USAF Marathon (Relay Leg) - Run


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WPAFB, Ohio
United States
USAF
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 10m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Woke up about 4:50 to be out the door by 5:30. Two of my 3 relay-mates drove in and crashed at my place. We had about an hour drive to get to WPAFB.
Event warmup:

Not really possible. Since I was the third leg of the relay wy guess as to when I would start was plus/minus about 30 minutes. The bus schedule got me out to the transition area more than an hour before I expected to start, so I spent a lot of time cheering on the full marathoners (who had started 30 min before the relay). It just blows my mind the smorgasbord of body types that you see at this race. I saw people who didn't look like they could run to the fridge truckin' along at a 3:30 pace.

I had just started to stretch out when my teammate came around the bend to dump the chip off on me, so we'll say the first mile was my warm-up.
Run
  • 1h 10m
  • 7.5 miles
  • 09m 20s  min/mile
Comments:

Mile 1 was fine. I learned pretty quick why they made us wear an extra bib on the back that said RELAY in big bold print... at least I think I know why. My guess is that it's so that the poor folks who are right around the half-way point of a marathon don't get totally discouraged when people start blowing by them like they're standing still. With the extra bib they know that whoever it was can run like that because they've only been running for a mile or so and only have 4-5 more to go.

I was chugging along at about 9 min miles, trying to save myself somewhat for the oly next week, for the first 3-4 miles when I made the mistake of starting to do math. I thought I had the seven mile leg, but looking at the mile markers I noticed that after running four miles, I was still only at mile marker 16. I was positive that the final leg was just under 6 miles so by my math I was convinced that I was going to have to run closer to 9 miles rather than 7.

Having convinced myself of that I slowed drastically for fear of bonking and fear fear of wrecking my legs, that had not seen a distance like that in quite some time. I kept doing the calculations over and over (which helped to pass the time through the 6th and 7th miles) and just got madder and madder. As the mile 19 marker came into view with no sign of the transition area I was now completely convinced that my teammates had tricked me into the longest most brutal leg. Then, all of a sudden I rounded the corner about 1/4 mile later and there was the transition area just up the road.

Feeling bad for sandbagging for the last 2-3 miles I kicked it in as hard as I could, which caused a nifty quad cramp.
What would you do differently?:

Not try to do math while running... trust the race brochure. It turns out that I had just wound up with the 7.5 mile leg instead of the 7.
Post race
Warm down:

Used the walk to the bus to try and work out the cramp. Got back and bummed around with the other relay mates waiting for the final leg to come in. I didn't envy him one bit... I think the last leg was actually the worst. 6.7 miles with a number of substancial hills and he got the chip right as the fog burned off so the temp jumped about 10 degrees for his run.

Snagged a couple extra towels, drank a few propels, bumped into a few familiar faces.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Poor math skills.

Event comments:

Props to the AF. Rather well organized and executed, but considering who's doing it I should expect no less.




Last updated: 2006-09-17 12:00 AM
Running
01:10:00 | 07.5 miles | 09m 20s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Course: I had the 7.5 mile 3rd leg (Mile 12 - 19.5). Essentially flat, although there were a few stretches that you couldn't really call them hills, more like false flats.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4