This is just a quick update now that I’m home from Providence.
I ran my race plan perfectly, at least through the half marathon. I was at 77:24 at halfway.
Then I blew up. My left calf got a little tweaked around 15 miles in, so I slowed down and changed my gait a bit, and then things just went downhill fast and a bunch of guys caught me. over the second half of the race I lost 11 minutes.
Had I not gone out so aggressively (2:35:00 pace) then would I have been able to run under 2:40? Possibly. I am sure that I could have PRed at least.
Do I regret having gone out so hard? Not in the least. I don’t think that I could have won with the competition this year, and had there been a chance then I’d have needed to run over my head to do it.
I just wasn’t in the kind of shape I needed for the strategy I used, but as Sir Roger Bannister said, “If a man coaches himself, then he has only himself to blame when he is beaten.” I took a big risk, and I didn’t fall apart as much as I might have but more than I wanted to.
I’m happy with my race, but I’m disappointed in how it went, if that makes sense. It was a worthwhile experience even if I didn’t meet my goals, which were further hampered by stopping a few times to relieve myself and by getting punched in the groin late in the race.
I’ll have more details in a full race report, but I just wanted to let everybody know how I did in case you didn’t catch my comment this morning in the prediction thread. (Congratulations to Mark for being the closest to how fast I’d actually run.)
Thanks for updating us! We were cheering you on. I know the feeling.. when a race doesn’t go quite as planned, but is nonetheless a valuable, life-enriching experience. Hope you recover quickly! Can’t wait to get the detailed story. --Alex (aka run350)
Blaine, Thanks for the update… I was cheering for you! I’m sorry, that your race didn’t go as well as you had planned. I know the feeling -- Boston 07. I’m looking forward to the race details and any pictures. You’re amazing!!!!
“All good athletes make mistakes; the great ones learn to make that mistake only once.”
Janice
Blaine,
Funny how each race is different and so unpredictable…..sometimes it is enough to say “I tried something different and I finished” At least that is what I keep saying to myself.