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2012 Napa Valley Marathon

March 4, 2012 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
I journal this today because I needed a little time to reflect a bit on my disappointing run. I however, had an awesome time in the Napa Valley, making it a family affair and arriving on Friday, spending Saturday checking out great places to eat and vineyards, couldn't believe this was only an hour away from Fremont!
Going into this race, I had high doubts and knew that if I were to have a shot at sub 3, all things needed to flow well (I didn't think that my training and tune up races indicated sub 3 personally). Right from the starting gun, I felt a little tired. I hit the first two splits purposely off pace 7:12, 7:03 knowing that I would warm up. Around mile 4, I began to have a stomach ache a little after taking an 'S cap.' I continued to settle in and was running a semi-comfortable 6:45-6:50 pace up to mile 12 when I had to stop to use the restroom. Up until this point I was with a group shooting for the 3 hour mark and finally crossed the 13.1 mark at 1:32. I knew I had to shoot for a 1:27-8 second half to make it happen, so I settled back into pace this time keeping it in the 6:40's. My watch clocked me at around 2:18 at mile 20 and knew that I needed to run a killer 10k. My quads/hamstrings actually cramped soon after (probably mile 21.5) and the death march began soon after. I walked through the last 2 aid stations drinking as much as I could and jogged/walked the remainder miles. One aid station had a the song “another one bites the dust” blasting and I smiled and yelled out “how fitting for me!” Looked at my watch and saw the average pace quickly rise, which would give me some kind of motivation to try and run, just to succumb to the cramping, as well as the waves of runners passing. I continued to have an on/off stomach ache for the remainder miles and finished seeing my family cheering me on close to the finish line.
Observations for me to consider: used a new Cytomax flavor and S Cap and a gel that I did not train with, also possibly taking too many gels to process. Shoes didn’t feel so comfy either. Also, possibly starting out too aggressively through the rolling hills took its toll as well as trying to make up for bathroom break time. Quads/hams still sore, but overall not too beat up. The marathon gets the best of me again, but I’ll continue to keep looking for ways to improve. Until next time.