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Death Valley Borax Marathon - RunMarathon


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Death Valley National Park, California
United States
Envirosports
40sF / 0C
Overcast
Total Time = 5h 04m 12s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Had to drive from Las Vegas to Furnace Creek. Had rented a Ford Edge which was a pretty decent vehicle.
Kinda stressfull to drive early in the morning, in the dark, always worrying about something. Being late. Especially since I didn't know what the race area looked like...
Event warmup:

Furnace Creek Ranch Resort had decent clean restrooms to use and since not that many competitors, no lines. Had eaten some Baker Breakfast Oatmeal cookies. Did some casual stretching while race rules were given.
Run
  • 5h 04m 12s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 11m 37s  min/mile
Comments:

As most people know, I've been battling a hamstring issue all fall and have not trained at more than 5 miles (and that being mostly intervals on a track). Plus weight has not gone done and I'm staying in Vegas (not the place to loose weight....dang Buffets!)

Was wearing my CXW shorts and they felt good. Tried to keep the pace balanced and slow. Air is very dry so planned on sipping alot. Just water in my bottle. Forgot to buy NUUN, did use some of the aid station gatorade. But aid stations are about 3 miles apart.

I never had any problems with my lungs and heartrate. Just that the body/muscles/joints/bones start to wear down and restrict my pace. So that is why I call my self a grinder. Just keep moving forward no matter what the pain is... Hamstrings didn't really bother me, did have some minor soreness in the calves, but no actual cramps.
Kept running (except for the aid station walk) till about mile 21, at which point I did the run walk program. Ran with Rick road kill Haase (MM) for about a mile and that helped. Final mile is a slight uphill finish.
Happy to finish in a little over 5 hours. Had been clock watching for the last 3 miles and saw it was close, but body would not go any faster and was worn down. Didn't really care, since the Quest was to get two marathons in two days.
What would you do differently?:

Training is always lacking and my weight hasn't gone down.
And on Thursday the day we flew, had tweaked my right side of back moving furniture. (wife had to make house spic and span before leaving)
And than on Friday, had a catch under my left shoulder blade from sleeping on hard bed. But neither factored into the marathon.
Post race
Warm down:

Hobbled over to resort parking lot after getting tech shirt (bland) and hat.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Training and weight.

Event comments:

I thought it was ok. I don't care too much about after race food. Since it is pretty remote, I understand the limited aid stations and number of supporters. I've read other comments that really critisize the event. Oh well. It's a race to do at least once. And it helped me get a DOUBLE. Which I never thought I could do




Last updated: 2009-08-22 12:00 AM
Running
05:04:12 | 26.2 miles | 11m 37s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Have erased all the splits from the watch. Early miles were a couple in the high 9s and I remember the half split being 2:17.
Course: Out and back on hwy 190 in Death Valley National Park. Road had a fog line and about a foot of space before going onto the shoulder of gravel. First mile and 25th mile had a sidewalk/bike path to run on.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
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] 3

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2009-12-11 4:16 PM

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Subject: Death Valley Borax Marathon
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