By around mile 19 I knew I was going to finish strong. But my pace fell off a bit. 3:00 slipped away. Running down Green St. for the third time, I remembered all the hard work I had done on there when I was a student. That was nostalgic. When I turned back to the stadium I realized why I had slowed down. The wind had been picking up and now it was pushing me. I had been catching people all day. That had just about stopped. There were no pretenders. I think I passed all of the strong runners that had passed me earlier. I felt sorry for the third female finisher. I had caught her in mile 21 and she passed me back right before mile 26. Most really good females are pace queens. They run really smartly paced races, but the guys just outkick them. I felt sorry for what I was going to do when I entered Memorial Stadium. I knew I was only going to be in the spotlight for a few seconds but I had rehearsed for the last 5 months. Maybe longer? I mean what kid hasn't listened to a ballgame on a sunny afternoon and thought of what it would be like to run onto the field with the stands chearing? Anybody who drives by the stadium can see the south end zone from the street. We made a right off the street and went down through a wagon gate and onto the field. When I came up the hill unto the field I was sprinting with my right fist held high to about the 30 yard line. We ran around the east sideline and around the goalpost to finish at the 50 in the center of the field. I was still kicking, passing a dozen half marathon stragglers in the stadium. I ran the last 30 yards with both arms in the air, watching myself on the Jumbotron. Man, it was great. Incredible. I hope I don't sound too self-congratulatory, I know it is, but I just went ahead and told you exactly what I was thinking. I have a sub 3:00 in my sights now. BQ
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