Looking at the Good in the Bad

Originally written Sunday, 18 February 2007 at 5:33pm

So today was the big day. The short version is that I didn't finish. I stopped at the 22nd mile marker suffering from a moderate case of hypothermia. But I don't feel bad about the race at all. I actually think I had an amazing race.

The longer version goes like this..

I woke up around 4:45 and did my usual morning routine. I got all my stuff together and checked the weather report. Even though the forecast said high of 53 low of 29, surprisingly the current temperature around 6 a.m. was 45 degrees. This made me very happy because that was the low end of the ideal temperatures aI had been training in. I still dressed in a sweater and windbreaker pants to keep myself warm prior to the race starting.

About 10 minutes before the race started I checked in my equipment bag and took off my sweater/pants. This left me in my Under Armour attire, the marathon race shirt and a pair of short running shorts that I look rather sexy in (sorry not the hot pink pair).

The race got off to a great start. I was maintaining a 7 minute mile pace and felt very comfortable in my stride. There was this woman who kept trying to pass me on the downhills (by the way, a surprisingly hilly course). I kept passing her again on the uphills. By mile eleven the two of us had passed by most of the half-marathoners and marathoners so I decided to ask her which she was running. Turns out she was running her 7th marathon and trying to qualify for the Boston marathon later in the year. She didn't believe me at first when I told her I was running my first marathon ;) We both thanked each other for pushing the other to keep pace and we spent the next 3 miles or so talking about what we were doing in Gainesville, etc. Very nice woman, but I digress.

The two of us passed the half-way point in 1:32, we were making very good time. We continued to run at about a 7 minute pace for the next 5 miles, but I started to notice the wind was really picking up and the temperature was starting to drop pretty drastically. I found out later that with the wind chill the temperature had dropped from a comfortable 45 to a very chilly 29-30. (sigh) Anyways, by mile 18 my watch showed 2:10, we were still making very good time. However, despite not being tired or sore I found that I couldn't maintain the pace any longer. In addition to the cold weather, all of the water/gatorade that had spilled onto my clothes had really started to affect my body temperature. I found that I had no body heat whatsoever, and the clothes I was wearing were only adding to the cold.

I spent the next 3 miles trying to maintain a sub-8 minute pace and it was working pretty well, but the cold winds were just staggering me. I started shivering uncontrollably, my face started to tingle with numbness, I got dizzy and lightheaded, etc. The last mile was pretty much spent with me walking 2 minutes and stumbling in a lurch for 1 minute. By the 22nd mile marker I realize I could continue on and probably suffer a serious injury or illness by the time I finished, or I could call it a day, shrug off the extenuating circumstances, and look at the experience in a positive light.

So I stopped my time at the 22nd mile marker at 2:42. Had I been warmer and able to finish at my previous pace I would have made it under 3:!5, and possibly 3:!0 depending on my last surge. The woman I spent the first 18 miles with finished 3rd in the full marathon. So I feel good knowing that I was competing on a very high level. Now I get to take a week of light rest, cross-training etc. and then start training for my next, hopefully warmer marathon.

And next time I will be setting a goal of 2:59. Gotta keep pushing myself ya know :)