Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007

As of this posting, no results have been posted yet for the Kansas City Marathon. We'll just have to wait and see if I won.
Unofficially, I think I was back in the pack a little ways. There were already quite a few people in the finish area when I arrived.
All joking aside, I finished in 4:10:23 by my GPS, representing a PR by about 5 minutes. I did this despite walking quite a bit in the last 5 miles, due to severe cramping in both calves. I'm sure I walked at least two miles.
The race started out just the way I wanted it to. I ran the first three miles from 9:31 to 9:42. Miles two and three were the biggest hills of the run, so it was a good time to take it easy.
It was at this point that I made my big strategic mistake. Instead of leveling off at a planned 9:15 pace, I did everything under 9. I felt very good, and despite my pace, I was still trying to slow down; I just couldn't do it.
All my splits from mile 4 to 20 were under 9. I could smell that 3-something finish time. I wasn't paying real close attention to one thing, though: the weather. It was warming up, and it was affecting me more than I could have guessed.
I slowed down to around 9:20 for miles 21 and 22, but then in mile 23 I had my first cramps. Anytime I ran any kind of uphill, even slight, I'd cramp. So, for miles 23 and 24, I'd walk the uphills and run everything else. Then, in mile 25, things took a turn for the worse. I was cramping all the time, no matter what the grade was. Mile 25 was about half walk and half run, and the running wasn't too fast. By mile 26, I could not run at all. Even a single running step would bring on full-on cramping from my quads to my calves. It was fairly miserable. I could walk, though, so I walked as fast as I could.
Once I made the turn for the final approach to the finish line, I found a trot I could maintain without cramping - I imagine it was about a 12-min. pace - and I ran it in (about 150 yards).
The crowd at the finish lined both sides of the street for a block and was great. Along the way Kay and Annie - wife and niece - met me an incredible eight times. They had cowbells and signs and made so much noise people around me thought there must be 20 of them. I was also met in two or three places by my running partner, Mike, and his wife, Chris.
At the finish, my fan-base included Kay, Annie, son Mark and grandchildren Jace, Jaden and Angela, and Mike and Chris.
So, I didn't break 4, but I had a PR and great support. That's good enough for me.