San Diego R-N-R Marathon

Race: San Diego Rock-N-Roll Marathon

Wow… another marathon in the books. It’s hard to believe. The event itself was great. Far bigger than Detroit with a lot more course support. I really wanted to run a sub 4:00, even a 3:40 but I knew very early that my legs were not going to aid me in that endeavor.

I remember someone telling me that the second marathon was so much better than the first. And I would actually agree. I was much smarter about this one and learned a lot. I know have a better understanding of what worked well and where I veered off course. But at the end of the day I had a great race and an even better weekend. I can hardly wait for Chicago in the fall.

So from the beginning… Derek (my buddy from work) and I decided to walk from Flip’s condo to the start about 2 miles away. I was pretty fired up about the race. Nervous, excited, etc… I really enjoyed the walk though because we started out just the two of us on empty downtown streets, but as we proceeded we joined with other runners who were walking from their hotels. They were all excited and nervous as well. We walked up this long hill and by the time we reached the top (the start line) we were among a field of 20,000. Very cool. The first thing we did was head for the porta-jons. We had to wait in line for almost 30 minutes and almost missed the start.

But we did make it to our corrals on time. It was great. They had the big countdown, I found my pace leader (a guy dressed as Elvis with a 3:45 sign in the air). I mean… how could you have a bad day running with Elvis? The race was off, just 26 more miles and I would be done.

On the upside the sky was overcast which was great, on the downside it was muggy as hell and already about 70 degrees. Within the first few miles my legs already felt like lead weights. This was going to be a long day.

I remember talking to one of my friends about the race and made the point without thinking that I was proud that I realized very early that I was not going to have a 3:40 day, unfortunately I didn’t execute plan “B” until about mile 15. Had I just accepted it was not in the cards earlier I think I would have had a much stronger finish.

I just kept thinking I could run out of it. I was ahead of Elvis by about a quarter mile and thought that perhaps I could just hold it for a few more hours I would still get me 3:40.

We spent the first 7 miles bombing around downtown. Past the baseball stadium, and aircraft carrier, some jackass mooning us from his window, a crack-whore bitching out some guy and at a homeless shelter. You know, just the usual stuff. I saw Gabby and Flip at about 5 and gave them high 5’s and the big thumbs up. I was having fun, still in denial.

Then came the hill. The hill I’ve been concerned about for a month. Everyone said… don’t worry about it, it’s nothing. Holly crap, could they be more wrong. This was, and I’m not exaggerating, a 3 mile uphill. The weird thing was I actually felt better going up the hill. I had good pace, and was working hard but also my legs seemed to come around. Maybe this was still doable. I mean Elvis was still behind me!

So we crested the hill about mile 10 and then a long downhill which was nice, but I think is the reason I had IT Band issues later.

So everything was going along fairly well until about 14. I was getting tired and stopped to get some water and when I started running again my right IT Band jumped up and kicked my ass. I mean hard. I mean holly crap… am I going to finish this thing? The good news is as I ran farther it would loosen up. The bad news every time I stopped for water it would tighten back up. So if I needed inspiration not to walk, that was it.

It was also at about mile 15 when Elvis finally passed me. I tried to keep up for about 10 feet but new I was screwed. I finally had to accept that my 3:45 day was not to be. F’ing Elvis! I must admit that was definitely the low point. Watching the 3:45 sign disappear in front of me with still another 10 miles to go. But with every hard mile comes a good mile, so I knew I would have some successes. I found once Elvis passed I slowed to about a 9:00/m pace and thought I’d be able to hold that for the rest of the race.

Well the deeper I got the slower I got. 9:00’s eventually turned to 10’s. But what the hell, I knew I could finish, and that’s something I didn’t have in Detroit. The other thing is in Detroit I emotionally almost lost it at about 22. This time, while I was tired and probably started out too fast, and my knee was killing, emotionally I was fine. Mentally I know I could finish, there was no question.

So in general I loved this race. The bands were awesome, well most of them. There were people almost everywhere on the course. As always I am in love with the High School cheerleaders. Not in a perverted Dateline NBC kind of way, but in a thank God they are cheering kind of way. There was an entire water stop done in a Jimmy Buffet Theme, and a couple of the stops where the cheerleaders were throwing each other into the air. So cool.

In hindsight I think I peeked in Indianapolis a month ago. I felt so great that day and was so up for the race that I sort of lost enthusiasm after it. And this would make sense because the training program I was on was designed to have me peek at Indy. Also I think taper kicked my ass. My eating was poor and my last week of running was a joke. I think next time I will try a shorter taper and will be extra vigilant during it.

Having said all that I am so glad I ran this. I didn’t get the result I hoped for but how can I complain about a 4:05? How can I complain about completing my second marathon? How can I complain about getting to do something less than 1% of the population can do? What a great day. How lucky am I? What a great sport!

Lessons learned….
1) I wrote the locations of the water stops on a piece of tape on my watch and marked where the Gatoraid was. This was enormously helpful as my plan changed.
2) Gu every 60 minutes was perfect. My stomach did get a little queasy but I kept eating which I think paid dividedness in the closing miles, and I never felt like I hit the wall.
3) The taper is the hardest part of the training. Take it seriously and maybe even shorten it a little.
4) The speedwork and cross training works, keep up with it.
5) Follow the program to the T. Don’t skip runs, don’t get arrogant. Just do the work.
6) Get to the start plenty early. Sitting around before the race is one of the fun parts
7) If you know it’s not your day accept it early and make the necessary pace adjustments.

26.2 miles/4:05:04/avg 9:21