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The 2018 Bayshore Marathon

May 26, 2018 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: 70s

Comments:
Yesterday, I ran my first marathon ever. After a mediocre, outdoor track season, I just wasn't quite ready to give up running for the Spring yet. So after much convincing, debate, and selling stuff on the FB market, I decided to sign up for the Bayshore marathon with Tall Paul, Austin, Tyler, and Ben Richardson.

I had 3 goals going into this race. The first goal was breaking 3 hours, the second goal was breaking 3:10, and the third goal was to simply finish. I didn't put a ton of pressure on myself for this race and just wanted to have fun. So here's my Bayshore Marathon recap. Get ready, it's gonna be a long one.

On the way:

After helping to clean up New Buffalo, since it's been under construction, I got in the car and drove to EL. I picked up Liz and then continued on the journey. We stopped in Mount Pleasant to eat some Olive Garden and then I went to drop Liz off as Ellie's cottage. Unfortunately, I wrote the wrong address in and I drove an extra 50 minutes out of the way RIP. So, I didn't get to Tall Paul's cottage in North Port, until a little after midnight. I had to wake up at 5, so that sucked lol. Over 7 hours of total driving today.

We woke up at 5am and I ate 2 granola bars. We loaded into Tall Paul's parent's mini van and headed to the course. We got a little lost on the way there and showed up at about 6:45am (the race started at 7:15am). The long porta-potty line went fast and I took my pre race poo and chewed some run gum. The 5 of us got to the line and started together.

Miles 1-5 (Splits: 6:35, 6:48, 6:43, 6:46, 6:42):

I start off the race and purposely wanted to be behind everyone. I figured my 4 dudes (no offense) would go out a bit fast. I actually went out fast for the first mile, but I never looked at my phone pace until Mile 21 (yes I ran with my phone, sorry @BJ lol). I felt super chill for the first 5 miles and just checked out the awesome scenery. Around mile 2-3, I just hung onto a large pack of M-RUN Alumni, who all knew Colin Riley and Jeff Girbach. They were pretty chill and we all talked for a while. There was also a dude running barefoot with us, I don't know how the fuck he finished or how he was doing that (he actually ended up beating me L). Not much more happened during the first couple of miles. I came through 5 miles in an official split of 33:56 about a minute behind Paul, 40 seconds behind Austin and Tyler, and 20 from Ben.

Miles 6-10: (6:41, 6:44, 6:33, 6:38, 6:40)

The next few miles were feeling really good. The legs were feeling great and any concerns about back problems from construction all week was gone. I was hanging with the same pack through mile 7 and then decided that the chase for the rest of the squad was on. So somewhere after mile 7, I broke away from the M-Run alumni pack and started to make up some ground on Ben. The half marathoners were coming from the opposite direction and for a solid 3-4 miles, I was getting constant "Go Greens" which was awesome, but I had to respond a lot. I was getting exhausted from it lol. At mile 9, I caught up to Ben and decided to run with him for a little bit. We talked about his job in Chicago and what him and Jenna were up to. Solid conversation, but the M-Run crew caught back up to us and I figured we were slowing, so after mile 10, I decided that the chase was on for Austin and Tyler (who were still running together). I felt great and I was hydrated at every station. The weather getting more humid, but I wasn't even thinking of it. I came through the 10 mile in an official time of 1:07:17. Austin and Tyler were at 1:06:30, so I had a lot of ground to make up.

Miles 11-15: (6:49, 6:40, 6:31, 6:13, 6:17)

So after mile 10, the chase was on! I knew if I slowly worked my up, I could definitely catch them by mile 16 or 17.... except as you can tell by the splits, I was getting pretty ambitious. I was running alone for a little bit and I could see them in the distance. I ran with a Kenyan dude for a little bit and talked to him. He was a dope guy, he was on his 19th marathon. His goal was to run a marathon in every State, so it was pleasure to meet and talk to him.

As people were passing the 13.1 mark, they were coming back in the opposite direction. Tall Paul seemed really far ahead, but was moving along. As Austin and Tyler passed me from the other direction, Austin yelled out to me "come catch us man". Now, I made a really stupid mistake from there. I should've stayed at a steadier pace, but I was feeling too good, so I started to really pick up the pace. I hit the half marathon in 1:27:42. I was just started to feel the heat and thighs chafing, but legs felt unstoppable. I was on a roll and picking off a lot of people.

After mile 14, I caught Austin and Tyler. The plan was to run with them for a bit, but instead I kept cruising along lol. My body felt so good, that I just didn't want to slow the pace. So I kept the hammer pounding and was dropping some sub 6:20s. Even after Tyler and Austin, I kept passing guy after guy after guy. If this was a 20 mile race, I think this would've been the perfect approach... however since it was 26.2, I think it was a mistake. It was getting hotter and hotter, and the aid stations seemed to be getting farther apart. I took my girl Gu (which was pretty gross tbh, first time ever) at Mile 11, but after mile 15, I would really start to feel the wrath of the Marathon.

Miles 16-20: (Splits: 6:25, 6:31, 6:36, 6:51, 6:55)

Mile 16 (official 16.2 time of 1:47:09) was the first time I started to feel it in my legs. My hips started to feel tight and the heat was starting to finally get to me. I was still cruising at a great pace, but I knew I was gonna hit the wall soon. After mile 16, I knew I was slowing, but luckily I was still picking people off. I saw Paul not too far in the distance and made it a goal to try and slowly catch him. But man, it was starting to hurt. I took my second goo after mile 18, but it wasn't helping as I started to get dehydrated. Every mile started to feel longer and longer. At mile 18, I realized I still had a long 8 miles to go.

Miles 21-26.2: (Splits: 7:20, 9:14, 10:41, 11:14, 9:34, 7:23)

And then the wall hit... HARD. Man I had never felt anything like it, not even at my half last summer. I hit mile 21 feeling horrible, but I managed to finally catch Paul. I told Siri to play "Knights of Cydonia" as I needed a boost to catch up to Paul. As he was grabbing a water at the aid station, I managed to pass him. I figured that I could at least stay ahead of Paul and finish with some 7:30 to 8 minute miles.... but oh boy the wall had only just begun. At mile 22, I experience the worst thigh cramp I've ever experience in my life. Now, I've never felt a leg cramp during a run, but here I was. It hurt so badly that I forced to walk. And at mile 22, as a song called "Cancer" by Twenty One Pilots was playing, Tall Paul retook the lead and I never saw him again. I figured that was appropriate lol.

The next few miles were absolutely horrible. I was walk/jogging as much as I could, but I was really struggling through cramps. Liz and Natalie eventually biked passed me, while I was walking L. I was still in good spirits, but just really broken and dehydrated. I ended up stealing a water bottle from Liz and asked where Tyler and Austin were. Luckily, they were walking too, so I didn't have to worry too much about them passing me. I told Liz and Natalie that even though i was walking that I was going to finish no matter what. The M-Run alumni also passed me along this point and told me if I kept going I could still get sub 3, but I knew that was out the window.

At mile 23, I walk/jogged into a girl who was being carried by 2 other people. I asked if she was ok and talked to one of the people for a bit. The lady asked if I was all good and I told her about the cramps. She ended up giving me a third gu to help me out, which was nice and I tried to continue walk jogging.

In the 2 to 1.5 miles, I was able to catch a slight second wind. I knew that finish wasn't far, so I started to get into a slow jogging rhythm. The legs were gone, but I was determined to finish. With a mile to go, I saw that I was around 3:01-3:02. I saw that I could break 3:10 still, gritted my teeth and pushed the pace for the first time in a while. Damn, it was one of the hardest miles I've ever done, but I really wanted to break 3:10 and qualify for Chicago at least. I gave the last mile everything I had left and dropped a 7:20. I passed Liz and Natalie right as I was about to enter the track to finish officially. They were surprised to see me running again lmao. I raced an old dude to the finish. It was more of a joke than an actual race, but we fist bumped it out and I crossed barely ahead of him. I finished in 3 hours, 10 minutes, and 26 seconds.

After Thoughts:

Man, what an experience this was. Though i didn't necessary beat me my time goals, I had an absolute blast with this race. The people were amazing, the environment was unreal, and the race was just such a fun time. I definitely have the marathon bug and want to actually train hard for my next one. I know that with some actual training, I can definitely break 3 hours.

Even though we all didn't get out time goals, I'm proud of all of you guys @Austin @Tyler @TallPaul and @Ben (even though the last 2 won't see this). It was a tough day in the office, but hey we went out there and gave it our best shot off of not a ton of great training. I had a lot of fun racing you with guys and I hope we can do something like this again. Next time I race you guys with hopefully be at the Mattawan 5K SKrrrrrr Skkrrrrrrr.

Well, that's all I got guys. I won't be on the log for a week to 2 weeks (well besides once or twice for non-running related reasons). Shoutout to @BJ for believing that I could take on Tall Paul. To my surprise, he didn't take me out by that much, but I definitely didn't break 2:50 lol.

Have a great week guys and I'll see you back in a few weeks.

- RVP