The Country Music Marathon Race Report

Official subtitle:  "Finished Without Medical Assistance."  If you went just by the subtitle, you would believe that I did not have a good marathon, and looking at my finishing time, you would have ample evidence to support that.  But the truth of this race isn't in the numbers.  This marathon was told, as many are, (painfully) near the end, but we'll get to that later.

The day was perfect.  The temps started out in the mid-50's, I had made it to the parking lot and the starting village in plenty of time to stretch and do my "business."  Wisely I purchased the Publix Platinum Pass which gave me access to the exclusive parking, shuttles, food tent and portapotties.  If that is ever an option at race, I will always recommend it, especially for this one.  Fighting with 30,000 other people for about 200 portapotties is not fun.  I drank some water but really didn't eat much food as I had already had breakfast.  This might have been a mistake as it would be 3 hours between eating and starting my race, but I didn't want to take any chances on stomach issues.  I figured that I had plenty of GU to make up for my nutritional needs and keep me moving through the race.  (Dumbass.)

As for the race itself, what can I say?  Nashville is hilly and if you're not ready for it, it will punish you.  I truly believed that I was ready for it with my knowledge of the city, but during the heat of the day and 3 hours into a 8:30-ish pace, it will remind you otherwise.*  My splits were: 8:30, 8:16, 8:53, 9:11, 8:18, 8;00, 8:18, 8;19, 8;18, 8;13, 8:14, 9:07, 8:10, 8:17, 9:23, 8:10, 8:25, 9:02, 8:35, 8:38, 9:12, 9:29, 10:22, 11:11, 15:13, 26:22 and 13:51.  For those of you keeping score, yes that is a 26:22 in there;  the slowest mile I had ever ran walked in my entire running career.  I had hoped to make this marathon a PR, and honestly believed that going into mile 20 that could happen.  (Cocky Dumbass.)
For the majority of the race, I had been feeling good, not great, but running strong and fairly consistent.  I made a several potty break stops, and I made sure to hit every drink station.  I took my GU at 7, 13, 18 and 21.  I had made it past mile 11, 16, and 18 which had all proven to be game breaking (if not spirit-breaking) miles for me in the past.  Somewhere around mile 16, I had been running so long that I temporarily lost my ability to do math (a common problem for me when I've been running entirely too long), but I had regained it around mile 20 long enough to know that if I held my pace I should PR, if not barely hit my goal time of 3:45.  Until then, my average pace had been right around 8:30/mile and I was feeling happy that I had held onto my pace for that long.  (Jinxed Dumbass.)

It was at mile 21 though, I could feel my legs cramp again.  They were small cramps, nothing that I wasn't used to, so in my head, I spewed some Rated R curses at my calves and kept running.  By mile 22 the cramps couldn't be denied, and I was forced to truly walk for the first time during the race.  I still held on to some false hope that I could pull out a PR if I could walk/run a 10:00/mi pace somehow.  By mile 23, the cramps were quickly moving up and down my legs, and I started to suspect that I was in real trouble.  At mile 23, I ran into another runner who abruptly quit running and started walking in front of me.  We both managed to stay on our feet, but the effort of keeping my balance dropped me to a walk again.  Then on the other side of the street, a runner had passed out on the ground, and I and several runners moving towards medical assistance called out help for her.  By this time I was walking more than I was running, but the cramps were still getting worse.  They would start in my toes, shoot up my calves, and then rip into my quads.  By mile 24, I locked up for the first time.  I stupidly tried to bend down and stretch out my legs and nearly fell on my face for my efforts.  It would have been funny (and today it actually is), if it haddn't hurt so damn much.  My left leg was so cramped that I couldn't set my foot flat down on the ground.  I pushed down on my knee and I was able to stretch out the cramp and start walking again.  Little did I know that this would become a common expercise for me.  I tried again to jog and my legs locked up again.  Bad idea.  I got the message.  10-4 Good Buddy.  Just don't hurt me again.  Mommy.  Swinging my arms, I tried to speed walk, but even that was a herculean effort.  So I resigned myself to limping along at whatever pace my legs would allow.  That was not much.  (Slow Dumbass.)

At the water station at mile 25, I seriously considered dropping out, but I was just too damned close to not finish (besides my lovely wife would have kicked my ass if I had to show up in an ambulance on her birthday).  I grabbed some Cytomax, water and salt and kept walking.  Into mile 26, I was walking, stopping, stretcching, repeat.  More times than I can remember.  I had several people stop and ask me if I needed help.  I waived them off as politely as I could muster and kept moving.  I even had some woman offer to rub the cramp out of my leg  that was visibily moving up and down my leg (it was painfully cool to watch) and a man offered to help me walk up to the top of the hill.  I thanked them but delined their assistance also.  I did take half-full bottle of Cytomax from a finished runner (Thank you, kind half-marathoner) and downed it like a man in the dessert.  At the turn with the last .2 miles left of the marathon, I took a salt packet from a volunteer and limped toward the finish line (When nothing works, they say take salt to help.  Salt is supposed to make you retain water.  It makes my tongue feel shitty and my legs still don't work.  Go figure).  Nearly every runner that passed me into the chute urged me on, and I was both thankful and really f'ing angry jealous of ther ability to still glide across the finish line.  Eventually I did too with a finishing time of 4:26:11. (Cooked Dumbass).

I did not get my goal time.  I did not PR.  I did not even get under 4 hours.  I DID finish.  I DID not quit, even though every step I took screamed at me to do so.  It sounds stupid (I know that I can't believe that I'm saying it either), but I'm proud of myself for just finishing, not letting this race beat me again.  Now in hindsight, I now truly know what it means to "hit the wall."  I thought that I understood the statement before, but this race showed me what it was.  I hit that wall head on, and I nearly did not get back up.  Finishing this race was one of the hardest things that I've ever done, and I know that I'm a better man than I was before for having made the effort (I'm looking at this statement, and I'm thinking what a preachy, self-centered asshat I must be.  This may all be true, but I still don't know a better way to explain it).

*-I will admit that I was undertrained a bit, but that's why I tried to be conservative with my pace.  However there were a ton of people that were chasing speed and were nearly falling down by mile 3. 

Some final notes:  The expo was great. The expo here is always huge and with big names like Ryan Hall and Kara Goucher in attendance, it was running geek heaven.  I also picked up some new kicks.  So awesome expo as usual.

Thanks to all my friends and family, and Nashville in general, for coming out and supporting myself and the other runners.  The crowd support here is amazing and one of the biggest reasons that I enjoy this race.  I love high fiving little kids along the course, and nothing beats seeing my wife and kids waivving to me along the course, except seeing them as I cross the finish line.

Congratulations to all my friends, acquintances and colleagues that ran yesterday.  Whether you walked or ran, you are all winners in my book for getting out there.  Specifically a shout out to my boy Matt, my girl Dawn, Kathleen, Elizabeth, Bill, Charlie, Emily, Jim and my daughter's teacher, Ms. Kenimer.  Great job guys!

Congratulations also to all the kids that ran in the Kids Marathon, including my son and all his friends.  They were all amazing and full of energy!

Next post:  We discuss my plans for the rest of the year and why I may be taking a break from the marathon for a while.

Covenant Health Knoxville Half-Marathon Race Report

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  This past weekend, I went to Knoxville, home of my Alma Mater, the very-proud-stick-it-in-your-ear-I-don’t-care-that-it’s-a-rebuilding-year, University of Tennessee to run the half-marathon.  Basically, when I learned that the finish was on the 50 yard line of Neyland Stadium, I knew that I would be running this race.  I had considered doing the full marathon, but knowing that I would do the Country Music Marathon in April, it made more sense to do the half as part of my training.

The race was Sunday morning, and I had stayed at the Hilton Hotel downtown, which was about 3 minutes from the start line.  This was nice for me, so I could take care of my “morning rituals” at my hotel instead of standing in line at the porta-potties.  The weather was calling for temperatures in the 50’s to 60’s but rainy.  Thinking that I was likely to get caught in a thunderstorm (they were calling for those too), I decided to layer-up with my windbreaker vest and some arm sleeves that I could take off if it got too hot.  As it turned out, the weather stayed fairly mild but cloudy for me, though I did have to rip off my arm sleeves at mile 2.

I got to the starting line with 10 minutes before the gun went off and made my way to the first corral.  My strategy earlier in the week was to run 8:00 miles, so that I wouldn’t burn out my legs for my training runs later in the week.  When I got to the starting line, I knew that plan was out the window.  I was there to RACE!!!  Quickly re-calculating my pace, I thought that if I could run 7:50’s, then I would PR and put my year goal to bed.  In my defense, it wasn’t totally my own stupidity or over-abundance of testosterone to blame.  In fact, my decision may have been heavily influenced by a talk by Anthony Famiglietti at the expo the day before (I’ll actually talk about that tomorrow.  The expo was great, and I have some good stuff). 

Miles 1 (7:32) and 2 (7:39)started from just under the Sunsphere into the Fort and then cut left towards campus and along the river.  To say Knoxville is hilly would be an understatement, and I got a taste of the rolling hills early on. 

Miles 3 (7:35) and 4 (7:58) was mostly flat with a long uphill climb along Kingston Pike.  Still I was able to keep my strides short and quick, so I wasn’t worried about my time.  At the end of mile 4, I did take a little walking break to email my wife and kids where I was (I had drafted 3 emails and saved them on my Blackberry, so that I could send them updates quickly and then get back to the race).

Miles 5 (7:21) and 6 (7:30) were mostly downhill with some rolling hills through Cherokee Boulevard.  Cherokee is where all the big houses in Knoxville are, and several people sat in their yards and cheered runners on.  I tried to wave and say hi the best I could, but It was a little rough going on some of the uphills.

Miles 7 (7:34) and 8 (7:59) were brutal uphills, particularly at mile 7.5.  I trudged up them as best as I could, trying to focus on moving my feet as fast as I could.  Needless to say I got winded fast, but I didn’t quit till I got to the end of 8 and emailed the fam again.

Miles 9 (7:38), 10 (7:32), and 11 (7:44) had us going back towards campus on a mostly flat greenway.  Despite my times, I could tell that I was starting to lose steam.  Unfortunately for me, I was also doing the math in my head, and I figured that even if I could manage sub 9:00’s that I could finish my PR. 

Miles 12 (8:33) and 13 (8:17) the wheels came off at least mentally.  I had stopped at 12 to update my family, but I couldn’t get my pace back.  Granted it felt like I was running with 5 lb bricks around my ankles, but I pulled it together enough to maintain my pride.  The cathartic scream as I left the Fort and hit campus helped fortify me a bit as I dug in through the last bit of mileage.

Mile .1 (7:45/mi) was where I saw the runner’s entrance into the stadium.  Calling everything that I had left, I sprinted into the stadium and as soon as I hit the field I was doused with sunlight and the spectacle of the Jumbotron showing the runners crossing the finish.  I heard my name called out by the announcer as I got closer to the finish line and made my final kick.  As I crossed the finish line, I threw my arms in the air and fist-pumped as I watched myself cross the finish on the Jumbotron.  That. Was. Awesome!

By that time, I was shredding body heat, so I grabbed a blanket and headed up to the stands to drink some water and take some quick pics.

       

Then I headed over to Thompson Bowling Arena, where they had the post-race party.  On the Jumbotron in the arena, they were showing the finishers cross the finish line and I was able to see the winner of the marathon cross.  They had lots of food, the requisite band, and lots of post-race medical support to help administer first aid and help with stretching.  Despite the difficulty of the course, this had to have been one of my favorite races.  Maybe it was just my inner Volunteer enjoying a race on home turf, but man, I had a blast!  Thanks Knoxville!

Global Warming, My Ass! 6.66 Mile Run Report

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  I considered naming this post “The Beaver Attack Race,” but I was afraid that title would attract the wrong kind of readers.  Also it wouldn’t clue everyone into the fact that I had completed Razz’s challenge of the bloggers (kind of like Challenge of the Superfriends, but without Casey Kasem….I think).

In any case, I ended up doing MY race on Monday.  The sun was out and it was a beautiful and warm 70 degrees.  I hadn’t intended to run the race on Monday, but I couldn’t drag anyone else out on a middle distance run.  Left to my own devices, I decided to use part of the last leg of the Country Music Marathon route as my race course.  Now this probably wasn’t the smartest idea in the world, but I wanted to make the most of the only really good weather this week. 

It probably wasn't smart for a few reasons.  One, I had just run a hard 18 miles two days before, and while I was mostly recovered, I was still a little sore.  Two, I hadn’t brought my racing shoes.  I don’t know about most of y’all, but I have a pair of shoes that I only wear for racing.  They’re a pair of white/blue Nike TriD III’s that are light and cushiony.  Instead, I had my heavy red/white Asics 2140’s that have over 400 miles on the odometer.  Last, I’m recovering from a cold and my allergies have been wreaking havoc on my sinuses.  Still I thought, beautiful day, birds are singing, people are dancing, yadda, yadda, yadda, I may as well knock out the race so I don’t have to worry about running it in a storm (It’s supposed to rain the rest of the week with a chance of storms on Wednesday).  I figured 7:30 miles would make for a respectable showing, if not avoid wholesale embarrassment and ridicule from my blogging/running peers.

My first mile was a bit slow starting out at 8:02, but not bad considering that I had to dodge traffic and throngs of walkers as I escaped downtown and headed across the river towards LP Field.  Running pas the stadium and through the projects towards the downtown greenway at Shelby Bottoms Park, I caught a slight downhill slope and churned out a nice 7:28 mile.  Mile 3 took me over a slight hill into Shelby Bottoms Park, but I had momentum on my side, which produced a 7:13 mile.  As soon as I crossed into the park, this is where things started to go wrong.  The fatigue from my 18 miler two days ago and the strong start to this race were catching up to me, and my legs started to feel sluggish.  Then the unthinkable/unexpected happened at mile 3.28.  I was charged by a beaver.  A large, fast, angry beaver.  I was about midway into the park, a 9 hole par 3 golf course on the right side of the road and the river on the left side of the road, when I heard a loud rustling in the trees lining the golf course.  I looked ahead and saw this enormous beaver crash through the foliage charge straight at me.  Given this situation, I did what any self-respecting runner would do…I jumped back, almost out of my shoes, and swore like  sailor on shore leave (thereby breaking my Lenten promise also.  Curse you again crazy beaver!).  The beaver was racing straight at me.  I don’t know what I did to offend it.  Maybe I was one of too many humans invading its space.  Maybe he didn’t like the way I smelled, or possibly runners’ legs look like useful building material for beaver dams, but I don’t know.  I tried to prepare myself for the wild beaver-melee that was sure to come.  However it didn’t happen like that.  Instead, Mr. Wild Beaver ran straight into a large drainage pipe and disappeared from view.  Glancing around to make sure it wasn’t a trap or some elaborate beaver ambush, I sped along the greenway out of beaver-harm’s way.  Sadly, my exhaustion and narrow beaver-escape had taken their toll and my speed dropped to a 7:45 mile (I think I was able to keep it under 8:00 due to my attempt to outrun said beaver.  I know he was waiting for me to come back.  I know it.).  The rest of my race was rather uneventful, if not exhausting, as I did my best to recover and build back my speed.  As it was, I managed to eke out a 7:35 on mile 5 as I fled the park/beaver ambush and a 7:39 mile as LP Field came into view.  My last leg, which finished just short of the Country Music Marathon finish line, I did in 5:05.  I did end up going slightly over the 6.66 distance (6.70), and my end time was 50:50 at an average pace of 7:35/mile.

Overall I was happy with my time considering that I wasn’t “race ready” and that I was nearly mauled by an angry beaver.  This was a fun exercise, but I doubt that I could race by myself again.  I like to start out a race in a crowd of strangers, because I know that many of them want to beat me as much as I want to beat them.  There’s something about being in that mix of runners that gets the adrenalin pumping and pushes you to go harder.  Running by myself seemed to lack the urgency and energy that other races hold.  Still I had a good time, and I can’t wait to read the reports from my fellow bloggers!  Later kids!

Race Judicata 5k/10k Race Report

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  I considered renaming this race report to "How to Burn Up Your Quads and Your Calves If You Hate Them," but I decided that was really just too long.  Today I returned to PWP to run in the Race Judicata 5K and 10K.  Clearly not one of my brightest moves because of the course difficulty, but I was feeling froggy from watching so much Olympics that I said, "What the heck...I'll go for it (Remember, no cussing during Lent.  Sigh.)"  It was a sunny but cold day at 31 degrees, but it warmed up pretty quickly.

Pre-race I went through my normal ritual of downing a PBJ sandwich and as much caffeine as I could handle, then it was off to the portapotty line, and then a quick warm-up at the starting line. I met my friends/co-workers, Matt and Tiffany, and we whined and bellyached about how hard this race would be.  The 5K started out with a bit of rolling hills causing me to speed up a bit too fast for the first mile.  Garmin said I averaged 7:11 on the first mile, but I know that I saw some 6:30's on the downslopes.  Around mile 1.5, the course's major hill slapped most everyone around to a crawl (other than those blessed elites.  I really hate those guys.  Keep in mind, it's pure jealousy for what they can do and what I can't, but still, the hate burns bright) and I was no exception.  While I slowed down to a HARD and painful 7:54/mile (thank goodness for the downslope on the back of the hill), I still managed a decent time through mile 2.  Mile 3.1 was mostly downhill, so I leaned forward, kept my feet moving under me, and let gravity take over as I blasted through the last mile with a 6:45 and the last .1 of a mile at a 6:26/mile pace.  It burned so bad that I could swear that I smelled the smoky remains of my quads as a staggered across the finishline.  Earlier in the week, I decided to go out hard on the 5K.  I figured an average pace of 7:30/mile would be pretty good for me, so I was extremely pleased with my time of 22:40, which is 7:19/mile!  After I settled my guts down and caught my breath, I quickly switched numbers for the 10K, grabbed a quick bite and a drink, and waited for my friends to finish.  Matt and Tiffany both finished strong, and I was pretty happy for them (It's easy to be happy for my friends as long as they don't beat me.  I'm shallow enough to admit it).

After the 5K was over, they showed quite a bit more sanity than me and left; leaving me to try to survive the 10K.  I got in line to use the portapotty again, but I quickly realized I wouldn't make it to the john before the race started.  So I found a break in the woods and used Nature's outhouse.  Then I caught up to my old college buddy, Pat, who was also running the 10k, so I hung with him for a a little bit before pressing the pace.  He's completed an Ironman, which totally amazes me.  Not by the fact that he could do it; the guy is a workout, health machine. I'm just shocked that I know someone that badass (Does that count as cussing?  Crap!).  Essentially the end of mile 1 and the beginning of mile 2 was just a mile long climb.  A really long, brutal, torturous climb that only a sadist could love and masochist could survive.  Mile 1, I did at 7:55/mile and mile 2, I did at 8:35/mile.  Mile 3, 4 and 5 were better with a 7:15. 7:49. and 7:48.  Nothing spectacular to note about those miles except that my leg started to cramp at mile 3 and I was sure that I would be on the news for having to be airliftted out of PWP.  There was another short climb at mile 5.5, which stopped me dead in my tracks and I found myself walking/dragging up the remainder of the hill.  I managed to finish the race with an 8:30 mile on mile 6, and a 7:09/mile pace on the last .2 miles of the race.  I had hoped to finish the 10K in 8:00 miles, so I was glad that I held on and finished in 49:29, 7:59/mile.  It was a close one with all the walking breaks that I had to take just to survive the race, but I still finished under my goal!

This year for running both the 5K and the 10K, runners got a towel with the race logo on it along with the technical shirt that all the runners received.  Not bad swag, even though I was hoping for arm warmers like last year.  I finished 8th and 14th in the 5K and 10K respectively in my age group.  Just another reminder that there are a lot of very fast people out there and a lot of them are in my age group, darnnit!  Still I'm pretty happy with the results for my first races of 2010.  Thanks to the Nashville Striders and all the great sponsors for putting on another great (if not ridiculously hard) race!  Run hard and have fun, kids!