In Running, Seconds Matter
a brief reflection on my first marathon ever
Hey everyone, it’s been a while since I’ve given an update.
Last we talked I was giving updates on my training leading up to the Outer Banks Marathon.
That was back in November, so I apologize for that.
My main excuse is that apparently training for a marathon takes a lot of time. And when it came down to cutting out writing, work, or family time to make room for training, the decision was pretty obvious and writing took a backseat.
But I do love writing and want to continue writing about running and training, so here we go!
The OBX Marathon
The article today is going to be a brief summary of the OBX Marathon, but it’s just the beginning! Because I have a lot of content to write about what’s been going on with my running and some of the new training I’ve added in for my current marathon block! Yes, that’s right, I’m about to run my second marathon in March!
But first, how did the Outer Banks marathon go?
Leading into the marathon, I had 3 goals in order of difficulty:
Run a sub 3 hour marathon
Run a sub 3:05 hour marathon
Run a marathon
We ended up with plan 3.
Why Plan 3?
Heading into the marathon I had my doubts I could maintain a 6:50/mile pace on my very first marathon (which would be that plan 1 of a sub 3 hour marathon).
To remind you all, I have this overarching goal of running in all the marathon majors in the world: Boston, Chicago, New York, London, Berlin, and Tokyo.
While Boston is the only one that requires a time qualifier, all the other ones technically have a time qualifier that gets you guaranteed entry. London is the only quirky one because they only offer time qualifiers to UK residents :/ Lame…
But that’s what determined my goals: sub 3 gets me Boston qualifier, but if I missed that then sub 3:05 gets me guaranteed slot into Chicago.
Now, I know what you are thinking…how much does a 6 minute difference from 2:59 to 3:05 really do?
Honestly…a lot!
You’d be surprised. In running, seconds matter.
To run a 2:59 marathon, you need to average a 6:50 mile time. To run a 3:05 marathon, you need to average a 7:03 mile time. That is only a 13 second difference.
If I told you to run 1 mile at each of those paces, you might not tell much of a difference. But multiply that by 26 with no breaks and those 13 seconds start to add up really fast!
Long story short, I actually missed both of those goals, which leads us to that final goal: run a marathon.
Run a Marathon
That goal may sound simple and unnecessary, but let me explain. I wanted to run all 26.2 miles. I didn’t want to have to stop and walk even a tenth of a mile of it because my leg cramped or I got tired. I wanted to run it all.
And I can happily say I accomplished that goal!
I crossed the finish line just around 3:32.
Race Conditions
Lets talk about some fun statistics and conditions of the race. This won’t get boring, I promise.
This race was a major success, but it was also one of those races where everything that could possibly go wrong did.
First, it rained the whole time. Splashing in puddles on mile 18 didn’t even effect my shoes getting wet because we were all soaked by mile 2.
Second, my apple watch died around mile 8. No more music. No more pacing. For the next 16 miles!
Third, we had a strong headwind for about 6 miles down the first stretch and no tailwind on the way back.
Fourth…the bridge.
The Bridge
That’s right…the bridge gets its own section.
Wow…when I viewed the other racers on Strava afterwards everyone had something to say about the bridge.
The bridge took us from Manteo to the mainland and then back. It was about 3 miles long over the open water. When we crossed it the first time we were about at mile 2. But when we turned around, this bridge took us from mile 16 to mile 19.
In a typical marathon, that’s when the body breaks down, walls are hit, and the true race begins.
So now add that to the bridge and you have a recipe for disaster.
What made it so awful was that on the way back that 3 mile bridge met us with 25 to 30 mph head winds, making the pouring down rain feel like ice darts as the winds tried to hurl us back to the mainland.
Many people dropped out of the race because of the bridge. Many people dropped their time goals because of the bridge.
Including myself. After the bridge, all I could do was just hold on tight until I crossed the finish line. Even the guy who won the race said he did the same thing.
Which brings us to some interesting stats.
Stats of Interest
First of all, remember how I said my goal was to run a sub-3 hour marathon? Well, even though I didn’t hit my goal, only ONE person hit that goal. The first place guy ran a 2:32 (which is insane) but we also won by 30 minutes! Not a single other person ran the marathon in under 3 hours.
That’s pretty rare!
Second, out of the 500 people that signed up for the race, 300 crossed the finish line. I don’t know how many actually started the race, but that is pretty wild!
So, in conclusion, I say the race was a success!
Now, I don’t want to keep you all day, I just wanted to give that brief update. I have a few more things I learned during that race, but I’ll save those for another day :)
I also plan to kick start these articles again periodically as I continue to train for my next race (article coming soon) and also my first competitive Spartan race later this year!
Until then, run with joy!