weather: mid-60s, humid, some parts windy, overcast at start, sunny and warm around mid-way

To say I had high hopes going into this race would be putting it mildly. I've been training hard over the last few months with the goal of breaking 4 hours, and qualifying for the TCM First Wave start with <3:45. I ran a 20K race in April in 1:37:47, which indicated that <3:45 was a reasonable goal. I planned on running 8:30s, which again, seemed reasonable with my training.

Packet pickup was held the day before the race at a hotel in downtown Rochester. I picked up my bib and chip, and found out that shirts would be given out at the finish. I had the opportunity to talk with one of the race directors, because I was confused about the downtown part of the course. She assured me that the course would be really well marked, and staffed with volunteers at the turns. (I was concerned because I almost ran off-course at last month's 20K because sections weren't marked). I stopped at the bike store to pick up a few more gel packets and then headed home.

Tried to go to bed early, but had trouble falling and staying asleep. Got up at 4:45 and had my usual pre-long run/pre-marathon oatmeal and started sucking down the water. My husband and I left for the race site around 7:15. The porta-potty line was non- existent, so I went ahead and used it. We discussed where we would meet afterwards, and I pointed out the direction of the half-way point. Then I got back in line for the porta-potty for good measure. We headed over to the start line in time to see the wheelchair start. (I hadn't realized there was a wheelchair division until they made the announcement). After they took off, people started filling in behind the start line. So I kissed my husband, and went to find a spot.

Mile 1 (8:02). Whoa, way too fast! I have problems judging pace, and this is proof of that. I wasn't sure where to line up; I guess I was too far forward. But the people further back from me were looking to run 10 minute miles, so I thought I was in a good spot.

Mile 2 (8:00, 16:02). Damn, still too fast. I thought I had slowed down, but apparently not. I could picture RunGregg yelling at me about what happens when you run too fast in the beginning.

Mile 3 (8:44, 24:27). Ok, slowed down too much. The really annoying thing was that the first water station was IMMEDIATELY after the 3 mile marker. I chose to skip the station because I was still adjusting my watch, and I had drank a ton of water when I got up.

Mile 4 (8:27, 33:14). Closer to pace, and feeling mostly okay. My toes on both feet were feeling kind of weird, though. And my right shoe felt like it was maybe too tight, probably because I had the chip laced through my shoelaces. They did provide the plastic ties, but I don't trust those at all. And at my first Chicago, I saw a couple of chips on the ground during the first couple of miles, so I feel justified in my dis-trust.

Mile 5 (8:30, 41:45). Right on pace. We finally moved from the streets to the bike paths, and headed into the woods. At this mile mark, a man caught up to me to ask what time I had. He's running Grandma's next month, and was supposed to use today as a training run. "Probably running too fast," he said.

Mile 6 (8:08, 49:53). I didn't feel like I picked up the pace, but apparently I did. This mile had the first aid station I used. I swallowed a moutful of Powergel as I approached, and downed a cup of water at the station. I did this all while running, and it worked surprisingly well. I lost the Grandma's man here because he slowed to take water. As I ran through the stop with my cup I heard him say "I've never mastered that." As I spilled some water, I called back "Neither have I."

Mile 7 (8:52, 58:46). Can't explain the slower pace; didn't feel that at the time. Med-City has 2-man and 4-man relays concurrently with the marathon, and this mile had the first of the exchange zones. I was really pleased with how they set the exchange zones up; the relays runners split off the course into a special relay lane. So their exchange didn't have any real effect on me. The other nice thing about the relay exchange zone was that there were a lot of spectators. There was also an aid station in this mile, so I took a cup of Gatorade. I've expressed my opinion on yellow Gatorade, but I have to say that as far as taste goes, really watered- down Gatorade is 10x worse than regular Gatorade.

Mile 8 (8:37, 1:07:24). This mile was on the roads (as was mile 7), but shortly after the mile marker, we got back onto the bike path to head back into the woods.

Mile 9 (8:33, 1:15:57). Still feeling okay, aside from the toes. Some slight pain in the ball of my foot, and some achyness in the knees. There was an aid station in this mile, and I sipped some water but mainly used it to wash my hands, which were sticky from the gel and gatorade.

Mile 10 (8:31, 1:24:28). Towards the end of this mile, I ran into Dave, a guy I ran with at the track club runs. We chatted for a bit, and it was nice to have someone to run with.

Mile 11 (8:22, 1:32:51). Took gel and water at the aid station at the beginning of the mile. Ran this mile with Dave, pushing the pace a small amount.

Mile 12 (8:34, 1:41:26). Dave wanted to run faster, so I was alone again.

Mile 13 (8:15, 1:49:41). This mile was on the outside of the golf course, approaching downtown. As we approached the mile mark, there were a lot of spectators.

Half-way (~1:50:30). There wasn't a sign for the actual half, so this is a guess for time. The relay runners split off the course again here. I saw my husband, and smiled big because I was feeling really good and was right on my pace. Plus, I set an unoffical 1/2 PR.

Mile 14 (8:44, 1:58:26). This mile was downtown, along the river. The mile mark was right at the start of a wooden footbridge that I run along frequently.

Mile 15 (8:29, 2:06:56). Back on pace; mostly feeling good aside from the achy knees and slightly achy hips.

Mile 16 (8:52, 2:15:48). Took gel and water here and slowed a little at the aid station to actually throw my gel packet in the garbage can, as opposed to on the ground with my cup.

Mile 17 (9:15, 2:25:04). Into the woods, and people start dropping like flies. Spotted a lot of walking from here on out. The temperature had risen, and the sun was now fully out. I finally stopped to adjust my shoelaces, which cost me ~15-20 seconds. My toes still felt funny, and I had a sneaking suspicion that I had a blister. I looked down at my feet occasionally, expecting to see blood or something.

Mile 18 (9:29, 2:34:34). Out of the woods. The start of the mile had an aid station, and I walked through it to fully drink my fluid. (Forgot which I took. First aid station walked through). My left knee started to bother me more here.

Mile 19 (10:49, 2:45:23). The beginning of the end; knee still bothering me. I had needed to pee since around mile 12, and finally stopped at a porta-potty here. The guy ahead of me took his time, apparently fussing with the hand sanitizer (he explained when he left that it was empty), so I lost 1:30 here.

Mile 20 (10:25, 2:55:49). This is around the point I started thinking about dropping out, as my knee was starting to hurt more. We passed another relay exchange zone, so there were more spectators. There was an aid station in this mile, I walked through it to get water (I think). I still had a gel packet left, but didn't bother taking it because I felt kind of nauseous.

Mile 21 (11:30, 3:07:19). I walked some more in this mile, mixed in with the running. The knee was getting pretty bad.

Mile 22 (12:55, 3:20:14). Stopped at the aid station here for some more fluids, wished I didn't have to keep going. Knee was causing problems so I had a few more walk breaks.

Mile 23 (16:23, 3:36:38). Lots more walking here because of the knee. I was passed by one of my husband's friends going the opposite direction (on his way to the finish) and he said hi. He told my husband when they met at the finish that he had passed me and I was walking. My husband said/knew that wasn't a good sign. A photographer was in this section, and I covered my bib in hopes he wouldn't take my picture.

Mile 24 (13:05, 3:49:43). I tried to run a little bit more at the start of this mile, but it was really hard. I stopped a few times to try to stretch the knee, but it was kind of futile. I really wished this was over. Walking hurt, too. Actually, there was a lot of walking going on by everyone. I don't remember seeing that much walking in Chicago, and there were more people in those races.

Mile 25 (16:05, 4:05:49). And around here I realized I wasn't even going to beat my previous PR (4:18). I tried to run a few times, but it really hurt. Lots of wincing in this mile from the pain, and a few stops to try to massage it/wish it would stop hurting.

Mile 26 (22:38, 4:28:28). Lots of anger in this mile, as I walked basically the entire thing. Well-meaning people told me I was doing really well, which couldn't have been further from the truth - if I was doing well, I'd have been done a long time ago and/or wouldn't be walking in the last mile! I did run across the footbridge, but then the course went downhill and my knee wouldn't allow that. I did stop and sit for a few seconds at one point, because it hurt so bad.

Mile 26.2 (2:44, 4:31:12). I did start "running" here because there was no way I was going to walk to the finish. I was pretty pissed off that they were announcing bib numbers and names over the loudspeaker as people came into the finish. I didn't want anyone noticing me running so badly. Running really hurt, and I know my stride had to look awful.

So I cross the line and stopped my watch. I just about burst into tears, because I couldn't/can't believe I trained so hard only to have my knee go nuts and to finish worse than my previous under- trained efforts. The medical tent was directly off the finish so I went there. I fought to keep from crying as I told the guy that my knee was messed up and my feet hurt. I also mentioned my nausea and chest pain; he asked if I'd drank anything since I finished and went to get me some Gatorade when I said that I'd come straight to medical. I peeled off my shoes and socks and discovered a gigantic blister on my right foot. I have never seen a blister so big (http://img17.photobucket.com/albums/v50/runner78/gross). He didn't drain it, but put some padding and gauze on it. I have a scar on my other big toe from a previous blister; the guy mistook it for a popped blister and wrapped it, too. Around this time, my husband came into the tent to see me. The medical guy examined my knee, but it didn't hurt to the touch. He said the kneecap probably just got really irritated and I should ice it when I got home. If it still hurts on Tuesday when the doctor's office re-opens, I'm calling for an appointment. I have never had such severe knee pain, and I'm concerned that I might have hurt it by not dropping out.

My husband had brought my clothing bag with him, and I put on a clean pair of socks and tried to change into my other shoes. (When I thought it was going to rain, I thought a dry pair would be good). But my wrapped toes didn't fit in the shoes very well. So I decided I would just walk to the car in my socks. We dropped off my chip, and went to pick up my shirt and medal. I registered in February and ordered a size Medium. But by the time I got to the shirt booth, they were out of mediums. They did have smalls, which I guess will work since I don't plan on wearing the shirt outside. (It's a nice looking shirt, though). But I'm annoyed that I wasn't able to get the size I requested 3 MONTHS ago.

Oh well. Came home, drained my toe, and iced my knee while drinking Gatorade. I don't even know what to think about today, aside from extreme disappointment and some anger. I was perfectly trained for this, and was on track through 16-17 miles. But my stupid knee ... maybe I'm not actually meant to run marathons, I don't know. It's hard not to draw that conclusion when months of base building and 18 weeks of quality training yields the same/worse end result as no base and 18 weeks of crap training.

1 | 8:02
2 | 8:00 | 0:16:02
3 | 8:44 | 0:24:47
4 | 8:27 | 0:33:14
5 | 8:30 | 0:41:45
6 | 8:08 | 0:49:53
7 | 8:52 | 0:58:46
8 | 8:37 | 1:07:24
9 | 8:33 | 1:15:57
10 | 8:31 | 1:24:28
11 | 8:22 | 1:32:51
12 | 8:34 | 1:41:26
13 | 8:15 | 1:49:41
13.1 ~1:50:30
14 | 8:44 | 1:58:26
15 | 8:29 | 2:06:56
16 | 8:52 | 2:15:48
17 | 9:15 | 2:25:04 - fixed shoe
18 | 9:29 | 2:34:34 - walked through water stop
19 | 10:49 | 2:45:23 - pee break (1:30)
20 | 10:25 | 2:55:49
21 | 11:30 | 3:07:19
22 | 12:55 | 3:20:14
23 | 16:23 | 3:36:38 - knee very painful, mostly walked
24 | 13:05 | 3:49:43 - tried some run/walk intervals
25 | 16:05 | 4:05:49 - knee hurt, walked more
26 | 22:38 | 4:28:28 - 98% walked
26.2 | 2:44 | 4:31:12 - "ran"

I can't even call the second half a Death March, because I think a DM would've been faster. Maybe a Death Shuffle. But seriously, a FIFTY MINUTE POSITIVE SPLIT. I think that might be some kind of record for positive splitting.