Some of you may remember my "stomach difficulites" at NYC, so I did something that most of you would
probably have told me not to -- sign up for the next marathon and try to redeem myself. Fortune
smiled on me, and I was able to sneak in a race at Seattle, signing up only after I had convinced
myself that my training (2 week reverse taper, 2 week taper) was good enough to support another
effort. No long runs between nyc and today, did some decent (but not killer) speedwork, and managed
a weekly peak of ~45 miles in the interveening weeks.
I revised my goal somewhat to 3:05, both based on comments from the group as well as being past
my peak, as I really wanted a PR to end a sucessful season and qualify for Boston in April. The
good news -- a
3:04:22, a PR by 20+ minutes over last year. The bad news, well there is no bad news except that I'm
a little sore now.
Tom was right -- it was cold at the start, and was not helped by my choice of clothing (singlet and
shorts and gloves). Turned out ok, since I was getting hot at the end of the race. I knew that a
7:05 pace would bring me home with time to spare, and I endeavoured to match that pace as best as
possible. I tried to keep the same pace/effort throughout, but my splits were all over the place:
4) 7:03
5) 6:34 (yikes! Downhill, tho)
6) 7:11 (Uphill)
7) 7:04
8) 6:40 (Downhill, into wind Quit hotdogging!)
9) 7:18 (into wind)
10) 6:48 (with wind)
11) 7:13 (with wind, uphill)
12) 6:38 (downhill, with wind)
13) 6:55 (with wind)
14) 7:01 (with wind)
15) 7:47 (marker wrong)
16) 5:44 (whew! No need to panic, worried that I picked it up too soon)
16.1) 1:31:06 14-15) 14:18 (7:09) (into wind) 16-17) 14:13 (7:06) (into wind)
17) 7:06 (into wind)
18) 7:07 (into wind)
19) 7:19 (2:20:07) (into wind, uphill) 21-22) 15:15 (7:37) (ridiculous uphill*)
20) 6:30 (downhill)
21) 7:03
22) 6:56 (downhill)
23) 7:11 (ridiculous downhill*)
23.1) 3:04:22 (1:33:22)
There was a pretty decent wind on the course, and while we had the benefit of the wind at our backs
from 8-12, it was in our face from 12-20. To make matters even better, there is a mountain to climb
between 20 and 24. There was a pretty decent hill which broke some nearby runners through mile 20,
then it leveled off, and I thought we were done. Nope, we turned a corner somwhere between 20 and 22
to see this unbelievably steep thing that I would hesitate to do hill repeats on, to say nothing
about running up the damn thing during a race. It continues at a fairly good slope until about the
22 mile mark, and *lots* of runners bonked here. I can say that because I held back significantly
during the first part, that I had enough juice left to get up those hills where other runners
didn't. I remarked on another thread that the course (with wind+hills) was aboslutely brutal on the
last half, where even the semi-elites were put into serious difficulty (dropping 30sec to 1 min/mile
in the last half). What was even worse was the final decent just after mile 25 -- it seemed just as
steep at the uphill monstrosity, but in reverse. Slowed me way down as I just couldn't get a good
stride going.
Lessons learned:
24) It feels really good to be passing people at the end of races.
25) One *can* finish a marathon without feeling terrible -- if one is smart about the initial
pacing. I see-sawed with a lot of runners up until mile 10, then never saw them again.
26) While us middle-of-the-packers do want to race, it's more important to do your best and not try
to drop others in the early and middle stages. It's more fun to run and enjoy the camaraderie
of others and push each other than it is to break them.
27) There is no such thing as the wall.
28) While I did not have a negative split, the difficulty of the course was such that my 2:00
difference was better than everybody ahead of me but one. I consider that as good as a negative
split. Even effort with a surge after 20.
29) I avoid stomach problems (see my previous NYC race report for gory details) by taking powerade
every 4 miles starting at mile 2, and taking water every four miles (starting at 4) plus a
vanilla powergel. Repeat until mile 22. Oh, and Ammodium AD with Gas Protection helps, too.
30) Key to marathoning -- run relaxed until 20.
31) Pumping your fists and encouraging the crowd to cheer in the last 100 yards makes the PA
announcer ask if this is your first marathon. Nope, just happy.
--Ryan