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Des Moines Marathon - Run


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Des Moines, Iowa
United States
IMT Des Moines Marathon
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 10m 59s
Overall Rank = 629/1583
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 75/123
Pre-race routine:

Drove to Des Moines on Saturday AM. Met up with Stacey and went to the hotel. Relaxed by the pool while the kids swam. Dinner at an Itiallian place in Jordan Creek.
In bed by 10:00 PM. Slept pretty good.
Event warmup:

Up at 5:00 AM. Yogurt. Oatmeal. PB Sandwhich. Coffee and water. Should be good to go. Did some jogging and stretching. It was cold at the start. Maybe 40 degrees. And it was humid so the moisture in the air was really cool too. Glad I had on a long sleeve and throw away gloves for the first few miles.
Run
  • 4h 10m 59s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 35s  min/mile
Comments:

I knew going into this race that I was going to be undertrained. I really didn't know how much that was going to affect me though. Mike and I both wanted to go sub 4:00. That was my goal and I wasn't going to beat myself up if I didn't get there. All the various pains that I have been dealing with (back, achilles, hip) were not a problem for the first few miles. In fact, after about 2 miles, I felt really good. Warmed up and running well. Mike and I were spot on 8:30-8:35 per mile. Couple miles were faster due to down hills and a couple were slower when we had a longer climb. The crowd was out in masses so that was fun too.

About mile 18 things started to go the wrong direction. I started feeling pain in my achilles, which I had been dealing with for the last few weeks, and my back was tightening up. I slowed down and told Mike to go ahead. By mile 20 I was battling cramps in my hamstrings, groin, calf and hip flexors. This was going to be a tough 10K. I was easily on pace to break 4:00, but the wheels came off and I knew with about 2 miles to go, breaking 4 hours was gone. So I slowed down and just relaxed. Running most of the time, but at a very slow pace. Extremely frustrating, but I did it to myself not being trained enough.
What would you do differently?:

Stay healthy.
Train more.
Do better.
Post race
Warm down:

I was sore, in a bad mode, and didn't want to stick around after the race. We went back to the hotel, showered, relaxed a bit then went for lunch before heading back.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of training. Injuries really screwed me this year.

Event comments:

I will be doing another Marathon sometime in my life. Maybe this one, maybe another one.

Des Moines does a great job on their events and I had a great experience. Beautiful weather. Great numbers of volunteers. They had music playing at least every 2 or 3 miles which was really cool.




Last updated: 2014-06-24 12:00 AM
Running
04:10:59 | 26.2 miles | 09m 35s  min/mile
Age Group: 73/123
Overall: 629/1583
Performance: Below average
Course: The first 13 miles of this course does have quite a few hills. Some long, some steep, some both. We ran through mostly neigborhoods during the first half of the race until we got to Drake Stadium. You get to do a lap around the blue track at Drake. It was a blast. It's been a long time since I ran on that track and it did bring back some really intense memories. After Drake we headed out towards Water Works Park and then through Grey's lake then it was back to the finish line. The second half of the race is very flat.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2014-10-20 12:19 PM

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