No matter how much I try, I can't stop thinking about my race in Tempe last month. All the time the race is on my mind. At least once a day I catch myself recollecting about the race. Analyzing moves made, moves not made, nutrition, hydration, pace, heart rate, etc. All of this analysis has left me with some definite conclusions to my race.
I've read that the race doesn't really start until 2/3 of the way through the marathon...or mile 18 to 20. I would agree with this. If I hadn't had the airway issues I did early on in the run I feel I would have been able to keep shuffling between 8-9 minute miles...until about mile 18 to 19. I'll get to that moment in a minute. As far as the asthma issue goes, I think I did the right thing in trying to manage the problem as opposed to push through it and hope it got better. By proactively keeping my HR down, and thus my energy output, I was able to keep going...albeit at a walk at times.
In retrospect, I will push at this point next time. I know when to stop if things get serious, but they weren't serious yet. Would they have gotten serious? Possibly. Probably? Hard to tell. I believe I was acting extremely cautiously because it was my first Ironman and I had ended up in the medical tent a few too many times this year already! Chris McCormack said their are points during a race when you have to take a risk, and you have to be able to pay the ultimate price if that risk doesn't work. In hindsight I don't think I was completely ready to take that risk at that point. Although, because of what I did I was able to make it to mile 18 and my airway was ok enough that running was no longer an issue.
Mile 18, this was right after entering the third loop of the race. At this point my entire body was screaming at me. On top of that I was having issues staying focused. Well turns out I had devoted so much time to the asthma issue that I hadn't taken any calories in during the run. After 1.5 miles of walking or so I reloaded with calories and was running within .25 miles. I ran the rest of the way in...pretty much. There was a point when I was getting those few hundred calories that I thought maybe I would just walk the last 7 miles in. I was feeling sorry for myself. This is when I dug. I was prepared to dig deep, but my first Ironman taught me what it is really like to dig that deep. It is indescribable. Here is a great pic of Macca digging deep in Hawaii!!
So, short version? I feel like I was prepared to go about 45 minutes faster, maybe a little more. I lost it on the run. I left for the run at about 6hr 20min into the race...a 4:00 marathon still put me under 10:30, actually closer to 10:15. Yet, this is why we race. I learned a ton from this race and am confident that I will use the lessons learned to better prepare and execute in Canada! I have some ambitous goals set for 2010 and I can't wait to start reaching for them! Thanks for reading,
-T
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