Shamrock Marathon Race Report
The day started off pretty normal, got up walked the dogs grabbed some hardboiled eggs to eat and took off. The weather with wind chill at the beginning was around 35 degrees so it was cold to say the least. This feeling may have also been due to the lack of clothing I was wearing too (shorts, long sleeves running shirt).
We started a few minutes late and by the time our coral got through it was probably around 8:30 am. Since I was pacing I made sure that I went slow knowing we could easily make up a few minutes by the end if we had too. This wasn’t the case at all though. We were pretty locked on to pace but fluctuating by five seconds in either direction. I call that success in my book.
I felt really good going out and for pretty much the first 10 miles or so. At around 11 my feet began to get a little sore but not painful by any means. I am figuring the cause of this was related to three factors, the first being running in f-lite 195s. The second was the fact this was on pavement not dirt which only compounds over time. The third I would say is really two factors being not too many long time trials and the fact I am still learning POSE running. Like I said, it wasn’t painful by any means more like I just felt them.
We were right on pace hitting the 6 miles which worried me since we had the wind at our back but it was still only six miles in. We started to come back towards where the start was and everything was going great. I was in the lead at this point carrying the pacing flag. I knew once we hit the boardwalk it was going to be a fight for some people to keep pace with the 10-15mph winds that were going on. I had three runners stay up with me and told everyone else to just fall in behind and draft hoping this would save some energy. Not sure it did or didn’t but hopefully it helped some people. As we thought, the boardwalk was kicking for sure. We were on it for a few miles, turning off and going up the main street which turned out to be just as bad. This took us to the halfway point (13.1)feeling good. We hit the time we needed with a few seconds to spare. That made me feel good since at this point my garmin watch was just not working at all. It kept stopping, and pausing which made my job extremely difficult. We were on time to finish which is what matters.
We pushed on hitting shore drive and heading towards Fort Story. I didn’t realize it but due to passing people we picked up the pace a little. At the 18 mile marker we were now 30 plus seconds ahead of schedule which is good and bad. Good because it gave a nice cushion, bad because people start to really complain. Maintaining morale is just as important as pace since good spirits keeps people running better. Turning into Ft. Story (2 miles later) we were only 10 seconds fast so we slowed a little too much in my opinion. I tried to pick up the pace a little but the other pacers slowed me down and said we are ahead and this is the point when people will begin to bonk. I agreed and slowed down. By the 22 mile mark we were 5-10 seconds slow and I knew we were going to have to pick it up. As it turns out we did, not only did we but we ended up pushing a sub 9/mile for nearly a mile. After realizing it we turned around and lost nearly all of the runners.
This is kind of a bad thing since our only job was to maintain a good pace. We pretty much slowed way down gathering some runners back and pushing on. This point I saw a sign for a hash house stop (beer). I made it a point to grab a beer (yuengling) and down it. Good stuff, really. So we pushed on picking up a few runners hear and there but we really lost 75% of our group by our little stunt (as it turned out they were already falling behind and told us later they wouldn’t have made it). We came in back onto the board walk and ran it in with our small posse of maybe five runners. We ended up pacing in 4:14::21 which I call mission success since we were scheduled to come in at 4:15.
Now to the good stuff. I would probably rethink wearing flites with no cushioning on a marathon on the road. I think the 230’s would be a much better choice. Oh well! My shoes were a little tight which causes a very small bruise on my right foot which I believe was from when the swelling started. My ankles feel good, normal almost. I really contribute this to the flites as well. I have found that the strength in my feet and ankles has nearly doubled due to these types of shoes. My shins/calves feel 100% normal. I was wearing compression sleeves on them which I am sure helped. My knees feel it but not too bad. They feel ok though. I think a few days and they will be completely fine. The only thing I can really mention is the piece that connects my right calf to the knee or flexor. It is swollen which is obviously over use related. I think this is due to the POSE attempt of running and all the heavy squats I have been doing. It will be fine and get better as I get stronger and more technically sound running this way.
My hip flexors are fatigues and I have a good knot in my left side. That makes me wonder if there is a connection between the hip flexor knot and the pain at the tip of my calf. I have a feeling it is but it will get better. My legs have felt worse after doing Helen so I feel pretty good.
My nutrition was pretty locked on for me. Of course it could have been better but the best I have ever done. For the first two hours I took two salt sticks, two gels and consumed a 50:50 gatorade to water mixture in my hand held water bottle. After that I took a gell around 30 – 45 minutes and a salt stick every hour. This seemed to work well. I never felt like I was going to bonk at all. I will say I should have taken more gels though at around 20 – 30 minutes instead. I will do this for the 24 hour in a month. I also use a running water bottle and I have to say in order to really maintain through a water stop it is crucial. Plus I don’t really always want water at each stop so it allows me to drink when I want.
