Thursday, April 30, 2009

Race Report for Glass City Marathon (Toledo)

Well things did not go as planned for this race. I did manage to stay relaxed up until the night before the race. Woke up at 2 or 3 in the morning and was keyed up for the race. The distressing part was the severe change in temps the last few days before the race. It was HOT. Into the 80's for a few days and it was forecast to do the same on race day with a catch. T-storms were also forecast so there was hope for me. I got out of bed and it was cloudy and 54* with a light breeze, still decent conditions I thought. That all ended about 1/2 mile into the race. The clouds went poof and the full blue skies opened up. Heading out along the south side of the river into a nice breeze and still felt pretty good. I was staying at a nice 6:45 pace and feeling good but cautious. As the temps continued to climb my pace slacked a little and I began to think that I could stay 7:00 pace and maybe pick up some more time in the last few miles and still get under 3 hours. That goal was then replaced with stay within BQ time and go under 3:15. The turn back to Toledo on the north side of the river meant the light breeze was behind me and it felt like the oven had been turned on. At around 19 miles the warning signs of dehydration were starting to come on so I switched to getting done with out going into the med tent as my goal. This meant walking too much and taking it easy. Dumping water over my head all day had helped but at times I got to preoccupied with cooling off and did not drink enough. Lesson -- drink first then cool down -- especially when the aid stations are 2-3 miles apart. Only vomited once at the 25 mile mark and jogged the last mile in. Finished at 3:34:44 25th place overall and 10th in my age group. I was very discouraged after this race and even contemplated bagging Ironman. But I think I've worked through the doubts and accepted that it just wasn't my day on Sunday. One of these days I'll figure out how to race longer distances in the heat, I know I will be able to do it. Thanks for reading.

3 comments:

  1. Hang in there Paul... We all have tough days, I know!! Eveytime we get down, there's only one way to go.. you got it...that's right.... UP!

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  2. Thanks Ward. Looks like you're speed is there still. How are the lungs healing?

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  3. Feeling good right now... Looking forward to the next three weeks build for Sunburst... I still gotta believe I got a good one left in me before I hang up the long stuff and concentrate on the short fast stuff...

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