A Day Late and a Dollar Short--The Carlsbad Marathon

Well I entered the Carlsbad Marathon a couple of months after my foot surgery because I thought it would provide a good carrot for me to chase in my training. I knew that if I had a marathon to get through that I would have to be disciplined enough to put in the quality miles necessary. I also knew that timing the race so soon after surgery would necessitate a flawless preparation in order to achieve the level that I had run last year (2nd place in 2:23:45).
Needless to say, my preparation wasn't perfect. I was hampered by the usual colds, tight hamstrings, and dark cold days that are common in the winter. Going into the race I adjusted my goal to a top 3 finish and a sub 2:30 marathon.
Normally I wouldn't run in a marathon that I didn't feel ready for but in this instance the race had paid for my travel expenses so I felt obligated to give it a good try.
My roommate at the race hotel was Andrew Musuva, a 2:12 marathon runner from Kenya. I knew that he hadn't run anything too fast recently though, so I wasn't too concerned. It seems that every marathon with some prize money has some Kenyans that have broken 2:15 or so. It doesn't mean that they are in that good of shape all the time.
As the race began at an early start time of 6 AM it was still dark out. Quickly a lead pack of 4 formed. It was myself, Musuva, another Kenyan who had finished third last year in 2:27, and Josh Spiker who was a former all-American at the University of Wisconsin. The three of us quickly settled into a pace of 5:40-5:45 per mile. Pretty pedestrian compared to last year's splits, but right at 2:30 pace. I think the other runners in the group were looking to me to set the pace because I was the top returning runner from last year. Anyway, as we hit the five mile mark in 28:33 the others realized that I had no plans of running any faster so they all took off and started racing each other for the places. I just kept running in the hopes that one of them might falter later on, and that I could maintain a sub 2:30.
I passed through the half way point in 1:15:20 and thought I still had a chance based on how I was feeling. I didn't feel tired at all and knew I wouldn't slow down, I just couldn't seem to run any faster though.
As late as the 20 mile mark I hit in 1:54:55 and knew that if I could run the last 10K in 35 min. then I would reach my goal. Normally this would not be too big of a deal. Unfortunately the last 10K was a slight up hill and a slight headwind. I could only manage 5:50 pace instead of the 5:40 pace I needed. I ran my last 10K in a very disappointing 36:45 to finish the race in 2:31:40. No prize money for breaking 2:30. No prize money for finishing in the top 3.
Josh Spiker won in 2:24:56, Musuva was 2nd, and the other Kenyan was 3rd again in 2:27.
Oh well, at least I felt good the whole way and didn't really suffer too badly. In fact the next day I felt fine and ran my typical 5-mile recovery run 3 minutes faster than what I normally do the day after a marathon. At least now I know where I stand and what needs to be done to mover forward. I'm looking forward to writing some blogs about my new training emphasis this year, and seeing what results it will bring!