Planned: 26.2mi @ between 8:00 and 9:00
Actual: 26.2mi @ ~8:13;
Official Time: 3:35:15

Experience is a big part of running a race like the marathon. The first time I ran, I didn’t have any. And I didn’t do any research about how to train, eat, or think. I didn’t prepare. I was an arrogant twat.

Lessons learned after marathon number one:

• Racing flats intended for 3 mile races are way too thin for a 26 mile race. You will feel every bump in the road, and your feet won’t like it.


• Do not eat everything handed to you including — but not limited to — an entire orange, a banana, or an ice cream sandwich.


• Do not drink at every water station.


• Chafing will happen. Prepare for it. Your nipples and crotch will thank you.


• Gels need to be eaten only when they can be quickly followed by water unless you want to look like a dog with peanut butter on the roof of its mouth for the next five minutes.

I honestly don’t think yesterday’s race could have gone any better. EW and I got dropped off at the starting line by SF which completely bypassed all the anxiety that comes with trying to coordinate shuttles and navigating a city that you don’t know at all (and allowed us to get up at 4:30 instead of 3:30). I immediately got in line for the bathroom. By the time I was out, they were moments away from the starting gun.

I got to my corral, waited for about 30 seconds, and the gun went off. Everyone walked to the starting line before starting to run (which was nice…and we weren’t that far from the line to begin with). I remembered to start my Garmin and iPod at the line instead of several minutes into the race thus making the pace information pretty accurate. And for the first 21 miles I felt great. I couldn’t believe it. During all of my long runs my legs had started to hurt after about 12 to 14 miles so this didn’t make much sense. But I didn’t question it.

Then, as others have pointed out, everything changed. Miles 21-26 were a psychological battle. I made several threats to myself — that if I walked, I would force myself to run another marathon; that if I walked, the last six months would have been completely wasted; that if I didn’t give everything that I had to finish the race in good time that I would never respect myself. I guess it worked, because I kept going albeit pretty slow.

At mile 25, I told myself that I no longer needed to reserve anything and that the only sensible thing was to go all out. I did. Unfortunately, “all out” wasn’t all that fast by then. And when I saw a giant banner in the distance, I upped the pace only to discover that this banner marked the final 1/2 mile. I was pissed, but kept going.

Finally, I crossed the line, staggered through the handing out of wet towels, medals, chip removal, bag pick up, water bottle and space blanket pickup, free sandal pickup, watermelon pickup, and finally over to the “Reunion” area were I wandered around in circles afraid that if I sat down, I would pass out and choke on my own vomit and no one would notice. When SF showed up, he led me over to some shade which turned out to be right next to a Medical Station. This was a good thing as it turned out that, despite my being careful with gels, water, and sports drinks, my body chemistry was way out of whack.

When we got home, I slept for three hours straight.

Lessons learned from marathon number two:

• Figure out how to sleep more than three hours the night before the race. The use of drugs may be necessary.


• Shot blocks may be convenient, but gels are way more effective at giving you a boost. Two minutes after consumption of a gel, you will feel like Superman.


• Gels taste like crap by mile 17. Consider the “plain” flavor as you get near the end.


• If you have to visit a Medical Tent at the end of the race, they will lay you down on a cot, put giant bags of ice in your armpits and crotch and you will like it.

I should also throw out there that EW came in at 3:32:49 (a full two and half minutes faster than me) which seems like we would have seen each other at some point during the race (but we didn’t). Keep in mind that EW doesn’t train specifically for running. He lifts weights, spins, and runs when he feels like it. So that time is REMARKABLE. I would love to see what happens if he broke from tradition and gave up the other stuff for a running specific schedule — just for one race. Heck, he could still do some weights and spinning on cross training days if he wanted. What do you say?

As for me, I’m out. I basically ran my dream race. I feel no obligation to continue with this marathon ridiculousness — at least not for a couple of years. I’m perfectly happy with 5Ks, 10Ks and half-marathons where I don’t have to seek medical attention when I’m done running.

Thanks to everyone who reads these admittedly tedious entries. I know there’s not a lot of you, but you guys really help with motivation, both for the running and the writing. You rock.

I’m taking a week off. At least. I’ll let you know the plan for the next race when I return. Heck, I might repeat the race that started this whole thing last year in July: a mercifully short 5K along the beach. My God. The prospect of a simple 3.1 miles brings a tear to my eye.

For those interested in race details:

Bib: 7860
Chip Time: 3:35:15
Clock Time: 3:38:14
10K Split: 49:56
Half Split: 1:45:50
21 Mile Split: 2:50:24
Overall Rank: 1025
Sex Rank: 856
Division Rank: 138
Pace: 8:13
Total Race: 15958
Total Division: 1348
Total Sex: 7729
Age Grade: 58%

This entry was posted on Monday, June 4th, 2007 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.