Race Report: Silicon Valley Marathon

For my last race of the season, I chose the Silicon Valley marathon.
I've never done a marathon before, but with a couple of half-Ironman's
under my belt, I figured I could handle the distance, though I wasn't
sure if my legs could take the 26 miles of pounding. My goal: 
finish under 3:10 and qualify for Boston. I typically do around 7:00
on my endurance runs, so I figured on trying to do 7:00 all the way,
which would bring me in at 3:04. 

I'd arranged to stay at a friend's house Saturday night, so I drove
down to San Jose mid-afternoon, attended the Expo and the pasta-fest
and made for an early bed time. The Expo held two unpleasant
surprises: (1) There wouldn't be Gu along most of the course, only at
miles 11 and 19 and (2) This was the evening we set our clocks back,
so everything would be an hour later. I wasn't that pleased about this
because this meant that the finish would be an hour hotter. I hate
heat.

Race Day
I woke up at 5:45 AM, plenty of time to hop on light rail and make it
to the race by 6:30 for the 7:30 start. I got there, did all my prep
(inhalers, Body Glide, sunscreen...) went for a warmup jog, checked my
bag and went for a last minute bathroom break.  I got out of the
bathroom about 30 seconds before race start and only made it as far as
the 8:00 pace group. Since this was a Champion Chip timed event I
figured "no problem" but we were still crawling even after we crossed
the start line.

Even with some artful dodging, the first mile was slow, 7:34, but
things had pretty much cleared up by mile 2, which I brought in at
6:51. A slight correction and miles 3 and 4 in 7:07 and 7:11. The next
5 or 6 miles went pretty smoothly, right around in 7s. I wasn't
exactly sleepwalking, but I wasn't working that hard either and I was
feeling good.

Miles 10-13 went down a little harder but I was still feeling good and
bringing them in around 7:10. There were a couple little hills, so I
wasn't too worried that I was losing pace, though naturally I would
have preferred to hit 7:00.

Around mile 14, it became clear that I really was on 7:05-7:10 pace,
which was a bit slow but still meant I was on track for sub 3:10. I
noticed at this point that I felt a lot better after every water
stop. This should have been an early warning sign that I was getting
dehydrated, but like a fool I completely ignored it.

I hit mile 17 at 7:22 and things started to go bad from there.  I
followed a pair of young women (who I'd passed back at mile 6,
damnit!) for a mile or so but just couldn't hold onto the pace and
dropped off, taking miles 19 and 20 in 7:34 and 7:24.  Still, just 10K
to go and I still haven't hit the wall. I can do this...

7:30, 7:31, 7:47... AAAGGHH. 
Around mile 23, I can feel my quads go. I'm counting every mile now
and I know I've almost had it. I've got chills, and I'm grabbing water
as fast as I can, but I've just got to power through. I'm almost off
pace now and I've got to pick it up, but I can't. Mile 24 comes in at
7:55. 2.2 to go, and I'm right on the edge of making it. Mile 25, my
first mile over 8 at 8:10 and my total time is 3:02.16. The Boston
Cut-off is actually 3:10:59, so I've got 8:43 to go the last 1.2
miles. Time to give it everything.

I wouldn't call what I've got now a kick. I do manage to 
pick it up a little, but it's just not enough. I do the last
1.2 in 9.15 and cross the line at 3:11:31. I've blown it.

What went wrong?
Obviously, hydration was a serious problem. I subsequently took
4 liters of IV fluid, so I pretty clearly was badly dehydrated.
In triathlon, even in a 1/2, you've got plenty of opportunity
to hydrate on the bike, but I doubt I took in more than a liter
the whole run. It's just not enough. Next time I'll bring a 
bottle with me and maybe try to get a hand-up part of the way
through. I saw a couple of things that looked like special
needs tables. I should have left a drink there, but I just plain
forgot. 

Also, looking back at my splits, I should have stopped and
had a drink at mile 23. 30 seconds there might really have
paid off in the last 3 miles, when I really started to fall
apart. Same mistake I made at MET-Rx. Will I ever learn?

In any case, since I'm doing IMC next year, I've got
to beat the hydration on the run problem, because I'm going to
be out there a long time... That's the plan for this winter.

Did I start out too fast? Probably. If I'd run 7:05s consistently
I might have done better. I suspect that the gradual decline
until about mile 20 was fatigue, but the crash around mile 23 was
hydration. I was taking Gu during the race (2/hr) so I don't
believe that nutrition was part of the problem.


The good news 
Yes, there is some. I know that my legs can take the distance.  It's
the day after and I'm sore, but ok. I was having serious ITB pain on
Wednesday to the point where I went in for some massage work (thanks,
Michelle!), and I had a small twinge around mile 13, but basically
that worked fine.