2011 Georgia Marathon

Over the weekend I ran finished the Georgia Marathon in Atlanta. The morning started off with a big swig of sour Heed. I hadn't checked my gear too thoroughly the night before due to a number of circumstances, and I had just figured it was water in my hydration pouch. Didn't really dawn on me that I had been out of town for as long as I had been and that there was still Heed in there from the Mt Cheaha 50K. Nasty. So, I ended up without my hydration pouch for the race because I didn't have anywhere to clean it out or the time really. Luckily, hydration didn't turn out to be a problem for me since there were 19 stations on the course.

Anyway, in my head I had set a goal of 4:30, and actually caught up to and passed the pace group for it within the first mile and a half. Unfortunately, the rest of the day went downhill from there. I wasn't able to clear my insides out before the race, and right around the first aid station my body started telling me it was about time, but the lines at the portalets at the first water station were incredibly backed up, as is to be expected. I decided I could make it to the next water station, but a mere two blocks later I knew otherwise, so let's just say I had to get creative. After I had tended to that business, the 4:30 and 5:00 pace groups were nowhere to be seen. This had a big hit on my morale. I kept plugging along but got into a really bad mental space and was already hitting a wall by mile 9. It took me until mile 16 to overcome my mental issues, but by that point I had developed a twinge in the back side of my knee that seemed to be more than typical running pain. Found out today I just pulled the muscles a little bit and it really wasn't all that big of deal, but it was enough to keep me from running the last seven or eight miles. Looking at my watch I realized I still had a chance to break 6 hours. It wasn't much of a goal for me considering what my goal was at the start of the day, and how much time had passed since a PR went out the window), but it lifted my spirits a little bit and I started trying to force at least some semblance of a shuffle or even a moderate jog, but all I could do was maybe 10 or 20 feet before the pain would become too much and I'd have to drop back down to a walk, which also hurt, but not nearly as much. I was only a few blocks away from the finish as I watched six hours tick past on my watch, which was a miserable feeling, but also motivated me to push through the pain and shuffle into the finish.

I want to say I'm done with long races, but I think I might just try to stick to trails for anything over a half from now on. I'm still trying to decide if I want to do Black Hills and subsequently Pine to Palm. I might at least give the 50 miler a shot, but I don't know if I'll have the time available to take off from work for it now, with what I had to take off over the past few weeks and the wedding coming up. We'll see. I might just stick to shorter, faster runs for a while. My next few events are all in the 5K range, so we'll see how long the distance bug takes to bite me this time. I had given up on distance running after Cheaha and signed up for the Georgia Marathon only a week later, so I'll let you know.