I ran the
ING Georgia Marathon last weekend (March 29, 2008). It feels pretty great to actually have run a marathon. Pretty damn good actually. Let's dive into some details:
1. Some time ago, say about 10
ish years ago, I made a bet with my older brother ("
MDH") that when I ran my first marathon I would "crush" his best time. I may have said this after a couple of beers, but I was very much feeling my oats as an ex-college swimmer. At that point in life, I was sure that my athletic accomplishments and dedication to training would
ALWAYS be stronger than
MDH's. I had just spent about 8 years of my life swimming six days a week for about three hours a day.
MDH, granted, had done some good things - nice undergrad grades (4.0
ish), got in to a nice top MBA program (MIT) and he may have been a better basketball player than me, but he had never swam a mile in under 15 minutes and 50 seconds. So, there was no way that he would ever be able to actually do better than me in a real athletic event. We might have been on the T in Boston - details are fuzzy but I like to think that we were on the T - and said something to the effect that "I bet a case of beer that the first time I run a marathon, I will beat your best time - a case of the good stuff- Sam Adams!" (note: actual conversation may have taken place in a different location and involved a different beer).
"A Brewer and a Patriot"
Well, ten years later - it turns out that this was a bad bet. Ten years of working has taught me many things (list to be included in a future post), but one thing is for certain - MDH is a better Marathoner than me. He has qualified for Boston. MDH finished an Ironman in less than 12 hours. MDH has run about 20 marathons. I, well I just barely beat Oprah in my first attempt. So, MDH and KSH will be getting a case of Sam Adams beer. Here's hoping that it helps with the transition from city living to the suburbs!
2. My time was 4 hours and 21 minutes. The run was a tale of two cities, or two halves. The forecast was actually pretty good compared to the initial running of the peach - last year was super hot (record high?), this year was cool and cloudy with rain in the forecast. The rain ended a few hours before kick off, so no issue.
A few weeks prior to the race, during my last 2o mile run, I rolled my ankle, which limited the training for the last few weeks, so I was actually not that excited about the run when MMH (w/ peanut!) and I flew down to the ATL. In fact, I was considering switching to the half marathon. However when I got down to the GA Dome for the Expo, I figured that I would simply stop at mile 14 at my parent's house if my ankle was hurting too much. So after my dad dropped me off at Centennial Olympic Park at 6:15 in the AM, I guessed I was ready to go.
It was dark, cold and a little strange in downtown ATL - the damage to the park and broken windows on some of the highrises from the recent tornado was almost unreal to see. I lined up with the 3 hour and 50 minute pace group. I wanted to break four hours and I thought that my training runs had been pointing to around this finish time. At a bit after 7 am we were off. It was pretty crowded in the corrals and I was not as skilled at pushing through the crowd as the pace leaders, so I was a fair amount behind the pacers when I crossed the start pad. I eventually caught up and stayed about 10 feet back. Nice run through GA State, looping around the King Center, up to Little Five Points. I was feeling pretty good keeping pace and in little five points, I dropped my long sleeved shirt with my parents and declined to pick up a Gatorade from MAH for the first time. We then proceeded a bit toward the Carter Center and the half marathon people turned toward home while the marathoners turned toward the unknown, I mean Decatur. We continued up a nice hill next to the Candler Park Golf Course (where I think shoes are optional). We then ran toward Ponce De Leon.
At this point, I was up with the pace group and a few things happened. One girl in the pace group fell a couple of times (the course was wet at this point) and I started talking to one guy running along who pointed out that the pacers had run the last two miles 30 seconds a mile too fast. So as we ran up a really long hill from Clifton and Ponce to a Marta stop, I backed off a few second a mile. The course finally flattened out a little after we reached the Marta stop and ran down College ST (ave?) and had a really quick jog in Agnes Scott College (ASC), which had a water stop staffed by the students.
The girls at ASC were cheering really loud and made me feel a bit like a local celebrity walking (running) the red carpet. In fact, I would say that ASC won my vote for best cheering on the course and crushed the college competition - GA State - No student support (it was 7am in GAS's defense), Emory - NO STUDENT SUPPORT (hugely disappointing - were they on spring break?), GA Tech - comes in second with decent support, but honestly nothing like the roars coming from the ASC students.
After ASC we turned toward downtown Decatur. Decatur went all out to win the cheering award - bunches of signs which said something like "Decatur is a great place to live, but not sure that we would run a marathon!" The run through downtown Decatur is pretty neat - good crowd support and views of post marathon beer options. The halfway point is located here - I crossed the mat in 1:53:07. That was only 3 minutes and 8 seconds slower than my run of the half last year! This is was a pace of about 8:37 - right about on pace for a 3:50 finish and looking good for for a sub four hour run. MMH and my parents were there and took some really great photos. I turned down Gatorade from MAH (again).
So the second half of the run starts down Clairmont, right by my parents' house. I was feeling pretty good at this point, so no thought of stopping really passed my mind...plus last year about 97% of the starters finished and no way I was going to be in that 3%!. So I kept on trucking. Ran down to North Decatur Road and turned right toward Emory. We did this little turn into a local street for like 150 yards and then we turned into Emory. Now Emory's campus is not bad looking (it seems a little sterile to me), but having absolutely NO students out cheering was a big let down after the ASC students really got you motivated. The run continued through the campus and dumped out at Everybody's Pizza, my brother's old place of employment. Good pizza and good beer. I was thinking that beer would soon be coursing through my body as I still felt pretty good. Then the race turned to to Druid Hills....which proved to be pretty tough mentally and physically.
My parents lived on Oakdale Rd for a few years and I never really thought that it was all that hilly back in the Druid Hills...I was clearly wrong. You go up Lullwater, past the "Driving Miss Daisy" house and past the H's (not my H!) house who host a really great Christmas eve party each year. Then you run UP Ponce, then a downhill on Oakdale...where it felt like someone shot me in my left knee. Right about in front of my parent's old house on Oakdale I let out an audible yelp and spent a minute stretching at the 18 mile sign. You then run up another hill and then up another street and then up the by-way...lots of mind numbing hills.
You eventually turn down St. Charles street at which point I must have been looking bad because a few people passing me gave me the old pat on the back and "come on almost home!" yell. It worked a bit so I said - I'll hook up with the 4 hour pace group and tough it out for the last 6 miles with them....they went flying by me a few minutes later. At this point my knee was like "hey dude, let's stop." I suggested that we try some "walk- run combo as you don't really hurt when we walk."
I ran and walked through Virginia Highlands, Piedmont Park and Midtown. In Midtown, I going slow and started to feel cold, so I had to put my hat back on. Evidently I missed MMH, how rude and how rude's better half at 23 screaming at me...i was focused on trying to get to the finish, not signing autographs at that point. We eventually made it to GA Tech's campus, ran by the stadium and...hit more hills.
In general the race was really scenic, expect for mile 25, which was downright ugly. I think we passed a "gentleman's club" on mile 25. This area was basically somewhat "industrial" and seemed to have a couple of car decks. The finish line eventually came up, but the last area was this really weird maze like area where you had to go around a bunch of 90 degree turns. I heard that the finish was like this because of some tornado damage, so it seems hard to argue, but hopefully next year it will be different.
The race ended:
My mental state wasn't too bad - I wasn't as physically tired as expected but my knee hurt a bunch and I really didn't feel like going too much further. My guess is that since my knee didn't want to co-operate I saved some energy by walking. Also I consumed Hammer Gels every 45 minutes and got water or Gatorade at every hydration station. MMH, my parents and MAH were at the finish line...but had taken the Marta down, so we had to walk (hobble) over to the Marta for the ride back to Decatur.
Not hitting a goal time was somewhat disappointing, but actually finishing the marathon was pretty cool. I hopefully break the four hour mark next race, but I'll be focusing on some Triathlons this summer (i.e. no more three hour runs for a couple of months!):
Weekend of April 12 - A triathlon of visiting SF, wine country and Alcatraz. This is going to be tough as I really haven't trained.
June 14th - James River Splash One Mile open water swim....first half against the current. I won my age group* last year. (*only one person in my age group last year).
June 29th - I love the Tavern Triathlon - Swim, Bike and Run by and In the James River at Robious Park.
July 13 -Montclair Triathlon - International Distance Tri south of DC.
