11.04.07
Debrief
I thought I would give a brief recap of the Trials race…
First of all, by now many of you will have heard about the awful tragedy that took place on the course yesterday morning. Ryan Shay, one of the top American marathoners, passed away after pulling off the course (right in front of me) early in the race. He walked right across in front of me, and I remember wondering what he was doing and moving to avoid him. It was only hours later that I heard that he had died moments later. He had just been married this past summer and truly loved running. I feel a whole mixture of emotions about this, but mostly sadness.
The other big news of this race was Ryan Hall’s performance. He absolutely scorched the course and the field, running 66:27 for the first half and closing in 62:35, and that second half was slowed by his victory stroll over the last mile, in which he just waved and reveled in the moment. The man is an aerobic beast, and probably could have run 2:07 yesterday if he had had to, on a very tough course. He’ll be a guy to watch during the Olympics next summer.
As for my race, it was awesome until about 30 km. I felt smooth and really good. Over the next 5k, my quads started to really lock up, and I ended up jogging - walking - jogging during the last 5 miles, trying desperately to reach the finish line. I have never dropped out of a race, and this was not going to be the first one. I am not sure what exactly brought the cramps on, since I never get that in my quads, but it was probably a combination of the hills (ups as well as downs), the cold, and some fuel depletion. In any case, I would not have changed anything about my approach to the run; I think this was something I had to do, and sometimes, you just hit your limit. Aerobically I was fine throughout.
I will see you all again soon.
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joan said,
November 4, 2007 at 9:10 am
Man in the Arena
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“Citizenship in a Republic,”
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
Stephan Blatti said,
November 4, 2007 at 11:37 am
Just spotted Marc quoted on ESPN.com:
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/trackandfield/news/story?id=3092889
Stephan (aka Caroline’s lesser half)
Diana said,
November 4, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Marc, congratulations. It was so exciting to know that one of our own was out there! You must feel so lucky and blessed to have been able to have this experience. I hope you can appreciate your success even within the tragedy of the race and your protesting quad muscles.
Phillip said,
November 4, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I am proud of you Dude. I am so excited to know you finished. I Got up at 6am Ecuador time and tried to watch the race. Only to find out that internationally it was blocked. I was crushed.
Thanks for sharing this race with us. God Bless you. My prayers are with all those affected by this tragic loss.
peace
Phillip