NJ Marathon

Finally my big day for the first half of the year 2007 has come, the Sunday of the New Jersey Marathon. It was my second marathon following the NYC Marathon last November.

The race was held in the city of Long Branch, NJ, located middle south area of the State of New Jersey along the Atlantic Ocean. It took me about one and half hour by train from the Penn station of NYC.

I stayed in the Holiday inn express of Long Branch the night before and I arrived at the marathon site at 6:00am. It was sunrise time. It was so beautiful.

Cloudy and relatively low temperature, it was the best weather for marathon.
And the course was almost flat. There was nothing to prevent me from running as I planned.
My target finish time of the race was 3:15, and I planned to run each mile at the pace between 7’20” to 7’25” per mile. With that pace, the projected goal time was between 3:12’18” to 3:14’28”. I intended not to run faster then 7’15” pace especially in the first half. And the course was two of 13.1 mile loops, so I was going to observe the course during the first half.

The race began at 7:46am delayed by 16minutes by unknown reason…

0-1 7'23"/7'23"
1-2 7'02"/14'25"

The start was very smooth; actually too smooth. I tried to slow down gradually.

2-3 7'14"/21'39"
3-4 7'17"/28'56"
4-5 7'22"/36'18"
5-6 7'23"/43'41"
6-7 7'17"/50'58"
7-8 7'23"/58'21"

I was so relaxed and stayed calm. From my experience in the NYC Marathon, I tried to save my energy for the second half. I let other runners pass by me and kept my pace. I took the first Power Gel at the 8mile mark.

8-9 7'09"/1:05'30"
9-10 7'20"/1:012'50"
10-11 7'17"/1:20'07"
11-12 7'13"/1:27'20"
12-13 7'21"/1:34'41"

I finished the first half in 1:35’29”, at 7’17” per mile pace. It was slightly faster than my plan. But both of my physical and mental conditions were pretty good.

13-14 7'11"/1:41'52"

Most of all the runners around me were disappeared after the end of the first loop. They ran half-marathon. Suddenly I had to run by myself. I lost my pace for a while.

14-15 7'25"/1:49'27"

I refreshed my mind to think that the race began from there and was able to adjust my pace successfully. I took the second Power Gel at the 15 mile mark.

15-16 7'13"/1:56'30"
16-17 7'13"/2:03'43"
17-18 7'19"/2:11'02"
18-19 7'27"/2:18'29"
19-20 7'13"/2:25'42"

The course was so flat that I was able to keep my pace slightly faster even in the second half. I concentrated on my pace and my form. By this point of the race many of other runners began to slow down. I used those runners as my target and went from runner to runner.

20-21 7'29"/2:33'11"
21-22 7'27"/2:40'38"

Finally I felt that my pace began to slow down gradually after 20 mile. Now it was mental game beyond that point through the finish line. I took the third and last Power Gel at the 21 mile mark.

22-23 7'21"/2:47'59"
23-24 7'36"/2:55'35"
24-25 7'48"/3:03'23"
25-26 7'49"/3:11'12"

It was not easy to keep my planned pace any more. And the course was slightly up slope in this part of the course. I ran with thinking of the miles left and minutes left. At 24 mile, it was 2miles to go, it was 17 to 18 minute for me, and I had 20 minutes for my target of 3:15. At 25 miles, it was 1 mile to go….

And the final 0.2 mile was….
26-26.2 1'43"/3:12'55"


Finish time: 3:13’21” (Gross), 3:12’55” (Net) / 7’23” per mile
1st Half: 1:35’29” / 7’18” per mile
2nd Half: 1:37’26” / 7’27” per mile
Place: 76 of 1,576 runners/ 73 of 996 male runners

I cleared my target and was qualified for the Boston Marathon!
I think I did very well. I set the target successfully and executed successfully.
I was relaxed and able to concentrate through the race.

My next target is the NYC marathon of this November.
My target would be to break 3:05. I would like to prepare for that.