Seattle Marathon Recap-Not What I Planned

Nothing went according to plan.

Since my last 21 mile run, my left ITB has been feeling pinched. I didn't stretch or ice it or really do anything. I thought it would go away with time, but the day before the race, it was still there. I was bemoaning my training plan. I should have kept up with the weekly weight training. I was convinced I had made a fatal error and that I would finish in my planned time with only massive agony.

I got to Seattle and checked into my room only to find no bathtub in my room. I don't have a lot of rituals around my races, but taking a hot soak after a hard race is a looked forward to reward. For an “upgrade” to two double beds, I got a tub (only to discover post-race that the stopper in the tub didn't work-for which I did get a refund, but I'm getting ahead of myself.) I walked down to the race expo, very aware of my ITB, and I worried myself continuously about it from that point til the horn sounded. The Seattle marathon pales in comparison to the pomp and circumstance of the Portland marathon. I'm not really sure why I bother wandering through these expos besides the fact that you have to to get your race schwag-none of which holds any interest to me.

Note to Seattle marathon-really, really low class to make finishers of the race buy a finisher's shirt. Granted, you get a shirt that says seattle marathon on it, but it's not the same thing and I puzzle over this decision.

Anyway, I ordered what has become my traditional pre-race meal, a greek salad and a gigantic meat lovers with extra cheese pizza. When I first received my order, I thought, “no way I'm going to eat all this.” But ate it I did. Man was it delicious and I was stuffed silly.

On all my long runs, I have been carrying my camelback with my gatorade, which no doubt out of habit, is my favorite training drink. I was going to carry it on this marathon because I was sure they wouldn't offer gatorade as most races seem to be moving to other sports drinks. I filled up the old camelback and literally just as I was about to put it on and head out to the race, I picked it up and realized carrying 10 extra pounds for this race would be a serious error, no matter what drink was offered on the course. Miraculously this race was handing out gatorade and I drank it with abandon. So that's one big one on the plus side of this race, and as I think about it, I forgive not getting a “finisher's shirt.”

I decided to stick with the 4:45 pacer and drop off as needed, but within the first mile I found it was too slow and I picked up the pace. I figured any time ahead I gained, I could back off my pace if I needed. I was consciously building a cushion against any potential bonk at around mile 20. If I had built up a 30 minute cushion and bonked hard the last 2 miles, I figured I could live with walking out 15 minute miles to the finish.

I was feeling very, very good the first six miles. The ITB loosened up and ceased to be an issue. I was very cautious about picking up any pace because experience has taught me that pushing the pace early can have dire consequences. And also, on a race as long as a marathon, your physical and mental feelings can change faster than someone bipolar off their meds. I decided if I still felt very good at mile fifteen, I would open it up and push the pace below a ten minute mile for as long as possible.

As it turned out, I pushed the pace and never doubted that the pace I was holding was achievable. I slowly began to realize not only that I was going to beat the 5 hour goal, but I was going crush it. And not only that, I began to realize as early as mile 12 that I had a very realistic chance of beating my PR, which ironically enough, was also at the Seattle Marathon, so in spite of the minor gripe, this is my race.

With around five miles to go, a very brutal and vicious hill shows up. But I decided I was going to attack and “own” that hill. As I was passing someone, they said to me, “You're going to run up that hill, aren't you?” I just smiled because I make a policy of never wasting a single breath on speaking to anyone during a serious race. But I was thinking, “I'm going to make that hill my bitch.” And please pardon the sexism, but I thought it and I ultimately did make it my bitch. I dropped around 20 runners on that hill and I also knew, thanks to my Garmin, that I gained around 200 feet of altitude and I was going to get that 200 feet going back down, so I dug deep and went as hard as I could. It was an excellent feeling.

I realize that if anything, hills improve my time. Because what goes up, must come down and any time I lose on going up hill, I more than make up by allowing gravity to drag me back down.

From the perspective of an iron distance athlete, a marathon by itself is a very different race. I don't want to say it's easy, because if you're really trying, no race, whether it's 1 mile, a 10K or a full iron is easy.

But this is the first marathon I've been in where I didn't feel really bad until about the last three miles. I felt very strong until mile 23. And by then, the space needle was in view, my PR was assured and I could shuffle along smugly. and still exceed goals. I know I COULD have pushed hard enough to make myself bonk much earlier, but I found that sweet spot and held it, and it was very satisfying. When you watch an olympic marthoner running, they look so smooth and comfortable even while hauling ass, and I caught a glimpse of what that must be like for the first time.

Also for the first time, my original time goal for a marathon from six years ago seems in reach (4 hours seemed pretty naive until now). But I will never train for that time as a goal until I attain it and am shooting for a 3:30 (I doubt that's realistic, but just making the point). On my next marathon, I will train for a 4:50 finish. I will be mindful of the 10% rule and will base it on my training goal time rather than my actual finish time. This result could be a fluke and I don't want to put myself in setback by over reaching.

One major change on this race was the use of my Garmin. I could not have performed as I did without being able to check my pace with my Garmin. The heart rate monitor is useless after about six miles because of cardiac drift, so if I had to do it again, I probably wouldn't have bothered with that feature.

I would also say, with no small amount of surprise, that training just once per week for a marathon is quite sufficient. If I would have had the time, I would probably recommend to myself that I do weight training and a short run in addition to the long run, but that is really just gravy. Recovery time, for my body, is far more important than thrashing myself to near death during training and up until the last possible moment before a key race. I'm well nigh passed that self-hating masochism.

I save the masochism for the actual race, and on that point, mission accomplished. I can barely walk. While in bed last night, I could not lift my legs without herculean efforts and agony, could also not roll over without struggle. Gravity was really much stronger than usual yesterday, did anyone else notice that?

So the two factors I think contributing to my success were training with the camelback and then dispensing with it for the race and my trip to Colorado Springs three weeks ago for one of my last training runs. And while I did not bonk, per se, at the marathon, I did bonk big time during that training run.

I may fiddle with a few other things on my next training cycle, but overall, I think I've found the formula for achieving my modest goals in all future races, whether marathon or trathlon. Trust my methods and my instincts.