Congratulations to 2Y on a fantastic tri!!!
And a HUGE Congratulations to gruecd on his BQ finish at Chicago yesterday!! I'm not sure if most of you really realize how truly impressive that is, given the conditions we had to endure. A friend of mine who did Chicago last year in 2:34 was puking his guts out by the 1/2 because of the heat. 64 runners were taken to area hospitals (no deaths, thank God) and 2000 runners dropped out of the race at some point along the course! The race staff and volunteers did a great job and there was plenty of water and gatorade at all of the stops, but it was a true sufferfest out there.
Wraith - Way to tough it out on a day when it would've been WAY easier to just quit. I don't know if you're aware, the the hazard level went from green to yellow around 9:30, and it went from yellow to red ("potentially dangerous conditions") around 11:00. At least two of my RWOL friends DNFed. Seriously, big balls on your part to finish.
Thanks GB, and thanks to all of you who checked my progress and worried a little that I might not make it. Believe me, I worried about that, too! If there is any question about what can happen when you go out too fast - let me clear it up for you: It can make life very, very difficult on the back end of the race.
My plan was to stick with the 3:50 pace group for as long as possible (hoping for 16 or possibly 20 miles) then tough it out to the end. This plan did not take into consideration 1) the heat, or 2) my cold/allergy issues I've been having lately. Or the fact that I have not enjoyed much success at this distance.
If you saw my splits, you know the story. By Mile 9 I knew I was over-extended. By the time I finished half of the race (2:00:41) it was absolutely not clear to me how I could possibly keep moving another 13.1 miles. It was already 70+ degrees (yellow hazard level) and it was still getting warmer. I don't do very well with "warmer." I was walking about 20% of the time. And for the life of me, I could not drink enough to make me feel hydrated again. My left kidney hurt (and continued to hurt until late last night). Eventually I settled into a rythm where I'd drink 10-12 oz of gatorade & water, walk for a full 1/2 mile to let it settle itself, then run for 2 miles at an 11 min pace. Rinse/repeat for the rest of the race for a 4:50:59 finish (my 2nd slowest ever, but squarely in the 4:40:44 - 4:59:47 range of my other four Chicago Marathon times).
In the end, I finished and I'm happy I kept going. Pain is temporary, hardware is forever. But the struggles I've had for the past month have been very discouraging. Actually, all 3 of my running races have failed to meet my goals this year. Going to take some time to recover and consider what goals I want to set for myself for next year. And hope that when the frost finally hits in a couple of weeks that I see an immediate impact on how I feel.
and
from me.
from me.
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It may end up being my only marathon, or I may find out I love it. In any event, I'm going to go ahead and do it while I'm excited about training and relatively young and injury-free. I'm from Little Rock and really didn't want to do LR as my first marathon as it is a bit hilly in the second half. But after searching around for races in bordering states in the March-April timeframe, I just decided LR was the best option for me. The Cowtown in Ft. Worth was appealing but a little too early. OKC was also a possibility, but I worry about it being too warm in early May. The Big D in Dallas is a few weeks later in March but didn't seem to offer much of an advantage over LR.
_House - ______ Marathon (which one?)Rail - ______ Marathon (which one?)Anyone else racing this weekend?
and my max (on a long hill, into the wind) was only 166 BPM = 
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I couldn't imagine doing 1/100th of that.
This is an amazing event, well run from top to bottom and something the city should be (and is) very proud of. 
& 
This is an amazing event, well run from top to bottom and something the city should be (and is) very proud of. 
