Here is a quick update from an email to friends and family that I wrote after my post-race nap yesterday. The emotions and disappointment were and still are pretty fresh. In a few days, I'll add exact splits, some pics and some more refined analysis of what I think went wrong... after time lends a bit more perspective.
After 5 attempts at the distance, the marathon continues to be a riddle I haven't solved.
After a honest evaluation of my training, I knew that my initial goal of sub-3 was going to be a stretch. The smart move would have been to revise my goal and try to run 3:10 pace..but I've never been accused of being a genius. I decided to go for it, run at goal pace as long as I could and let the chips fall where they may.
Started off easy early... 6:45's which felt effortless. Quick pee stop at mile 5. Hit 10 in 1:07:41, halfway in 1:28:58 and 20 miles in 2:16:46... feeling solid and on 6:50 per mile pace. Had stomach problems which forced a bathroom stop just after the mile 20 marker (still managed a 9:30 mile including the stop). Never really got back in a rhythm after that. Somehow managed 7:30's for miles 22-23, then the wheels completely fell off.
Full body shut down including a brutal hamstring cramp that wouldn't let up. Just about every full running stride resulted in the muscle seizing. Basically walked/shuffled it in from there... which absolutely sucked. A blazing 39:31 for the last 3.2 miles. That's not a typo. 13 min per friggin mile as I watched nearly 100 people pass me and my fallback goal of qualifying for Boston go out the window.
Finished in 3:22:04 (results link) HUGELY disappointed. An hour and 5 minutes for the final 10K... talk about hitting the wall!!! I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried in my wife's arms... maybe I take this stuff too seriously. :-)
It's back to the drawing board. I'm not sure when I'll attempt another one of these... maybe next fall or maybe 2009. I'll figure out this infernal distance one of these days.
The off-season begins today...