Other marathons I have run, which did not get a full writeup.
September 23, 2007
Finish: 3:45:31 (Full Results 
)
The racers and spectators enjoying lunch afterwards
Despite finishing Ironman Wisconsin two weeks earlier, I decided to run the Quad Cities Marathon with friends that had been training for it. I did not run hard, but undertaking the race on such little recovery was probably still a mistake. On top of that, during the race expo I was convinced to co-lead the 3:45 pace group. The position was vacant, and it was near when I expected to finish. I had never led a pace group though and had almost no experience holding that speed. The other captain was someone with which I had come down, but it was only her second marathon, and that time was about ten minutes faster than her inaugural PR. We thought though it would be a bunch of inexperienced kids carrying the flag, or else no one at all. Hopefully no one would be too dependant on us for a BQ effort.
The marathon itself went well. The pace was actually slower than my normal distance runs, and my legs had recovered pretty well from Wisconsin. Running at the front of a pace group was an awesome experience too. Although we never had a big unified group and our followers trickled to only a few die hard runners by the end, talking with other runners with a common goal and helping them along was great.
The course was mainly urban, but had some nice views of the Mississippi River. The only part to complain about was the loops around Arsenal Island. Due to security concerns, spectators were not allowed on the island so a long five or six mile lonely stretch challenged the runners. Other than that section, for a race that size crowd support was really good. The idiocy of jumping into a marathon did eventually catch up with me as the last five miles were pretty painful. The 3:45 pace group leaders held constant though and finished within thirty seconds of our goal time. Not to bad for a pair of rookies. I enjoyed watching all my other friends finish or congratulating the ones which beat me. Quite a few were first time marathoners, and it was inspiring to see what people who do not devote an unhealthy amount of their life to running can accomplish.
Pace vs. Mile
May 25, 2008
Finish: 3:12:32 (Full Results )
After a disappointing time at Boston, I hopped to quickly reuse my fitness level and achieve a better marathon PR. I would try to be a little more conservative this time, but was still striving for around 2:05. Six weeks later, I laced up my shoes for another attempt at the marathon.
The first half went great, and I was on pace. A little headwind hampered the progress a couple miles after that which slowed me, but I was not too worried then. After that though, my race quickly fell apart. I slammed into the wall and slowed significantly by mile 17. About this same time the course toured an arboretum, which although was beautiful, had little to no crowd support. I knew my pace was slow and stopped looking at my watch. At mile 23 I checked the clock though, and knew I had no chance of even breaking three hours. What little motivation I had left vanished, and I reverted to survival mode until I could finally reach the finish line. I was so thankful to finally be done, but was extremely disappointed with my performance. I probably had been racing too much leading up to the race, and never gave my legs a chance to fully recover from Boston. Impatience is not something that usually benefits long distance runners, so I will have to wait a little bit longer for what a good marathon time for me. At least I had a good weekend up in Madison with a couple fellow CVRA runners.
 Pace vs. Mile |  Place vs. Mile |
October 19, 2008
Finish: DNF
My only goal for this marathon was to finally break the three hour barrier. Learning from experience, I would start conservatively and actually stick with the three hour pace group. If by chance there was anything left at the end, I could try picking it up in the last couple of miles. My race of course did not go as planned. Although I did stay with that group, my legs felt sluggish from the start. By the 10K mark, they felt like I had already covered twenty miles. I hung onto the back of the pace group through mile twelve, but coming out of Drake Stadium I finally fell off the back. We turned into a headwind at the same time, leaving me alone to battle the breeze. The three hour group increased the gap, and my thirteenth mile was thirty seconds slow. I crossed halfway in 1:30:30, which was pretty close to correct pacing, but all the time was lost in the prior mile and things would only get worse. Although I could have finished, I had no chance of making my time goal. I mentally gave up and dropped out at halfway, resulting in the first DNF that I remember. Although I was not in great shape, I still should have had the fitness to break the three hour barrier. It just was not my day however. I have had better weekends. The only thing that comes to mind was that my taper directly prior to the marathon was unintentionally too severe (no running for the three days leading up to the race). I need to do a little easy work before a big race to keep my legs sharp. Although the race was very disappointing and a big let down for me, I am too stubborn to give up on marathoning and will slay the three hour demon another day, even if my results indicate I should consider something else.
