Well, I knew the sub-three hour marathon would come to an end one day, but I have to admit, I didn’t expect it to be today.
I’m not entirely sure what happened, but I struggled to maintain the planned goal pace of 6:36 per mile, and as early as the 10th mile, knew it was going to be a tough second half.
Instead of speeding up to a 6:22 in Mile 14, I could only manage a 6:27, and with a 15th mile split of 6:42, I knew it would take a miracle to recover. My wife Ally was there cheering for me at both the 13.2 and 15 mile mark and all I could mutter was “Think I’m done….”
Mile 16 was a 6:55 and from that point on I have no mile splits as the rain caused my Garmin 405 to malfunction (just as well, really – I’m sure they were ugly). Strangely enough, my legs gave up the ghost at this point in the race too.
Last year I killed the Frederick hills; this year they killed me, and I won’t hide the fact that I was reduced to a walk on three occasions. What a disappointment.
I have no idea what pace I ran for the last 10 miles (no clocks on the course) but it definitely wasn’t a surprise when I saw the finish line clock displaying 3:02:xx – I knew I had slowed badly in the second half and there was no way today was going to be a sub-3:00, let alone a PR.
Looking back at the race, I actually got a bizarre second wind at mile 23, but it was way too little, way too late. What an odd day and one that I’m happy to put behind me. It definitely wasn’t the 25th marathon I was hoping for…
On a happier note – many congratulations to fellow Welshman Nigel Edwards who ran a tremendous half marathon PR at Frederick today! Way to gut it out Nige…
HI Steve
I’m honestly so sorry.
I really don’t know what to say except that the marathon is never a fair test of our training or even our physical condition. Every time we put ourselves out there and take on the challenge of going 26.2 miles, we risk not achieving our ultimate goals… whatever they may be. But we never risk our courage, training, or sheer toughness. You’ve got those in spades.
You will be back and as I just had to post on my blog, “there will be better days”.
Best of luck to you as you recover and move on to the next challenge.
Hey Steve,
Ugh, what a disappointment. Sorry your race was a bummer. I ran the Frederick half this morning, and enjoyed that non-hilly half of the course! I tried to hang around after I finished to cheer you home, but the rain and the cold chilled me and put me in the car, unfortunately. I haven’t been able to bring myself to put another 26.2 on the calendar yet, so I’m in awe of you.
Hope your recovery is good!
Somedays it just doesn’t happen eh.
Still an amazing time though!
The marathon is never guaranteed. You can have the best training and just not have a good day, or you might randomly jump into one and have the race of a lifetime.
Chalk it up to another experience and remember that a 3 hour marathon is still damn fast. Next time will be different. (Hopefully, better, but at least different.)
It’s one of the reasons I love the distance, truth be told.
Hope your recovery goes well.
I am so incredibly proud of you…I must be honest and say in those conditions I might have quit……but then again I guess that`s why we are married, I am not a quitter either….
It was hard for me to watch, and I was so glad to see you come round that final bend………….there will be another sub 3 for you……..
love you
ally
Great effort Steve! I think if your Garmin hadn’t quit on you and you had some indications what the times were, you definately would have beat that 3hr mark. I heard it was raining pretty hard out there…I think you did remarkable considering!
Well done!
Charlie