Blog of a Middle Aged Athlete

As many of you know, after my last marathon in Fort Worth, I had decided to ease up on the training a bit.  I had still been running long on the weekends, including a couple of 30k trail races, but my weekly mileage was in the 30-33 mile range.  Good for keeping fit, but not exactly marathon training miles.

About a month ago, my friend, neighbor and running partner Sean (see his report here) mentioned he was given a pass for the weekend (from his wife), and thought it would be fun to go run a marathon somewhere.  It took me all of about 2 seconds to agree to run one with him, and we decided on the Sunburst Marathon in South Bend, IN.  We chose this race for a few reasons.  First, it was on a weekend that we both had free of any conflicts (anniversaries, father’s day, summer trips, etc.).  Second, we could easily get a direct flight into Chicago from Austin, and make the quick drive to South Bend from there.  Lastly, we thought spending a night in Chicago post-race would be a perfect way to celebrate the finish.

The flight up to Chicago went without a hitch.  After an unbelievable lunch at a local Italian restaurant with my grandfather, Sean and I were on the road to South Bend.  Traffic was a bit of a challenge at times, but we rolled into the hotel at about 5pm.  We quickly walked to the College Football Hall of Fame, where we picked up our race packets and shirts. After dropping the stuff at the hotel, we walked over to the minor league ballpark, where they were having “Carbs at the Cove,” a special pasta dinner for the racers.  Surprising to this Italian, the ballpark pasta was pretty good.  We stayed for about five innings before walking back to the hotel to call it a night.  After all, the race started at 6am, which with the time change was 5am to us.

We had been watching the weather all week.  When I checked on Monday, the early morning temperature was going to be in the upper 50s.  Pretty nice for June.  However, the closer we got to race day, the warmer that morning temperature going.  Also, it looked like the humidity was going to spike from 70% pre-dawn to 90% at race time.  Uh oh!  Time to change race strategy!

Knowing that the weather was less than optimal (officially on wunderground.com, 6am temp-65 degrees, humidity 93%), we decided to take it easy during the first half of the race, then see how things felt.  Because I hadn’t been in true marathon training mode for a few months, I just wanted to be sure I enjoyed myself and finished strong.

The course began in downtown South Bend, then meandered through a few little neighborhoods before following the St. Joseph river south.  Although there were a few hills on this course, I thought overall it was pretty flat.  It was clear after the first few miles that I was losing a lot of water, and made sure to stop at every water stop, which for the most part seemed to be about every mile or so.  I was running at a very comfortable pace, resisting the urge to go fast at the start.

Mile 1: 8:27

Mile 2: 8:16

Mile 3: 8:07

Mile 4: 8:19

Mile 5: 8:17

Mile 6: 8:14

Mile 7: 8:17

Mile 8: 8:18

Mile 9: 8:17

Mile 10: 8:08

We had managed through the first 10 miles, and I really didn’t feel that bad.  Sure, it looked like I had taken a shower with my running clothes on, but I was feeling pretty good and wasn’t having a difficult time keeping an even pace.  I was starting to think about race strategy.  I knew I wanted to negative split, but had not decided when I would try to pick up the pace.  I guess in the back of my mind, I would see how I felt at mile 16, and maybe push it a little then.

Mile 11: 8:12

Mile 12: 8:17

Mile 13: 8:03

Mile 14: 8:14

Mile 15: 8:12

Mile 16: 8:11

It was at this point that Sean decided to pick up the pace a little bit.  I was still holding my pace pretty well, but it seemed a lot harder than it should have.  I decided to let him go, but try to keep him in my sights.  Perhaps if I could finish strong, perhaps I could catch him at the end…

Mile 17: 8:10

Mile 18: 8:08

Mile 19: 8:18

The heat and humidity were finally getting to me when I approached mile 20.  It was around here when I decided to start walking through the water stops.  I was definitely starting to hit the wall, but I was still able to run between the water stops pretty well, so instead of counting down the miles, I just tried to make it to the next water stop.

Mile 20: 8:36

Mile 21: 8:22

Mile 22: 8:22

I was starting to really crash here, but managed to hang on.  I was passed by a woman being paced by her husband.  I could only guess she was trying to run a BQ at 3:40.  I let her go, but found two guys ahead of me and decided they were my competition.  I would pass them while I was running, but they would pass me through the water stops.

Mile 23: 8:36

Mile 24: 8:53

Mile 25: 9:22

As we hit mile 25, I kept looking for the Notre Dame football stadium.   Once I saw it in the distance, I knew I was close.  I passed a bag piper playing the ND fight song, and crowds were beginning to line the course (finally!).

Mile 26: 8:43

As we turned the corner to run through the tunnel leading into the stadium, I began to pass one of my competitors.  I tapped him on the back and waved my arm.  “Come on!” I said to him, urging him to finish strong.

.2 + Garmin Bonus:  approx 4 min (I forgot to hit stop on the watch!)

My final time was 3:40:57.  Far from a PR or a BQ, and about 10 minutes from what I thought I was capable of for this race.  However, I am not too disappointed with the time given the conditions.

The marathon is a tough distance.  How I felt emotionally and physically during this race were all over the board.   There is always the adrenaline rush at the start, the early, fun and pain free miles during the first portion of the race, and the struggle at some point during the last few miles.  There is always a thought that I could have run it better, and yet while I was out there, I felt like I did the best I could.  It is an amazing distance, and I am looking forward to my next one in October.