Nov 11 2008
Marine Corp Bifecta in the Books
I wonder if anyone else has completed both of these races back to back? The marine corp half in Jax, Fl. and then the real deal 26.2 in Washington DC. 2 good races to run if you get the chance. Well, the 1/2 in Jax was nothing more than part of my normal preparation for a marathon. I set a PR of 1:43, although I had plenty left in the tank. Breaking 1:40 I think is very doable down the road. Leading up to MCM (Marine Corp Marathon), I was in New Orleans the prior week for a sales meeting. It was difficult to focus as everything revolved around drinking as usual and I had to stay away from the party scene. I even got in a 4 miler on thursday in the rain as my last tune up run. New Orleans is not known for safe streets, lets just say that, so I was thankful I survived. It was actually a very neat run as a circled the french quarter a couple of times. The trip to DC was tough. I flew into Atlanta Friday night, harrowing lets say, the fog and clouds were just feet off the ground, and then I drove 5 hours to Florence, SC to stay the night. The rain followed and it took another 6 hours to DC the next day. The highlight was meeting Bart Yasso at the expo, that was pretty cool. I shook his hand and talked to him a few minutes. I had just read his book “My Life on the Run” and it helped me stay inspired to train for this race. By the time I got my race packet and got to my hotel, it was past 7 o’clock on sat night. Next time I am flying damnit! I took the metro to the race course the following morning, and it was chilly, in the low 40’s. This would be my 3rd marathon in less than 11 months. This time I was going to run with a ClifBar pace group and decided on the 340 team. I never did see the sign up booth, but I saw the team show up about 5 minutes before the gun went off. I shook Bill the pace leader’s hand and told him good luck, (probably what he should have been telling me).
I used all sorts of calculators including McMillan, Runner’s World, and my own brain to set a realistic goal. I had run a 343:33 on a fairly difficult course in Nashville in April, but my training was slightly off and the prior week wasn’t all that great for marathon running(New Orleans isn’t a fitness city). I really wanted to pursue a sub 330, but you have to be 1) Realistic and 2) Humble when you approach a marathon. The bottom line was 1) I wanted to finish the race (I didn’t drive 11 hours to pull a hamstring and bow out at mile 4). 2) I wanted to PR, and 3) I wanted to run a marathon the right way. Meaning, find the right pace, and stick to it the whole way. Don’t go hard early and hold on, which I did the first two times. I struck up a conversation with Anthony from N.J. who was running in the 340 group. He said he was coming off of a 3:41 effort in Philadelphia, but he did say his training was off. The gun went off and it was chaotic, there were corrals, but no one policed them and anyone could come and go. It was tight running, like the Peachtree road race. Anthony and I were talking and next thing we know, Bill the pace leader is almost a 100 yards ahead of us. My Garmin quickly said we were running a 730 pace or better, what the hell was Bill doing Anthony and I said? We had to trust the system and fought through the pack, winding our way through the group, to no avail. We were deeply behind, but could still see the baloons and vowed to attack when it opened up. It took literally to mile 6 to catch the group and then we lost him again. He would go in spurts it seemed, and if you weren’t paying attention, he was gone and you were bottled up again in the pack and could not catch up quickly. Finally at mile 9, Anthony and I were right on his heels. Amazingly, he was surrounded by a bunch of women, all over him to be exact. We hung close to him, but every 2 miles, we would lose ground. Why, was the pace to tough for us?? No! Every time we got to a water stop, it was like running with the bulls in Spain! Not that I’ve done it, but it was chaos. It was very tight, people criss-crossing in front of you. You try and grab some water or powerade and then you see Bill is gone again 30-40 yards ahead. Well, Anthony said he could not drink on the run, and he ran with bottles around his waist, but he was very polite and always slowed down to wait for me. Being the MCM, I said never leave a man behind! Well, we kept playing catch up and we hit the halfway point just behind the pace leader. He was a solid 2 minutes or more ahead, and I knew our pace was good. At mile 14, I could tell Anthony was starting to fatigue. I was pushing to get to the lead pack, and he was struggling to stay with me. At mile 15, he was right behind as I made a 730 pace push to get back into the pack as the crowd had started to thin some. About 2-3 minutes later, I looked back and he was nowhere in sight. I felt bad, leaving him behind, but I knew the pace was good and I had to maintain it. After I beat through the wall, miles 18-20, I was right with Bill. The once logjam of 40-50 runners hovering around him had dwindled down to 8-10. As we made our way through Crystal City, around mile 22, I was right next to him. We were what seemed like blowing by people. Our pace was the same, but everyone else was either walking or hanging on. I was fatigued, but felt strong. The last water stop was around mile 24, and this was my only mistake of the race. It was still somewhat crowded as I had to fight through walkers, people that went out too strong and were paying the penalty. Bill did not stop, and he was gone again, basically running solo. I shouldn’t have stopped there. He had me by 40-50 yards again and it would be tough to catch him at this stage. At mile 25, my calves started cramping badly. One then the other, then both. I decided not to pursue him, but I would still break 340. My virtual partner on my Garmin was still 2 minutes ahead and I was still logging an 815-820 pace. It was amazing how many people I passed, walkers everywhere! Hey, I’ve been there, let me tell you, but not this time! Even with cramps, I could see the finish line and fought through the pain. The finish at the MCM, is a short double hill, maybe a few hundred yards at most, and it is fairly steep. It is to symbolize the Marines taking Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. The calves were not cool with this steep incline and I literally hobbled up the finish. When it flattened the last few hundred feet, I sprinted to the finish knowing I was seconds from breaking 340. I finished in 3:40:02. Bill, the pace leader, finished in 3:39:21. It was a proud moment. I even got interviewed by some dude from somewhere asking how the pace group experience went. I would say that less than 5 or 6 of us finished with the pace leader. The experience was great, I feel like I accomplished the goal, but I did not keep up with him. The cramps cost me. I did look online to see Anthony finished in 3:50, so I was glad to see that. He must have caught on with the 3:50 pace group. Throughout the race, I made a point to thank all the Marines and let them know that I was thankful for them and what they do. They look so young! Until the next marathon, possibly Jan 11 at Disney World in Orlando, I’ll let you know what my strategy is going in. I’ll also share in my upcoming blog my training coming into this race and what I think are the real keys to setting realistic goals and training properly, while having a life! See you on the road!