#pr

My alarm went off at 0400 hrs, thank goodness it wasn’t time to get up just yet. I wake up early to eat and then go back to sleep for a little while before big races. I had an Extend Nutrition bar with some water and went back to sleep until 0530 hrs. A cold front was suppose to have come through overnight and the weather was cooler than it had been the past week, which made for good running conditions. I dressed in the tank top and shorts I had been running in all summer, but put on a winter hat, gloves, and arm warmers since the temp was only in the upper 40’s.

I pulled into the parking lot at M&T Bank stadium around 0645, I sat in my truck till 0730 then made my way to the start line, it was cold but I knew I would warm up once I started running. As I waited in the starting corral I went over my game plan in my head; go out slow and try to make up time later in the marathon. A woman came up to me while we were waiting to start and we started to make small talk and introduced each other, her name was Sandy. She noticed my Garmin and asked what pace I planned to run and I explained my plan; she said if it was okay she was going to run with me for a while. I didn’t mind and she said she was hoping to finish under 4:19. This is just another reason why I love the running community, you never know when you are going to meet someone new!

The marathon started just after 0800 and we were off, we took the first mile out at around a 9 min pace, right on target, the first few miles were a slight uphill towards the Maryland Zoo. My hat at gloves were gone by mile 2, I threw them off to the side of the road. As we ran Sandy and I talked about where we were from, running, and just got to know each other. Our pace quickened a little without either of us really noticing to around an 8:30 pace. That was a little faster than I wanted to go out, but I was feeling comfortable. The first few waters stops were pretty crowded, so crowded only one of us got water, but runners being courteous people, we got enough for each other. As we passed through the Zoo, some of the animals were out to greet us. We saw some penguins; while some runners stopped to take selfies we kept on moving through. Our pace had quickened again and we turned in a sub-8 mile, I knew we had to slow down and bit and we eased off the pace.

Sorry for the thumbnail, I’m not paying $65 for 5 photos, waiting for the discount!!!

As we left the zoo, the course had a few hills but then flattened out. St. Paul street to the Inner Harbor was downhill, so we could relax a little bit. Running through Harborview we saw some of my friends and I dropped my fuel belt with them. It was getting really lose during the run and was becoming annoying. I took the bloks out and put them in my pocket before dropping it. As we circled the Under Armour factory I really had to pee; Sandy said she would slow down and run along the side of the road so I could catch back up. A tree made a great substitute for the port-a-potty that had a line, hey I wasn’t the only one doing that! To catch up to Sandy I threw down a 7:30 mile, I had a feeling that would come back to hurt me.

Passing the 13.1 mile marker, Sandy saw some of her friends. I thought my Garmin said 1:50, but looking at my times on the marathon website it said we ran the first half in 1:54, I could have seen my watch incorrectly. Either way we were making good time maybe a little too fast. I mentioned to Sandy maybe we should slow down a bit, she said we should just keep up the pace. I was still feeling good and we did. Going through Harboreast I saw all the people I know from Lululemon at their cheer station, it was motivating to high five all of them as we went by. Coming out of Harboreast Sandy and I both noticed how quite it had gotten along the course, there weren’t many spectators for the next couple of miles.

Approaching mile 16 and Patterson Park I slowed the pace a bit; Sandy kept the pace going and we lost each other in the crowd as the half marathon and marathon merged together. I saw my parents cheering on the sidewalk, which was some more motivation. After passing Patterson Park, I didn’t see Sandy anymore and the climb to Lake Montebello started, for the next 4 miles there would be an incline. In mile 18 I lost my steam, someone was handing out full bottles of water and bananas, I grabbed both and walked while I drank the water and ate the banana. I finally cleared the hills and made it to Lake Montebello at mile 20 I started doing the math in my head of how fast I had to run each mile to make it under 4 hours.

Alternating between walking and running I watched the time tick away on my Garmin. Going out faster than I wanted was coming back to haunt me. I tried to find the energy to keep going, my legs were exhausted. Mile 22 was the final incline and it really slowed me down. I was going back and forth between 9:20 pace per mile and 11+ min a mile, I was in trouble. At mile 24 I still thought I had a shot at breaking 4 hours, but I would have to throw down two sub-7:30 miles, my legs didn’t have it in them, or my mind wouldn’t let them do their thing. Either way it wasn’t going to happen.

Still waiting for the MarathonFoto discount emails!

I crossed the finish line at 4:11:16. So close to breaking the 4 hour mark yet so far away. Even though I didn’t break 4 hours I was happy with my time; I PR’d by 32 minutes. I immediately started analyzing the race in my mind and where things went wrong. Then I started thinking about when I can run another marathon and when I could be ready.

I made my way over to get a foil blanket, I was freezing, I had tossed my hat and gloves a long time ago and the temp dropped after that. I finally got a foil blanket, met my parents, and got my jacket from them but I could not get warm. I think it was in the low 40’s or upper 30’s by this point. We took some pictures and stood in line for a while to get my Maryland Double Medal and King Crab Challenge medal holder, in total I was outside for about an hour and shivering the entire time.

I did get to ring the PR Bell!!! Everyone before me went up got there picture and struck the bell once, after my mom took the picture I struck the hell out that bell several times!!!

Waiting around the finish area I looked for Sandy but didn’t see her anywhere, we actually connected later in the day and caught up a bit, she finished in 4:01:40 a PR for her as well.

When I finally made it to my truck I was so happy to be able to turn the heat on and get warm. The warm shower felt great once I was home, except on my arm pits, the arm warmers had rubbed my arms raw, really raw. I continued to analyze the marathon in my head for the rest of the day and watched it on television. I had recorded it. That night the tradition of the marathon party continued, it was smaller than usual, but still a good time!

I have continued to think about what I could have done differently over the last few days and will probably do that for a while. I am looking at doing a half marathon soon, but will probably wait until the spring to tackle another marathon.

How was your race season? What are your goals before the end of the year?

Check back tomorrow for Thinking Out Loud and see if the streak continued…

-Veggie Fueled Runner

The alarm was set for 0400 hrs. when I woke up and looked at the clock it was 0345 hrs. I thought about going back to sleep for 15 mins, but decided I would rather get up now and eat than wait to hear my annoying alarm clock go off. I got up made a shake, drank it, and went back to sleep for another hour. I’ve been getting up early before long races and eating something, I think it helps to get something in my stomach and eating earlier gives it time to settle.

0515 hrs. I woke just before my alarm went off, I had a nightmare that I slept through my alarm and missed the race completely, thankfully it was only a dream. I got up got dressed, packed some clothes for after the race, and I was out the door to meet Elizabeth. We were going to ride to the race together since it was a point to point from Towson to Power Plant Live in downtown Baltimore. We arrived at the start line and immediately got in line for the bathrooms, let’s be honest that is pretty much what everyone does because you are going to have to go if you have hydrated properly. After we used the bathrooms, we warmed up a little and did a 5 min run near the start line. We ran into one of our friends Laura, we briefly chatted and made out way to the start line. I decided to use the bathroom one more time, and made it back to the start line just before the race started. I saw two of our other running friends Sarah and Lauren. I talked to them and they were planning on starting at a faster pace then I wanted to, so was Elizabeth. I wanted to use this run to simulate, the best I could, what I wanted to do in the marathon.

We were all at the front of the starting line around the 1:35 pace group, when the race started. Sarah, Lauren, and Elizabeth took off and I hung back and slowed down that first mile. My first mile was 8:17, still a bit faster than I wanted to be and it was uphill. I wanted to start around an 8:30 pace. The Charles St. 12 is an overall negative downhill race, the key word being ‘overall’, it is actually a pretty hilly course. Just after the first mile there was a water station, which I though was great this early in the race. The second mile was mostly downhill, and I ran it in 7:51. I remember thinking without a plan this race could get out of control quickly because of all the changes in elevation. I made a conscious effort to slow down a bit; I was feeling strong but I didn’t want to burn out and not have anything left for the end of the race.

At the end of mile 2 there was another water stop; I thought to myself this is great if there is a water stop approximately every mile. That was not the case. Mile 3 I slowed to 8:30 on a pretty steep climb and then my pace evened out around 8:15 a mile. Miles 3, 4, and 5 came and went without a water stop. I was getting pretty thirsty and even some other runners around me began to comment on the ‘now’ poor placement of the first two water stops, they were to close together. Finally around mile 6 there was a water and Gatorade stop. Just after the stop I heard someone from behind call my name, it was my friend Pat. I was surprised to see him, he had told me he wasn’t running the race, we ran together for a few miles and talked politics. He decided to slow his pace just a little but I was feeling strong so I pushed on. Normally, I would have hung back but I wanted to make sure I could keep the pace and feel good at the end. Now my pace was just below 8:10 a mile and I was still feeling strong.

The water stops picked again in frequency and were much better placed for the remainder of the race. In mile 8 my right shoe came untied twice which really annoyed me. I finally tucked in my laces, which I should have done earlier. After each time I stopped to tie them I sprinted back to where I was, I had noticed which runners were behind me. So while I didn’t lose any time I didn’t make up any either. At mile 9 there was a water stop at the bottom of a steep hill which followed a steep ascent, near the Washington Monument. I think it was poor placement of the water stop but that late in the race I’ll take water whenever I can get it.

With only 3 miles to go I though about really starting to push the pace, but I was also feeling like I could use a bathroom break so I decided to keep the pace the same and not pick it up to much. The rest of the course was downhill, from mile 10 I was pretty familiar with the terrain, since it was in downtown and I run a lot there. I wasn’t sure if there was going to be a final climb in Federal Hill, some of those streets can be pretty steep. We ran through Fed Hill mid way through mile 10 and thankfully there were not any hills. All of mile 11 was along the promenade of the Inner Harbor which made for a great finish, after the final water stop at the mileage marker I decided to pick up the pace. Just before the finish line my Garmin 220 beeped, I looked down I had run a 7:44 mile, the fastest one of the race. I sprinted the remaining few hundred meters and crossed the finish line at 1:38:16 an 8:11 pace! That was PR! It was PR by default because I had never run that distance but I had also never run that long at that pace so it was a great feeling.

After quickly grabbing my medal, I saw Sarah and Elizabeth waiting for me, but I made my way to the bushes. I though I was going to vomit after my sprint. I didn’t and Elizabeth came over, and said ‘Let’s go get our beers!’. That’s the whole reason to run right, free beers at the end! We stood around and chatted for a little while and then decided to make our way back home, I was meeting Sarah and FKBT for brunch, Elizabeth had to work. We walked back and stopped at Lululemon, because well you just have to stop in when you walk by. I bought some boxers because I had forgotten to pack some; I used this as an excuse to finally buy the one thing I had been holding out on buying. I’m so glad I bought them they are super comfortable, no surprise there. But I digress.

I went back to Sarah’s apartment, showered and changed, our friend Theo, came back with us too and we went to brunch at Warehouse 518. Tim’s (FKBT) friend Aiden is the head waiter there and he took care of us! I have met him a few times and he is a pretty fun person and made sure to take care of Sarah and I since we just finished the 12 miler. It was great to catch up with Tim, I haven’t seen him much since he moved and it had been quite some time since Theo, Tim and I hung out together. Brunch was delicious! If you are in the Mt. Vernon area I recommend Warehouse 518!

You have to put back the depleted carbs after a race!

Overall it was a great day with friends and we all PR’d, so we were all happy! It was a good way to judge where we are all at in our marathon training, though I think we all agreed we would have liked to run that extra 1.1 miles to see if we could have PR’d at the half distance. The Charles St. 12 is a race I will consider doing again next year.