Austin 20-Miler Marathon

So first, I did not finish, I pulled out at mile 20. I did not have it in me, so another day, another race. I am a bit disappointed, but I have learned a lot during the training. Thank you to all for the well wishes!

The plan:

Take the first 3 miles out with the 3 Hr pace group uphill and then use miles 4-7 downhill to make up a bit of time. Miles 8-11 get into a comfortable pace. Work up the hill at 11 and then rolling hills through 18. 19-26 are somewhat down hill so pick up a bit of speed heading back in. Take a gel every 4 miles, and 1 gel right at the start. Alternate between water and powerade at every water stop. I thought if I could get through the half around 1:29 I could run even or better the second half.

Race Recap:

Race morning was really nice, cool and windy. Temp was in the 40's and it looked to be overcast. The race started 15 mins late, that does not seem like much, but when you have nutrition and bathroom duties to take care of it can be a little problem. The race was underway and I stuck to the 3 hr pace group. We made the turnaround and headed back into downtown. I rolled off the front of the group and let the downhill carry me but being careful not to go to fast and blow out my quads early. I turned away from down town at 6 and began the run towards shoal creek. I kept really steady, maybe about 5-10 seconds per mile too fast. At mile 10 I was 1 minute ahead of 3hr pace and 1 minute ahead of my time at the 20 miler. All was looking good. However instead of quickening the pace like I did at the 2o miler, I went the opposite way. Instead of staying down in the 6:35 - 6:45 pace range I ballooned up to the 7:15+ range! Yes it was hilly, and it was getting warm but I just told my self, its ok, stay comfortable at 7:15. I went through the half around 1:29:29, but the wind and hills and temp zapped me. I tossed some powerade around mile 17. Mentally I knew it was down hill from 18 but I just did not feel right. At mile 20 I pulled the plug.

Post Race:

After I got home I went through all sorts of crazy thoughts, run a marathon next weekend, next month, the following month. Then I stopped and thought about what I would say to another athlete. Give your body some time to recover, give your mind some time to recover. A race, any distance will take alot out of you, not only physically buy mentally also. Many athletes will run a race back to back to try to get a faster time, but often they run slower or if they are lucky they run about the same. Very rarely to do they run faster. So I will listen to "coach" and wait till the fall to run another marathon, maybe Houston? For now I will get back to focusing on running 5k's and 10k's for Triathlons and Duathlons. So time to write a new schedule and get back on the bike, literally! Congrats to all those that finished, it was tuff day.

Mile - Pace
1 - 7:11
2- 6:43
3 - 6:43
4 - 6:37
5 - 6:31
6 - 6:34
7 - 6:30
8 - 6:55
9 -6:46
10 - 6:44
11 - 6:59
12 - 7:16
13 - 6:55
14 - 7:05
15 - 7:07
16 - 7:12
17 - 7:14
18 - 7:30
19 - 7:45
20 - 7:20