baslog

my way, mile by mile

The Twin Cities Marathon is over and done with. I ran my first 26 miler in 3 hours, 44 minutes and 39 seconds. A time I am more than pleased with. Towards the end I slowed down more than I had hoped to, but less than I had feared. Bram cruised to a 2:50 marathon. A recap (with apologies for my inconsistent switches from past to present tense):

Race day: I woke up at 5 am, had breakfast, took a bath and got ready. Tried to go to the bathroom, but couldn't, which worried me. Heather drove Bram and me to start at the metrodome a bit after seven (I delayed our departure with one more unsuccessful potty break.) My stomach situation had occupied so much of my brain power that I forgot some other things because halfway on our way to the start I realize that my watch is still sitting on the kitchen counter. Heather offers to return and pick it up, but I decline the offer. We are already a bit behind schedule as it is, and the last thing we need is a race against the clock to make it to the start. I ask Heather to hand it to me at mile 6 and decide not to worry about it any further. We were rushing for no reason however, as Bram and I are among the first in the starting shoot with plenty of time to spare. We are in the second wave and start about 4 mins after the elite athletes. Bram should have been in the first wave, but never bothered to apply for a wave one start, which would cost him 25 places in the rankings. (He crossed the finish line 113th but would have made it easely in the top 100 if the official rankings would be according to chip time). I am pretty nervous and worried about my stomach. Bram asks me what my time will be. I have no idea. Under four hours is the main goal, if all goes well, a 3:45 should be possible, and if I have a really great day and conditions are good, I could perhaps go below that, towards a 3.35 maybe. So I tell him, I think, that 3:52 will be my time. He predicts 2.50 for his time.

Mile 1-2: I run a good pace. I was considering running with the 3:50 pacemaker, but I go much faster. However, my stomach feels like it has a brick in it and I feel my breakfast moving around, my legs feel weak and shaky and I have a pain in my side. I try to stay calm and convince myself that things will get better, they have to. I have 2 gel fuel packs with me, which is one too many anyway, so I open one and have a tiny little bit of the energy gel to get rid of the shaky feeling in my legs. Before the end of mile one some of my breakfast ends up back in my mouth. What do I do, go stand on the side of the road and put my fingers down my throat and let it all out? I decide not to do so, I dont want to be barfing at mile ONE, so I swallow back my breakfast instead of my pride and run. At around mile two there is a steady climb. I turn away my focus from my stomach and concentrate on my running and the surroundings instead and things get better. I start belching, have two powerades, belch some more, settle in a pace and passed mile two or three I dont think about my stomach anymore. It would not bother me for the rest of the day.

Mile 3-8: We hit the lakes. I am definitely running a bit too fast, but I dont know how fast, as I dont have my watch. I ask some other runners and they confirm what I thought, I was running at about 8.10 per mile (8'10" mins/mile). At mile six Heather, Opher and Michael are waiting. I pass through over 5 mins behind bram
I look for them, stop to grab my watch and am feeling great on "my turf," as I did about 90% of my outdoor training around the lakes.

Mile 8-15: The lakes were fun to run around, but this stretch of the course was definitely the most enjoyable. The neighborhoods in South Minneapolis really came together in creating a festive atmosphere. Music is blaring through speakers (I ran by as they were playing "You can go your own way" by Fleetwood Mac, which was great, it even gave me goose bumps), people dressed up as who-knows-what, children ready to high-five runners, bands playing (my favorite was a Japanese drum band underneath a bridge), people handing out candy, fruit, water,.. and lots of encouragement ("Nobody should look great after 9 miles but you guys do, looking this great after 9 miles should be illegal, you guys rock!!"). The streets are sometimes rather narrow with people lined up in droves along the sides, at times I felt like Lance Armstrong during a mountain stage in the Tour de France. If there is such a thing as a runner's high, I hit it between mile 8 and 11.

When I pass the half way mark, the race clock indicates that we are 1 hour and fifty one minutes into the race, but I know that my chip time (time measured at the point you cross start and finish line) is about four mins. faster. My official half marathon time was in fact 1:46:50. I do a quick calculation. At this pace I could run below 1:35, but I also know that I probably won't be able to hold this pace because the course is getting harder, it is getting warmer and I started out too fast. My average half marathon pace was 8.08 per mile. Mile fourteen (meaning the mile between the 13 and 14 mile mark, as there is no mile 0), I ran in 8.07; after that I would not run faster than 8.20 per mile. Around mile 13 I do have a little dip, my nipple protector came off -raising concerns I will cross the finish line with bleeding nipples- and my back and groin start to hurt a bit, but I am able to run through it. At or around mile 12 or 13, Heather pays a surprise visit, though I only notice her late as I am checking on my now unprotected nipple. Still, it was nice to see a friendly face, it had been a while, since mile 7 when I had seen a random friend from soccer.

Mile 15-21.
Here the course hit the Mississippi. There were still plenty of people along the course, but because the course winds along the river, you didnt have people on both sides of the road and there was not as much general craziness going on. At this point in the day, the temperature started to rise quickly and the road was not as pancake flat as in the first 14 miles. The first runners turn into walkers in this stretch. My splits for this stretch:
Mile 15 (between 14 and 15 mile market): 8.22
Mile 16: 8.20
Mile 17: 8.40
Mile 18: 8.29
Mile 19: 8.40
Mile 20: 8.57
Mile 21: 9.34

As you can see, here is where things started to go slightly south.

At around mile 15 or 16 I see the 3:40 pace runner about 100 yards in front of me. For a second I consider trying to make the jump. I know that he started in wave 1, four minutes ahead of me, so if I could join him and stick with him I'd be running a 3.36. I decide against it as I dont feel I have enough in the tank to make the jump and stay with him. I dont want to risk blowing myself up this early in the race. I have to let him go and realize then and there that I will not be running under 3.40 today. I am still running ok, but the heat definitely starts to bother me. I hate running in the heat and avoid it at all costs during training, something I regret now. I also regret not having followed my brothers advice to run with a sleeveless shirt. Heather said my boney arms look ridiculous in a sleeveless shirt so I stuck with my green running T-shirt. (Note to self: never take Heather's advice over Bram's when it comes to running.) But all in all, this stretch is not too bad. My pace drops a bit, but initially stays around 8.34 which is on pace for a 3:45 finish, and I have quite a bit of bonus minutes in the bank from my fast first half. As long as I can stay under 9 minute miles, I am in very, very good shape. I also know that Heather and her whole family are waiting at mile 19, which gives me some extra energy during the preceding miles. Right before I see the Rings and Fischers I also run past Petter and Jen Moore. I see the Rings, wave, take in their cheers and head on to what I know is the beginning of the hard part. It was nice to see some familiar faces, but it is too bad that Petter, Jen and the Rings were all within half a mile of each other, and won't be there in the last stretch. The course starts to climb. Around mile 20 there is a first rather steep and long climb. I did it once during training and it seemed like nothing to me then, but now it hurts. People start walking by the dozens. Some guy yells at me "beer around the corner!" yeah right. "Welcome to Saint Paul" someone else yells, a welcome that I don't welcome, as every one knows that the Twin Cities marathon really starts in Saint Paul. My pace drops significantly during mile 21, and the worst is yet to come

Mile 20-26.2

The last stretch, and a pretty unforgiving one. It must have been in the seventies by 11 am (about 23 Celsius?). The last stretch along the river is pretty hilly already, then the course leaves the Mississippi and climbs to Summit Avenue, the nicest Avenue in Saint Paul. The climb from the river to Summit Avenue is pretty brutal and Summit Ave itself is pretty much a steady climb as well until the very end. A "fake flat" (vals plat) as we call it in Flemish, it seems flat but it goes up steadily and offers no reward in terms of a nice downhill. My splits for this last 10 kilometer stretch:

Mile 21: 9.34 (as mentioned above)
Mile 22: 9.54
Mile 23 and 24: 19.45 (forgot to clock at 24 mile mark)
Mile 25 and 26.2: around 21.30 (forgot to clock altogether, but was able to deduce it somehow)
As you notice, my splits dropped here to slightly under 10 mins. per mile. I ran my last 10 km in just under an hour, while my first 10 only took me 50 mins. As smoothly as the first 20 miles went, as horrible were these last miles.

I am prepared for the two climbs that await me shortly after I see the Rings and Fischers. I am really hot but am able to do the climbs in a steady pace. I slow down a bit, buckle down and go. A lot of people around me are walking. Not an option for me, Bram had told me to avoid walking at all costs. And to be honest, the climbs are bad, but don't cut off my legs. I have not done any hill training and was worried about that, but at mile 21.5, I am still doing more or less fine and expect that I could recover a bit on Summit and perhaps bring down my pace to around 9 min. miles. But between mile 21.5 and 23.5 the road keeps going up, up, up. And all of a sudden things turn bad very quickly. At one point I am thinking "cool, the Saint Thomas cheerleaders are out," and half a mile dow the road I am ready to cry. I am dead and have to beat the urge to start walking but somehow keep going View image
. My coordination is off and I hardly notice people around me anymore. Throughout the race I have walked through the drinking stands, so I can get my drinks down in 2 secs and then continue running. At this point my walks through the drinking stations are getting longer and it requires a mental battle every time to start running again. Summit Avenue also is not as crowded as I had expected. From what I heard, traffic made it impossible for many people to get there, so the cheers are harder to come by at this point. Fortunatly, Opher and Michael offer some support at mile 22. I dont know if this is the much feared "wall", but it is not pleasant. I have very dark thoughts, I feel lonely, I want to take a nap in the grass, I forget to record my splits, I drop a drink that is handed to me and pour another one in my eye instead of my mouth and don't really care. There is a slight downhill at mile 23.5, but I hardly notice it at this point. I have no idea how I am doing timewise, but I keep running somehow, slowly, but I keep running. "After mile 20 you really are running on pure guts" someone told me a couple of weeks ago, and how true it is. It is also a mental battle, because you cannot give in, you have to keep going and somehow find it in you to keep going, even when your whole body begs you to stop this madness. I am running by a lot of people walking, but a lot of runners are flying by me as well. Through this all, I keep thinking two things: (1) if you keep running, you will stay under 10 min/mile and you will not lose too much time and still have a good finish time and (2) at mile 25 the Target tunnel will be there and from then on it will be a breeze downhill to the finish. The first thought ensured me of a sub 3:45 marathon, the second one almost ruined it.

Up until mile 25 I kept running, except through the drinking stations. And though I felt progressively worse every mile, my splits never dipped below a 10 min. mile really and remained somewhat stable passed mile 22. It is not great to have a big slow down, but it was freaking hot and the course was really hard, and I am glad that I did not park completely or cramp up but was somewhat successful in my damage control. I looked at the times of other runners, and I am hardly the only one who had a rough last 10 K. The big mental mistake I made though was convincing myself that the marathon was over at mile 25. I had read that at mile 25 there would be a "Target tunnel," a tunnel through which runners were supposed to run, in which music was playing which would give them fresh energy to finish strong. I also thought that after the Target tunnel it was downhill to the finish line. The Target tunnel did not work for me. First off, the music that was playing was plain bad. Some commercial guitar rock that only the Target corporate marketing team would have thought could inspire runners. Like Creed is going to give me any energy to finish strong. But the big bummer was when I exited the tunnel: Not a smooth downhill run to the finish, but a (seemingly) long stretch of road that went slightly UPHILL. That was the straw, I did not have the physical or psychological energy to run this stretch and I kind of started walking, like a defender in soccer who stops running when he sees how the ball he has been chasing just crossed the goal line.

I walk for about 10 secs, not more, and an older guy, who must have been running behind me for a while yells at me "don't walk, you were doing great, don't walk now, you'll regret it!". I listen to him and start running again. Then after 100 meters or so, I take another walking break. A spectator, who looks like he is a runner urges me to stop walking, "don't walk now, you are almost there, stay strong!" I listen again and start running and find my pace back . Then I saw Bram on the side of the road, and he told me that a downhill was coming up. From then on it was easier and I was able to pick up the pace for the home stretch. Still, you should not underestimate how long half a mile, or even 0.2 mile can be at this point. 0.2 miles is stille over 320 meters, almost a full lap around a track.

Anyhow, I arrive, totally empty, not feeling very much at all and start shoving free food and water down my throat. I take my medal and T-shirt and try to keep myself from fainting, I feel surprisingly emotionless, I sit down in the grass for a while before I go say hello to the "fans." It has been a busy morning. My time at the finish was 3:48 something, but my chip time would be 3:44:39. Had it not been for those guys helping me out in the last mile I would not have made the 3:45 mark (which alo happens to be the cut off for a wave 1 start). Thank you guys!

Could I have run a better race? Better perhaps, but I doubt I could have run faster. The conditions had to be perfect for me to get closer to the 3:30 mark and they weren't, it was too hot after 10 am. I did start out a bit fast, but maybe it was not a bad idea to take advantage of the cooler temps in the morning to go a bit faster. Perhaps I should have run with the 3:50 pacer so I could finish stronger. For those few people who were able to pick up the pace in the last 10 k, it must have been great to pick up all those bodies. But this was just a first race, I had a significant injury in the middle of my training and was able to finish in a great time. So regrets? I have a few, but then again too few to mention... I did it my way.

Posted by vana0047 at October 2, 2006 07:36 PM