Denver Marathon

This was a rather disappointing day for me. If a marathon was only 24 miles, it would have been a great day. Unfortunately, I had 2.2 more to go.

I went in with a goal of running sub-4 hours (~9:00/mi), and for most of the day I was well on my way to about a 3:50. I was running the race with my friends, Justin and Heath. We expected Heath to eventually take off, but we were hoping to run most of the way together.

The first 5 were good. We stayed together and felt really good, clicking off 8:30/mi or so. After about mile 4, Justin was having some leg pain, and we slowed the pace a bit hoping he'd work through it. At mile 7, though it was too much. I stayed with him for a bit, but he told me to go on. Mile 7 was a slow mile, so I picked it up a bit to try to make up a little time and keep my cushion.

I was clicking off between 8:15 and 8:45 for the next few miles, and I was pretty sure I'd have a good cushion heading into the last 10 miles... and I did. But, mile 17 was a long incline, not too steep, but it took its toll. I finished that mile at 9:48. Ugh. I ran the next 3-4 miles at about 9:15-9:45 pace.

As I left Washington Park, I was really slowing down. Mile 22 was 10:08, but I was still on pace for sub 4 hours. At mile 24 I needed to average 10:00/mi to finish under 4 hours, and I was pretty sure I could do it.

However, about a quarter mile later, I started to see spots, and I was getting really woozy. I started walking, but I could only manage staggering. I felt inebriated, and my hands were numb and felt "fuzzy." I sat down, and a lady from Wisconsin came by and dragged me to my feet telling me it would be worse if I sat. So, she held my arm as I staggered the last 2 miles in 42 minutes to finish in 4:20.

It was really disappointing, but I'm glad I finished. I'm hurting a bit, but it was a fun day for the most part. I think I'll stick with half marathons for a while until I decide to tackle another Ironman race.