Got this picture emailed to me by a friend and decided it would be the best way to begin this post. The innaugural SBIMarathon is in the books, and from my perspective it was a very well run race and I’m looking forward to next year. There were tons of energetic volunteers all along the course, everything was well marked and organized and I can’t recommend the race itself more highly. I know I’m biased, being a local, but I think the race organizers nailed this one!

As far as my personal race, it was not my best. Strike that, it was really my worst. I finished in 4:21 and felt completely and utterly defeated by this race.. But I’m not going to concentrate on that (yet). Instead I’m going to do my best to describe the high points of the day. And there were many.

The race was supposed to start at 6:30 and I arrived around 5:30 thanks to my wonderful wife who dropped me off. I had a “secret” parking spot planned out, but traffic was diverted differently and I wouldn’t have been able to make it on my own. She saved me a long walk. To stay warm most runners were able to hang out in classrooms, the gym and the library of Ellwood school which sits right on top of the start. Around 6:10 I wandered outside and runners began filling the start area. Unfortunately the race was delayed 1/2 hour because of a freeway accident. I chose to stay outside and sat down on the curb to wait. We re-lined up as the sun was rising and took off right around 7:00. The weather was great, nice and cool with no wind and it was awesome to see thousands of runners filling up the roads I have run on so often.

I had lined up in the corral just ahead of the 4 hour pace group, and I planned to go out slowly. The pace group moved just ahead of me during the first couple of miles but I was running right on schedule. I had a 9:00 pace in my head and jotted down on a pace chart in my pocket. I knew I probably wouldn’t hold that pace through the whole race, but wanted to finished sub 4:00.

Somewhere around mile 3 I heard a familiar voice behind me talking about something crazy and knew that Jeff and Juls were sneaking up on me. I hesitated to turn around for a minute or two and just continued to listen in to their conversation. I also began hearing spectators calling out to Santa. Once I turned around I found out why. Jeff had gotten the goofy idea the night before the race to put on a Santa hat, pigtails and a skirt. He was running not as Santa, but Mrs. (or miss?) Claus. So, I had the pleasure of meeting Juls and running with this hairy-legged Santa for a number of miles. I lost them for a while due to a pit stop, but the two of them went a long way toward making this run, at least the first 18.5 miles, very memorable. Thank you Jeff and Juls!

Just before the 15^th mile I passed this good-looking group of folks. My family and friends gathered to ring the cowbell (held by my father-in-law) and rattle the triangle (held by my son’s friend Kyle). During training I ran through this interesection many times imagining the boost I would receive from this crowd. They were even louder and more inspiring than I imagined. If you’ve been following my blog for the last 4-5 years (and really, who hasn’t?) you’ll remember that I ran the 2006 California International marathon with my father-in-law (65 at the the time!). I am so grateful that he and my mother-in-law came down from Oregon for the race. Thank you!

Miles 15-18 went well. Most of these are downhill and I felt good and relaxed. I was still on pace and at one point I actually encouraged the crowd to make some noise, but just after mile eighteen my tank went from half-full to nearly empty. I believe I fueled well for the race, and continued to try and gulp down some electrolyte and water, but by mile nineteen, when I again saw my family, I was hurting. My energy level was mostly depleted and my legs were beginning to complain. Just before mile 20 my left hamstring just seized up with very little warning and I couldn’t put any weight on it at all. I knew that if the cramp didn’t go away, I was on the verge of my first DNF.

Most marathoners know that the race really begins around mile twenty and that fatigue is nearly always a factor. With 20 miles under you belt you still have, when you’re running at my pace, nearly an hour of running left. That can be a very long hour, even if you’re feeling decent! In my state I knew that hour would be stretched longer and be more difficult, in the best of circumstances. In the worst, my race was over.

After a few minutes I could begin to put some weight on my leg. After a few more I began walking very gingerly and slowly. Eventually I was able to begin running slowly and made it about another mile before it seized up again. At this point there was a guardrail on the side of the road and I was able to sit down and try and rub out the cramp. When the worst of it subsided I was able to sit and do some stretches to loosen it up a bit more before I began walking and then slowly running again. It cramped one last time around mile 23, but I was able to walk/run the rest of the way to the finish where, once again, my family was waiting.

I guess the best way to sum everything up is to remember that 5 months ago I wasn’t running at all. I’m now posting the occasional 40 mile week, consistent 100+ mile months and on track for a spring marathon, if I decide to do one. I’ve also been able to reconnect with some of the folks I’d lost track of, both in the real-life running community and through this blog.

Don’t know what the next stop is, but this train is back on the track.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 5:33 pm and is filed under Running. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.