Official time...4:53:02 but I really think with some shorter bathroom lines I could have knocked that down a little more. Either way, I'm very pleased with the result. It was hot...82 at one point I heard but lots of gatorade and water helped enormously.
My overall place was 5742nd out of 25,000-something so I beat like 19,000 people. I was 4409th for men overall and 534th in my age/gender division. I've got to be happy with that because I'm not exactly built for speed. I wanted to finish in decent shape (I did), I didn't want to walk any of the course (I did not except for taking water and bathroom breaks) and I wanted to have an enjoyable and rewarding experience (I did).
There were some memorable moments...This year they put people's names on the race bibs and I didn't really think much of it. During the race I heard so many people yelling "Go Jack" or something to that effect and I thought to myself...wow, there must be a lot of Jack's running in this race! Took a while for the bib thing to register. I also found out that my watched stopped after glancing at and thinking to myself...man, I am on a sub-4 pace....I'm an animal! Figured that one out pretty soon after.
No major problems except for some anxious moments at 22 when I thought I sharted. Had to take a mandatory bathroom break at 23 to confirm (I didn't) and evacuate the system to ward off any potential nastiness at the finish line. That could prove embarrassing. I did see a few puddles of puke at the finish line...good times.
The whole race was a great experience. I had a large group of support from friends and family who really had to go out of their way to deal with massive crowds with little ones in tow and give up their Sunday's as well. That was inspiring and truly made me feel good. There is a wave of emotion that hits you when you realize what you have achieved the is very hard to describe. I do know it is pretty damn cool though.
The physical after-effects haven't been too overwhelming but I am sore and stiff in the legs. Everything else seems to be working ok. I'm certain the frequent liquid intake played an important role being able to finish strong and enable a relatively quick recovery.
I'll put some pictures up when I can get some.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment