4:40 p.m. (+10:37:17 since race start)

The marathon portion of this race was a 26.2-mile run that started by leading me towards the finish line in front of the Bolton Town Hall but on the outside loop. This was a four-loop course where you ran past the finish line three times and on your final loop, you got to cross the finish line.

(You could see the finish, but you had to go back out onto the course again?)

Yup.

(That sounds cruel.)

On my first loop, Joanne the announcer saw me running past her and announced to the crowd, “There’s David Roher. Tonight, he is going to run through the finish line in his Iron Man superhero costume!”

That sounded great to the spectators, but right then I was worried that if I didn’t wake up my legs and start running, there wouldn’t be a finish line for me tonight.

I was averaging a 12-minute mile pace and I needed to keep this average pace for another 25.2 miles.

If I am any later than that, I will fail.

4:52 p.m. (+10:49:17 since race start)

Mile 2: I was running 12 minutes, 30 seconds per mile pace.

(Two miles in 25 minutes?)

Yeah, that’s trending in the wrong direction. I did waaaaay more training this year. More than I ever did.

For eight months, I got up every Tuesday at 4:30 a.m. sometimes in sub 30 F temps and ran intervals. For eight months, I ran long runs every Thursday, sometimes at 2 or 3 in the morning.

For eight months, I did short runs right after my bike ride on Sunday.

I know I can do this, but I gotta figure out how to wake up my legs.

(You ran back to your bike for your…)

My amino acid capsules, salt and gels!

While I was running up a tree-lined street…

(The same one you rode down to the bike cut off…)

I reached into my back pocket for the Ziploc bag of amino acid capsules.

(Don’t drop any of them as you fish through the bag.)

Next, I grabbed a gel from that pocket and squeezed its frosting-like contents into my mouth. After I swallowed the two, I took a salt shot. Then I washed all that off my tongue and down my throat with a cup of water from the aid station.

Then I waited…

(What do you mean, you waited?)

I didn’t stop running, I just waited to see if the magic concoction would kick in.

Mile 3: Now I was running an 11:20 minute pace. Hey, that’s my regular marathon pace. Woohoo!

“Lieutenant Dan … you got new legs.”

(Run Forrest, run!)

5:28 p.m. (+11:25:52 since race start)

Mile 4: 11:00 minute pace.

Mile 5: 10:00 minute pace. “That’s unsustainable,” I said out loud.

(Did anyone hear you?)

You heard me.

(I’m inside your head, I hear everything you say)

I throttled my pace back to 11 minutes.

I realized that after I looped the turnaround at the far end of the marathon course, I was running downhill.

5:57:25 p.m. (+11:54:38 since race start)

Mile 6: I was headed back into town, running on cobblestones.

Elapsed time: One hour, 13 minutes.

Time to do some quick math in my head.

(We established on the bike that you’re terrible at this.)

One hour, 13 minutes =73 minutes.

74 x 6 = ?

Too confusing. It’s a four-loop course. So….

One hour x 4 = 4 hours.

Thirteen minutes × 4 = 1 hour.

(No, it doesn’t.)

I’m rounding up, so be quiet. OK, a five-hour marathon isn’t happening.

(You just added up to a five-hour run.)

I know that, but if I factor in fatigue, I’m thinking five hours, 45 to five hours, 50 minutes.

(That’s a 30-minute cushion.)

That’s what I’m hoping for.

(But you have never run faster than a six-hour marathon off the bike at an Ironman.)

I know … I’m hoping for a breakthrough.

(Breakthrough? Start praying for a miracle. Your math does not add up!)

6:07:57 p.m. (+12:05:10 since race start)

Mile 7: 11:20 pace. OK, I’ve got my groove and I’ve got a plan.

(A plan? When did you come up with a plan?)

Just now.

(OMG, this is going to be a disaster.)

David Roher is a USAT certified triathlon and marathon coach. He is a multi-Ironman finisher and veteran special education teacher. He is on Instagram @David Roher140.6. He can be reached at [email protected].