Fun, Crazy, First
Because some of you said you wanted the details, here's the story on the marathon. Sunday I did a something I've admonished others for doing. I banditted/race crashed/poached a race. And not only that, a marathon.
Normally, my reason for being against banditting races is that I see some people running small local 5K or 10K races that are organized as fundraisers who have not paid for the race. It frustrates me because I know the event organizers aren't making any money and the little money they do receive after paying for fencing, tape, timers, food, etc goes to a charity.
That being said, what I did wasn't necessarily right, but I felt more justified seeing as how I was one of thousands of runners out there and a large portion of the race was run on the bike path.
But enough about that, on to the marathon. The idea to run the Eugene Marathon course came to me a few weeks ago after thinking about how much time I'd spent on long runs training for Peterson Ridge Rumble. I just wanted to push my body to that 26.2 mile distance and see what it could do.
So, in preparation, I treated last week as a serious taper. This morning, I woke up around 5:45am, had some toast, almond butter and banana and headed off to the race. I got there just before the gun went off. It was a brisk morning in the low 30s, but slowly warmed up. By the end it was probably close to 60.
I took the mentality that I would just run as many miles as my body felt like cranking out. A few key decisions truly helped for a successful run.
1. I started a bit behind the 3:50 pacer (off to the very edge of the corral)
2. I decided to eat (Larabar chunks or Clif Shot) every 5 miles, in addition to my water/gatorade mix.
3. Even when the miles felt slow and easy, I held myself back
The first 10 or so miles ticked away pretty easily. Honestly, there were so many runners around and hilarious spectators (hello man in crop top sweater and curly woman's wig banging a cowbell) that I was surprised at times to see another mile marker so quickly.
By mile 13, the sun was shining, the runners were thinning out and my right foot was hurting a bit. I decided to put in my ipod and try to run more evenly. At mile 17, I had to make the decision to either stop or keep going because of the route that takes marathoners on a nine mile loop along the river path. I chose the latter.
Photo from Eugene Women's 1/2 Marathon I ran (and PR'd at) in September.
The major difference I noticed during this marathon distance (no I won't count this as one of my completed marathons), was that I didn't have a ton of self pressure regarding my pace AND because I held back at the beginning, I was able to stay strong through the final miles and pass more people than passed me (i.e. the Portland Marathon).
By mile 22, I allowed myself to walk for 1 minute at the beginning of each mile because my right knee was aching. I did that at miles 22, 23 and 24 and then ran without a walking break to mile 26, where I peeled off and ran my own .2 to complete my marathon distance.
Results: I finished in about 3:46, which would be my fastest marathon time, had I actually registered. Thoughts on this race: if you're looking for a flat, fast course, this is definitely just that. The Eugene Marathon would be a great place to Boston Qualify in my opinion. There were only a few minor hills overall and the weather in Oregon this time of year tends to remain cool in the morning.
Have you ever been a race bandit? Do you prefer to run small local races or larger destination races?
Ooh, and I just saw that Skinny Runner ran the Eugene Marathon. Holla for my small city (150K) becoming a destination marathon city!
Normally, my reason for being against banditting races is that I see some people running small local 5K or 10K races that are organized as fundraisers who have not paid for the race. It frustrates me because I know the event organizers aren't making any money and the little money they do receive after paying for fencing, tape, timers, food, etc goes to a charity.
That being said, what I did wasn't necessarily right, but I felt more justified seeing as how I was one of thousands of runners out there and a large portion of the race was run on the bike path.
But enough about that, on to the marathon. The idea to run the Eugene Marathon course came to me a few weeks ago after thinking about how much time I'd spent on long runs training for Peterson Ridge Rumble. I just wanted to push my body to that 26.2 mile distance and see what it could do.
So, in preparation, I treated last week as a serious taper. This morning, I woke up around 5:45am, had some toast, almond butter and banana and headed off to the race. I got there just before the gun went off. It was a brisk morning in the low 30s, but slowly warmed up. By the end it was probably close to 60.
I took the mentality that I would just run as many miles as my body felt like cranking out. A few key decisions truly helped for a successful run.
1. I started a bit behind the 3:50 pacer (off to the very edge of the corral)
2. I decided to eat (Larabar chunks or Clif Shot) every 5 miles, in addition to my water/gatorade mix.
3. Even when the miles felt slow and easy, I held myself back
The first 10 or so miles ticked away pretty easily. Honestly, there were so many runners around and hilarious spectators (hello man in crop top sweater and curly woman's wig banging a cowbell) that I was surprised at times to see another mile marker so quickly.
By mile 13, the sun was shining, the runners were thinning out and my right foot was hurting a bit. I decided to put in my ipod and try to run more evenly. At mile 17, I had to make the decision to either stop or keep going because of the route that takes marathoners on a nine mile loop along the river path. I chose the latter.
Photo from Eugene Women's 1/2 Marathon I ran (and PR'd at) in September.
The major difference I noticed during this marathon distance (no I won't count this as one of my completed marathons), was that I didn't have a ton of self pressure regarding my pace AND because I held back at the beginning, I was able to stay strong through the final miles and pass more people than passed me (i.e. the Portland Marathon).
By mile 22, I allowed myself to walk for 1 minute at the beginning of each mile because my right knee was aching. I did that at miles 22, 23 and 24 and then ran without a walking break to mile 26, where I peeled off and ran my own .2 to complete my marathon distance.
Results: I finished in about 3:46, which would be my fastest marathon time, had I actually registered. Thoughts on this race: if you're looking for a flat, fast course, this is definitely just that. The Eugene Marathon would be a great place to Boston Qualify in my opinion. There were only a few minor hills overall and the weather in Oregon this time of year tends to remain cool in the morning.
Have you ever been a race bandit? Do you prefer to run small local races or larger destination races?
Ooh, and I just saw that Skinny Runner ran the Eugene Marathon. Holla for my small city (150K) becoming a destination marathon city!
Comments
I'm against banditing in most respects, too, but ya know what - you've only done it once and no harm was done!
I thin I would be too nervous to bandit a course - I would be nervous I'd get yanked off the course by a course marshall or something!!
What's next on your race schedule?