Sunday, May 4, 2008

Flying Pig Marathon Race Report

I'll begin by saying that I was in no shape to run a marathon today, but it went OK for a while. I didn't start off that fast, but faster than I should have for zero training (haven't run since McNaughton.) I blew up big time after mile 19 and walked most of the way in. Regardless, it was a great run!

The 2006 Flying pig was my first race and this year was pig number 3. I really enjoy this marathon. It's my hometown course, and the fans and entertainment are a lot of fun. Going into the race I knew I wasn't trained so I decided on a finishing goal of 3:59. The plan was to run 9:30's for the first half and 8:50's the second half...yeah right. I started off running most of my miles up until mile 19 around 8:45-9:00 but times varied widely with the crowds early on, and the hills in miles 6-9. At mile 10 I was already feeling pretty bad. My leg injury was starting to hurt a little and my legs were already pretty tired. I ran the first 17 miles with a fore-foot strike, to avoid the pain in my leg, but after mile 17 my calves were too tight and tired so I had to switch back to heal striking. My leg didn't bother me too much during the run, although it's pretty sore now.

Right in the middle of mile 19 and 20 I knew I was finished. At first I started walking with the idea that I would start running again as the 4 hour pace group approached. About 5 minutes later I watched the balloons come, and then go. I really didn't care about 4 hours anymore, not enough to start running again, lol. I alternated between half mile walking and half mile slow jog until mile 25 where I jogged it in. My final time was 4:25:29, I made sure it was faster than my first pig (4:26.) I'm not bummed about my finishing time. I didn't train and the Pig bit me in the ass. That's how it goes. I had a great time out on the course, and can't wait until next year!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

you hear my foot steps yet?

hoping to see you at Mo next weekend....!!!

Josh said...

Mike,

you'll have to run at least 3:10 if you want to get ahead of me at the end of the year :)

No Mo for me. I can barely finish a marathon right now, three days of Mo (or even one) would not be a good idea.

Unknown said...

Josh,
I was handing out water at mile 23. Sorry to have missed you out there. This is the first time I have watched a marathon rather than participate and there were quite a few people that had a tough go of it on Sunday. Nice push on the last mile.
I'll be doing the DWD relay this weekend and then Dirt Days at Mt. Airy forest on the 18th. Hope to see you on the trails.
Mike

Stuart said...

Kudos for finishing.

ed said...

Gee, not many can go into a marathon “not trained” & set a goal of 3:59! Glad you had a great run & had fun!

I’ll be up in your neck of the woods Memorial Day for a Stone Steps training run at Mt. Airy – it’s a Fat Ass format, so there’s no pressure & fun to be had. Maybe I’ll see you there.

Josh said...

Mike,

Thanks for helping out on Sunday! Good luck at DWD. I think I'm busy on the 18th or I would definitely come help out or just come watch for the Mt. Airy run. I should be there for some of the Memorial day training run. Will you be there? Thanks for the trail update on the stone steps email list! Hope your running is going well!

Ed,

yeah, that may have been my goal, but I wasn't eve close, lol. I plan on being there for the memorial day run. I will most likely run 16-21 miles, not the whole 50k. I'll see you then!

Josh said...

slb,

Thanks!