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Sunday, March 29, 2009

ING Marathon Atlanta!

Wow, what a day. So my goal going in was to break four hours, with the hopes that I might make 3:40. It has been a rough couple of days sleeping and by the time I got to the race start I was absolutely exhausted. Add to that a huge dinner that I didn't quite clear out of my system and a ridiculously full bladder at the start and I didn't have high hopes. But the whistle went off promptly at 7:04am and I tried to get started. Tried you might ask, why only tried? Well with 15,000 people at race start between the marathon and the 1/2 marathon, it was tough to get going at any decent pace, leading to a 9:32 first mile. Not exactly what PRs are made of. Following that first mile, I finally found a place to go to the bathroom and finally was able to get going. So I got a bit excited and pushed too much, getting miles 2 and 3 in 8:13 and 7:40 min. Being that I have a Caldwell bladder,I of course had to stop a couple times to pee, but it worked out fine. Knowing that I had pushed my pace a bit, I finally I pulled myself back and settled into a good rhythm at 8:26, 8:07, 8:23, 8:13 and 8:09, at which point I had my first spectators! Got to see Bernd, Kelly, Mom, Dad and most especially Betsy and Cole! Bernd had quite the wonderful sign for me (Run, Bitch, Run) and Cole had a big old smile for me too! That got me motivated to move on again and got the next mile in 8:00 before getting the next few miles in 8:25, 8:38, 8:10, 8:16. Just after this I passed over the 1/2 marathon split point, getting there in 1:49:02, then getting going again, putting in miles in 8:17, 8:24, 8:21, 8:31, where I got to see the family and Liesenfeld contingent just between 17 and 18 mile markers! At this point I really wasn't feeling so hot and actually started thinking for the first time that maybe I wouldn't make it. However, a couple sports beans (I was on the 5 sports beans every 3 miles and a gel every 5) got me back up again. I continued on, finishing miles 18, 19 and 20 in 8:36, 8:34 then dying out on mile 20, which was heavily uphill in 9:04. Luckily, at this point Kelly hopped onto the course and started running with me! Couldn't have happened at a better time! She was a huge boost to my motivation, and kept me going the whole way. The words of encouragement, someone to talk to and just knowing and hearing how close I was to the finish really kept me going! With Kelly's help, I got back on pace and finished the final 10k with miles in 8:37, 8:32, 8:51, 8:51, 8:42, 8:43, and then finished with a nice burst at the end after Kelly left me with 0.1 miles to go. Overall, I finished with a 3:42:00 even, without my stops for bathroom breaks! Overall a PR, and just at my goal! Still waiting to see my final official time, but hopefully soon! Photos to be updated shortly!

2 comments:

Jonathan said...

Congratulations, man! Sub-4 with time to spare! Next time I'm down in DC, I'll bring a "Run, Bitch, Run" sign for our training runs.

Shannon said...

Way to go, Josh!!!!

Jon, can I help you make that sign? That Bernd. All my memories of racing with Kelly are being in a stupor and her saying, "You can do it!" She is the queen. Thanks for the breakdown, SpeedWell! YO, BETSY!

2010 Efforts!

This year, like last year, I will be riding for Mary Payton's Miracle - My friend Steve Kogos from Trigators informed me that his friend Joe's daughter, Mary Payton, was diagnosed a number of years back with Late Infantile Batten Disease. This is a disease with no cure, however, there are special experimental (and extremely expensive) treatments which have shown some significant signs of success! In order to assist with the costly treatments and research, Mary Payton's Miracle was created to raise money to find a cure, hopefully in time to save little Mary Payton as well as the many others affected by this terrible disease!

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