My unofficial time for the NJ Marathon is around a 3:52. This is why I should be happy:
My 6th, 7th, and 8th marathons were all done in the span of a year.
6th marathon (May 2010): 4:13. %^&*!!!!! This was my 3 consecutive time finishing in the 4:10ish range. I was pissed.
7th marathon (October 2010): 3:58. Elated to finally break 4 hours AND score a 12-minute PR.
8th marathon (today): 3:52ish. Another PR…by about 6 minutes.
I should be thrilled, right? Usually, by your 8th marathon, PRs are hard to come by. I’m not happy though…in fact, I’m pretty bummed.
Today didn’t quite turn out as planned. No BQ and no 3:50. What makes me SO mad is that I ran faster training runs than I did today. I knew I could do it.
The sun took a toll on me. Temperature-wise the weather was perfect. But the sun was relentless. Running down the shore can be tough. Lots of long stretches of black asphalt and no shade. Today was no different. Not a cloud in the sky. Perfect beach day, but not for a race.
My left quad cramped up pretty badly at mile 20. This has never happened before so I think it may have been the heat…I was possibly getting dehydrated? Stretching helped for a little while but I ended up doing a “skip-limp” for the last 1.5 miles.
I’m allowing myself to feel bad for today ONLY. I know I’m being very hard on myself. I’m hoping in a few days I’ll actually be happy about my PR!
Full recap to come this week (with pictures)!
Again…thank you all for your texts, emails, tweets, and kind messages. I thought about all my loving family, friends, and blog buddies a lot during the race.
Congrats to everyone who raced today…Broad Street Runners, Big Sur, and Eugene runners!
Try your very best not to be bummed, and think of what you accomplished today! I know it’s not on your ideal time, but you did something amazing today- and on a course with no shade! That sure would have bothered me a wholeee lot!
I hope you feel better soon and are enjoying eating and refueling-always my favorite after a long run…or a marathon in your case 🙂
Don’t be hard on yourself! It’s so hard to even take a minute off a race time and you did SIX, which is great. Training runs are different than race day and I think you did a fantastic job!
Funny, I KNEW you would be feeling bad about your time, even though on paper it looks great and you SHOULD be happy. I can totally relate. This is exactly how I felt last Fall after I got like a 7 minute PR and came in at 3:49:xx, which technically qualified me for Boston in 2012 cause I would be 40. But it didn’t feel like a victory because I was aiming for sub 3:45, or faster even. It didn’t feel like a real BQ. I didn’t run according to my plan or up to my potential. So I felt bad. I know that is exactly how you are feeling, because I think you are my long lost twin! We – distance runners of multiple marathons – are too hard on ourselves. We work ourselves like crazy for month after month until we KNOW we are ready to nail a certain time. But then the conditions aren’t right. Or we have an off day. Or something. There’s always something that seems to get in the way. The most frustrating part, with marathons, is that it is such a long process and takes so much out of us that we can’t just try again next week. Which is frustrating and disappointing.
I got dehydrated and cramped in my leg at Twin Cities in 2009. It sucks to be on pace and then have that happen.
You trained so hard. You DO have it in you. If you aren’t hurt, maybe you can do quick recovery and try to maintain fitness and come up to Grandma’s Marathon on June 18th? We are basically aiming for the same time. It would be fun! Think about it!
Despite being disappointed, you DID accomplish a huge thing today. You should be proud!
Oh god Cindi…this comment brought tears to my eyes! I recited your tweet “run smart, run strong” all throughout the race. You completely get how I feel. We are soooo much alike, it’s crazy.
I have a plan up my sleeve and I did look into Grandma’s. I think it’s a little too hilly for me. I have done NO hill work since Jersey was so flat. And we’ll be going to Ireland in 2 weeks and I don’t plan on running for 8 days 😉 But I initially wanted to do it so we could hang out!!!!!
I know its tough to not meet the big goal that you hoped for but you worked hard and it sounds like you overcame A LOT in this race and still got a PR as a result. Hope tomorrow will be a day where you can wake up and be excited 🙂 and then look to the future because you are strong, motivated and confident and I know you will bounce back from this even stronger—there is always something to be learned so this may just be one more step in your journey toward your big goal!
CONGRATS on your PR!
Julia, as always, you are too sweet! Thanks for the super nice comments!
First of all, CONGRATS to you! I ran NJM today, too. The sun was really brutal, esp along the boardwalk on the out and back part. I poured a lot of water on my head! I feel the same as you though, I pr’ed (4:09:59 in Feb 2010 to 3:48:03 unofficially today) which I know is a good jump, but I wanted sub 3:40 so I can’t help but be a little disappointed in myself. And now I have to get 3:35 to qualify for Boston! ugh. I’m running NYC in the fall, but I don’t know if its the best one to try to PR at or if 3:35 is in my reach by November.
What did you think of the course? I liked the first loop for the half but didn’t really like the out and back part, but I guess its better than running two loops.
I keep telling myself a PR is a PR, and doing your best is all you can ask for! Good job and enjoy down time!
Congrats, Meggie!!!! You did incredible but I do know how you feel. The sun WAS brutal. The more I think about it, the more I blame the conditions on my performance. I know it’s no where near the weather they had in 2010 but if it was overcast, I think a lot of people would have done much better.
NYC is a deceptively tough course but the weather is usually good, so you have that on your side. If you do some hill work, you should be in good shape to PR.
I did not like the 2nd half of the course. I agree, I guess it was better than running 2 loops. I felt like they sent us down these random streets just to make up some mileage. I was getting really annoyed and there was no shade at all!!!!
Congrats again!!!
Wow. Major congrats on the PR. And don’t discount what running in full sun can do to your body. It is brutal!! Wallow today and then celebrate the rest of the week!!
Great job.
Hi Kristy. Great job on the NJ Marathon, good time. Your time was around my goal. I’ve been running races for years but Sunday was my 1st marathon ever. I finished in 5:10:54. I was trekking along fine until 17/18 miles, that’s when I started my skip-running. Weather wasn’t a factor for me. My training schedule had me running 20 miles a month ago. I feel I should’ve done a 20-miler sooner. Oh well. Next marathon: NYC.
Hi Tom, congrats on your first marathon! You will see so much improvement in your time in NYC. I can guarantee it! Good luck!