Marathon Heaven

Ever have one of those marathons where everything goes right? Me neither. At least not for a long, long time. But today’s Inland Trail Marathon happened to be a real keeper.

If your idea of marathon nirvana includes tens of thousands of runners, big expos, large numbers of spectators, big city scenery and landmarks, balloons, Kenyans, warm weather (forgive me, I’m not quite over Chicago yet), etc., then the Inland Trail Marathon probably wouldn’t be up your alley. But it was up mine. Cool overcast weather, no hassles with registration or the start, something like 100 to 200 runners, plenty of water and Gatorade, a 12+ mile rails-to-trails asphalt trail through woods and rural parts of Loraine County, and, did I mention good weather? That’s my marathon heaven, and this was it.

Of course there had to be one missing ingredient: me being in shape. I kinda figured that I was in about 3:15 condition, but it had been a while since I’ve even run that well. Could I do that today under these perfect conditions?

Temperatures were in the upper 30s at the start. (It was 48F when I finished.) There was a slight headwind that would be with us for the first half of this out-and-back course. That headwind felt mighty cold for the first mile or two. But after that it felt great. I started off at a 7:30 pace, which I figured would get me close to my goal. All I would need to do is to pick it up just a bit for the last couple miles. Right. Not to mention that negative split marathons had always been a rarity for me, especially of late.

Although most of my early miles were in that 7:30 range, I hit the halfway turnaround a bit slower than I’d hoped, in 1:39. I would have to pick up the pace earlier than planned. So I did. I started doing 7:10 to 7:20 miles. Maybe I was helped by the tailwind, or maybe it was the energy gel that I was now taking every 3 miles or so. Note to self: beware of PowerGel Tangerine 2xcaffeine AND 4xsodium. It was among the most foul-tasting messes that I’ve ever put into my mouth. On the other hand, it may have helped.

There had been perhaps 30 people in front of me as of the half, but I was picking many of them off now. I hit the 20-mile mark right around 2:30. Would I be able to keep that pace up until the finish? Short answer: yes. My last 6 miles were 7:11, 7:12, 7:17, 7:07, 7:16, 7:01. It’s always nice when mile 26 is your fastest. In fact, there’s no feeling in the world like it. My time was 3:14:40 and I was 2nd in my age group. This would’ve been disappointing during some of my better years, but here in 2007, I’m thrilled with it. Marathon heaven.