Pete Tanguay

Had a good race this morning.  Had only run a couple times this week as I had been out of town.  I’m a little frustrated that my mile 3-4 were not down in the 7:30 pace but that’s ok.  Had a good finish.  I think I am running hard, but not racing.  I try to make sure that I do not run out of gas on the course and I don’t, but I wonder how much more I could do if I could push myself harder.  Now, with that said, I felt real good today.  Had a nice first mile, stayed controlled and relaxed the entire race and finished relatively strong.  It was a beautiful day and race route and I got second place in my age division (that is because 2 others placed in the senior masters divisions and can not place in the 50-54 age group, otherwise I would have been 4th).  Just off the golf course where I shot a 75 (best round of the year!), 3 over on the front and even on the back so it’s been a good day and a great start to a Memorial Day weekend. 

We got new Conway Running Club singlets to run in and Judy had them at the race today.  I ordered a shirt but not a singlet.  I’ve committed to run all of my races for Mavia and remember the families who are fighting NF.  I don’t wear it any other time and don’t run a race without it.  It’s added an element to my racing and I deeply hope that some day they will find a way to treat and cure NF.  It is definitely possible. 

Had a good race on a course with a lot of hills.  On the bright side, there were a lot of up and downhills so if you managed it right you can balance it out a bit.  Set out to run 9 minute miles as long as I could and that was basically through mile 15.  At mile 15 Lynn met me and handed me a cliff bar and a running bottle filled with Amino Vital drink.  I did not feel like I was struggling at that point.  However, as I ate my cliff bar and got some hydration, I was also heading up a pretty good hill and it seemed to take a lot out of me.  As you can see from the Garmin, I slowed on this hill (which is understandable) but after this I could never get my pace back (which is not).  I never gave up, kept working the race but basically saw an immediate 1 minute 20 second difference / mile for the next 7 miles.  I don’t really  understand this.  I want to learn what I can do in this situation.  I’ve learned a lot and am in a position to figure this one out.  In the past I would get discouraged, try to run faster, burn up more energy and hit a wall.    I did not hit a wall.  I’ve really learned about my nutrition and hydration needs in the races and feel I have good plans for that.  It was quite a bit hotter during these miles but really it was my legs not running the pace I wanted them to run.  I dropped another minute per mile in miles 23-25, taking a little longer at the aide stations to make sure I got plenty of hydration.  As I got in to the last mile it was down and up with net up and I ran real strong.  Nobody passed me in the last 4 miles and I passed a number of people. 

It’s so great to have running friends.  Ran with Claudia for the first 15 miles and when I slowed, she kept to the plan and finished in 4:06.  Frank was a bit behind us, then caught us and then dropped back with some cramping.  Here’s part of our group, some registered for the full and some the half. 

I finished 41 overall out of 102 men in the race and third out of 9 in my age group.  One of these I passed in the last mile which is nice to know.  On the enjoyable side, this was a good race.  I ran what my body could run and enjoyed the beautiful course, even the hills.  I am more interested now in learning about my running than what time I finish.  This is my 4th marathon in 5 months and I am ready for a break and then some work on specific things.  I ran again for Mavia, my NF hero and it has become a very meaningful thing to wear my NF shirt and to be a part of her and her family’s struggle with NF.  Frank also had his NF shirt on and it was great to run together for the time we were able. 

My official finishing time was 4:14:50, which is a bit longer than my garmin.  They did not use chips so part of it was this, although we were very close to the front, and part of it was when we went through a long tunnel and I lost satellite, I think.