May 3 2003 I ran the Ontario Shore Marathon at Hamlin Beach State Park.  Here is the Polar heart rate curve from the race.  I think the sensor was reading a little high.  My tested max HR is 177, so I think anything above that is an erroneous reading.  During the second half of the race I appeared to be running in the 95% max HR range, and I doubt that.

This race is really flat, so there is very little change in HR due to grade.  You can see from the curve that I stopped at a portacan at about 18 minutes.  I ran 5 miles, then began running 1.75 and walking .25. I forgot to start my Speed & Distance Monitor at the start, and when I started it at 1 mile, I was a little late.  So I started walking at 6.75 miles, but it was probably 6.8 miles or more.  Also, I think my SDM monitor was 2-3 % low, so anyway I ended up walking a lot shorter than a quarter mile every two miles.

I marked laps when I transitioned from running to walking and vice versa.  So I first started walking at lap mark 1, then started running again at lap mark 2. I went through halfway in about 2:15.  Being ahead of plan gave me some confidence.  The first 4 miles were pure misery.  I was sore, stiff, slow and could only think about how this was futile, and that there was no way I could run a marathon, let alone in under 5 hours.  But by halfway I was feeling better, no soreness, no cramps, etc.  In the first half, I walked 4 times, 6.75-7, 8.75-9, 10.75-11 and 12.75-13.  I also stopped that one time in the second mile.

I figured I was doing okay, and had put a few more minutes in the bank to beat 5 hours.  My plan called for a 4:49 finish.  I decided that I should try to run the second half with the same strategy, because I knew I would slow down.  So I ran the first 6.75 miles after the halfway mark, or really, I started running at 13, and ran to 19.75.  Then I took walk breaks 19.75-20, 21.75-22, 23.75-24+ and 25.75-26.1.  Those breaks are visible on the HR curve.  Also, I restarted my SDM at 16 miles.  So for the last walk break, at what read 9.75 on the SDM, and should have been 25.75 on the road, I was at the 26 mile marker.  So I decided to walk in from there since I had plenty of time.  But some guy ran by and insisted I run the last 100 yards, so I did.

Ellen Brenner and her husband Boots rode their bikes with me from about 12 to about 24.  That encouraged me.

I left home about 4:15 in the morning, got there about 6:45, ran from 8:30 to nearly 1:30, and was home about 4 in the afternoon.