Wisconsin Marathon: Race Report

So after 16 months, a loss of 37 pounds, a significant improvement in fitness, it was finally race day. In the lead up to the race I was reasonably calm, although the last 24 hours I was questioning everything. Long story short I was going along a wee bit faster then my goal pace until mile 16 and then I started to cramp in my calves, which ended any semblance of hitting my goal pace. I finished a handful of second under 6 hours (although the results say 5 minutes higher, it is my Garmin that disagrees, and I it took me at least that long to get to the start line).

The Good
I had a good parking space so lining up for the race was not traumatic and the start was easy, it took me about 5 minutes to get to the start line. Other then a trip to the bathroom at mile 11, and a stop to say hi to a friend at mile 14, all my miles were right in my comfort zone in the 12 minute range. I used the first mile as a warmup, basically not using the walks in the walk/run process, and felt fine.

In fact for the entire race I never felt tired and or winded, I always felt like I had the energy to go forward....its just that this happened.

The Bad and the Ugly
So at mile 17, my right calf cramped so badly, that there was about a 2 inch square 1/2 inch deep indentation right on the inside of it. Not to be out done the left one joined in a mile or so later. So from the knees up I felt fine. I was gratified to have the medical person on the bike, say she had never seen anything like that, so at least I was boundary pushing!

The reality of this was it moved my times into the 15 minute per mile pace for the rest of the race. I had the energy to run forward, but my calves would not let me push off, without starting to cramp or actually cramping from mile 17 until mile 23, when the banana I had at mile 22 and the gels I got at mile 18.5 and 19.5 kicked in, plus the gels I was carrying. As I write this (24 hours later) my calves are lightly bruised from the intensity of the cramping.

My daughter joined me at mile 23 and encouraged me to the finish line, which I am grateful for and my legs responded to that and were able to generate a couple of 14 minute miles, but the cramping was more severe the last two miles and I regressed to 15 minute miles.

Not really on the radar here, but I got two blisters on my arches by mile 6, which in the grand scheme of things were annoying, but did not affect me in any way shape or form.

The Funny
So in the start corral a nice gentlemen came up to me and asked me are you Lord_Selfie on Instagram? I said yes, and he introduced himself as a follower (I am of him as well) then I was recognized by another follower out on the course. I also saw a co-worker on the course, who I knew was a runner, and a fast one (finished 13th in Mens Marathon) and was able to blurt "hey I know you" to him before he went past me like a low flying jet.

I also saw a tragedy, someone dropped an entire box of donuts holes in the middle of the race fortunately a police officer nearby told me the perpetrator was taken into custody. That's like a war crime in Wisconsin! I did wonder to myself if the 5 second rule applied during a marathon.

The Course
Was very flat, with only a few ups and downs mostly in the first 10 miles, the worst part was the road from 5-6 and then back again for 9-10 along the shore, was just a mess, and it hurt my feet. After the half marathoners turned for home I still had a long way to go, and it got much quieter, although the support was great out there. I could have done without the dirt roads, but that's a minor quibble. Overall it was a great race.

I saw my friend Dave at the aid station at mile 18.5 and 19.5 which was a blessing given what was happening, he cheered me up quite a bit. I also saw another friend who was running, who finished 10 minutes ahead of me twice.

The Data:
2:40 first half, 3:19 second half 5:59 finish
10:54, 12:22, 12:08, 12:14, 11:32
12:09, 12:26, 12:25, 12:36, 12:20
13:01, 12:37, 12:45, 12:48, 13:11
13:37, 15:20, 15:09, 15:27, 15:05
15:33, 15:18, 14:06, 14:12, 15:45
15:50