The 2009 ING Georgia Marathon Race Report

Well here it is Monday night, the day after the race. I flew from Atlanta to Pennsylvania tonight for business. This will be the longest period of time I have been away from Eyrleigh since she has been born. I already miss my family, however Eyrleigh is VERY fascinated with my laptop so writing a race report will prove to be more of a challenge at home in the future.

That being said let us rewind to race morning at 4:07am. The alarm clock was to go off at 4:30, however Eyrleigh started crying at 4:07am, so I took the opportunity to hold her for about 10 minutes and settling her down before deciding to get in the shower. After a shower and choking down a couple of graham crackers and peanut butter, it was 4:30 and Mary Ruth was up and going. We were ready to leave the house at 5:00am (our friends daughter spent the night to be there with Eyrleigh in the am.) We were worried about traffic heading into downtown Atlanta. It took exactly 30 minutes to get from Lawrenceville to Centennial Park. 5:30am and we could have slept another hour. Oh well.

I was in Corral 3 and I started with the 4:00 pace group. The race started and the logjam of people was highly annoying for the first 4 miles. At mile 8 the pacer said we were currently at a 3:53 pace. What??? 3:53 Crap. I got with the pacers who decided the negative split was the way to go. 2 marathons in a row.

***Soapbox***

In order to run a 4:00 marathon one must run at a 9:10/mile pace. Not gas it for the first 8 miles at a 8:53/mile. You may think 17 sec a mile what's the big deal? It's not about speed it's about heart rate. In order for me to run an efficient marathon I must run with a average heart rate of 166 or about a 9:10/mile. By running the first 8 miles 17 sec a mile faster my heart rate rose slightly changing the race completely. If you are a PACER pace equally for the whole race, don't decide because you the experienced Marathoner can handle the negative splits doesn't mean us rookies can. The only pace group I will follow in the future is MYSELF.

***Soapbox***

That being said the timing system was kind of screwy and I think off during the race.

My watch splits 10k 1:01 1/2 2:02 26.2 4:29:58
ING splits 10k 1:01:39 1/2 2:06:14 26.2 4:30:28

At the halfway point we were in Decatur, and as another runner put it we ran through Decatur long enough to pay taxes. Miles 17-20 were quite tough with severe hotspots on the balls of my feet (mental note: retire shoes). At mile 20 I pulled up next to Dave (from Lawrenceville) and we ran the last 10k together. He was in pain on the downhills and I on the uphills. We walked the last 2 water stops, and we pushed each other to mile 26. At mile 26 we were coming around the corner from the finish and I told him "we can break 4:30!" Let's give it all she's got.. He said to take it he couldn't push harder. I said Dave "Let's GO!" and we did. We crossed together at 4:29:58 by my watch, but the timing system said 4:30:28 and that is official and I will live with that time.

I am a 4:30 marathoner and I am ok with that. The compression socks worked great. The Endurolytes worked great. (no cramping) The Roctane was great! 15 before and every 45 thereafter, only drank water on the course. My legs just felt heavy on this day. That is the way it is, and with this hilly course on my best day I could have run a 4:10, but you take what the day gives you. It gave my 4:30:28 an improvement of 22:34 from just 4 months ago. I am happy, plus it's time to step away from the Marathon for awhile.

Besides it's triathlon season, and I have a 70.3 mile race to train for!