"Trust Your Training." These words were spoken to me many times in the weeks leading up to my first ever venture into running more than 20 miles. Ironically enough, these exact words were displayed on a sign I saw as I hit The Wall shortly after mile 20. THANK YOU SIR for the courage and thought to make, bring, show up, and stay long enough to encourage me to finish strong.
I chose White Rock Marathon because it is local and I have watched on TV before. Since I have only been running just over a year, I did not want to travel to a big race yet. Plus, I know the community really embraces the run with great crowds, bands, and fun. I signed up on June 1st, day one of registration and National Running Day. I am also a Kroger Store Manager, so the first week of December is in the lull between Thanksgiving and Christmas/ New Years Selling.
My Marathon Training Plan is a Beginner Plan by Hal Higdon. My goal was 4 hours and I planned towards that. It works well for me with two REST days, CROSS TRAINING day, three LOW MILEAGE runs, and a LONG run. The longest scheduled training run was 20 miles and some runners advised me to take that to 22-24. I kept it at 20. "Trust Your Training."
I was not ready for rain. All gear I have is either too heavy or too light. I left work early on Saturday to head to the Expo, pick up my Bib, drop my bag off, and look around for rain gear. Not much luck on the gear. My wife Kathy suggested I just check Sports Authority when we got home, so I did. They had very little rain gear for runners, but the outdoors section had some choices. I found, what looked to be a fisherman's coat by Red Ledge. The hood was not removable, but I thought it would work. Glad I did.
4:45AM on Sunday came and I felt pretty good. All my gear was laid out, so getting ready went quickly. I did however forget to lay out my Body Glide, which I later remembered. Hey, my Chapstick did the trick. Had a half cup of coffee and some waffles, grabbed a water and a few Power Bars, and off we went. Kathy and Jessica (my daughter) were a huge help to me on this crazy day.
We arrived in plenty of time and went directly to one of the heated holding buildings at Fair Park. I was able to sit, relax, apply my Chapstick, use restroom, and stretch. Good idea to have these buildings.
We headed to the corals at about 7:45AM and they were packed. Shortly after The National Anthem played, I kissed my wife and joined the throng inching toward the start in Coral B. The rain came. My hood went up. Glad I had it to keep my beanie dry for a while. I think I crossed the starting line about 20 minutes after the start and while dodging discarded trash bags, clothing, and walkers I moved into the first miles.
I kept my Marathon Plan in my pocket and I wanted to take the first 6 Miles at an easy pace of 9:32 or even above. I figured that would be the most crowded and did not want to go out too fast.
Mile 1 9:26 Did not want to be going this fast
Mile 2 8:42 All I could figure was dodging walkers and puddles sped me up
Mile 3 8:35
Mile 4 8:48
Mile 5 8:36 I ate here (Power Bar Energy Blasts Gel Chews)
Mile 6 9:04 53:10 (This is 4 Minutes faster than planned)
The rain continued to come and I kept my hood up because of that. One difficult thing was hearing Water or Gatorade at the stops, but soon I discovered the different colored cups to help. I trained with water only so I kept it at water only. I took special care to try and miss puddles and high water areas also, as one of my fears was blistering feet. The feet still got soaked. With so many people, it was hard to miss ALL the water. As we neared the Marathon/ Half Marathon Split, here are the times.
Mile 7 9:31 (Wanted Miles 7-15 to be 9:20 pace)
Mile 8 9:21
Mile 9 9:26 1:21:28 (Right after the split)
As I prepared to eat again after Mile 10, I discovered a major problem. I could not work my fingers. It was arthritis-like troubles with my digits. Working the zipper on my belly pack and opening the baggie were a chore and I nearly panicked. My cold fingers, mostly thumbs, would be something I now would need to plan for when eating later on the course. For future runs, I will move to an easy Ziploc baggie and put a longer strap on the zipper pouch. In prep for the lake, I took my gloves out of the raincoat pockets and got them pulled on.
Mile 10 9:03
Mile 11 8:54 (Bombing downhill)
Mile 12 10:13 (Reached the Lake & no lines at portapots, so I stopped)
I figured the wind at White Rock Lake would be tough, especially on the west side as we headed north. It was brisk, but nothing harder or colder than I had trained in. "Trust Your Training." I could not believe the spectators, fans, family, and supporters that were at this most remote of areas on the course...many without umbrellas or rain protection. Thank You!
Mile 13 9:03
Mile 14 9:04
Mile 15 9:05 2:16:49 (About 6.5 minutes faster than plan)
On Mockingbird, there was some nice support as we turned to head for the east side of the lake. I did not realize how long would actually be running on the lake and it seemed like it would never end. This was probably the loneliest part of the run. It was cold. Maneuvering through eating at mile 15 was difficult as my fingers still were not responding. I also mistimed the water stop in conjunction with my food and it had a small effect on my stomach. Doubt crept in and the cold rain just reinforced it.
Mile 16 9:11 (planned for 9:05 pace in Miles 16-19)
Mile 17 9:00
Mile 18 9:03
Mile 19 9:06 2:53:08
Mile 20 took us off the lake and down Garland Avenue. Lots of support from people in cars and along the course. It was an exciting downhill as we headed toward the right turn at Winstead. This was the farthest and longest I had ever run. "Trust Your Training." But, I have not trained above 20 miles! Doubt...
Through the course, I had been looking in the crowd for Kathy and Jessica. We had never decided on a place they would go to watch. They had mentioned The Split at around Mile 9, but I did not see them. I wondered if they had snuggled up in the car and were just waiting for the finish. Well, I was partly right. They had positioned at the perfect spot, the turn off Garland to Winstead...approximately 20.25 miles and just before the last hill and The Wall. Thank you Kathy and Jess! This was perfect and I am getting choked up just typing this.
As I headed into this unknown part of the run, the energy from seeing my wife and daughter helped for a while and I struggled through eating again. A brief 5 minutes of numbing legs and something I can only describe as numbing brain overtook me. Pounding up the hill, which turned out to be not nearly the struggle I had envisioned, I knew that soon the downhill would come. It is here, somewhere in miles 21 or 22, that the sign appeared and really helped my plow through the rest. "Trust Your Training." Thank you again sir!
Mile 20 9:16 (Wanted 8:50 pace for miles 20-26.2)
Mile 21 9:07
Mile 22 9:12
Mile 23 9:03
Mile 24 8:30
Mile 25 8:45
Mile 26 8:33
Final 0.2 7:35 3:58:23
The Swiss Avenue to Haskell part of the run was amazing. I felt like I let it all go and got everything out of my body possible. The downhill/ flat terrain was perfect for just bombing away. I must have been totally focused as I trekked through the final portions at Fair Park and missed my cheering family just prior to the finish line. I finished and was totally overcome with the culmination of my training. I was choked up and close to hyperventilating while slowly walking through the runners finish area. Wow, I could not believe I was a Marathon Runner.
Cold and wet, I made my way to the runners building. I picked up my dry clothes from Bag Drop...this is one of the best decisions I made. Had a MGD 64 Beer, changed clothes, picked up finisher shirt and medal, got in food line for a Bagel, Chips, Pretzels, and HOT CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP, and finally left to go find Kathy and Jessica. WISH I HAD NOT THROWN AWAY THE PLASTIC METRO PCS WRAP AS I WAS STILL COLD HEADING BACK OUTSIDE.
Thank goodness Kathy found me in the crowd and soon we were all united. I don't think I was in good enough shape to find my family and was contemplating using the FREE phone call offered by Metro PCS...but Kathy found me. We had an AWSOME FLETCHER'S CORN DOG and walked to the car. I passed a runner just hobbling his way to the lot. He was shivering and mumbled he just wanted to get to his car. Wow, we all left it all on the course.
The remainder of the day was resting, eating, and hobbling to and fro. I was trying to not sit too long and stiffen up. A hot shower and later a bath helped too. How in the world would I even make it through Monday at work? Plow through it and "Trust Your Training."
Thank you to my family. I know this process has been long and has dominated my thoughts and our conversations. Your support was so important. Thank you to the volunteers at the race. Nice work! Thank you to all those who braved the wet and came out to support. Wow! Lastly, thank you again to that one gentleman who came out in the horrible weather and held up that sign for me to read. What a great help!
