My goal going into this race was to feel fresh and loose for the marathon (well as fresh and loose as one can feel after 114.4 or is that 118 miles) and to be fueled up and hydrated. My pacing plan was all based on heart rate, which due to my Garmin frying out in the ocean was now left up to my zen like self. The run was a three loop out-and back starting in town, running about 4.5 miles north (just past my hotel) and then returning back to downtown. The amount of locals on the run course was amazing. It was great to hear them cheer for nearly every athlete, if the athlete happened to have a Mexican jersey on they would just erupt into a thunderous ovation. Truly motivational!
I started the run and had to stop at mile 1 to get rid of some of those fluids I took in on the bike, this was a good sign that my hydration plan for the bike worked well. I was running easy, if I found myself flying by people that were running I would slow it down to keep myself in check. The aid stations were every km on the run so that is about double compared to a normal race. At first I was skipping every other station but eventually would grab water at the odd stations to dump on my head to keep me cool. I was relying on the cups of Gatorade to provide hydration and calories. At about mile 3 I saw JB running back towards town he had a nice stride and I told him that his underwear shirt rocked. I got a hive five and no thumbs down so I thought he was having a good race (he broke 11 hours way to go!). I hit the turn around and started running back to town. I was feeling good, my stride was strong, my form felt good and my pace was maintainable. Running back into town the crowds where growing. First there was the group of Mexican biker looking dudes (Harley bikers not spandex bikers) drinking cerveas and yelling to the athletes. Then there was the house playing eye of the tiger on repeat, seriously I heard that song 4 times on the run in front of the house (they were gone for the last two passes as I presume they went to the finish line). Then in the heart of downtown it was group after group of people. For the first loop I wanted to take it easy and just get into running and I did a pretty good job. I hit the turn around and headed back out of town. Near the turn around there was a McDonalds on the right and boy oh boy did some salty fries sound good. No! There will be time for that stuff after the race, onward. Somewhere around mile 10 or 11 it started to get dark. Not having any idea what my pace was like or even what time it was, I figured it was around 5:30. Some quick math by my sundial and I figured if I ran well for the second half of the marathon I could come in around 13 hours. That’s a good race in my book.
At mile 12 that little gremlin in my stomach woke up and started kicking. I pushed through and hit mile 13 where I stopped and stretched out the legs. Here I feel pretty dehydrated. Muscle fatigue, cramps, swarms of angry bees these are things I push through during training and feel ready to tackle. Dehydration in a foreign country? I paused. A little background, my last two big races (a 70.3 and an Ironman) I ended up in the medical tent getting IV’s due to dehydration. One of my goals for this race was to finish and not end up in the medical tent with a needle in my arm. At this point I made the conscious decision to take in water and walk the course until I felt hydrated again. This was a tough decision knowing that my legs still felt pretty good and ready to keep running at least another loop of the course.
Passing my hotel on the final lap I considered hitting the dinner buffet. I met a few others along the course we shared some stories and walked it into town where we slowly ran to the finish line. The crowd support heading into town was great, as it was all day, I really cannot say enough about the locals and their enthusiastic support.
After crossing the finish line I collected my medal, t-shirt, towel and grabbed a few slices of pizza. We hung out for a little while then picked up our bikes and bags caught a cab back to the hotel.
Any race that you finish cannot be called a bad race. I hit an Ironman PR, but more importantly I finally nailed down my bike nutrition and hydration plans. I also learned that I need to take in more water during the run, especially at the start. These are the things that me and plan E will be working on in preparation for Ironman part III Louisville.
Until then ...
Time to start vacation
