The beginning of the race was actually kind of laughable. It was raining and blowing about 50km/hr. I really had no expectations. I had done everything I could, but I can't control the weather, so I just decided that whatever happens, happens.
Mile 1 - 9:13
Mile 2 - 9:07
Mile 3 - 8:54
Mile 4 - 9:22
Mile 5 - 9:34
Mile 6 - 9:20
The first 6 miles of the race was along the north shore of PEI in The National Park. Luckily, the wind was at my back so I didn't have to fight the wind that much. I ran with the 4:00 pace bunny for the first three miles or so, buy then decided to slow down a bit and take it easy in the early stages of the race. He was never more than about 0.1 mile ahead of me though. I was a bit panicked that the pace bunny was slowly but surely getting further away, but I kept telling myself that it was still early, that it was OK, and that there was still a lot of race left to run.
Mile 7 - 8:55
Mile 8 - 9:11
Mile 9 - 9:19
Mile 10 - 8:56
Mile 11 - 9:15
Mile 12 - 9:05
Mile 13 - 9:02
The next 6.5mi were inland and it seemed to stop raining a bit. I was still feeling very good at this point and was averaging around 9:12-9:13/mi. Still blowing quite a bit and sometimes was coming at me from the side. Got to the halfway mark in 2:00.
Mile 14 - 9:04
Mile 15 - 9:30
Mile 16 - 9:08
Mile 17 - 9:04
Mile 18 - 9:26
Mile 19 - 9:04
Mile 20 - 9:11
Mile 21 - 9:14
The next 7.5 miles were along a rails-to-trail and was quite boring. The rain picked up at this point as well. At about the 15 mile mark I started to fail just a bit. I was starting to feel the cold and my pace dropped a bit. At this point of the race, the course changed direction slightly and the wind was now coming at me from the right. For a short period of time I was running headlong into the wind. I ate my Cliff Bar and made sure I got water and Gatorade at all the remaining stops. I also started to walk through the aid stations. This seemed to help. The trail itself was really muddy. I'd say that miles 16-19 were the toughest for me today. My time was 3:03-ish at the 20 mile mark. I made a mental note that I had 57 minutes to run 10K. I can do that...
Mile 22 - 9:16
Mile 23 - 8:55
Mile 24 - 8:58
Mile 25 - 8:33
Mile 26 - 8:17
Mile 26.2 - 1:51
The last 5 miles were back out on the roads. There were also 3 hills (the ONLY hills in the course!!) to deal with. The last 5K went quite well and the wind was at my back again. I had looked at my Garmin and saw that I had 29 minutes to run 5K. At this point, I still wasn't sure I was going to go sub-4, waiting for the BONK, but I still had the pace bunny in my sights. I picked up the pace but never really believed I was going to meet my goal until I reached the 40K marker. I had a little moment ( a tear or two).
When I got to 25.5 miles, I finally caught the pace bunny. I told him I had been chasing him for 21 miles. At that point he indicated that he was about 20 seconds ahead of 4 hr pace, and that's when I put the pedal down.
Finish time was 3:58:51, a negative split, and I beat my last marathon time by 20:30.
The course was really flat, except for the few hills at the end. I'm sore, but not THAT sore. I can still navigate stairs! I didn't even get chafed up that much, just from the waistband of my shorts. In the end, I don't think the wind and rain affected me that much, but it would be interesting to see what time I could have obtained in ideal conditions
So, that's about it. I think I ran a very smart race. I didn't start out too fast at the beginning, kept fairly even split times and had enough left in the tank to finish the last 3 miles faster than the first three miles. I must say that I was a little worried that my training plan hadn't prepared me properly to run a sub-4 race as my longest training run at marathon pace was 8 miles. During training I kept reminding myself to "trust the process". The process paid off!
Not sure what the future holds for me. I do see another marathon in my future, with the ultimate goal being qualifying for Boston. That will have to wait a few more years. The current qualification time for men 40-44 is 3:20. My current time would only qualify me for Boston if I was 60-64... I think I have a faster marathon time in me. I don't feel like I left everything out on the course. I should feel spent, unable to move, but I feel like I could run another marathon today (granted, at a much slower pace...)
Me, smelling like a cross between a hockey bag and a wet dog...
No more races this year, well Maybe a 5K turkey trot on December 26th. Next year I'd like to concentrate on improving my times in the shorter distances. I really would like to get that sub 1:45 half marathon time....
