Brookings Marathon 2011 Race Report

Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only (next) time more wisely.

Henry Ford

I usually like to have more photos. I know when I read a RR without any photos it isn't quite the same. Desi was busy doing a wonderful job cheering me on, and she has yet to perfect her photography skills at races yet. No worries though, she has years of practice ahead of her. She more then makes up for it with her race crewing and cheering abilities though :)

Last year I ran this after doing a warm up of 26.2 miles. You can read about that experience HERE. 

Cliff Notes:
26.2 miles
3:19:34
15th over all / 188 finishers
7:38 pace


Pre Race


The weather was about 40 or 41 degrees with a slight wind and cloud cover. I do not believe I felt rain at all during the event. Aside from being cold maybe 3 or 4 times when turning into the wind the conditions were about as good as you can get for a race.

The Race

Everyone started off at Pioneer Park and ran through down town. Not even a quarter mile into it I heard a guy joking about putting out a fast pace and "seeing what happens". I do not remember exactly my splits and do not have my Garmin with me, but I believe I did the first 10k at a 6:40 mile pace, which was 12 seconds per mile faster then I wanted to do the entire race.

Sometime after the halfway point I found out the lead runner in the marathon took the half marathon turn off because he was not feeling too well. The same guy who was joking about pushing the pace at the beginning.

At the half way point I was only 2 minutes slower then my half marathon PR of 1:26 and about 2 minutes faster then I should have been. Which means I was even losing time over my 10k pace at 13.1 miles...

I felt so good that I ran the first 3, 6, and 10 miles much faster then I had planned. This caused me to significantly slow down for the last 10 miles. I ran most of the race by feeling and my gut instead of checking my mile splits. You always feel amazing during a race. Well, the first half at least.

Somewhere around mile 15 I glanced at my pace and saw I was doing about 1:30 per mile slower then I should have been! My perceived exertion was exactly the same as at mile 5 but I had apparently slowed down. I tried to pick up my speed but simply could not get my legs to turn over any faster.

Over the next 10 miles I did consider dropping out so I would better recover for either the Minneapolis, Deadwood, or Swan Lake marathon in the next 2 or 3 weeks. However I felt fine, so decided to continue on.

I'm not sure if I have ever really "hit the wall" and do not think I did at this marathon. I was in a great mood, nothing hurt, I felt pretty good, never got bored or really wanted to lie down and die, I just could not run any faster. It was very odd. Maybe I am just not used to sprinting for 26.2 miles. Maybe I just need to learn to HTFU. Maybe I should have included more specific long runs.

So I honestly consider this race a disaster for myself. I was shooting for a 2:59:59 and my predictor races all said I could do it. It was my own foolishness that did it and I accept it as a learning experience, which all things are in life. I failed at the Lean Horse 100 mile, but took more out of it then I believe I would have, had I finished. And I promise you now, I will not make the same mistake I made at the Brookings Marathon again.

I would like to express my gratitude to all the of the 400 or so volunteers who helped out with the event. I tried to thank all of the aid stations and corner people whenever I came upon them, but probably missed a couple!

Also thank you to Vibram, and specifically Jon Gaffney for helping out with shoes.

So, what's next.....Well I have been off and on about doing another marathon in the next two or three weeks. It's a nice first marathon race time, however I just hate having a 3:19 on my shoulders when I know I am capable of so much more. However I believe doing so would be detrimental to my A race, the Howl At the Moon 8 Hour ultra marathon in August. I would like to get a month long taper in following a month of heavy running. Doing any marathon right now would require two weeks of recovery that would damper this plan. The Sioux Falls Marathon is four weeks after the 8 hour, so maybe I will sign up for that.

As for recovery. Aside from going out too fast I was also stupid in racing in Vibram Fivefinger Classics with a hole in the right big toe. They do have 999 miles in them. Other then the speedwork over 26.2 miles they are fine for running in still. But by the end of the race they were blood stained and a significant amount of road rash had formed at that location. 3 days after the race my legs were feeling well. I have done a few short runs and they feel slightly more fatigued after the run, but during an easy run they are ok. The bottoms of my feet took about two days more to feel normal. Now a week later, other then that one spot on my toe where there was a hole, my legs feel pretty darn good.