Arrived in Richland, WA for the Tri-Cities marathon on Saturday afternoon. Signs you're at a small marathon: - No expo, just a packet pickup line in the host hotel.
- On check-in, the hotel clerk asks if you're with the marathon. When you respond yes, they let you know your "special" checkout time is 2pm (yeah!).
- While walking your dogs in some grass across the parking lot from your hotel room, you stumble across "the" finish arch lying in said grass, next to the sponsoring club's trailer.
- Race morning you walk the 50 yards (max) to the gathering area before walking another 50 yards to the start line on the road.
- You finish in the same parking lot you're vehicle is parked in.
Really a nice small marathon though, although I've found myself drawn to the nicer smaller affairs over the monstrous behemoths that require navigating crowds and waiting. These folks even managed a (mediocre) pasta buffet at the hotel restaurant the evening before, where Dianna and I met up with David Nelson, who I'd somehow conned into skipping Portland to run this marathon with me (thanks David!). Race morning was gorgeous, low 40s temps, clear skies and a touch of breeze (which would unfortunately increase later). The route consisted of a bit of road running, 4 bridge crossings over 3 different bridges, and miles of paved biking/walking trails along the mighty Columbia river. Advertised as mostly flat and fast, the best opportunity for a sub-3 attempt here in Washington. David and I started together with at most 200 other marathoners and marathon relay runners (which made figuring out placings impossible, but my goal was strictly for time, not place). At the voice of the starter (no bullhorn or starter gun....another small marathon sign!), we were off. Splits by garmin (which came a bit before the mile markers starting pretty much with mile 1):
- Mile 1 (6:50) - Despite wanting to start of slow, we managed to go out fast and hit goal pace on the nose.
- Mile 2 (7:06) - Climb to the first bridge crossing in this mile. Plus, we held back a bit more.
- Mile 3 (6:50) - Descent from the bridge and onto the roadway paralleling the river.
- Mile 4 (6:43) - A bit of downhill to the picture point. Nice and early so we're still looking pretty good.
- Mile 5 (6:47) - Feeling some crosswinds....should've known that since they weren't bugging us, we'd be paying on the return trip.
- Mile 6 (6:53) - If David wasn't keeping his head for the both of us, I would've pushed too hard in this stretch and paid dearly later.
- Mile 7 (6:49) - Aside from the near collision David had with a relay spectator congratulating a runner that just made a handoff in the middle of the course, uneventful. First GU.
- Mile 8 (6:53) - Finally see our second bridge coming up.
- Mile 9 (6:51) - A bit meaner crosswind on the bridge, but we push the pace a bit to get up and over the bridge in good time.
- Mile 10 (6:48) - Ouch.....nasty headwinds start here. Plus, some of this stretch is concrete, which I'm starting to feel in my feet and legs.
- Mile 11 (6:55) - We see the leader running strongly headed back in the opposite direction from the turnaround from this 2.5 mile out and back stretch.
- Mile 12 (6:45) - Halfway through this mile, we hit the turnaround and finally reap the benefit from the headwind that just became a tailwind. I don't *feel* benefitted!
- Mile 13 (6:45) - As David pointed out, the tailwind gives us a push that makes it easy to hit our splits.
- Halfway (1:29:43) - Aiming for 1:29:30 at the half, so only 13 seconds behind. Feeling good and conservative.
- Mile 14 (6:47) - Weren't we just here? Second GU.
- Mile 15 (6:49) - Long desolate stretch along the river. Commented that I was feeling good after not feeling so great the last
couple of miles. Immediately regretted voicing that for fear of
jinxing myself.
- Mile 16 (7:11) - Approaching the third bridge at the far end of the course. Turning onto the bridge, the winds hit hard. Sinuses start freezing up and this mile was tough. Trying to block wind for David, who was having a hard mile.
- Mile 17 (6:59) - Down from the bridge through the not so nice section of town, across some gravel and sand to get ourselves back on the trail. Trying to drag David along but he says to go.
- Mile 18 (6:54) - Headwind is just plain nasty. It probably wasn't all that bad, but running alone made it tough mentally.
- Mile 19 (6:51) - Really starting to feel the miles on my legs. Making the mental computations, knew I needed to make up some time to get below 3 hours, so desperately trying to keep miles at 6:50 or below.
- Mile 20 (6:51) - Third GU.
- Mile 21 (6:50) - Really fighting the negative mental thoughts here. Mind was trying to tell me below 3 was not possible but I resisted. Mightly.
- Mile 22 (6:55) - Ouch. Didn't remember that the outbound stretch here had some mild downhill that now was uphill into the dang wind.
- Mile 23 (6:56) - Form is taking some serious hits here when my mind wanders, so I'm really trying to focus, stay strong and most importantly positive. Difficult.
- Mile 24 (6:59) - Ouch. At the base of the bridge climb to the homestretch. Took a last GU hoping for a kick in the pants. Feeling a bit dehydrated despite drinking at every aid stations (every 2 miles).
- Mile 25 (6:40) - After the climb to the bridge, felt like the crossing was a bit downhill, probably because the wind was no longer head-on. Came out the other side and managed to advantage the downhill with a bit of speed. Knew it was going to be really, really, really close. Legs starting to get wobbly.
- Mile 26 (6:36) - Chewed up some roadkill here, which helped, but mostly was just suffering increasingly badly....no real concept of time or pace here, just putting one foot in front of the other as fast as possible. Some guy jogs up and asks if I want him to run me in....manage to gasp yes, I *need* to beat 3 hours. He says it'll be really close. I start to do something close to sprint effort.
- Final 0.2 (1:04) - Nothing but pain....breathing pattern gone. Form gone. Just moving towards the finish. Doesn't look like I'll make it since the clock says 2:59:48 and I'm still about 30 seconds away.....still trying.....oh wait, that's 2:58:--.....keep running!!!
- Second half (1:29:34) - Negative split by 9 seconds.
Crossed in 2:59:17, stopped and tried to breath with my hands on my knees, and promptly fell. Another sign it's a small race.....not being swarmed by medics! They even took my race bib tag while I was still on the ground :). After a minute, I managed to regain enough of my composure to stop my watch at 3:00:40. Shortly thereafter with a bit of help, managed to stand and get my finisher medal, then hobbled over to my wife who took over from there. Honestly wasn't real sure I'd made it so I know I asked her several times if I'd made it under 3. I figure this race ranks #1 for me in finishing effort and leaving it all out there. I really wanted to head back out to help run David in but just didn't have anything left....my legs were shot, my foot was hurting (started around mile 23), and I was just exhausted...and hungry. But David didn't need me and ran a huge PR and a great race. I just know I owe some of my success in this race to his wise pacing in the early miles.
Found out at the awards ceremony that I took 1st in my AG (35-39), so a bonus commemorative glass. No idea what my overall placing was but given the fact that the race was so small, probably deceptively high. Needless to say, I'm just beside myself that I made it under 3 hours and feel like the work I put in over the last year has paid off. I know I'm really lucky that the weather (aside from the winds) was so nice and everthing came together at the right time in a fall when so many were stymied by conditions. Thanks to everyone for all the support I've gotten these past several months....as a lone runner without a local support network, it helps tremendously. Now, it's time to bask for a while and figure out what my next goal is going to be. P.S. Note to self: Abbreviated taper/peak worked well. A mere 25% reduction 2 weeks out and a second 25% reduction (total 50%) for the week of the marathon before race day worked well, keeping the intensity up and only tapering that a few days prior. Also keeping the normal schedule (no rest days, 1-3 double days) worked well.
| Adrenaline 8 (Blue) |
410.43 miles |
| Asics 2130 (Blue) |
217.70 miles |
| NB 903 |
203.46 miles |
| Adrenaline 8 (Green) |
36.33 62.53miles |
| Brooks T3 Racer(Red) |
|
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