Disappointed, humiliated, stripped of confidence.
The decision to run my second marathon was made moments after the completion of my first. Disgusted with the way the first one went, I was determined to do things differently. After a week of recovery I went to it, with back to back 50 plus mile weeks, and then I became injured. I spent the next two months trying to get healthy and really stared running again with about 11 ½ weeks to go. I was still in some pain, but I was running. I worked up to about 40 miles a week but the overall average was only 25.5 miles. I had several long runs that would suggest a 3:30-3:40 was well within reach. Just 2 weeks before the big day I ran 15.75 on a very hilly course at a pace under 3:30 with ease.
Wednesday night I began to feel sick. Thursday I started to get worried and Friday I was in the midst of a head cold. Saturday I woke up feeling better but had developed a cough. That’s right, it moved into my lungs. Sunday the cough was worse. Still there was no way I was not running and I still thought I would meet my goal.
Below are the splits that will be haunt me for a long time.
1 8:55
2 8:12
3&4 16:33
5 8:03
6 8:09
7 8:28
8 8:09
9 8:01
10 8:20
11 8:28
12 8:34
13&14 17:20
15 8:42
16 8:54
17 9:00
18 9:28
19 9:58
20 11:32
21 11:26
22 14:38
23 12:18
24 13:38
25 13:04
26.2 12:59
I started out feeling pretty well but not great, I knew that at that pace during a marathon with the crowd and the excitement I should have felt great. With each mile after 13 I began to realize more and more the restrictions I was feeling from my cold. At mile 19 I was demoralized by my 9:58 mile and began to walk. The rest was just horrible. My final time was 4:13:01 only 3 minutes and 17 seconds faster then my first marathon. I know it was because I was sick but it is still really hard to take. I am going to get another race on the calendar quickly and will hopefully have something to feel better about. I have plenty more to say but wanted to get this up.
About Me
- Jason
- I now have my first two marathon's under my belt. They were much slower then I had anticipated. I have learned a lot along the way and now I am on a quest for marathon redemption.
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7 comments:
Hang in there. The marathon is a cruel mistress that requires, time, effort and experience and who knows if it is every really conquered. Your are a fast enough runner to meet and exceed your goals. You'll get there.
hey, it's still a pr! :) i know, still not very consoling.
give yourself some time to rest and heal up - both the cold and your muscles. your legs, etc may not feel bad but the marathon has a funny way of wiping you out. i'd suggest a more gradual re-build than hopping right back into 40-50 mile weeks. you have plenty of time to recover, re-build, and train for a late winter/early spring marathon (or whenever you find another).
sorry to hear it didn't turn out as well as you had hoped. rest up, brush it off, and confidently focus and what's next!
That's a tough break. Your splits were so great up to mile 18, even while sick! I'm thinking the breaks will even out!
You were sick. You have a strong marathon in those legs and your day will come. Don't beat yourself up too much... it's always a gamble for race day. No matter how the training goes, it can all come down to being sick vs healthy, weather conditions, etc.
Still a PR, so congrats buddy!! Recover well and start thinking about the next one.
Man... sounds like the epitome of worst case scenario... I guess the only consolation is that you've been marathon training and building up your endurance for quite a while now so if you keep trying the cumulative benefits of all the training should eventually pay off... of course that doesn't do much to stop you from feeling crappy right now. I'm pretty sure that every marathoner goes through moments when they ask "Why the hell am I doing this to myself?"... I wish I could answer that one myself! Anyway... too bad you didn't get your marathon redemption yet... I guess we're dealing with a trilogy here...
I'm not sure I can say anything to console you. I wish I had magic words or some secret but you know what happened. Unlucky illness. I really thought you were going to run a good race. In fact, I thought the 3:40 goal was selling yourself short. It may not have happened for you this time but don't sweat it too much. Your day is going to come. Remember to enjoy the ride.
AH! There is nothing you could have done! You got your PR and you STILL ran it despite your cold. That's a huge accomplishment. You'll get there with your goal before you know it. Rest up and feel better!
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