I posted a few weeks ago asking about the feasibility of going sub-4 in my first marathon (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1441848-pacing-strategy-for-my-first-marathon). Short version: I did it!!!

Long version: My race was yesterday. I aimed to start at 9:30 and work my way down 10 seconds/mile every 5 miles or so. I lined up parallel to the 4:30 pace group. The first mile or 2 I was near the 4:40 pace group. My first mile was 9:35, and I had a hard time imagining going faster than that, but as I warmed up I found my groove. Plus I'm really stubborn.

By the halfway point, I was hanging around 9 min/mile. I had to pee as soon as the race started (that's what I get for having an extra glass of water before I left the house). I finally found a porta-potty without a line at mile 13 (and was in and out in 30 seconds!). I don't know if it was holding my pee for so long or what, but as soon as I started back up I got what was probably the most painful side stitch I've ever had. It was awful.

My pace dropped, I was making pathetic groaning/moaning noises, and I stopped to stretch it once. I thought that was it for me and I was going to end up walking the second half of the race. But I trudged along and kept at my cramp strategies (stop all food and water, dig my fingers into it, and exhale when the foot on that side hits the ground), and it pretty much went away after 1-1.5 miles. Surprisingly, it didn't come back.

I ramped down my pace a bit more to the 8:50-9:00 range, even though I wasn't sure if I could sustain it. I just kept looking for the next mile marker and telling myself that if I didn't get under 4 hours I'd have to do it again (and tell everyone who I'd told my goal). My last 10k averaged 8:45 min/mi, and I came in just under my 4-hour goal. Yay!

I truly don't think I could've gone any faster. I had aimed for a 2:10-ish difference between my first and second half, but it was closer to 4 minutes (though some of that was because I finished slightly faster than I'd planned). Having such a big negative split obviously wasn't ideal in terms of hitting my time potential, but I wanted to give myself the chance to bail on the goal and stick to a slower pace if I needed to, and I think having slow early miles was helpful both mentally (not feeling like it was already hard in the first few miles) and physically.

My quads and hip flexors hurt pretty much the whole time. I didn't really realize the extra pounding they would endure from a 45 sec/mi reduction from my long run pace, and it makes me wish I'd done more tempo work (as opposed to almost all easy miles) to get them more used to it.

Today, I'm basking in my own glory and doubling down on the Aleve :bigsmile: Thanks to everyone who offered advice and/or encouragement!