My first marathon:
The 90 degree heat, the diabetes, my back, my foot, fuel ... all real or potential problems I had to deal with, did not really affect my run. My hips, something I actually work on in core workouts, are what slowed me down. So now I get to go back to the drawing board on that, but I think the answer is probably in the deep gluteal muscles and in range of motion... hello yoga!
Made it through the halfway point, which my wife was captaining a charity water station at (www.madisonmutts.org The best station on the course!) BG was 167, a little high for me, but not low which I was worried about.
Everything was fine through mile 16, I was slightly ahead of my pace, and feeling good, not out of my comfort zone, still shooting for 4 hours, but then I got a side stitch and was getting some pain in my right hip. Walked a little bit and that helped, the stitch went away, the hip felt a little better. Still felt ok at 19, saw the Madison Mutts crew as they had swung around to help at the 19 station -- because they were that good.
But then around 20/21 my hips really started hurting. It wasn't the heat that was keeping me down, I didn't hit the wall, my quads were fine legs themselves felt light enough, my hips were killing me. So I started walking/running, doing a half or quarter mile of each back and forth.
So when I hit the mile 23 station, with three miles to go, the course marshalls put out the red flag, saying course timing would stop at four hours and recommending people slow down or quit because of the heat. I didn't feel the heat was that much of a factor for me. There were a lot of kind people whose houses were on the course that had hoses out, spraying the runners, especially along the last three miles where there really wasn't any shade.
So my time of 4:17 is unofficial, because the marathon stopped timing at 4 hours. My watch showed 4:17 when I crossed (and also I burned 3130 calories). So I believe anyone finishing after 4 hours gets a "finished" label, but no time, but I don't know, because the official timer for the Madison Marathon (J-Chip) is experiencing "technical difficulties" -- 24 hrs after the race. Great Job!!!! Additionally , the Madison Marathon website is not saying anything about it other than there are technical difficulties. Nothing about the red flags, timing, etc.
Oh well, all I know is I made it 26.2 miles in one shot. I am a Marathoner.
