My First Marathon - 2/15/09
It was somewhere around the beginning of November 2008 when I started seriously considering giving the marathon a try. I had run a few half marathons during the last two years, and really enjoyed that distance. But a friend of mine really wanted to give it a try, so I decided to commit.
After running a half marathon at the beginning of November and December, I put my full focus on the Austin marathon being run on February 15th with the goal of breaking 4 hours. Unfortunately, about 3 days after dropping $100 and registering for the race, I developed ITB syndrome during the running of the half marathon in December. I quickly researched (including the Phedip discussion group on Google) the injury online to figure out what to do. Not to bore you with the details, along with some reduced miles, I performed stretches and foam roller exercises every day for two months. I still wouldn’t consider the injury healed, but would describe it as 90% healed. Good enough to race, right?
This being my first marathon, my goal was to finish in under 4 hours. Having never raced this distance before, this seemed like a fair goal. Having mentioned it to the leader of the running group I frequently attended, I received a very ambiguous response. Having seen me run, he either thought I was out of my mind to even consider such an ambitious goal or thought I was capable of a much better time. I never asked him, so I guess I will never know! I decided I would start by trailing the 3:50 pace group, then adjust based on how I felt later in the race. However, I promised myself I would not go out too fast, as I have read enough race reports and heard enough horror stories to know that that was the number one cause of broken marathon dreams.
The temperature that morning started off as wonderful, with a starting time temperature of about 55 degrees with clouds and a slight northerly breeze. The Austin Marathon used to be a fast course, with a point to point setup that was largely downhill. However, a few years back the organizers decided to make it a loop course to showcase more of the city. Unfortunately for the runners, this meant a pretty hilly course. This years setup was particularly challenging due to a rerouting of the final few miles to accommodate an event being held at the University of Texas the entire weekend. This meant a substantial hill right after the 24 mile marker, as well as another smaller hill about 1/2 mile from the finish.
I stood at the starting line with two of my training pals, Mike and Sean. Mike was the friend who convinced me to run this race, while Sean was a neighbor that had 6 or so marathons under his belt. For whatever reason, the race started about 15 minutes late, which was a little annoying, but no big deal. The race began in downtown Austin and proceeded 3 miles south up a gradual hill. It was pretty crowded, with about 8000 half marathoners and 4300 marathoners. We crossed over a one lane street to the parallel street to head back downtown. That crossover street was so crowded we almost had to walk to avoid hurting ourselves. However, once we turned onto 1st street heading back downtown, all was well, as the gradual downhill helped me get back on my target pace.
By the time we started heading west, the course flattened out for a wonderful 2.5 miles. The crowds were building and I was feeling extremely fresh. We were even with the 3:50 group, and I could sense my running partners were itching to go faster. I told them I refused and that I would be staying with this pace group at least through the 13 mile mark, probably even a few miles further. Around mile 10, I saw a few folks from my running group, “Al’s Ship of Fools” cheering us along Exposition Blvd., which felt good, but when I saw my wife and children at mile 11, I was very excited. They had made signs the night before and were screaming “Go Daddy, Go Daddy.” About 1 mile later I saw my brother and two crazy friends, who were jumping and blowing whistles as we jogged by. A few miles after that, the Ship of Fools leader and his wife Sandy were cheering us on. What a great feeling. All that support almost made me forget that miles 11 through 14 were filled with some pretty tough hills. Welcome to Austin!
The course continued gradually uphill until 18.5 miles, and my running partner and I had begun to run ahead of the 3:50 pace group. I was feeling great. Keeping a comfortable pace early in the race was definitely paying dividends now. I saw my wife and daughters again around mile 19, and I stopped to give them a quick kiss. After another mile, I saw Coach Al and Sandy again, and at mile 21 my brother jumped in to help pace us home. Of course, my lunatic friends made another appearance at this point as well, with one of them running along side us with a huge checkered flag for about 2 blocks. At this point, I honestly felt a 4 hour marathon was a certainty.
The course was downhill from 21.5-24, and I continued running the negative splits I started a few miles back. I knew there was one more huge hill just past mile 24, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t feeling any lack of energy at all, which was really surprising to me. As I turned the corner and looked up the huge hill, I started to get emotional. I wasn’t concerned about crying in front of all the cheering fans, but I realized my emotions were making it hard to breath! I closed my eyes and told myself to pull it together for two more miles. As I looked up, I saw my sister-in-law and my goddaughter, who looked surprised and excited to see me running at this pace. I was well in front of the 3:50 pace group, and I caught up to my friend Sean who told me the 3:45 group was not far ahead.
I made it up the hill with a little struggle, but I didn’t have to walk at all. At the top of the hill, I felt pretty good. After a little walk through a water stop, I took off running. Once I got going again, I found the 3:45 pace group up ahead and decided I would catch them, which I did at the 25.5 mark. I barely stopped at the last water stop and started sprinting. I have never had a feeling like this before, but I swear it felt like my legs were never touching the ground. I was passing people all the way to the finish. I did it! Chip time was 3:43.31. I am completely hooked on marathons. I have already checked to see that as a 40 year old I need 3:20 to qualify for Boston. I have identified a marathon in April that I hopefully will be able to run. They say do what you love and the money will follow - is it possible for a 40 year old to make money running?
