Slightly Belated Race Report

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Slightly Belated Race Report
By Macdiver


A little background first. I chose to run a spring marathon this year to force myself to run through the winter. Normally I take off from November till March-ish. To run in the cold I was using a pair of moccasins (really $20 bed room slippers) that were some sort of leather with rubber glued to the bottom. After several runs in wet conditions they fell apart so I bought a pair of Xero Genesis. On cold days I wore wool socks and would push the sock between the toe for the toe strap. I had no issues with chaffing.

Since this marathon had about 14 miles or so on gravel I wore the Xero Shoes for the marathon. This was my first marathon not being completely barefoot.

The marathon was on April 22 hence the title of the thread. For reference regarding the pacer, Boston was 6 days before my marathon.

Some notes, this report is a copy paste from my online fitness journal that I keep so some references may not make sense here. Also I follow a keto diet to control my blood sugar. While I am thin and exercise regularly, I learned I could not outrun genetics and I am officially pre-diabetic.

RACE REPORT: Cliffnotes - 26.2 miles in an even 4 hours 30 minutes chip time. (i think the time had like 3 seconds).

I'm going to go back a few weeks. I had headed out for an 18 mile run but my left hip started hurting so I turned around and ran home. I walked a lot of the last mile home that day. After that my left hip would hurt while running but not as bad. I didn't mention it here because I was lying to myself saying it was nothing to keep me pushing for this race. I think I did mention tight hips once or twice. It had only bothered me running until this past Monday. I use a standing desk at work and by the end of the day on Monday I was in pain. I sat the rest of the week. I was really concerned that I would not be able to finish the marathon today. On yesterday's run the hip felt fine.

I run a wine tasting group in Rehoboth that meets once a month. We had our wine tasting last night and at the end I poured myself a glass and talked to some friends. I poured a second glass and my wife reminded me I needed to run today. The one couple (who had put this tasting together) asked about it and I mentioned that I would be running in a marathon and we would pass their house at mile 20. I went to bed around 11:30 last night.

I woke up at 5 am and cooked me an egg and cheese omelet. I had realized that all of my long runs were post breakfast so I followed that routine. After eating and having my coffee I dressed and rode my bike to the start line for the 7:00 am start.

I hooked up with the 4:15 pace group. By mile 2 I realized I was the only one listening to music so I turned it off and joined in on the conversation. It was a nice easy pace and I was able to speak easily. At mile 5 I decided to stay with this group as I was enjoying the company. There was a first timer, a guy who was running a marathon in his 33rd state today, and the others had run several marathons. The pacer had run Boston in the rain this past Monday.

I had taken off my long sleeve shirt and tied it around my waist around mile 8. I had a barefoot runners shirt on underneath. Around mile 14 the pacer reads my shirt and asks "do you run barefoot?" I said normally but I'm wearing these due to the gravel. She looks down and says" Wow, I'm surprised I hadn't noticed you are running in sandals." She had noticed the 33rd state marathon guys Vibrams. We laughed.

I stayed with the group until mile 19 when I started slipping back. Then the hip pain started and I started walking a little, run a little, etc. Around mile 19.75 when my wine friend was there with her Dad to cheer me on. It really helped to lift my spirits. I took off my long pants and gave them to her. She will return them next month.

At mile 20, I stopped and did a sun salutation. I included high lunges and hip circles as well as several chaturanga vinyasa's. It really helped my hip and I was able to return to a 9:30 ish pace. Around mile 21 I was slowing down so I stopped at mile 21 and did more yoga. This continued at each mile marker until the finish line. After finishing I did two rounds.

As I said official time was 4:30 and a few seconds. My Garmin said 4:20. It would autopause when I stopped moving to remove my pants and to do yoga.

The after party was at Grotto Pizza. I did have my 3 beers and some pizza. If I can't eat carbs after a marathon, when can I. At the after party, I lost my ear buds. I asked the people who were near me and someone found them and turned them in to an employee. I tried to speak to a manager or something but they were all crazy busy. I just called and they have them. I'll be leaving to go get them in a few minutes.

Getting on the bike to ride home was not easy. It took me 3 tries. I'm laughing and realize that one of the Thrasher fries employees is watching me and laughing as well. Since they were at the finish line I'm sure he realized I had just run a race. Getting off the bike was equally as challenging. Once home I realized my house key is in the pants I removed. I'm glad I didn't just toss them like I had considered.
 
Thanks for your report, Macdiver. Not bad, 4-1/2 hours for a full. ;) Congrats! I will share this to the home page soon. :barefoot:
 
I finally got around to looking at the race pictures. The finish line pictures didn't come out that well. Once I remembered that my bib was on my back for most of the race I found some pictures at mile 26 that I liked. I was able to download one (surprisingly for free).

Here I am at mile 26 about 4:30 hours into the race.
race_3996_photo_60401352.jpg
 
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Reactions: Barefoot TJ
Awesome job! Hope you got your keys back! One thing I have learned is after a big race my mind is as shot as my body lol! Especially after a few adult beverages. And I can't imagine having to cycle home after a marathon, I can usually barely get back to my vehicle.