Hartford Marathon

Marathon day. Woke up bright and early around 4:30 AM, got dressed, ate a Cliff Bar and Banana, had a little time to relax, go to the bathroom, then we (Me, Judy, Justin and his girlfriend Lina, our designated driver) headed down to Hartford, which was about a 40 minute drive. We found a place to park and headed over to the starting area. The UPS trucks had not arrived yet, so we couldn't yet drop off our bags. It was cool out, but not too bad - upper 40s and no wind. The UPS trucks finally showed up and we got our bags dropped off, got in line for the port-a-johns and then headed over to the starting area. Justin did some stretching and then we got into the mass at the start. We found the 4:15 and 4:30 pace groups and stood around there and did light stretching and tried keeping warm before the start. 

Race started at 8:09, so a little late but pretty reasonable. It was crowded at the start, and the first mile was 10:28 as Justin and I tried to find our pace. Things started thinning out and we hit our groove, having miles of 9:25, 9:57, 9:27, 9:34, 10:18, 10:03, 9:19 and 9:38.

During the 10th mile Justin's calf muscle started tightening up, and he had to stop and stretch a bit and I jumped in a port-a-john real quick, so that mile was 11:48. We got going again, but Justin was struggling. It was going to be a long day. Justin thought that if we walked a mile, he might be able to work out his calf tightness, so we planned on walking after the half way point. Mile 11, 12 and 13 came in at 11:10, 11:24 and about 14 minutes with stops as Justin stretched. We walked a mile, but then when it was time to run again, Justin didn't have it in him. 

Justin wasn't feeling very good, and we flagged down one of the bike medics. The bike medic said that he looked dehydrated, and they checked his blood pressure, which was low. They told him to get more fluids, but didn't tell him to stop. So off we went, still shuffling along. Justin got more fluid in him and he started feeling a little better, but his calf was still tight, but we just kept plugging away. Justin just kept saying "Must... get... medal", heh. Walking miles were generally between 14 minute miles and 18 minute miles. When Justin needed to stretch, I would usually walk ahead a bit then walk back.

We got to mile 25, and Justin figured he could finish 'strong' ... or at least stronger. 25th mile was 13:35, we then stopped at the mile 26 flag for a quick photo, and then ran the last .2 miles at a 10:27 pace. Total time was 5:59:47, pace of 13:44. I covered 26.94 miles according to the garmin, some of the extra being the usual garmin error, and some of it being the walking ahead and back when Justin stretched. 

Waited at the finish for Judy to come in. I thought she might pass us as we slowed, but she slowed too, coming in about 15 minutes later. Things were starting to be taken down at the finish by the time Judy came in, and there wasn't really any post food still out, so we just headed back to the car then back to Justin an Lina's house. 

I was somewhat disappointed that I wasn't able to run the whole race, but it was good to see Justin finish, and it's still a marathon (: