So last Thursday I pulled the cord and signed up for the Worcester Marathon. It was the final day to get in to it. I figured despite a couple odd injuries I'm dragging around I could use the mileage so even if I feel like crap it would end up 26.2 miles of experience managing feeling like crap! Not necessarily a bad thing. I even considered running without any food just to do some mental training and discomfort management.
I have still been trying to figure out this toe problem and for some reason an odd shin splint type pain in my right leg. Most likely from the two bigger weeks of running preceded by not enough, this "injury" disappeared before the race as expected. So, I had an easy week leading up to the marathon in order to heal up a bit and I guess it acted as a mini taper too. No amount of rest has helped the toe thing. It's there, doesn't get better or worse. I've been playing with my lacing on my shoe to see if that helps as it could be pressure on the top of my foot.
The Worcester Marathon is a relatively new race, I think this year was the 3rd running of it, along with the half marathon. The course starts at the Worcester Warriors rugby stadium and heads out a short spur and then two laps with an odd additional spur loop on the second time around. Despite two loops it was very scenic out on rural country lanes. I thought a very nice course despite the hills! Now the hills weren't that bad but they were enough for a road race. My Garmin clocked the course vertical at 900 vertical feet of gain I believe. Any hills at distance on the road hurt, especially when you aren't trained for them!
Everyone started together. Marathon and half marathon. This was kind of annoying because you had no idea who you were running next to until the second loop. I had my watch ticking away and my pace was judged by my heart rate but it was still annoying. Funny thing was when we hit mile 13, on the second lap, three guys in front of me stopped and realized they had missed the half marathon cutoff! Nothing better than an extra 6 miles!
We had good weather but when the sun came out it did get a little too hot for racing. No complaints I guess. A bit of a head wind in some parts but no big deal. All in all good.
All this base training came in handy as my heart rate didn't drift too much until the final 6 miles or so and my pace never went over 7 minutes per mile except for when I stopped to take a piss and when I hit the wall for a bit. Otherwise it averaged 6:49 I believe. Fastest mile was 6:35, slowest 7:08.
I finished in 3:00.15 officially. My Garmin clocked the course at 26.44 miles and my marathon time at 26.22 as being 2:58.56! Grrrrr, unofficial. That piss I took. I should've held it in until it was reabsorbed and I could have broken 3 hours! So yes I am kind of disappointed. Should I be? Absolutely not! So I kind of laugh about it.
My previous marathon best was 3:01.?? at Tucson in 2001. I got a new PR. I DIDN'T specifically train for the race, no speed work, no hills, no tempo runs, just straight up base mileage. I've never focused on a marathon for training, always just gone and did it. I decided to do a marathon four days before! I have no reason to complain, but it is funny!
Overall it was just what I needed. I got a great run in. Good miles. I recognized the low points and mentally dealt with them in order to trick my brain into keeping up the pace. And of course I got a big mental boost pertaining to the doubts I had about my fitness and my injuries I've been dragging around.
