Louisville Derby Marathon, 3:01:00

Louisville Derby Marathon, April 24 2010

Clock time -- 3:01:03
Chip time -- 3:01:00
10K split -- 39:03
15K split -- 58:49
25K split -- 1:39:27
30K split -- 1:59:53
Overall -- 18
Gender -- 16/889
Division -- 7/116

Considering, I was pleased with my Louisville Derby Marathon in 2010. Leading up to the race I had the goal of under 3 hours and possibly a new PR of faster than 2:58. I felt in decent shape but had not done the necessary long runs and therefore was not properly prepared for the 26.2-mile distance. My only long runs were part of the 24-hour race and a 21-miler at General Butler State Park. I was nervous for past 20 miles, and for good reason.

The morning of the race, I woke up at around 4:45 a.m. and stretched out. I ate a granola bar and a banana while drinking plenty of water. I arrived at the start line at around 7 am. with the race starting at 7:30. I jogged about four minutes, did some easy stretching and ran one short strider. I felt fine waiting for the start.

I started towards the front of the field and felt good at the beginning. I went past the mile marker in 6:23 (right on my desired start pace of 6:20-6:30). I started to run in the 6:15-range, despite the early hills, and had a few miles around 6-flat. I came through the first 10K in 39:03 with my first mile slower then 6:30 being the mile through Churchill Downs at around seven. My pace felt fine at the time but I knew I was in trouble because of the fast early start.

I came through halfway in around 1:24:00, about three minutes faster than my goal time of 1:27:00. In the second set of hills at around 15 miles, I went through my first drought of the race, struggling on the up and down hills. The long downhill coming out of the park was really tough on me.

I started to feel a little better when I got back on the flats, but going over the bridge into Indiana was another tough stretch for me. I took gel packs at mile 15 and mile 23 (I dropped one going through the tunnel into Churchill Downs so only had two to take). The final few miles were really rough on me. My target splits were the 3-mile splits, wanting to keep them all under 20 minutes. I was on pace for each one except for at 24 miles. After turning left over the bridge back into Kentucky, the marathon runners and half runners converged into one group for the rest of the race, about 1.2 miles. This was particularly tough since I was running with the walkers in the half, zig-zaggin in and out. I had to jump on the sidewalk once to get around a group of walkers and could not run a straight line to the finish. My hamstring really started to tighten in the final mile and I was forced to stop and hobble most of the rest of the way in due to the cramps. My last 1.2 miles were slower than 10 minutes, which costed me a chance at under 3 hours and a possible PR. I did not enjoy the final 1.2 miles while running with the half walkers, and felt like that made a big difference in the cramps.

Considering my lack of long runs and too fast of an early start, I was still happy with a 3:01:00 on what I consider a very tough course. I know with proper training and better pacing, I can run much faster. Now it's time to get ready for the Louisville Ironman in August, and then I'll pick another marathon to go after a fast time. I have a lot of changes to make for my next one. It's changes I look forward to!