I made the trip down with the family on Saturday to pick up my bib and spend a little time on the beach (Lulu is big on the water and the sand). The entire trip down was one long "are we there yet?" combined with "Mommy, can you open this?" (regarding some new toys for building sand castles).
Race morning - up at 4:00am to make sure I get there with plenty of time for the 6:00am start. Traffic in this part of the world can be a little rough and although there shouldn't be a problem, I'm not sure how many people are doing the race.
I have a shirt that I had made when I ran my first marathon in Las Vegas. I started this whole journey as a way to get healthy for my family. The goal is to be on this planet long enough to make sure that my daughter has everything she needs to have a good life. The shirt is my message to her and I have worn it for each of the marathons I have run.
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| My message to Lulu. |
I walk over to the start area and pass the time with some active stretching. A bathroom break before the start and then into the corral.
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| Getting to the start. |
One of my goals with this race was to run based on perceived effort. I wanted to see how aware I am of how my body is responding and also wanted to try to take my mind out of the equation as much as possible. I wore my Garmin, but taped over the face so I could not see time splits during the race.
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| Running by feel... |
From the start, I tried to go at a pace that I felt was easy. As people blew by me, I tried to focus on my breathing and allow myself to relax. I was philosophical: either they were blowing by me because I would never catch up anyway or I would catch them later in the race after they had blown up. I wanted to run a smart race.
The course was very nice with a rolling nature and 4 hills along the way. None of these hills are really steep and prolonged, so the course sets up well to make a good effort.
The first 12 miles of the course are shared by both the full and the half as it snakes back and forth through Newport Beach and then past wonderful views of the Pacific Ocean before heading back inland on it's meandering course toward Costa Mesa.
As always, the volunteers were amazing. I simply cannot thank these people enough for their efforts and kindness. In the first couple aid stations however, the volunteers were overwhelmed with the number of people that were trying to get through the area. It made me wonder if I should start carrying my own water through the race in the future. While the extra weight might not be the best thing during the race, I wonder in the time saved, especially during the early aid stations, wouldn't more than make up for it. Something to consider.
The running went well early in the race, but I had GI issues once again. I seem to be managing it better with each successive race, but I have had to stop in all 3 marathons that I have run. I have to confess that it is very frustrating. I will keep playing with my diet and timing until I find out what works for me. This time, the stop cost me 5 minutes at mile 4.
I was running in the vicinity of the 4:40 pace group to that point. With the stop, they were long gone. I popped a gel and got some water at the aid station before setting off again. I tried to take it easy, but my pace definitely picked up after the stop. I was passing more people than were passing me.
At mile 8 I caught up to the 4:40 people. Wow! I was going faster than I thought. I was tempted to slow down, with a goal of 5 hours, I was obviously way ahead of schedule, but I felt good, so I kept going, moving ahead of the 4:40 people. I was sure that they would catch me somewhere down the road.
Mile 12 brought the split in the race courses and I was amazed at how much the field thinned out. Suddenly there was a lot of room to run. The winds had picked up was things got a little warmer and this stretch was directly into a headwind. I worked on keeping my cadence up and keeping my shoulders and hips moving forward.
As I continued along, I could feel my legs becoming a little heavier as the race progressed. As I passed the mile 16 marker, the 4:40 pacers passed me. I think this was the key point in the race for me. Previously, I would have mentally thrown in the towel. I would have simply said, they got me; it's over. I would have finished, but I would have slowed down further in the process. Instead, I dug in my heels and kept pace with them from about 20 meters behind. That went on until mile 17.5, where I passed them again.
A quick entertaining note on the pacers; the 4:20 pacer was actually behind the 4:40 pacer for about a third of the race. He then blew by everybody at mile 14 while pacing nobody. The little sign was all over the place as he ran and he looked like he was so exhausted that he would pass out at any moment. I lost sight of him at mile 15 and have no idea what his actual time was. The 4:40 pacers were a man and a woman wearing orange vests with the pace times on them. When I passed them for the second time, a third person wearing a black shirt came by with their sign shortly after my pass. I guess he was knighted as the new pacer. He blew by me and I never saw him again. At mile 21, the lady who was the original pacer passed me again and I passed her later at mile 24 while she was getting some water. I never saw her again. The pacers seemed to have had a challenging day.
Mile 23 brought a group of 10 Marines, both male and female, who cruised by me with a fellow Marine who was in an adult-sized jogger. I was inspired by their effort at a time when I was suffering most during the run. I looked at that, the dedication of the soldiers running for a friend and the courage of the man in the stroller and the things he had given up for us and felt a little ashamed at my own weakness. If he could endure what he had, I could suck it up and run another 5K with some dignity.
Everything below the waist hurt now. Mile 24 was my slowest mile and as hard as I was trying, the wheels were coming off. I started looking from one lamp post to the next. Just to the next corner; a mile marker will be coming soon...
I came upon the next aid station, grabbed some water did a gel and shuffled through. As I got to the end of the aid station there was a man standing and watching the runners go by. As I passed him, he jogged up beside me and put his face right next to my ear. He pointed at one of the Marines that had fallen off the pace about 200 meters ahead. "Go get that fucking guy!" I focused on the Marine's red shirt and started to shuffle faster.
I began to pick up the pace again. I was getting, not a second wind, shall we call it a second breeze? Whatever, I was going to ride it home. I caught the Marine at mile 25.5 and patted him on the back as I went by. Pushing I crossed the last intersection and got onto the grounds of the Costa Mesa Expo Center. I started to chase the guy that was running 40 meters ahead of me. Probably 600 meters to go.
People started to scream as I tried to chase him down. At first he didn't realize what was happening, but someone yelled at him. He turned his head and saw me and began to run faster. 400 meters.
The race ended in a long straight away with a 90 degree elbow with 50 meters to go. I was closing the distance on him. If I could catch him by the turn, I might be able to beat him to the line. It's really kind of comical, two guys who are going to finish in the bottom 40% of their age group in a death match at the end of 26 miles for the right to cross a timing strip first. We were both hurting. 100 meters.
People were screaming at both of us now. A group of strangers all caught up in the moment. I saw him turn the corner. I reached for whatever was left. I came around the corner behind him. 50 meters.
He had 3 meters on me and he never let it go. I looked up and saw the clock over the finish line and saw 4:56 and change. I thought I had done better than that, but at least I was going to meet my goal and break 5 hours. As I crossed the finish line, I congratulated the guy who beat me across the line, collected my medal and got some Gatorade, Water and a bag of food a volunteer handed me.
I saw the Marine in the jogger as I left the corral into the area where people were meeting their families. I stopped and thanked him both for being an inspiration to me, and more importantly for the service that had cost him so much. I thought about my Brother-in-law Kelly who is serving in Iraq now and wished a prayer for his safety.
It was then that I peeled the tape off my Garmin and realized that I had done better. The clock was based on gun time, not my personal start time. That brought a rather large smile as I waited for Melissa to come find me and take me to a shower...
Splits from the race:
5K - 31:50 / 10:15 pace
10m - 1:42:22 / 10:15 pace
11m - 1:53:02 / 10:17 pace
13.1m - 2:14:09 / 10:14 pace (PR)
15.5m - 2:38:30 / 10:14 pace
18.6m - 3:16:31 / 10:34 pace
Finish - 4:49:17 / 11:02 pace (PR)
This is a great blog. It gives me the push too keep pushing. You never quit and when things don't go the way you think they should. You find the positive side and keep on pushing forward. Thank you!
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