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Yesterday I ran my 2nd marathon, finishing the National Marathon in D.C. in 3:28:38. My goal (at the end of training) was a sub-3:30. So, mission accomplished! My 1st marathon was a disaster and one that I rarely like to talk about. I completed the 2007 MCM in 4:39:39. In that race I made the huge mistake of walking-off my sore feet, which eventually led to me tightening up and walking the last 10. Stupid and frustrating. But, this time was different. My training went really well, and I was a much faster and lighter runner, totally prepared to run 26.2 miles.  Here’s my race day report:

PRE-RACE

Since the race was at 7:00 and I would be driving to it (~40 min. trip), I woke up at 3:15 to give me plenty of time to get ready. “Ready” meaning that I could give my bowels a chance to do their thing, as I was ready with everything else. I also wanted to get to the race parking lot early to beat the road closures, giving myself breathing room if I were to make a wrong turn in D.C. (which I did the day before at packet pickup; very frustrating). The race promoters heavily urged the use of the D.C. metro system, which opened at 5:00. But, from my nearest subway station the trip would taken ~1:00. I didn’t want to get to the event amongst the masses with reduced chances at using the “facilities” again, if needed. When I did get to the start site, I was pleasantly surprised that they had opened up the D.C. Armory building (the packet pickup site). It was cold outside (high 20s to low 30s), and I was glad that I didn’t have to stand around with my teeth chattering. The old D.C. Armory is like a gym inside with wood flooring (to lounge/stretch on) and the 4 restrooms were a god-send. We weren’t forced to use the porta-potties outside. Yay!

At 6:30 I had my only breakfast and fluid, as I downed 1 Orange GU with about 4oz of water.  I had placed 5 Orange GUs into the back pockets of my RaceReady tights.  My plan was to consume just 4, one each at Miles 5, 11, 17, and 21.  As 7:00 got closer we filed outside and got into our corrals. I initially placed myself at the beginning of the 7:45-8:30 pace corral. I had paced at 7:41 in my 20.28 training run, so I figured I was where I should be. Then I saw the the 3:40 (overall finish) pace group next to me. So, I moved up closer to the 3:20 pace group, since I wanted a 3:2* finish time. Of course, as usual people got into the front corrals that should’ve been in the back, and that’s why my first mile was slower that desired …

RACE

2009 National Marathon Mile Splits

I wore my Garmin Forerunner 305 and started my laps when I stepped on the starting mat.  The first mile was inundated with runners, as expected, but I resisted from doing my normal, excessive weaving through race traffic.  Oh, I passed quite a few, but didn’t spend a whole lot of energy in the process.  I would need the energy later.  After the clogged initial mile, I was able to make up some time over miles 2 and 3.  I had to pull in the reigns a bit when I saw my 7:10 3rd mile.  I had promised myself not to go out too fast.

Oh, the temperature was in the 30s to start, and I had decided to wear my compression long sleeved shirt, a technical t-shirt on top of it, and another light moisture wicking zip-up long sleeved jacket to top it off.  Compression tights on the bottom too, plus moisture wicking gloves and non-moisture wicking winter hat.  I debated using the outermost jacket layer, and shouldn’t have, and I even stubbornly pinned my bib on it, straddling the zipper.  But, I had prepared for the eventual ditching of the jacket.  I had even stuck a few extra pins on my jacket, just in case a bib-transfer (to the technical t-shirt) went bad.

It was around mile 4 when I tucked my gloves into my jacket pockets for good, and I prepared to have my 1st Orange GU at the mile 5 water station.  The GU and water went down fine, despite drinking from cups, which is different from training with flasks.

Miles 5 - 7 were the only major “hills”, if you will.  Definitely more hilly than my training, but nothing too hard.

Around mile 8 we were pumped up by the rhythmic hip-hop of a group of energized supporters.  I even started juking around, running crazy like, just to let them know that we appreciated their enthusiasm.

Around miles 9 and 10 I knew I would be ditching my jacket, gloves, and hat at the 1/2 way point.  Running with half-marathoners is usually packed, but the fact that we’d all be running to-or-near the finish line at 13.1 was great for full-marathoners throwing clothes for later pickup.

I was right on pace through mile 11, as I consumed my 2nd Orange GU with water.  My mile 12 may have been slower as I ran with my head down, as I did the fun task of transferring my bib to my technical t-shirt while running.  I thought I had it all planned out.  When we were close to the stadium (RFK - former Redskins place and start/finish area outside), I would ditch my jacket with hat and gloves inside the pockets…  Well, I ended up ditching my stuff near a parking lot that I thought would be closest to mine.  But, it turned out that we ran into my parking lot too, nearly 15 yards from my car.  Doh!  (My stuff got picked up by someone else; no biggy)

My 1/2 split was 1:39:48.  Right on schedule.  I start fast and finish slow.  Yeah, I need to work on that next time.  As you can see, I started to slow down quite a bit after the half way point.  But, I managed to keep my pace under 8:00 for 16 miles, so I knew I had an excellent shot for 3:2*.

Around miles 17 - 19 we had to deal with a guy who would make a hacking cough noise on alternating exhales.  It was deflating to be around him.  It sounded like he was dying, but he was running fine otherwise.  I just hate being around that, as it makes me feel exhausted just listening.  I took turns following another runner and even he looked puzzled at the hacking guy.  Oh, I had my 3rd Orange GU (or at least 2/3 of it) at mile 17, washed down with some blue PowerAde.

My 4th and final Orange GU (not counting the one 30 mins before the race) came at the 21 or 22 mile mark, again washed down with blue PowerAde.  Shortly thereafter, D.C. Mayor Fenty passed me.  He was looking strong too.  He ended up with a 3:25:46.  I believe his PR was a 3:3* in last year’s MCM.  He’s getting faster and stronger.  I mumbled “Great job, Mr. Fenty”, but he probably didn’t hear me.

Miles 21 - 25 were a struggle I must admit.  I heard a guy tell his buddy that these miles would be the hardest.  I was feeling fine, until I heard that.  ;-)  But, I remembered all the hard work I put into my training.  I refused to give in to any temptation to take a break.  I made that mistake in my first marathon, aforementioned.  Plus, I had a lot of people virtually looking at me.  All my well-wishing Twitter followers expected me to have a good race.  I wouldn’t let them down.  There were some rolling hills between miles 24 and 25, but nothing too difficult.  Just annoying when you’re tired.

I actually picked it up the last mile, as I was running light and upright.  I knew I had it “in the bag”, even though I was only 1:22 below a 3:30 at the end.  I had crossed the start line 1:10 after the gun, so the race timer showed 3:29:** as I neared the stretch.  I picked it up just to be sure that I finished below 3:30, gun or chip time.

3:28:38 .  I’ll take it.

The hardest part was walking back to the car.  I knew I would tighten up.  I guess I need to practice eating breakfast for my next race, whenever that is.  Thanks to all for your support and reading this rambling post.  I may post another which reflects back on my training…

andy running marathon