Napa Valley Marathon 2011 2011

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Marathon

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  Napa Valley Marathon

  My goal was to finish under 3:30, but I missed it by quite a bit.

  When I got up at 4 AM, I could hear the rain coming down pretty hard. I was resigned to my fate. However, at the 7AM start, the rain had reduced to a trickle, raising everyone's hopes, but that was short lived. The most uncomfortable part was the first 35 minutes when I went from dry to thoroughly drenched. After that, it didn't get any worse, mainly because it couldn't get any wetter!

  My tank, shorts and most importantly, shoes, felt quite heavy. Despite this, I averaged 7:30 minutes per mile for the first 12 miles - right on schedule. Unfortunately, I had not paid enough respect to the rolling hills.

  This course may be mostly downhill, but there are a couple of long deceptive uphills around miles 13 through 15. The end result is that it felt like I was running slightly uphill for 3 miles. I pushed a little too hard on those hills than I should have, mainly because I didn't pay enough respect to them, but also because the rain had stopped at that point (although a strong headwind had picked up, which I also didn't pay attention to).

  I paid for my mistakes after mile 19 when my right quadricep seized up with cramps. I slowed down a bit, hoping that it would be ok at a slower pace, but by mile 20, I could only manage a hobble and walk. I had to stop multiple times to stretch.

  The worst part was I had not bonked and was not tired, but I couldn't use my energy to make forward progress, because my right leg was useless. For the next 4 miles, I averaged 10:30 minutes per mile. During that time, I redoubled my efforts to eat and drink anything with electrolyte I could find at the aid stations. By mile 23, I had recovered enough muscle function in my right quad that I was able to finish running, and even managed a sub 9 mpm near the end.

  Chalk this one up to inexperience, since this was my first full marathon. I'll take it more conservatively next time.

  by Joe C.
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  Napa Valley Marathon

  Love this races efforts in Goong Green- it can be really tough to mediate runner needs & what's best for the environment. The "BYOB" option & virtual goodie bag were great steps :). Also love the volunteers, spectators, and fellow runners at this race. Awesome community and everyone had a great attitude about the rain. :)

  by The Sf Marathon

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