Saturday, February 07, 2015

Two is Company

Between May and October 2014 I trained rigorously to run a marathon with the FTM program run by the MCRRC.  From the outset I kept my focus on running the Marine Corps Marathon. I had no thoughts of running another marathon. Completing one marathon in itself seemed an insurmountable challenge for someone that struggled to complete a mere 15 miles.

By late October, I had successfully completed my first marathon. As recommended by my coaches, I took time off from running for a whole week. I cleared my mind of all thoughts of running! But as hard as I tried, it was impossible to avoid a particular thought for too long. Very early in November, I sent an email to the coordinator of Potomac River Run Marathon, Jay Jacob Wind, about getting in.

The Potomac River Run Marathon is a small local race. To avoid a lot of county support and legalities and regulations associated with large congregations, the race is limited to about 300 participants. The course for this race is also very simple; run a 13.1 mile course twice to complete a marathon! As the trail runs along the Potomac River, it is nearly a flat track starting from Carderock to just past Chain Bridge in Washington DC. This race is a Boston Qualifier, which means the timing from this race could be used to qualify for Boston Marathon, one of the most prestigious marathon races in the world!

I was past the closing date for registration but I explained to Jay that I would do anything to get in.
  • I was local.
  • I needed no pickup and drop-off.
  • I needed no parking, someone will drop me.
  • No regular time slot left, no problem, I will start at 7AM, 2 hours early even if the actual race started at 9AM!
In short I was the ideal last minute addition to this race. The race had staggered timings with folks competing for a prize starting at 9AM, and folks like me that were slow and merely participating, starting earlier.

I got accepted. Dang; Damn; I am stupid. I now had to run another marathon!

In the subsequent two weeks, I had barely three practice runs with no run being longer than 6 miles! Additionally, I did not have appropriate running gear for cold weather. The weather till late October was mostly cool whereas the temperatures at the start of this race was around 30F and stayed in the low 30s rest of the day. In short I was an under prepared, improperly attired for the occasion, 1-time marathoner, trying to run his 2nd marathon. I layered as best as I could, but I am sure I presented an odd figure wearing sweat pants to a marathon!

J and M dropped me off at the race start at about 6:30AM. I told them to not come back before 12:30PM as I did not expect to complete much faster than my timing for MCM 2014 (5 Hours 38 minutes). Well, my conservative estimate proved optimistic. More on that later.

Due to its small size, this race was also a lot less informal. At the outset, a gentleman played the Star Spangled Banner on his Sax. Jay made a short speech and then blew the whistle. That was it and about 40 odd runners that included me, started running. It was cold; although oddly dressed, I felt I was adequately layered.

I fell in with two ladies that were at my pace. One of them was running the half-marathon (running the track once) and the other, like me, was running it twice. As I fell in conversation, I learned that one of them was on the W&OD Board. I do not remember the names of either of the ladies, but by co-relating the results, I believe the lady that ran the half marathon must have been Anne.

I believe, I ran a fast quarter than I intended. I should have taken 82 minutes, but I was nearly 3 minutes faster. I was never a good pace setter and I ended up running 12 minute miles that came to hurt me later in the race. During the 2nd quarter, I ran a slower race, and at the half way mark, the time was 2 hours and 43 minutes. But the damage was done and during the second half, I struggled very much. I remembered the the wise words of Conroy, the FTM coordinator, about running 15 seconds faster that the LSD (Long Slow Distance) pace during the first 10 miles results in as much as 2 minutes a mile slower pace during the second half. He was right. Additionally, I was alone with no one to talk to and take my mind of the pain. And I was in pain, it seemed everywhere.

For a marathon I have 3 goals
  1. Completion
  2. Completion under 6 hours
  3. Completion under 5 hours and 30 minutes
    At the End
It was clear at the 15 mile mark, I would not beat my 5:30 goal! By the time I turned the corner at 3-quarter mark, I was no longer worried about getting under 6 hours. I was not sure if I could complete it! I could hardly walk as my left feet was hurting a lot. I decided to gut it out; leaving my pride behind along the canal, I walked and ran alternately. I kept this up until the end and miraculously my run clocked just under 6 hours! Here are the results of the race (my name is at the end).

I can now safely say, I have run marathons (plural)!