So today was my marathon. The weather was perfect (40ish), the course was fast and flat and I was feeling strong. I was going to start out with a few buddy's that I carpooled with, but when I saw the 3:15 pace leader, I decided to go out fast and try to remain ahead of any pain that I may encounter. We averaged about a 7.20 pace, which I held on to until mile 16. At mile 10 I took a GU (Powergel) and a little bit of it irritated my uvula (GU Gag). I felt as those I was going to gag/cough and could feel how tight my pubis was, so I tried everything to avoid coughing. I coughed like twice and was in agony, so I tried to douse the irritation at every water stop, but that didn't work. 
I tried everything to keep from coughing and eventually became so focused on my other pains, that I forgot the irritation. My heel pain started coming on strong and I started to get pain im my other foot, which I think was due to overcompensation. By mile 18 I had dropped the pace to 8:30-9's and at mile 21 I walked for 1/4 mile and stretched a bit before trying to slowly jog again. At this point I'm dreading the thought of running over 3:30 or worse, a DNF. After a prayer I started to jog a bit faster, and jumped behind a guy the was going a bit faster then I was. This realy helped me get my legs moving again, though I was still running in the 9 minute range. I went from person to person, drafting and slowly getting up some speed till I launched off on my own again. I was now back into the 8.30 range and cruising pretty well. At some points I would slow down, but for the most part I was getting faster. By mile 24 I was in the high 7's again and still had some time in the bank to possibly BQ. By now, all of my buddies had passed me, so I also had this as incentive.
Right after mile 24 I was passed by the 3:30 pace leader, followed shortly by the 3:45. Apparently their people couldn't hang, so they were telling everyone to hop on board. I tried, but couldn't manage that pace , so I opted to hang with a woman that was running next to me. We both turned up the pace, running together for the next 1 1/2 miles. When I reached the turn for the stadium, I could hear 2 of my buddy's names being called out. As I'm coming around with 200 meters to go, I see the clock at 3:29 and end up finishing in 3:30.16, BQ'ing by the skin of my teeth. After the race I could barely walk. The pain in my pubis/adductors is a 10, as is the pain in my left foot. It is NOW time to go get these issue's treated, though I still have to work this week.
Thank God for helper's during Christmas season, LOL. I'll update on how my day at work went, tomorrow.
I tried everything to keep from coughing and eventually became so focused on my other pains, that I forgot the irritation. My heel pain started coming on strong and I started to get pain im my other foot, which I think was due to overcompensation. By mile 18 I had dropped the pace to 8:30-9's and at mile 21 I walked for 1/4 mile and stretched a bit before trying to slowly jog again. At this point I'm dreading the thought of running over 3:30 or worse, a DNF. After a prayer I started to jog a bit faster, and jumped behind a guy the was going a bit faster then I was. This realy helped me get my legs moving again, though I was still running in the 9 minute range. I went from person to person, drafting and slowly getting up some speed till I launched off on my own again. I was now back into the 8.30 range and cruising pretty well. At some points I would slow down, but for the most part I was getting faster. By mile 24 I was in the high 7's again and still had some time in the bank to possibly BQ. By now, all of my buddies had passed me, so I also had this as incentive.
Right after mile 24 I was passed by the 3:30 pace leader, followed shortly by the 3:45. Apparently their people couldn't hang, so they were telling everyone to hop on board. I tried, but couldn't manage that pace , so I opted to hang with a woman that was running next to me. We both turned up the pace, running together for the next 1 1/2 miles. When I reached the turn for the stadium, I could hear 2 of my buddy's names being called out. As I'm coming around with 200 meters to go, I see the clock at 3:29 and end up finishing in 3:30.16, BQ'ing by the skin of my teeth. After the race I could barely walk. The pain in my pubis/adductors is a 10, as is the pain in my left foot. It is NOW time to go get these issue's treated, though I still have to work this week.
Thank God for helper's during Christmas season, LOL. I'll update on how my day at work went, tomorrow.
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