The plan was to run at my pace (i.e. try to hold a 6:50 min miles average pace) and when I finished the race, I would walk back until I saw Sena and help her finish the last few miles.
On the bus ride to the start I began to doubt the plan. It was clear that Sena was nervous and would like the support and company throughout the day, but she didn't want to ask me to give up my race.
After 20 minutes of soul searching I decided - I would run the entire race with Sena. Afterall, it would be more fun, I could really take the time to enjoy the course, and I would never get this chance again - to run her first (and possibly only) marathon along side my wife of 20 years.
The new plan: together we were going to run 4 mins, walk 1 min until we got to Hurricane Point. Our average pace was going to be 12-13min miles. I would fetch water and do whatever I could to help her finish this beast in under 6 hours. Piece of cake, right?
About a mile in, Sena needed to pee, so I ran ahead and scouted out a nice clean rest room at one of the Inns along the route. The water stops were scarce in the first 6 miles, so it was fortunate that I held onto a water bottle and filled it up at each water stop, so she always had water on hand. Sena said she really would have struggled without the early water.
Jeff Galloway (former Olympian) and founder of the run/walk "Gallaway method" of racing was right behind us with a group of about 50 runners. They were doing a 1min run/1min walk, and kept with us for the first 9 miles or so. Their 1 min run interval speed was faster than ours, but they had more walk breaks, so they were going roughly the same pace. It got very confusing and conjested as they passed us, then we passed them, then repeat... Of course there were a lot more of them than us, so we did most of the dodging and weaving. Finally we decided to take a longer walk break and let them get in front of us.
The wind picked up at mile 6 and I tried to block the wind for her, but I just couldn't get the pace right and she felt like she was going to trip on me, so we gave that up.
At mile 5 or 6 my quads started cramping - big time. By the time I was at mile 8, I felt like I was at mile 18 of a marathon! I hadn't trained at this speed, and while my cardio was loving this little vacation, my muscles were getting pounded! Instead of the light touch 6:50 pace, I felt like my legs were pounding, pounding, pounding. So I needed to adjust.
I started to run ahead at my normal pace, then walk back until I saw Sena, walk with her on a walk break, then run ahead again. This worked fine all the way up to the top of Hurricane Point and back to the bottom (Hurricane Point is the biggest hill on the course - a serious 2 mile climb to the top, followed by a 3 mile descent).
Eventually, I would let Sena run ahead and when I saw her stop for a walk break I would run to catch up and finish out her walk break with her. This worked better than me running ahead then walking back. Bottom line, I can't run a long distance at a 12min pace - my muscles are just not used to going that pace - every time I tried, I was in pain.
We finished the race in 5:39, well ahead of the 6 hour time limit. Could have gone faster, but when Sena realized she had it in the bag, she wanted to walk more and enjoy the course.
I got a chance to take lots of pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sturino/sets/72157604775309508
We met a lot of people, enjoyed the scenery together, and generally had a great time.
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