Track and Field Blogs - Chad Johnson

Well, it didn't go as well as I hoped. I think my offical time was 2:18:49. I probably got a little carried away in all the excitement of the race and ran some miles to fast. All the elite runners there were so fast I felt like trying to break 2:14 shouldn't be that bad. I should have reminded myself 2:14 is still a fast time. My first few miles were all over the pace - anywhere from 4:58 to 5:23. I was a little on the slow side then the pacemakers suddenly started flying. I was the only guy of about twenty going for sub 2:15 that went with. I ran the next 5 miles in 24:55 then got dropped. I continued to run 5:05-5:10 pace until mile 18 when I hit "the wall" and ran 5:40's or slower the rest of the way in. Part of the reason for my bad race was running a little faster than I should have but for the most part I just don't think I was in shape to run under 2:14. I was probably in 2:15-2:16 shape and just got in over my head. Hopefully the next one goes a little better. The bad thing about the marathon is you don't get to come back the next week and redeem yourself.