Rock N Roll San Antonio

I just got back from San Antonio today (Monday). What a beautiful city!!! The weather was nice, even though a cold front went through and it got "cold" while we were there. The Riverwalk was fantastic and the entire city was very nice. The food was great! Some of the best Mexican food that I have ever had and the salsa fabulous.

My third marathon is in the books! Three years ago I didn't think I could do a marathon but I have done 3 in 2 years. 2 this year. And I am signed up for Ironman. How amazing that life is so exciting and changes so quickly. I can't believe how my life has changed over the past three years.

Lets talk about the marathon and the week before the marathon.

Last weekend we did the Schenectady Stockadeathon. I figured this would be a good run during my taper. I had a plan of running under 1 hour 34 minutes by maintaining just over 10 minutes a mile. I wanted to make sure that I got in 10 miles. I got to the starting line and ran with a friend whose goal was 1 hour 29 minutes. I didn't stick to my race plan - STUPID ME!!!! I got in a great warmup. I just didn't stick to my plan and I was dying at mile 4. By the way it was a 9.3 mile race. I know better. So, I ran a 1 hour 33 min race. It is a PR for me but I was pissed off at myself for not following through on my plan. This also made sure that I was recovering a little longer than I wanted to this week.

I have taken the past week pretty easy to make sure I am tapered well and recovered even better. I went for a 30 min run on Tuesday, 25 min run on Wednesday, 20 jog on Friday and then took off Saturday. We traveled to San Antonio on Thursday to make sure that we were there with plenty of time to acclimate to the temperature, humidity, time change, etc.

You may be wondering why I am telling you all of this. It is because I am trying to figure out what went wrong during the race. This is the first marathon that I was not going into it sick and did the most long runs. Marathon #1 - I had mono and ran a 4 hour 50 min marathon, Marathon #2 - I was sick for 5 weeks prior to the race and ran a 4 hour 55 min marathon, and Marathon #3 - I felt prepared, had PRed in distances up to the half marathon all over the place and had quality training in. My goal was a sub 4 hour 50 min marathon. I ran a 5 hour 2 min marathon. I finished. That was the number 1 thing that I achieved. I have finished 3 marathons. That is impressive. But...WHAT WENT WRONG???? I don't have this figured out yet obviously.

The day started out really well. It was in the 40's at the start. It seemed like a good day. We had done a lot of walking over the past three days sightseeing in San Antonio but I felt ok on the morning of race day. I didn't have my normal breakfast as the hotel didn't have poptarts or toaster strudel so I had Cheerios and half a bagel with peanut butter. Unlike some of the participants, we got to the starting line without a problem. I went to the porta potties and did my thing. I got to the starting line and after the race started for wave 1 I had to wait for 30 minutes for my wave to start. I hit another porta potty again while waiting and got hungry while waiting as well so I ate some fruit snacks. The race started well. I went out slower than I normally would but I didn't want to start too fast. I had a fantastic 1/2 marathon. So much fun too!!! We kept going and felt great up until after mile 17. I had some intestinal issues initially but I didn't want to stop because I was on pace for a 4hour 46 min marathon. Then I just kept getting slower. My muscles got soooo tight. I didn't want to eat anything. After mile 19 I decided to walk the aide stations. I kept getting slower. It got warmer out - around mid to high 60's. My entire upper body hurt. I was in a death crawl. I started going to the run 4 walk 1 minute running method. I just wanted to get to the end. I picked it up a little after mile 25. The end though was interesting - we finished on an uphill. Yuck!!! Of course, the entire course was much more hilly than I had expected. For a course that was said to be flat and fast, I didn't expect the couple of rolly hills that were in it. This was the hardest course that I have done in marathoning. But that still doesn't explain why I self destructed.

Maybe I didn't do enough weekday runs. Maybe I didn't do enough long runs even though this is the best i have done with my long runs. Maybe I didn't fuel appropriately this weekend - there was a lot of vegetables but not a lot of carbs the two days before. Maybe I just don't run well in the heat/sun. I did a lot of yoga but no weight lifting this time around - maybe I should do more weights. Maybe I didn't sleep enough the week before. Maybe I didn't recover from the Stockadeathon well enough - I didn't keep to my plan which should have been better for recovery. Maybe I didn't taper enough. Maybe I tapered too much - shorter runs the during the weekdays two weeks before the race. Maybe I did my last long run too close to the race - 2 weeks ago. Maybe I went out too fast and ran the first half too fast even though I was right on target for my goal time. Maybe I wasn't hydrated well enough - even though I drank a lot of water this weekend. Maybe I put too much pressure on myself up to the marathon and needed this one to be the best one. I could maybe all day long but what would that accomplish now.

I am happy with the race though. It was lots of fun and I finished. I just can't believe I self destructed. I will do another even though this past weekend was very difficult and I am really excited about the half marathon distance. I am doing Ironman in July and am disappointed that I don't have a fall marathon planned - maybe I will get into the NYC marathon this year. Although I don't think that one is going to be the PR course but could be a positive marathon experience without much expectations as it is a very hilly course.

So, instead of doubt myself. I want to end with a positive. I finished. How many people can say that they did 3 marathons. San Antonio was great and the course was fantastic and fun. Ironman training here I come!

A quote to end my blog for today:

"No matter how old I get, the race remains one of life's most rewarding experiences."
George Sheehan
GEORGE SHEEHAN