Months of training came down to today – my first marathon in a decade. I was much younger the last marathon I ran (about 10 years, if my math is good). But I am a much better runner now (and still improving), so I looked forward to see what I was capable of. Unfortunately, the previous six weeks were suboptimal from a training perspective, with multiple visitors, some work travel, and (most importantly) a fairly nasty period of PFS that caused me to significantly cut back on training to avoid exacerbating the injury. In addition, my previous race (the Brooklyn Half-Marathon) can only be considered a disaster, in which I started great but completely fell apart over the last 4 miles in the heat and achieved a personal worst (despite great confidence and better training going in). I didn’t know what I was really going to be able to do, but I felt confident that some good running was to be had on the course. So when my alarm woke me at 4:15 a.m., I was certainly nervous, but mostly giddy that it was time to perform.
This was the inaugural running of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Marathon, so some glitches were certain to occur. Poor planning of the pickup buses led to long lines in downtown Seattle and significant traffic in Tukawila. But once in the starting area, everything was well-organized and I had a relaxing pre-race period in cool sunny skies. Runners were enthusiastic, port-a-potties plentiful, and the corrals reasonably well-organized. And then it was time to strip off the sweatshirt and get ready to run!
The corrals were spaced out every 50 seconds or so, which seems an unbelievably reasonable way to conduct a run to assure a clean start. When my corral was released, I didn’t spend any time jockeying around other runners, I just set out at my pace and ran. Pleasant running, if a little sterile starting by highway overpasses. But after a few miles the run turned into residential neighborhoods and the crowd support and enthusiasm improved (though it was fine even in the first few miles). Running down and then turning toward Lake Washington was exceptionally pleasant, reminding me why I loved the summer I lived in Seattle.
My times throughout this portion of the run reflected that pleasant: consistent 8:40-8:50/mile paces. The sun was shining but with plenty of shade and smiling faces along the course. The volunteers deserve particular thanks – happy and cheerful throughout the race. My only concern at this point was that it was definitely warm enough that I was producing significant sweat, so I immediately abandoned the typically recommended race strategy to alternate gatorade and water at fluid stations, and went straight to gatorade at all fluid stations and water also at half of the fluid stations. Nonetheless, my pace continued well and I felt strong through the 9-mile chronotrack timing station, at which point the marathon and half-marathon routes split.
Notably, for reference to how far I have already come as a runner, my pace in my first 5K, at the beginning of 2008, was 8:47/mile. I essentially matched that pace for the first 9 miles of the Seattle Marathon.
The marathon route turned to cross the floating bridge over Lake Washington, which was the most aesthetically pleasing part of the course. Mount Rainier over blue water and under blue skies! Although there was no crowd support here, the enthusiasm and intensity of the other runners was inspiring enough, and a brief period for quiet reflection was actually quite welcome (more like a long run). The running continued well for me, and since it was an over-and-back route, I could see the faster marathoners coming toward me. Seeing the pace groups charging toward me was particularly inspiring, especially in view of my goals over the next year. After a pit stop at the turnaround point (plenty of stations, most isolated part of the course), I started back toward Seattle, continuing well but feeling a few troublesome hints of cramping.
Unfortunately, at the end of the bridge the marathon course and half-marathon course merged again, which was a real problem given that there were far more half-marathoners than marathoners. The marathoners were now stuck running in a mass with half-marathoners who were 2.5 miles behind them in total distance. The pace slowed considerably because, well, these runners were running at a much slower pace and the road was now quite crowded. This segment of the course also was pretty isolated from fans, going through a tunnel and then a highway overpass. As I crossed the half-marathon mark, I had lost a little speed over the previous few miles, but only by a few seconds/mile after discounting the time at the turn, and still finished the first half in under 2 hours.
Just beyond the half-marathon timepoint the course descended into downtown Seattle for the best crowd support of the run. Lots of energy among the Seattleites, and the half-marathoners were plenty enthusiastic about being near their finish as well. Enthusiastic running ensued! And then – the marathon course separated from the half-marathon course, ascending to a viaduct that was perfectly isolated from any crowd support. That sucked. But during mile 16 I encountered what would be the downfall of any hopes of making my goal time – cramps. Intense cramps that started in one calf and proceeded to migrate to at some point strike every muscle in my leg over the subsequent 10 miles. For me (with a physique that is athletic but decidedly doesn’t scream “distance runner”), it was too warm a day, with too much sun, resulting in too much sweat, and I wasn’t doing enough to counter that problem. I had packed gels, and after each shot of gel I briefly felt better and would run fine for maybe a mile before the cramps came back elsewhere. The disappointing aspect was that I had partly anticipated this problem (see gatorade from start, gels with higher sodium content), but not anywhere near sufficiently. The biggest boost I got was somebody passing me a salt packet at mile 19, which made the next 1.5 miles my best of the second half of the course (a pace similar to the best of the first half). Sadly, once that boost passed the cramps returned with greater intensity. Note to self: bring salt packets to next marathon.
But I continued on, with the advantage that my walking pace is relatively fast, and soon the end (near Qwest Field) was in sight. But wait! We passed by Qwest Field and still had three miles to go! Three miles out-and-back on a lonely viaduct with absolutely zero crowd support (since there was no place for people to cheer) and lovely industrial views of loading docks, crates, and cranes (bordered by lovely Puget Sound). This isolation, though least appreciated so close to the finish, was a recurring problem on the second half of the course, and was really my only complaint about the Seattle Marathon other than transport. Alas, I soldiered on with the end clearly in sight. Here I had the typical end-of-marathon battle to overcome: extreme fatigue. My stride shortened considerably, each step the impact felt more acute. But I persevered, and in the 25th and 26th miles was aided by three consecutive songs that seemed disturbingly well timed:
(in order)
As Good As I Once Was – Toby Keith (included because I know my normally fine taste in music drives hard toward cheesy the later in a run I get; and, well, it applies)
A-Punk – Vampire Weekend (a favorite training song, especially for speed work)
Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses – U2 (my favorite song from my second-favorite album all-time)
Yeah, the mix (in random mode the entire race) did a good job with these. Thank you, my electron-based DJ.
And then – down an exit ramp, through a chute of people cheering, and triumphantly across the finish line. I raised my arms and gave a big fist pump crossing the finish line, seemingly in contrast to most others at the time (friends watching the grainy live video feed, unable to definitively identify me by face, positively recognized me by my exuberance on finish). I had finished my second marathon, my first in a decade!
After getting my post-race food and drink, however, the effort nearly overwhelmed me: standing still seemed to require more effort than the race had. While consuming the obligatory carbs, I walked slowly to prevent everything from tightening up, but standing still made my legs strain from effort as if I were carrying 300 lb. weights. Eventually I dropped onto the solar-heated asphalt and just sat. After thirty minutes I ambled over to the beer tent, took my complimentary MGD64 (essentially water!) and sat on grass in the warm sun for over an hour, grinning goofily at my accomplishment on a gorgeous summer day.
The good: A PR in the marathon by 32 minutes! From a time I set when I was 10 years younger! (Note: I hope to go well below that time in the future.) An enjoyable course (the first 15 miles were particularly nice) on a beautiful day. And many lessons learned for future marathons. (I also recovered pretty quickly, in contrast to 1999.)
The bad: Positive half-marathon splits by 19 minutes. But that’s still not too bad considering how much I walked due to cramping – I must have maintained close to pace while running. And even with walking, the second half split was faster than either of my splits in 1999!
Up next: 2009 New York City Marathon, November 1!
