Written by For those of you that just want to see my results:
SD RnR 2011 Marathon Result
We had 2 things that worked out in our favor for this early race. We were able to stay on east coast time and our hotel offered a shuttle to the starting line. After getting almost 8 hours of sleep for the first time before a race, we took a crowded shuttle from our hotel in Old Town San Diego to the starting village. At 5am, Balboa Park was already crowded and illuminated by large spot lights. We attached our race chips, found a place to sit and stretch, and finally checked our bag at one of the UPS trucks.By the time we checked our bags the sun was rising and it was really a beautiful place to be, and perfect weather for a run.
I was in corral 16 and Maura was in 36, so we weren’t sure how long we would have to wait, but we headed to our corrals right before the National Anthem was played. After waiting about 19 minutes after the official start, my corral made it to the start and began. I knew the first section was down hill so I planned to take it easy and loosen up. The first shock of the day (for me) was how many people sprinted right to the first set of porta poddys. They weren’t even 200 yards from the start line… With a chip timed race if I had even thought there was a chance of an issue like that in the first 5 minutes I would have just started in a later corral.
Part I: Easysville
The second surprise (I know I’m a marathon noob), was when people were walking by the second mile, and how hard it would be to hold myself back in the first few miles. For the first mile I tried sticking with the 4:15 pace group, because I thought that would be a good goal time based on my training. I held myself to a 9:30 mile the first mile but found myself in front of the 4:15 group and feeling a little too slow for my natural pace. I decided just to pick it up a tad in the second mile, and settled in at a more comfortable pace. Looking back, this might have been one of my faults. As I went past the 5k marker I was at 28 minutes, and I knew this meant that I had gone below 9 for the last 2.1 after starting with a 9:30 mile. At this point, I had also caught up to some members of the 4 hour pace group. I decided that no matter how good I felt I couldn’t go in front of the whole 4 hour group. I was so busy trying not to run into the walkers and people going slow I didn’t even realize I had run by the zoo.
I slowly past members of the 4 hour group until I came up to the leader with the flag for 4 hours, there were a few members in front and several trailing. I held myself back, and ran with them through the 10k check point. At this point I looked at my watch and it read 55 minutes. I knew that I was running a sub-9 minute pace, and that the 4 hour group had started about a minute or two before me in another corral. There were a few 4 hour pace people in front of them so I decided to run with them, but I could not go faster no matter how good I felt.
The weather was beautiful, and the bands playing past the time. The shear amount of people were entertaining, and for a very long stretch the marathon runners ran next to the half runners, so I kept trying to calculate when I would pass Maura, or if she hadn’t made it to this part of the course yet. The GMAT like math problem kept my mind distracted for a while. There was a band of large timpani like drums playing traditional pacific music and dancing. It was by far the best for the race and very motivational. The second best was later and they were doing a cover of Jimmy Eat World.
I found myself reminiscing of a trip to visit my friend Brett as I ran by his old apartment complex on Friar’s road, and felt prepared since I had run up that road 2 years before. I went through the half way mark here with out any problem at all. At this point I was at 1:56 and knew I was on point for my 9 minute dream goal pace and ready to crush my 4:15 goal. I started flattering myself thinking about how well I trained and how easy it felt to run 13.1 miles. Little did I know what was ahead.
Map of the First Half of the Marathon
Part II: Hills ’til failure
I had looked at the elevation map of the course online, and it seemed that the only hills at all would be in the first half. And it was a pretty long uphill, but I had trained on hills in Arlington and was expecting smooth sailing after mile 10. On Friars Rd there was a slight incline, but I kept with it knowing the length of Friars Road. What I didn’t expect was the long and slow uphill from 14 to 16.5, and then an even steeper hill from 18 to 19. This was might have been the other big mistake of the day. I powered through the hills attempting to keep my 9 minute pace, because at this point I was hell bent on getting 4 hours. I should have taken a hint from all the people I was passing, but there were also people that were stopping and starting to walk, so I just assumed they had hit their wall and I would keep on going.
Elevation Map of the Marathon
I wasn’t mentally prepared for the first long slope, but I was okay. The hill from mile 18-19 took a lot out of me and by the time I hit the end I could feel it in my quads. I looked at my watch and realized while I was trucking along the hills I had slowed down. At the mile 20 check point I was at exactly a 9 minute pace. I didn’t mind too much because I was rounding a turn and could see some water and felt like I had done 20 in 3 hours, what was 6.2 in 1 more hour?
Map of the Second Half of the Marathon
The gu point was a little unnerving after mile 20. Every single person around me slowed down to walk and I was forced to walk. I grabbed an extra gu and chugged some water and I was ready to go, but had a hard time starting back up. My great cadence was broken and this was the first time I had to slow down. After that the next two miles got a little more difficult, my muscles were in autopilot and the sidewalk was pretty crowded with people walking. It was becoming frustrating to dodge people walking and was getting hard to react. I was starting to hit my wall and zone out a little.
Part III: Lost on the Island
By the time I hit mile 23 I had started my mental decline. I was trying to break through the wall, but I had just crossed over to Fiesta Island which felt like a deserted island. My pace slowed as I climbed up the minimally sloping road. The temperature felt like it was rising and it felt like it was getting much more humid. It was the first part of the race that I was profusely sweating. It looked so small on the map – I’ve run more 5k’s than I can count – It’s the home stretch – It’s almost over… My mind kept going… and I started thinking that I was like a lone man lost in the desert chasing a mirage. The amount of people on the side of the road stretching and walking slowly was growing, or was it all in my head? Was the “wall” just my mind showing me what my body wanted to do?
I rounded the corner hitting mile 24, it looked like it was downhill from here. I then saw one person of the 4 hour pace group starting to pass me. I looked at my watch and realized that it was almost 3:40. This meant my four hour goal was getting away from me in a little over a mile of a stupid island. At this point I saw the flag holder for the 4 hour group pass me with several other 4 hour pacers. I tried to go a little faster and my leg almost fell out from under me. I caught myself and didn’t wipe out, but it really rattled my focus. At this point I wasn’t sure if I should be walking and I was going to fall and be pulled out on a stretcher. About this time I saw a woman fall down right near an aid station, and minutes later so saw some pass me then start hobbling and pull off to the side. I decided to stare at my feet going in front of each other and just hope that I cross that finish line.
Right after mile 25 I hit the water station and had a similar situation to mile 20. All the people around me stopped to walk and I followed suit because I didn’t have enough energy to dodge them. I ended walking for about a minute slowly toward the bridge. I stared at my watch, knew that 4 hours had escaped me, but that I wouldn’t finish this thing walking. I stumbled into a slow jog, and every small bump in the road felt like a massive hill. At this point a lot of people started passing me. I assumed I probably could have walked as fast as I was running, but it was more respectable to jog it out at a snails pace. Despite the mobs of people around me, I felt my vision narrow and was just singularly there. I made it to the finish, grabbed a medal, and saw Maura waiting for me. Several people around me were puking into trash cans, and I felt like following suit, but Maura propped me up and let me stretch my legs. We made it to a shaded spot and sat down to eat some of the food, and after about 20 minutes I was finally happy I had finished a Marathon. After 45 minutes we were back up and walking around, and after a nap I decided I will run another some day.
Maura and me after the race
