Shaun's RNR Report

Second marathon under my belt. I'll have to say this was much harder than the first one and 19 minutes slower. It was a hard day. I have to say going into it I was nervous because I still felt tight and a little fatigued. I still stuck with my plan to keep a certain pace to try and finish at 5:30. I'll have to say by the time I hit I-90 bridge I was starting to have to work to keep that pace which was about mile 10 which was much earlier than normal. I still kept it up and determined to try to keep it up. About mile 15 I was slowing way down and by mile 20 I knew I wasn't going to make it. My legs were cramping and I had to start walking some. I'm not trained to walk so that brought my pace way down. At that point I knew I had to change my strategy. The first two goals were out the window so I'm glad I make three. The third one was to finish which it never crossed my mind I wouldn't finish. That was not an option. That's when I decided it was going to be a long six miles and better find someway to enjoy it. First I had to give myself a little pep talk and remind myself about what Karen said stay mentally tough. Out loud I said stay mentally tough, Shaun, and the pain will pass and it did for a while. I started feeling pretty good going back through the Aurora tunnel and picking the pace up a bit. Then I got to where the market was and it was really quiet and all these people were just staring down at us and I looked around and everyone seemed to be in just as much pain as I was so I decided to start screaming and yelling at these people so they would start cheering us on and they did so that gave me a little boost. Then the pain came back and my legs were really cramping again so I had to do the inevitable, just start singing disco to keep me from focusing on the pain. I did meet my last goal. I finished.

Now it's time for reflection and what I could or should have done different. This is only my second marathon so I only have that to base it on. My training for my first marathon lasted 10 months so I had lots of time between long runs, ran a lot of off road, and was well rested for the marathon. This time all my real long runs were pushed into 4 months and I was pushing a lot harder because I felt stronger, and most of my runs were on pavement. I had the best 20 mile run and if the marathon were that day would have finished around 5:20 and it was warm and was hills and on pavement but there was more shade and I had Ruth talking to me the whole time. By the time I got to my 22 mile run this time I was exhausted. I remember talking to Karen saying my Achilles hurt. I was exhausted, I was crying over stupid things and she said maybe I shouldn't do that 22 mile run and just rest up that I could do the marathon now. Well, I didn't listen and maybe I should have. I think I was burned out. Lesson learned, listen to body. There's a fine line to doing enough and too much and it's sometimes hard to tell which is which. I think only experience will teach you that.

Another comparison, I didn't wear my water belt last time and walked all the water stops and drank down every cup. This time wore water belt to save time and didn't walk water stops. Did stop at a couple to fill up. Last time by walking water stops maybe gave my legs a break and kept them fresh. This time by keeping running maybe made them cramp up sooner or maybe I didn't hydrate enough. I didn't have to go to the bathroom during the marathon at all and last time I went a couple times.

Another comparison, last race temperature was 40s and 50s. This time was 70s or more, not real sure, but much hotter. Didn't use salt tablets last time but maybe should have used some this time. Might have helped cramping. Didn't notice until after the race that Cytomax was low sodium. I am a very salty sweater. More salt might have helped a lot. Also the bananas at the store were awful so I didn't eat any bananas the week before and I usually eat one a day. Could have been low on potassium.

Another comparison, last race was much flatter than this one. Could contribute to time.

Another comparison, last race was 4 pounds lighter than this race. Need to drop tonnage.

All this will now go into my race log which I am going to now start to help me in the future so when I do my next marathon and there will be more, lots more, I can learn from every race. I am going to get faster, leaner, and stronger. I am going to conquer this distance and keep at it until I become a strong runner.