It was an exciting start with fireworks, crowds of spectators, and announcers (including Robin Leach). I passed the start line and began running, and I saw my family cheering on the sidelines. That was pretty neat considering the thousands of runners and spectators. I separated from Cliff and I started weaving through the crowds (it is really annoying that walkers start at the front, but I guess that is something that will never change). I was under 9-minute pace at the end of my first two miles, and I felt great. I was wearing my new Garmin 305, but I did not have the heart rate monitor on (the heart rate concept is on my plate for the 2008 season). I figured that I could stay under 9-minute miles and have a little cushion left to break 4 hours (9:09 pace). The first 5-6 miles of the course were on the strip, so that went by very quickly (lots of spectators, running "Elvi", etc.). Then we veered off and went towards downtown and split from the half marathoners. At the 10K mark, I had averaged 8:50/mile (I think my splits online are based on the running time rather than the adjusted chip time).
At mile 7 or 8, I began to realize that I was exerting way too much effort. I was going faster than my half marathon pace, and I knew I wouldn't be able to hold on. Each mile got a little slower… 9:10, 9:20, 9:30, and I think I was at around 10-minute pace at the halfway point. I crossed the mat at 2:01, and I knew it would be very difficult to keep the piano from falling on my back. I tried to work on my cadence, posture, and arm position (keeping my arms low to conserve energy). I stuck with my gel every 45-minute plan, and I grabbed some water at each stop. I took one mile at a time, and I played a few mental games with myself (for example, at mile 16, I had 10 miles left, so I told myself I was just doing my normal 10-mile Wednesday morning run). I really wanted to run the whole marathon without walking, and I focused on that more than my time goal of 4:15 (although since I'm an accountant, I was constantly doing calculations in my head). I got some encouragement from some of the other runners since my Ironman tattoo is on the back of my calf. One of the Elvis runners told me he is doing IM CDA next year too.
Another thing that kept me going was the flat course. I am NOT a hill runner, so it was easier to convince myself that I could run the whole 26.2 miles since it was a flat course. Actually, it felt like there was more of a descent than ascent. Each mile marker was prominently displayed with a huge red sign, and there were volunteers (high school cheerleaders, bands, etc.) at the mile markers. The second half of the course was a little more monotonous since the run went through the neighborhoods and back into downtown. I think it would have helped me to have my iPod for this, but I am still torn about that because I liked the mental challenge and the focus that I had to put forth.
I brought three strawberry banana PowerGels (with caffeine) and two plain Gus. I did 2 gels, 1 gu, 1 gel, 1 gu. The Gu was way too thick, and it was pretty hard to take down. The last 2 packets were very unappetizing, but I ate them like a champ. I never peed during the race, and I became INSANELY bloated by the end. I look like an oompa loompah in my finish photos. If someone had taken a needle and pricked me, I think there would have been a 10 gallon puddle of watered down gel on the ground. I didn't take any electrolytes since I didn't practice with them, the weather was cool, and the gels contain sodium. I'm wondering if maybe I needed more sodium though (I had salt all over my face at the end of the race too).
The second hardest part mentally was the chunk before and after the halfway point. The end didn't seem close enough, and I knew I had taken the race out too fast. Once I hit about mile 18 and I was still hanging on to 10:15 pace, I knew that running the whole marathon and finishing close to 4:15 would be achievable. Plus we saw the Stratosphere at about mile 16, so that was like seeing light at the end of the tunnel since we were running towards downtown.
The toughest part of the race was the final two miles. I was light-headed, I had to pee, and my quads were screaming at me. At mile 25, some guy about my age was running while smoking (and I think he had a beer in his hand). People thought that was funny and they were encouraging him, and I was seconds away from snapping. The whole second-hand smoke while I am running a marathon… couldn't find the humor in that. The scenery was horrible (we were running in a construction zone behind the hotels and parallel to the freeway), and I knew the finish line was close, but it wasn't nearly close enough. I know this sounds mighty negative, but I thought I would share the low points of my race since the rest of my experience was good.
Once I turned into the Mandalay Bay and saw the finish line, I surged ahead and was surprised at how much energy I had left. I crossed the finish line in 4:16:58 (a best time by 13 minutes) and saw my dad right away. Then Cliff found me (he had showered and changed) and we took a finish photo with a Vegas showgirl (needless to say, Cliff looked much prettier than me) and met up with my dad, mom, and grandma. We took a few photos and I wobbled back to the hotel room with my family. I celebrated with a stack of… you guessed it… blueberry pancakes!
So what did I learn from this experience? First off, I love marathons. I wish I had this much enthusiasm about cycling. I am excited to lose some more weight, start being a little more scientific with my training (this includes using the HR monitor), and break the 4-hour mark. Depending on how Ironman CDA goes, I might do Vegas again next December. I am very proud of myself for not backing down when the run became very difficult. This helps me mentally going into CDA, because now I can aim to run most (if not all) of the IM marathon. This was the most marathon training I had ever done, and this should be a great base to start my IM training. I look forward to building on this and working on my cycling in the next few months (I plan to start spinning twice a week and riding when the weather permits) and then focus on some brick training.
For those of you who are interested, the rest of the Vegas trip was a lot of fun. The flight on Friday was a little hectic since the weather in Vegas was bad and our flight was delayed about 4 hours. On Saturday we went to the expo (which is awesome) and then had brunch with my family. We lounged around at my grandma's and stayed off our feet, and then hit up the Italian restaurant at Suncoast for dinner. Since I like talking about food/nutrition… I had a big bowl of oatmeal and a half of a grapefruit at brunch on Saturday (which was tough because my family was chowing down on omelettes and bloody marys) and spaghetti with grilled chicken for dinner on Saturday night. I was pretty good about my pre-race nutrition, especially considering we were in Sin City. On Sunday night we had a celebratory dinner at Samba (Brazilian) at the Mirage. Mmm filet charred rare!! We saw "Mystere" and I highly recommend it (some very impressive moves). Cliff and I went Downtown on Monday and gambled (although the highlight for me was trying the fried Oreo). On Tuesday I went shopping at the outlet mall with my grandma, and Cliff and I ate at the Wolfgang Puck Italian restaurant at Mandalay (it was mighty tasty). Lots of food and bevs!
The before pic:
The during pic:
The after pic:
Cliff with my Mom and Esther, celebrating Cliff's half marathon and waiting for me to finish:
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